AUTHOR BRANDING WORKSHOP
TO HELP YOU CREATE OR REFRESH YOUR BRAND
Get focused, standardize your brand elements, and save time across web content and social media marketing.
Author branding is a major step toward attracting your ideal readers and that means putting real thought into the messages you’re sending out into the world.
STAND OUT IN THE CROWD
Of the 1.5 million books published in 2021, the number of adult nonfiction books numbered 322,564, with a growth rate in 2022 expected at 5.6%. The global nonfiction books market is projected to have grown from $13.27 billion last year to $14.02 billion in 2022. Having a clear brand strategy will keep you from getting lost in a sea of competition.
CREATE A STRONG BRAND IDENTITY
With the continual growth of the popularity of nonfiction books, it’s more important than ever to create an identifiable brand to assert your experience and authority. This is especially important if you want to be seen as a thought leader in your field.
attract THE RIGHT readers
Not every nonfiction book is attractive to every nonfiction book reader. Readers must not only be interested in the topic of your book but in you as an author. You need to tell readers about yourself in a way that captures their interest.
GET SPECIFIC WITH YOUR MESSAGE
Your brand needs to be specific; targeted at a niche audience (at least at first), before growing to interest a wider audience. We can narrow down your focus so you can increase book sales and marketing results.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS LIVE 3-WEEK COURSE
(DELIVERED WITH ZOOM SO YOU CAN ATTEND FROM ANYWHERE)
WEEK 1
Get to the Heart of Your Message
Participate in a powerful brand exercise to identify and commit to your core message, your audience, and the work you want (and do not want) to do in your work and in your life. Gain clarity and focus that directs your work and helps you start saying no to distracting offers.
WEEK 2
Create Your Brand Kit
Make decisions on the visual and written elements of your brand for your website and social media. You’ll learn how to use typography, photography, colors, and the tone and style of your writing to assert your brand. And how to create a grab-and-go library of images!
WEEK 3
Create Your Brand Content Plan
Make content decisions compatible with your core messaging that you can develop into Cornerstone Content blog posts and companion social media posts. Never be confused about what to post or blog about again, so you can concentrate on writing and marketing!
CREATE OR REFRESH YOUR BRAND.
ATTRACT AN AUDIENCE WHO CAN’T WAIT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Think about the brand you have right now and answer these questions:
- Is your brand cohesive and purposeful?
- Can potential readers immediately identify what you care deeply about?
- Do readers know what you have to offer and why they should spend time with you?
- Does your brand reflect who you really are?
Together we will work on your visual branding strategy using your ideas and your writing to create an actionable implementation plan you can implement yourself or hire out.
DON'T MISS THE LIVE COURSE STARTING OCTOBER 4, 2022
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Carla King in her incarnation as blogger, author, and brand ambassador for adventure travel and gear.
Your workshop leader is Carla King, whose MissAdventuring brand sent her on sponsored motorcycle trips around the world for over a decade, blogging and posting on social media before the Instagram days. She was a brand ambassador for a variety of motorcycle brands and women’s motorcycle gear as well as a strong voice for women’s solo travel.
Carla’s body of work includes uncounted articles, anthologized stories and essays, blog posts, a collection of travel stories, and a memoir. She has been interviewed widely in the powersports and adventure travel industries, has been paid to speak, and has also been paid to consult on future motorcycle designs by major brands.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Carla also worked as editorial and web design manager for early CD-ROM and Internet properties. With a small team in Multimedia Gulch she created a learning series for purchasers of new Windows computers (Peter Norton’s PC Guru). In Silicon Valley, she worked with a large team at Sun Microsystems designing their Web 2.0 site. As principle in her business and publishing company, Misadventures Media, she co-created Author Friendly websites (now sold) and has assisted dozens of authors and author services with streamlining and branding their online presence.
Carla works with the NFAA as course developer and workshop leader, is our VP of Business Development, and hosts our Nonfiction Authors Podcast. You’ll find her an effective, enthusiastic, and motivating workshop leader.
For All Nonfiction Writers: Prescriptive or Creative
Bring your book chapters, blog posts, articles, essays, or any nonfiction work.
This workshop is for both prescriptive and creative nonfiction including business and economics, finance, psychology, politics, family and relationships, memoir, travel, history, computers, legal, language arts, philosophy, medical, crafts and hobbies, biography, health and fitness, self-help, and any other nonfiction topics.
All Experience Levels WelcomE!
Whether you’re writing your first blog post or you have a dozen books under your belt, you will find a lot value in this group workshop. Branding and marketing tools and services evolve quickly, and it’s difficult to keep up without help. Everyone in the workshop will be encouraged to share ideas and provide feedback, regardless of experience. We are all consumers, and the playing field is level when it comes to brainstorming together.
“Branding can be a big challenge for writers. If you seek guidance, feedback, support and community to help you make the right branding decisions, this workshop is for you.”
—Stephanie Chandler, NFAA CEO
Establishing a plan for your branding is integral to author marketing and most writers are not equipped to self-create their own brand. This is a task best tackled with professional guidance and feedback so that you can create cohesive messaging, colors, and images to best represent you as an author and expert in your field.
Workshop leader Carla King brings her experience leading groups to provide a structured and supportive environment for participants. There’s no need to travel anywhere since the entire event is held online on Zoom. Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity!
—Stephanie Chandler, CEO, Nonfiction Authors Association
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WHAT to expect from this workshop
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS
All participants will work on their own Brand Kit in a Google Docs folder, providing mission statements and links to existing web and social media properties, if you have them, plus an evolving list of brand decisions.
Other members can provide commentary and written feedback on this document.
In addition to written feedback, we meet weekly to learn about branding and for a Q&A session. You will have a chance to be in the “hot seat” for an evaluation of and suggestions for your current brand.
You can also join our private Facebook group where you can begin and continue discussions, ask questions, share links to new documents, and build relationships.
GROUP FOCUS
Important tasks and decisions to be made in this workshop include:
- Clarity on your true mission
- Comparable research
- Photography
- Graphics and illustrations
- Colors
- Typography
- Icons and logos
- Your author bio
- Your book description
This workshop will help you make decisions and eliminate time-wasting activities and brand changes that are confusing to your audience.
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Got two brands?
If you’ve got two brands, I can help you divide and conquer, one brand at a time.
One of my brands is Carla King the publishing expert, how-to book author, editor, and consultant.
As you see, it’s very different than the motorcycle adventure brand you saw above!
Are you clear on your brand? Got two brands? We can deal with that!
Carla King, Writing
Instructor, Publishing
Expert, and Workshop
Leader
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING…
“Several years ago I attended one of Carla’s workshops and I’ve been a raving fan ever since. I can’t say enough about the care she takes to help authors achieve success. Carla’s long history as a writer, publisher, consultant, and workshop leader makes her instruction practical, comprehensive, engaging, inviting, inspiring, and empowering.”
— Lynn Fraley
Carla King gave me the tools to understand the magnitude of what I needed to do before readers bought my book. I discovered how to communicate my message of why I write and why they should buy my book. Sometimes, you don’t know what you don’t know! She broke everything down into simple, manageable pieces and patiently showed how everything fits.
— Rosamond Banks
After spending months and thousands of dollars there were still so many unknowns and I needed help. It’s not just her expertise in the industry, she is genuinely rooting for you and your success, and she reinvigorated me and boosted my confidence. Her recommendations were brilliant.
— Kathy Tong
WHAT kind of support do YOU NEED?
ACCOUNTABILITY: You’ve been tinkering with your brand forever, or your brand is random, subject to your latest artistic inspiration. Get clarity on the message you want to send to the world and the community to help you create it and stick to it.
EDUCATION: There are hundreds of new tools that proclaim to help you create websites, logos, and social media graphics, not to mention services that you can pay to do it for you. Which ones are really effective and right for you? What services can you hire out, and at what cost?
CONTENT: You write blog and social media posts at random, without a content plan. You’ve been curious about cornerstone content and building a brand from the core information you have to offer. Run your ideas and strategy by the other authors in the group.
IDEA OR OUTLINE: You’re on the verge of writing a book proposal and business plan so you can build your author platform. This is a great time to start by getting total clarity on your activities for the future.
CONNECTION AND MOTIVATION: This is where you can get connected with other authors and work in a safe, encouraging environment, share ideas, inspiration, and motivation.
PRODUCTIVE | REWARDING | FUN
Working on brand with paper and colored markers – not required but can help with the creative process.
If for any reason this course isn’t for you, notify us within the first week of training and receive a full refund.
optional: Add Membership in the Nonfiction Authors Association
AUTHORITY MEMBERSHIP
($290 PER YEAR)
- Weekly media leads
- Monthly online networking and brainstorming event
- Massive database of resources, checklists, templates, legal agreements, podcast recordings, and much more
- Private Facebook group for members
- Meet the Members program, allows you to get featured in our emails and blog
- Discounts off NFAA courses, year-round Nonfiction Book Awards program, annual Nonfiction Writers Conference (held online each May since 2010)
- Discounts with our partners including Lulu, Office Depot, IngramSpark, Findaway Voices, Constant Contact, and more
VIP MEMBERSHIP
($690 PER YEAR)
Includes all benefits of Authority membership plus:
- Platinum access to the Nonfiction Writers Conference, held online each May since 2010 ($397 value)
- Access to all Author Toolkits
- The Nonfiction Writers Conference Greatest Hits
- Access to Ultimate Author Marketing Course, a 12-week video course
Total added value: $1,475!
Choose from options below to add Nonfiction Authors Association membership with your event registration.
Already a member? Visit your member dashboard for course discount information.
WORKSHOP TAKEAWAYS
Develop your core messaging so readers know what you stand for
Complete a brand kit including your colors, typography, and images
Create a content plan with a clear focus to attract and engage readers
Collaborate with fellow students and instructor for helpful feedback
Elevate your author image so you always look like the pro you are!
Registration
When you register, you’ll be asked to submit your links and questions and be invited to a short, introductory one-on-one talk with Carla before the first session begins.
Workshop Guidelines
There are specific guidelines to follow to ensure that feedback is helpful, respectful, and everyone benefits. This is a great practice inside and outside the group!
Document Sharing
We use Google Docs to share links and ideas, which is the easiest way to comment and collaborate. Never used Docs? We make it easy for you!
Register Here!
Join us on Tuesdays, October 4, 11, and 18, 2022.
Sessions start at 10:00 am PT / 1:00 pm ET and last from 90-120 minutes.
Can’t make the live session? Catch the replay!
Nonfiction Authors Association members: Visit your member discount page for your savings code (33% off!).
Not a member yet? Join the Nonfiction Authors Association with course registration to receive member pricing.
A 3-pay plan is also available in the shopping cart.
AUTHOR BRANDING WORKSHOP
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ONLY $397 Or 3 payments of $145
WORKSHOP +
AUTHORITY MEMBERSHIP
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AUTHORITY MBR$555 Or 3 payments of $195
WORKSHOP +
VIP MEMBERSHIP + CONFERENCE
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VIP MEMBERSHIP $955 Or 3 payments of $335