Case Study: Trashing Your Brand 101

A Real-World Example Of What Not To Do

Happy “Teachable Moment” Monday, folks!

Last week I published this piece, in regards to connecting with your readers as an author out in the world. I have many thoughts on the topic of how you present yourself online and to readers, and my arguments center around a singular point:

You Are Your Brand.

It’s very difficult to stand out in the crowd. How you connect with potential readers and/or fans makes a huge difference in a world where there is an abundance of books being self-published out there. I’ll re-state a few of these, and then introduce you to my new best friend, and the topic of this post, this charming, sophisticated, even-tempered woman:

We’ll get to this delightful exchange in a moment. :-)

First, let’s roll back the tape to the core of my argument which is that when given the opportunity to select a book based on something other than it being yet another book in a flooded genre or market, readers will more often select a book if they know the author behind it in some way, which means as an author it is critical to get yourself out there and build rapport with potential readers:

This is enough to frame what I’m going to say next, but I would encourage you to read that entire piece first for additional context if you haven’t yet. Indeed, flashy covers, cool fonts, and presentation accounts for something, but the primary way to stand out among a plethora of flashy covers and cool fonts is to let readers get to know you as an author. Your experiences, what you’ve been through, the lens with which you see the world.

What you say, how you present yourself, and how you interact with people publicly makes a difference.

Was It Something I Said?

Which leads me to the comment section on that above post, and Annie, who left this comment in response to my piece.

Now, a few things stood out to me with this response. First of all, it has absolutely zero to do with any argument I made in my original post. This is a self-aggrandizing preachy moment from a random substack user who came across a post that picked up a little steam. No problem. Post thoughts online, you open yourself up to responses.

Let’s keep in mind though - the point of my post, “You are your brand.”

What sticks out to me in this response are a few things. The most obvious of which are using words like “emotionally suckered,” “pseudo-relationships,” and “suffocated by cOmMUnITy.” Not to mention the label, “Community Of One.”

This is all emotional language used to describe an opinion about connecting with others. There’s zero substance in her response, but I did my best to give Annie the benefit of the doubt with my reply. So I started composing my response, and as I did, just to be sure I wasn’t totally off-base here, I had a look at her profile and notice this, which confirms that she’s staying on brand.

Mocking capitalization in regards to the thought of building community? Check.

Focus on negativity with “I’m not here to” instead of saying what you actually stand for? Check.

“Community Of One.” Loud and clear. You’re out here for yourself. We get it. No harm, no foul, it’s a bold strategy, let’s see if it pays off.

Thank you for making my point.

My response to Annie was a little on the lengthy side for a comment. I’ll place the core of my argument here so you can see how this entire exchange is building, and how Annie is continually reinforcing the point I am making - ignorant of the fact that she is doing so …

I’m not making a subtle point here. The only thing I have to go on with someone who is indeed a commodity in terms of their writing or art is who they show themselves to be.

So working with the only available information I have (a reply, and that it doubles down on how she presents herself in her bio), I come to a set of conclusions and a picture of Annie’s established brand.

1. One of my principles is being of service to fellow authors, doing what I can to platform and amplify voices I believe need to be heard. Annie is opposed to one of my core principles. So when she calls her own work, “good and true,” and my only exposure to her personality is her contempt of one of my held values, I immediately know her work is not, in fact, true.

2. Annie’s focus on framing herself through a negative, aggressive (including the childish antics of using mockery in capitalization instead of, I don’t know, forming a coherent argument maybe?) anti-community lens means she’s positioning herself as someone who doesn’t care what anyone thinks, has no desire to work with others, and is dismissive of connection to others.

3. If I’m not going to find your work good... And I’m not going to find your work true... And you don’t care about me… Why “should” (her words) I care about you in return? Yes, Annie’s attitude here is supremely off-putting.

I’ve taken the available information that she has directly communicated, evaluated it against who I am, and found her to be insufferable, off-putting, self-aggrandizing and rude.

Since she has demonstrated so skillfully that logic and reading comprehension don’t seem to be a strong suit for everyone, I’ll break this down to a simpler synopsis for her benefit:

I write a post with the theme of, “You are your brand.” I break down exactly why presentation and community matter when trying to get your words out into the world. An author replies and without addressing any of my points in good faith, doubles down on mocking the idea with zero substance to back it up.

I call it out and explain that it makes my point.

Then … Triple Down!

Annie, are you okay?

That … makes no sense. There is truth to “you aren’t my audience,” which, again, she is proving over and over. I have no desire to be an audience for insufferable, self-absorbed, noise-makers. She doesn’t seem to understand that she is making my point. It’s fascinating to watch, honestly.

The lazy, half-assed deflection of “racism and ostracism” is the definition of self-righteous in this context.

This response does, however, do a great deal of heavy lifting, in that it’s the third (ish - I’ve lost count) time I’ve been able to confirm that if given the choice between buying a book Annie wrote in a 2nd hand bargain bin for a dollar or paying double for a root canal, I’d be in the dentist chair faster than you can say, “insufferable sociopath.”

My words weren’t evaluated, in fact, there was no engagement on any of the points I made, just noisy, self-centered, bloviating. That’s the author brand she’s cultivated in a crystal clear display of being nothing more than an insult-farting, low-IQ wind bag.

Shit, a quick game of Logical Fallacy Bingo gets me the win. All of the following are clear as day in her replies:

Arguing from emotion, ad hominem, strawman, red herring, hasty generalizations.

At this point, I don’t take anything personally or seriously from someone who shows themselves to be a miserable human terrified of engaging in a discussion. My reply stated as much, though I think the laugh I had was lost on a particular someone …

More ad hominem.

Now, I could match Annie’s energy here, but folks like this aren’t worth it. Sure, I use some unkind terms above, but they’re well-earned, and who am I to assume Annie’s brand is anything other than “Selfish Ass.” There’s nothing you can say in response to these people that would allow them to see past their own narcissism, they’ll never engage any of your arguments on actual merit, they just sling insults without a single logical thought connecting two neurons in their brains. There’s no desire for honesty, no civil debate, or dialogue. When someone immediately thrashes any notion of good-faith conversation, they are clearly communicating that they are terrified of their view being challenged. That’s why it’s sound, fury, smoke, and mirrors.

Which brings us full circle …

You. Are. Your. Brand. (Redux.)

So tell me, fine friends… What is it that you represent and stand for as an author? What is this brand you’re cultivating? Is it, like Annie’s well-established personal brand? Aggressive, self-centered, devoid of logical thought, miserable and anti-community?

If you’re out there looking to purchase a book that is “good and true,” would you buy it from an author who sees the world through this lens, and is more concerned with childish insults than engaging in a substantive discussion?

When someone shows you so clearly who they are … believe them. Annie’s brand, while supremely off-putting, is 100% authentic, so I’ll give her some kudos for being consistently terrible.

Thanks for the content, Annie. It’s been educational, and I appreciate you helping to show others what not to do.

I wish you endless success, and I’ll pray for you.

Until next time, friends.

And remember …

You are your brand.