Your Household Name

Author: C. Hope Clark

So your name isn’t Stephen King or Tom Clancy. Maybe Nora Roberts or Sue Grafton you’re not. But once upon a time, their names were as unknown as the paperboy’s down the street. In addition to writing a great piece of work, how can your name become a household word?

You spend hours and days writing, putting each word in its place. You obsess about characters, setting and conflict, or you weigh each syllable of each word for poetry. Yet, you slap your name on it, don’t even think about the image, and toss it to the wolves (i.e., agents, editors, publishers). These professionals receive truckloads of mail (literally), so why not use your name and image to prompt them to read your work from the hundreds and thousands piling up in their offices?

First, choose a pen name that resonates. My name is Cynthia Clark per my Social Security card, but Google it and you’ll find a sea of them. My true middle name is Hope. Google that and you’ll find a lesser quantity, but still a healthy number. So I used C. Hope Clark. Three short punchy syllables easy to remember.

If you have a writing business, define it with something unusual and crystal clear. Don’t be lazy. Google businesses with the word “write” or “writer” in them, and they start blurring together. Choose a name that actually tells people what it is you do without blending with the competition. Don’t make them guess what it is you do. Most won’t. Hope Clark, Inc. says absolutely nothing about my business. FundsforWriters says we emphasize finding funds for writers. Very easy to recall. A stand out from my peers.

Second, consider a logo. Prepare your name in a certain font. Develop your business name in a logo. Get people accustomed to see your name a certain way, and they start relating to you. A logo gives them more name recognition, and a visual to embed it more deeply in their mind. Think of Coca Cola. You see that swirling font, red and white. I created FundsforWriters with black for ink and green for money. Add that to the fact that I look good in green, and black is a slenderizing color, and I have a great outfit to wear to events. Put thought into the package.

People get paid quite well to develop brands and create unique identities for products and people. That should tell you that branding is a serious issue, and one that you should take the time to ponder at great length. You don’t slap something down in seconds when creating the title to your story, so why risk your public image by giving it little thought?

Look at well known names around you and see what makes them memorable.

JD Robb – Nora Roberts didn’t think that her romance writer name fit with her futuristic romantic mysteries, so she found a firmer name.
Tom Clancy – He didn’t use Thomas Clancy, or use his initial. He writes suspense and thrillers. Thomas dilutes that image.
Nicholas Sparks – Again, no middle name or initial, but the Nicholas is so romantic, as are his heart-throbbing stories.
Fern Michaels – Do you know what her real name is? Mary Ruth Kuczkir. Enough said.
Dorothea Benton Frank – Southerners like using three names, and since she specializes in South Carolina stories, it fits.
Chicken Soup – The home remedy of stories. Who doesn’t know the series?
Cup of Comfort – Another anthology series with a clear message.

What about logos or designs that stick?

Janet Evanovich – Neon colors on every book. Can’t miss them.
Sue Grafton – The alphabet novels. A is for…B is for…
Mystery Writers of America – This organization uses the logo of a caricature of Edgar Allen Poe.
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators – This children’s book organization uses a kite as its logo.
Women on Writing – This website uses WOW! as its logo. It says it all.
Writers on the Rise – A rising sun holds the name of this newsletter.

When you start selling your writing, you need something sticky to grab people’s attention. They won’t open the magazine or the book cover without some catalyst to snare them. If they don’t know your writing, or if you are a new author, or if you want to become a household name, mold your identity into something worth remembering. C. Hope Clark quickly became Freelance Hope – hope for writers. I’d be a fool to use any other name now.