This month, we’re featuring Amie McNee of Inspired to Write on our cover. She shared so much about her journey both online and in writing that it’s impossible to pluck out all the gold that was there in just one article. One of the things she touched on that stuck out was making yourself the niche you’re in. We talked about it on two occasions: 1) when she was discussing writing in multiple genres and expressing art through multiple mediums and 2) during the conversation around AI and the future of machine-produced art.

Here’s a brief clip regarding her thoughts on the subject:

“We’re in this really unique circumstance now where people can fall in love with the artist, not just the art. And so, I’m the niche. It’s me. It’s Amie. It’s my very, very unique niche. Literally, nobody is in this niche because it’s Amie, and people can explore whatever it is I do. I do encourage artists who really feel trapped by this idea of only doing one thing, that you let people fall in love with you.”

So how do we foster that? Not everyone is interested in becoming the face of their own brand. In fact, as writers, we tend to be a fairly introverted group who would much prefer to push our books forward and keep ourselves in the background. But we are entering an age where that may not work anymore. In fact, building a strong personal brand may be the only way artists survive the AI-revolution. So, before this digital train gets completely off the tracks, let’s discuss how you can start building out your one-woman niche now.

Let’s get some misconceptions out of the way first, though to get us on track.

Face Forward ≠ It”s All About You

For some, a personal brand might sound similar to becoming an influencer and for people who have no interest in being internet famous this can feel like a big “nope”. However, building a personal brand does not mean your platform is all about you specifically. Instead, make it about the things you care about.

Amie is a perfect example. Though you may get occasional glimpses into her life with her partner, what Amie really cares about is creating art and inspiring others to do the same. Though it’s her face on every post, it isn’t about Amie the person (what she eats, where she goes, who she meets) it’s about how she feels about creating art and it has connected to hundreds of thousands of people who feel the same. In fact, she centers her audience in at least 80% of the conversation.

What do you care about? What do your characters care about? What themes do you center your work around?

Now that being said, one of Amie’s superpowers is that she is “face forward” in almost every single post. You know exactly when you’re seeing an “Inspired to Write” post because you recognize Amie immediately. That recognition is very important. Because no matter what books she puts out, Amie remains Amie. Book covers come and go and exist in a mountain of other books, but people will recognize your face. This might be a tough hurdle to overcome for some who are a little internet shy, but it is what will get people to stop scrolling and pay attention.

Personal Brand ≠ No Privacy

Some may hold the misconception that in order to build a personal brand you have to put it all out there. You don’t! In fact, you shouldn’t. Instead, determine which aspects of yourself you do want to share. If you write books about motherhood and it’s comfortable for you to share images of your kids/life as a mom, do it! But if you want to keep your writing life and your home life separate, you can absolutely do that. You’re under no obligation at all to reveal things about yourself you don’t wish to reveal.

If you’re not sure where to start, check out our step-by step guide on determining your personal author brand. This will help you narrow the lens through which you post (which is actually better for building a brand than posting a confusing mix of personal and professional content that doesn’t seem to connect).

Forming Connection ≠ No Boundaries

Perhaps you’re worried about how people will interact with you once you open the door to sharing more of yourself. Whether you’re concerned with mean comments or being judged for your beliefs, it is an intimidating landscape to step into, but you are in control of your platform, how it’s used and who uses it.

If there is bullying in your comments because you’re discussing an issue, you have the write to moderate the tone of the conversation. If you are feeling like the interactions between you and your audience are becoming invasive, you are allowed to post a video stating that you will not be sharing on “x” topic. You control your space and the people who are your supporters will need to be respectful in order to be on the journey with you. Set the tone in your own content so that people can understand what they are getting into. If you are handling it with intelligence and calm, you’ll foster an audience that reflects that. If your style is a little more assertive and combative, it’s likely to draw that in return.

Why building a personal brand is more important than ever.

For some, this may feel like tired old news and you may be saying to yourself, “I’ve made it this far without going all in on a personal brand, I’m not about to start now.” And while yes, pretty much since the invention of social media, marketers and publishers alike have been begging authors to get on board and build out their own brand. Some have, others haven’t, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee success if you do, though it can certainly help!

Well, we’re entering a new space in the digital landscape where building a personal brand might no longer be optional. Artificial intelligence is going to change publishing. Period. There are going to be AI-written books out there that find success. That’s just a reality that is coming. And the volume these machines can produce at is an arena humans can’t even compete in.

So, instead of competing, writers have to set themselves apart. There are going to be a large percentage of readers who do only want to read human-made art, but it will be your job to make sure they know the human behind yours.

Create an ecosystem where people seek you out. Where your voice is what matters.

5 Ways You Can Start Building Your Personal Brand Today

If at this point you’re convinced that a personal brand is necessary, then you can start making steps today to begin building the platform that will help insulate you from the AI future rounding the corner.

  1. Decide where you want to be. You don’t have to be everywhere all at once. In fact, it’s the quickest way to fail. Start with one platform. Find the intersection between where you enjoying hanging out and where your audience is also present. Whether that’s TikTok or Substack, Instagram or X, pick one place to focus on, at least in the beginning.
  2. Determine what you want to talk about. If you’re a fantasy author who wants to talk about other books, TV and movies, great! If you’re a nonfiction author with a focus on social justice, fabulous! Hone in on 3 – 5 core categories you’ll be covering in your content.
  3. Pick your medium(s) for conveying your content. Are you doing video? Text? Static images? A blend? How are you going to produce your content and what are you going to do to make it stand out? This might be a blend of showing your face, branded color schemes and a very voice-specific tone. Seriously, if you haven’t check out Inspired to Write do so now, it’s a master course in how to do this. (And she uses ALL of these mediums, by the way.)
  4. Set a posting schedule. How often are you going to share? Forget all the tired advice on how many times a week/day to post and what time. How and when can you post? Consistency is what matters so whether that’s once a week or once a day, pick something you can stick with (understanding that the more you post the faster you might build, but also, if you burnout and quit, that isn’t good either).
  5. Create a content calendar. Don’t leave yourself stranded every time you have to post. Write down ideas, create a list of topics, recycle old material in a new way. Just don’t go into each posting guessing what you’ll be doing next.
  6. Bonus: Batch create. If you’ve always struggled to stay consistent with your brand building, then create a bunch of content at once. Set a whole day aside every month to work on your content for the month. Then, all you have to worry about for the rest of the month is scheduling it to go live!

This may be something of a rehash for authors who have heard marketing advice over the last 10 – 15 years. Fortunately, there are more options (and more wisdom) available now on the matter. You don’t have to be on four different social platforms. You don’t have to post daily. You don’t have to jump on every trend that’s out there (unless you want to). Instead, create a space you love and that you want to show up for. Amie created Inspired to Write because in 2014 she was looking for a community of artists, couldn’t find one, so she started one herself. What’s the community you wish you had right now? Build it. Build it and make yourself bulletproof when it comes to the unimaginable, but unavoidable future where authors are competing with a force that may be able to out produce us, but it can’t replace us. Not if we make ourselves valuable and present for those seeking that connection.