On May 2nd, Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? officially went on sale. The same day Crystal Smith Paul’s novel was announced as the May 2023 main pick for Book of The Month and the May 2023 pick for Reese’s Book Club. Of course, Crystal’s determination, discipline, and story helped to make that happen. But her work on building a brand that she Is proud of, that looks, feels, and sounds like her. – that gives her the confidence to promote her book in her aesthetic and show up on Instagram as the writer, creator (and, did I mention, amazing human) she is.

The crystal that I started working with almost two years ago was still getting used to the idea of needing to show her face on Instagram. Crystal, an e-commerce writer, was embarking on her debut book, “Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?” with Henry Holdt & Co. She aimed to establish her authorship and online presence, entrusting me with her brand and website design, excluding her pre-existing logos by Lauren Sedmak. Now, personal brand (and tripod) in hand, she is creating content to promote her book in collaboration with her publisher, other authors, and more.

Our original goals were to:

• Create the personal brand and website for Crystal Smith Paul, the author

But the challenges in building her brand were to:

• Include visual themes from the book.
• Leave room for future books and creative endeavors to “join” her personal brand.
• Not give away anything from the book.

Not to mention, I had to complete all of this before reading the book. You’d be surprised to learn that Crystal and I were building her brand for 18 months before I could receive an Advanced Readers Edition.

The Art of Building a Strong Personal Brand for Writers

To start the branding process, I employ strategy. A customized Brand Strategy Questionnaire helped me understand Crystal as both a person and writer. Through questions, I learned about her brand vision and what distinguishes her books. Her education at Spellman, UCLA, and NYU, along with the influence of the women who came before her, shaped the characters in “Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?”.

We bonded over our love for mood-boarding on Pinterest (we share 11 boards!). Collage, digital art, and juxtaposing the old and new inspired our creative direction, aligning with the multi-generational theme of Kitty Karr.

Building a Brand Identity

We compiled a master list of Kitty Karr story items and icons. Crystal drew inspiration from both her home state of North Carolina, and California, where the story is set. Her brand identity incorporated visual elements from both places.

I created two initial visual design concepts, narrowing down our favorite elements and colors. Our final creative direction was determined.

The website featured a collage-inspired user experience with significant visuals from the book. Using Photoshop, I extracted shapes from vintage wallpapers and combined them with Crystal’s headshots and brand photos.

We chose Showit to build the website for complete creative freedom, allowing us to design an artistic composition with hidden iconographic clues known only to Crystal.

---

---

Amplify Your Author Brand: Building and Managing a Strong Online Presence

We brought in Kendall Hackett and her team from Kendall Media Co. to kickstart Crystal’s new Instagram account. Our main challenge was establishing her brand on IG without revealing book details.

As Crystal’s brand manager, we collaborated to create lifestyle and writing-related content for her Instagram. Establishing her brand presence beforehand allowed her to practice filming and create promotional content with ease when the book launched.

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?

That leaves one question left – what’s next? Since the book only went on sale yesterday – Crystal is still riding the “Pub Day” high – with Tuesdays massive announcements, her followers continue to climb.

This moment is what we have been working toward. Crystal knew that establishing her brand ahead of time – would pay off once she had the spotlight. Now she gets to soak it in and celebrate until it’s time to get to work on the next book.