Marketing Madness with Ali Cross: The Importance of Authenticity

I'm very excited to introduce one of the most awesome bloggers around--Ali Cross! I love that her post is on authenticity, because not only is she one of the most giving bloggers around, she's also one of the sweetest, realest people I know. :)

Danyelle has already featured a couple excellent articles on marketing this month, while I really know very little about the subject. But there is one thing I can speak to, that I think is extremely important when you're marketing yourself and your books, and that's authenticity.

As participants in an online writing community, we hear ad noseum the importance of branding. But there's a lot of confusion about what that means. I think it means being true, honest, legit.

When you build your blog, your online presence, and even your books, it's very easy to think "I want to be a blogger like [name of awesome blogger]," and then model yourself in their image. Which is great--except, it won't last. Your readers won't stick around and you won't be able to maintain it because . . . it's not YOU.

But how do you figure out who you are, or how to present yourself online? I think you need to ask yourself a few questions . . .

Who do I write my books for?

What message or theme do I hope my readers will take away from my books?

Why is that message important to me?

What do I have to say on the subject?

Once you've answered these questions, you should (or could) have a strong idea of who you are as a writer and a variety of approaches to the primary subject that's near and dear to you. Now you've got a platform on which you can market yourself! Embrace your brand and make sure that when you interact with others, whether online or not, you manifest this ideal or message.

For instance, say your stories tend to be about love conquering all. You likely have a strong core belief that love is important and can prevail no matter the odds. You probably have a personal story behind your message--a moment in time, or a series of experiences, that helped you learn the value of love. And from those experiences you have learned important truths.

Perhaps once a week, you'll post about the things you've learned. Just one little life lesson a week. This week you might talk about how you and your partner had the chance to go on a date, and how you noticed that when you told your partner the things that you appreciated about them, they brightened, grew happier, were able to let go of their work week and enjoy being out on a date with you. In your post, you'll talk about the importance of showing gratitude to the ones you love.

After a while, you've made a habit of talking, regularly, about the value of love, and your readers have come to expect it--to come to appreciate the lessons you teach and the stories you tell. When your book (a love story, of course) comes out, it will make all the sense in the world to blog, write guest posts and do interviews on the importance of love, because you will already be known as a person who stands for the beauty and power of love.

I think, of all things a writer can bring to their marketing efforts, honesty and authenticity are paramount. No matter how big your blog tour, how many signings you do or how many followers you have--you will not grab and keep readers unless they believe you. And the time to start being trustworthy and believable isn't when your book is out--it's right now.

I hope you find something useful to you in this post. As you can probably guess, being true to who you are as a writer, and as a person, is something that's important to me. I have a book coming out in November, and what would you guess is its theme? If you thought "being true to yourself" you'd be right! I tend to write books about the power of choice and the freedom we have, no matter our past, to make new and better choices today. To finally, and completely, embrace who we really are.

So take some time to identify who you are and the message you wish to share . . . then embrace it!

Thank you for having me Danyelle!

Ali Cross is the sensei of the Writer's Dojo where she holds a black belt in awesome. She lives in Utah with her kickin' husband, two sparring sons, one ninja cat, two sumo dogs and four zen turtles.

You can visit Ali at her blog, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Ali is the author of the young adult paranormal novel BECOME, available 11/11/11. You can learn about BECOME at Ali's blog (where you can also pre-order a signed copy) or on Goodreads.


Sixteen-year old Desolation Black wants nothing more than to stay in Hell where it’s cold and lonely and totally predictable. Instead, she’s sent back to Earth where she must face the evil she despises and the good she always feared. 

When Desi is forced to embrace her inner demon, she assumes her choice has been made—that she has no hope of being anything other than what her father, Lucifer, has created her to be. What she doesn’t count on, is finding a reason to change—from something she’s never had before—a friend.

What she Becomes is neither light nor dark.

Neither good nor evil.

Something neither Heaven nor Hell expected.