THE BUSINESS OF PUBLISHING—Your Business Identity

If you don’t already have a business, it’s time to consider what kind of image you want to portray. The name you choose for your business is a very important consideration. Hopefully, you will decide on a name that relates to your vision and is not hard for people to spell or remember.

Take the time to do some research and make sure the name you want is not already in use. The first place you can consult is your local county clerk’s office. Or, if you are setting up a corporation or limited liability company, you will need to check with the office of your Secretary of State, which approves business entity filings.

You may also want to do a trademark search. There may be no one in your state who is using the name you have chosen, but there may be someone in another state who is using it as a trademark. If there is any possibility that you might be doing business in other states at some point, you may not be allowed to use your trademark, if someone else had it first.

You can check with the Trademark Electronic Search System through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office known as the TESS database, but even then, what you find may not be accurate as to who might be using the trademark you want.

The best decision would be to use the services of an attorney who specializes in intellectual property. Such an expert should be able to help you do a proper trademark search to determine whether the name you want to use is a safe choice.

Choosing Your Identity

Once you have a name, branding is the most important element necessary for your business. Many authors who do not already have a business will think about branding after their book is published. However, if you are publishing 100% independently, think about branding first. So what is branding? It is simply the choice you make to represent your image to the world. Your logo, colors, tag line—all these things contribute to your “brand.” Think about a large company that has products such as food items, but also crosses over to t-shirts and apparel, toys, books and more. That company probably started out with something simple, like breakfast cereal. They created a logo, tag line, and even possibly a cartoon character to represent the cereal. Then as word spread and people began to buy the cereal, they came out with stuffed toys of their character. The stuffed toys were purchased not only because they were “cute,” but mostly because people were already familiar with the character and recognized it.

Do the same thing with your business. Start with a logo or even a photograph. Or you can choose a specific object or animal to represent your company. One of our book coaching clients chose a butterfly to represent her company, since her first book was an allegory with a butterfly. It didn’t seem to matter what type of butterfly, as when people saw butterflies they told her they thought of her company and book. Several of our clients have opted for a full logo. One of our clients had a logo created of a broken heart to represent her non-profit, and her first book had “broken heart” in the title, so her existing logo helped promote the new book.