HW#2 Branding (abbreviated) - Jennifer Dyer

Hi! I did both sets of questions, but thought I’d condense it a bit.

My overall branding thoughts (I’d love input on this):

Aspiring ninja-Jedi princess who writes action-packed speculative fiction.

Your HEA is just a dropkick away. 🤣 (I’m a goofball. Not sure if I’ll put that on my website, but it does describe most of what I write. A bit of fairytale with a lot of action.)

I write speculative fiction spanning from high-tech thrillers to swoony, no-steam romantasy set in space (what?!) and a lot in between. Expect kissing, magic, and a whole lot of kicking.

What is the promise you are making your readers?

●      Page-turning adventures with a bit of magic, swoony romance without the steam, and leaving the story feeling encouraged that they can overcome anything and that they aren’t alone.

What comes to mind when people think of you?

●      Grace-giving, encouraging, funny, nerdy, detail-oriented.

What is the empathy you have for your readers?

●      We’ve all made mistakes, but no one is beyond redemption. And we all need to find a place to belong.

What is the authority you have for your readers? What gives you the authority to write on the subject you’re writing on?

I love spec fiction and have read widely in both spec fiction and romance ranging from some of the big blockbusters to a lot of indie and smaller press both in the CBA and in the general audience.

What gives you the authority to explore the themes in your writing

●      I stress over every mistake I make and have significant anxiety that I’ve been working on in counseling for years. In addition to being a recovering people pleaser, I’m a mom of a special needs child and a cancer survivor, so I’ve also ventured through some tough obstacles. I write about overcoming and not living in fear of other people’s negative opinions and that you can overcome hard things and still be ok at the end. Changed, but still ok.    (For some reason this is bolded. I promise I’m not shouting at anyone.😉)

To stand out, we must shock/surprise/delight Broca on a regular basis. How have you, or how are you going to, shock/surprise/delight Broca during the next three days?

●      Sometimes my humor/willingness to be silly surprises people

You know your brand has to be organic. What is different, unique, quirky, surprising about you that can/does define you as a person? How are you organically compelling?

●      I seem like a sweet southern Christian lady who bakes cookies (and I do that a lot! haha), but I have a sarcastic side and an affinity for things like martial arts and sci-fi.

In what areas do you need to give yourself permission to be you?

●      Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.

In what two areas are you going to focus on where you’ll make your content surprising/entertaining/provocative/engaging?

●     Since I decided to stop being afraid to put myself out there, I have starting making some quick and quirky videos about writing life. People have enjoyed those.

●      Also, I decided I’d stop worrying so much about making mistakes. I keep trying new things and if they get a good response, great. If not, I pivot. I recently had an (ahem) big birthday and decided to stop trying to be perfect all the time.

Target reader:

Sophia loves immersive and magical settings with romance and swoon but wants the content to stay at PG-13 or below. She reads a lot of the popular romantasy, including Fourth Wing, but she says many of the books take graphic too far for her comfort zone. She says she likes how my stories keep her guessing and turning pages. She prefers books with strong romantic threads, and she likes escaping to other worlds.