Identity Found
- natalyabagley96
- Feb 17
- 4 min read
gasps
Two blog post in the same month? What is happening here????
Growth baby! That’s what’s happening right now! I’ve been working behind the scenes on something big! And I can finally tell you all about it!
Last year was my first year of doing in person events and I learned so much. One of the biggest things I learned was how important a brand was. I realized that I didn’t have much of a brand. So I set out on a journey to find someone and it was sheer luck in one of my author chats I got a recommendation. Elena, who runs and owns The Bookish Studio. @thebookishstudio on IG.
(Huge thanks to Letizia Firmani for recommending Elena.)
We had a consultation call to see what she offered and what I needed. We clicked immediately. The first step was a massive questionnaire. It asked about audience, who I write for, why do I write, what’s important to me. All of these things I had never considered. When I decided I wanted to write I didn’t realize or understand the business side. (I still don’t lol, but I’m learning.) I always knew that I wanted my writing to have purpose and intention. I just couldn’t put words to it. Until I met Elena.
I got my mood board and it includes brand strengths and brand traits and all of these beautiful colors which became my mood board and brand colors. I was in awe with everything she came up with. It captured everything I wanted. The resilience, the power, the struggle and intensity. It all came together so beautifully. She was responsive, open, professional and I could tell she cared. She was flexible with payments. Even when a mishap happened with her computer, she didn’t hesitate to tell me about potential delays. I am just so impressed by her skills and her work ethic. Also by how she gave me marketing tips to use to help me along the way. I only have good things to say about this entire process. As a young author just starting out, she was the perfect person to help build my new brand.
Now that I have my rebrand I have so much in the works. 👀👀👀
So stay tuned for that!
Elena, if you read this just know I appreciate you. And you have a life long client in me. Thank you for investing your time to help make this young author a little more official. Thank you for caring about my brand and believing in my vision. It means the world to me.
In the spirit of this new chapter, I finally decided to learn and research what type of author I am. I also had a conversation with another author who’s been a mentor to other authors. And based on research and that conversation, I fall more into the women’s fiction section. Which often times crosses over with romance but it’s different. Buckle up as I tell you why I both love and hate this.
I cross genres as I write. This is pretty common knowledge if you’ve spoken to me or met me in real life. I write first POV and all of my stories are centered around women. I have WIPs that bounce from fantasy to dystopian and to something I’m not sure what to call yet. My first series is a mafia romance/crime thriller type. All of them include romantic relationships. And they are a big part of the story. BUT. They don’t drive my stories. If anything they help drive my characters to achieve their own healing and growth in their own ways. My writings all have a focus on internal personal development and healing and growth.
So, yes does the category of women’s fiction apply to me? Yes it does. But I don’t know if I am going to love using it. Because I feel like it could box me in and not get me the exposure or attention that I would like to have and grow into. I think that puts me in a box that I don’t necessarily find myself fitting into.
On the other hand, when I research the romance genre. I have the HEA and HFN elements, I have the emotional connection and the central relationship. I’m a sucker for love. I love love. I wish for it in my personal life and that’s why love with always be in my stories. It just may not drive the full story forward completely.
As much as I’ve learned, I still have more questions. But I guess that’s the beauty of being an author. You forge your own lane. I think it’s also just a me thing. I never quite fit in and I’ve always found joy in creating my own path and lanes. I think I’m just bound to find myself in these situations by design. This will be a fun thing to figure out as I slowly redo qll of my social media.
Well, if you’ve read this far. Thank you. Because I gave you all a lot to read. I can now proudly show you all everything. Video down below!!!!
Protect yourselves and protect each other. Be safe and remember love over everything else!
Comments