#16 Existential Crises Continued…
Oh, you thought we were done panicking over who we are and how we want to appear to the world? Think again. Or at least I’m not done 😅.
The progress and answers I made last week felt good, but this is an iterative process and my answers still felt a little wibbly–not completely set, so I stared at the answers some more.
And if you feel the same way about yours, that’s okay! This is the author equivalent of a month-long backtracking and circuitous Wild Hunt, not searching for that sticky note that’s right in front of your nose.
Things can change. (And I’m not just saying that because I’m a chaos goblin at heart!)
Crafting a Personal Brand That Feels Like Me
When I first sat down to define how I want to be known as an author, I had an existential crisis.
"Who am I? What do I stand for? Am I just a person who writes fairytale monsters and obsesses over accessibility???"
After taking a deep breath (and consuming an unhealthy amount of cake and potatoes), I realized that this question is actually pretty straightforward:
What do I want people to associate with my name?
Brainstorming My Author Identity
Here’s what I landed on. I am:
A chronically ill/disabled author who writes from that perspective
A YA fantasy writer who blends humor, fairytale monsters, and authentic chronic illness/disability rep
Someone who pushes boundaries and challenges traditional publishing norms (respectfully)
A writer whose books (hopefully) feel both fresh and familiar—taking classic fantasy tropes and twisting them in new ways
It’s a decent list, but not something I could slap down as my website tagline or anything. Soooo….
If You’re Still Stuck, Compare Yourself to the Competition (But In a Productive Way! 😅)
If you’re still not sure, that’s okay! We can go at the concept from another direction.
Now, I don’t usually advocate for comparing yourself to others, but in this case, one thing that might help is studying what others are doing in your genre (get all of your handy dandy market research back out!). Figure out what they’re doing and how you’re different so you can use that difference to stand out in the market.
For me, I researched other indie YA fantasy authors, and I noticed common themes:
Some focus on dark, epic world-building
Others emphasize romance-heavy plots
Others boast light or no-romance plots
Some lean into whimsical, lighthearted fantasy
Where do I fit in? Somewhere in the middle. My books are fantasy with a bite—dark but humorous, complex but accessible.
So How Do EYE Want to Stand Out?
For me, after days of scribbling answers and brainstorming, I decided I want to be known as a YA fantasy author who writes fairytale monsters, humor, and authentic chronic illness rep.
That’s what makes me and my work different from the rest. But writing it down, that phrasing still felt a little too… clinical or something. It took me HOURS of staring at the page to figure out what I didn’t like about it. Eventually, I realized it’s telling the humor bit instead of showing it. Breaking the #1 rule of fiction right there. Tsk tsk. So I played with it some more, until I came up with…
I write YA fantasy that fuses humor, fairytale monsters, and authentic chronic illness rep.
Because feeling like you're getting rotisserie chicken roasted from the inside out every day doesn't mean you can't have your fairytale too. 🍗
Too much? Just right? We’ll find out. (And yes, I WILL be using that emoji everywhere from now on because it makes me laugh 😆).
The point is to play with it. Have fun. Figure out whatever it is that makes you stand out from the crowd and own it. That’s what you’re gonna focus on to set your brand apart.
Next Steps:
- Start incorporating this identity into my author bio and social media
- Make sure this aligns with my brand visuals and colors (ya know, once I actually have those 😬 but the 🍗 is here to stay)
💬 Question for You: If someone described your writing in one sentence, what would they say? (If this question also gives you an existential crisis, we can panic together in the comments.)