When I was a debut author, I was presenting one of my very first writing workshops, and I wanted to use the opportunity to plug my novel.

So I did what comes most naturally to any born storyteller… and I told them the story of how that debut novel came to be — which details the experience of me going on an island holiday for a week, coming up with a ludicrous fantasy that my crush might show up, which developed into an enemies-to-lovers plot line starring a fiery redhead and an egotistical love interest.

I’ve told this story in interviews with journalists, in guest articles I’ve written, and on stages in front of dozens of people.

Today, I call that story one of my core, brand stories for the Stuck on Vacation with Ryan Rupert series. When people hear that story, they think of me and my brand.

It’s memorable, it sticks… and it sells my book.

This is the power of your story. Not the story within your book, but the stories that shape your existence, your decisions, and everything that you do.

People respond better to stories than they do to sales pitches. And it’s not that you shouldn’t be selling and pitching your work. But in a room full of 100 strangers who have never heard of you or your book, you’re always better off telling a brand story that will stick in their mind, than doing a half-assed sales pitch you don’t even feel confident rehearsing.

This is why I built my brand on storytelling. I sell my books through storytelling. And it’s storytelling that makes my audience feel emotionally connected to what I do, and what I stand for. It helps them buy into my books and brand over time.

In today’s article, I’m going to share how you can sell more books and build a stronger brand presence through your own brand stories.

Brand Stories vs Book Stories

The first piece of this is to differentiate the difference between stories that grow your brand, and stories that sell your books.

Brand Stories are stories that grow your brand. They help people get to know you, relate to you, and understand the types of books or work you create.

Book Stories are directly related to your books. They help people get to know the book itself, or uncover a factor as to why your book might be their perfect next read.

Each one is important, and we’ll dive into specific examples throughout this article.

Identifying Your Brand Stories

A lot of creatives get stuck trying to identify their brand stories because they start out writing for enjoyment and personal fulfillment. There’s no ‘deeper mission’ to writing a romance, or deeply philosophical purpose for their work.

There’s also nothing wrong with this. And it doesn’t mean you don’t have brand stories.

Brand stories develop as you further in your career. In fact, brand stories can be any of the following things:

a.) Brand Story #1: Your journey of authorship/publishing

This is also called an origin story, and there are two types of origin stories you could tell:

i.) Your journey-to-now origin story – this is a story about where you began vs where you are today. It details who you were and what you thought about writing, either before or as you were writing your first book, then jumps to where you are today, showcasing how far you’ve come, or how your mindset has evolved.

For example, my journey-to-now origin story could be framed a number of ways:

• I started out traditionally publishing and now I self-publish, so I could tell the story of (beginning) starting out traditional, (middle) walking away from my publisher, and (end) creating massive success independently.

• I have been writing since I first picked up a pen, so I could tell the story of (beginning) knowing I wanted to be an author at 5 years old, (middle) querying my first series in year 12 and (end) having ten published books to date.

• I didn’t believe I could make money writing until recently, so I could tell the story of (beginning) working a waitressing job with my first publishing contract, (middle) quitting my job to become a self-employed content writer and (end) building a million dollar writing business in the present day.

Notice how all of these stories help people get to know me, my beliefs, my values, and my journey? This is a high-level overview story that is easy to tell in your social media content, or at author events. 

ii.) A micro-origin story – this is a story that hones in on a specific event from your journey. It could be something specific to what you want to be known for, what influences or inspires your books, or what has shaped your values.

For example, some of my micro-origin stories could be:

• The exact moment I knew I wanted to walk away from traditional publishing, including the inciting incident that led me to that decision.

• The very first book I ever wrote and how it helped me realise the kinds of stories I want to be telling.

• The exact moment that helped me shift my mindset around believing my books could generate a million dollars.

A micro-story is more specific, and can be used to promote a specific offer or speak to a type of person in your audience. You can use these in specific marketing campaigns or for dedicated events.

b.) Brand Story #2: Your writing evolution

This type of story showcases how you’ve grown or evolved as a writer. It can be particularly useful if you ever pivot genres or age ranges, or have honed in on a specific audience throughout the years.

For example, I could tell stories about:

• Transitioning from fantasy to fairytale retellings.
• Evolving from feel-good contemporaries to darker, gritter romances.
• The moment I realised I was done writing for a teenage audience.

c.) How certain beliefs/experiences have shaped your writing

This type of story is good if you do have a deeper, underlying reason for writing the books you write. For example, many people draw on their own trauma, or unique viewpoints and upbringing, to shape the stories that they tell. So sharing the underlying influences or experiences that bought a book to life can be a great story to tell.

For example, I could tell stories about:

• How a negative review on Lanterns in the Sky almost broke me, but in hindsight, helped me realise I was writing for the wrong audience and needed to double down on the type of story I wanted to be telling.
• How the person I was ten years ago influenced my main character in Blood Magic.
• How working on myself and experiencing a healthier romantic relationship helped me write better romantic storylines.

d.) Your personal inspirations

This last kind of story is more broad, but can be anything that inspires and influences your writing. It can be people, things and places.

For example, I could tell stories about:

• How watching The Kardashians hugely influenced Coral and Kendra Klassan’s characters from Kingdom of Sirens and Monsters.
• How one of my childhood friends hugely influenced a storyline in Blood Magic.
• How going on a holiday to an island resort sparked the idea for Stuck on Vacation With Ryan Rupert.

Examples of individuals with clear brand stories and messaging

I recently watched Apple Cider Vinegar, and as I was watching the series, it reminded me just how powerful a brand story can be to building a global movement around your work.

If you’re unfamiliar, the series tells the real story of Belle Gibson and how she built a global movement around her healthy eating app named The Whole Pantry, which was founded on the (fake) story that she had brain cancer and healed herself naturally through healthy food. 

While there’s a lot of negative to be said for Belle Gibson as a person, and I’m not at all suggesting that people build their brands on a lie or take any sort of lessons from Belle, she is a powerful example of how a story that resonates can gain global interest.

Your story is powerful, and sharing it is important. Do not underestimate the power of your story.

There are plenty of other brands that have been built on a (truthful) powerful story:

Rick Riordan started out as a school teacher. His Percy Jackson Series started out as a bedtime story for his son, who was struggling with dyslexia and ADHD. Rick Riordan had the idea to combine Greek mythology and demi-god children who shared the same disabilities, so that kids like his could relate to the characters and see themselves in heroes while learning about mythology through engaging adventure stories. This is a powerful brand story for someone whose books have now been adapted to film and tv. He even has an imprint with Disney.

Justin Beiber’s story of being discovered doing covers on YouTube at just 12 years old launched his entire music career. At the time, being discovered this way was pretty much unheard of, and since he was one of the first, it was an interesting story that only grew and grew thanks to his popularity and dedicated fanbase. He was also one of the first pop stars to build a huge following using platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Stephanie Meyer’s idea for Twilight came to her in a dream, which featured a human girl and a vampire in a meadow who told her he could read her mind and was struggling with the desire to kill her – but was also deeply in love with her. 

The Kardashians built a global empire that started in scandal, but ultimately, they proved that they could turn attention and influence into multiple million dollar businesses (e.g. creating wealth on ‘zero talent’). That, in itself, is an impactful story that has commanded global interest.

These are all examples of stories that can be used to tell journey-to-now origin stories, hone in on micro-stories, draw on personal inspirations, or even shape ‘book-based’ brand stories (which we’ll dive into next).

Identifying Your Book Stories

Your book stories may come easier to you than your brand stories, likely because you have an experience for how your book came to be, or experiences that have shaped certain scenes or characters.

Of the above examples, Rick Riordan and Stephanie Meyer have the best examples – both of their stories detail how their original work came to be. But they could also be framed as journey-to-now publishing stories, so it completely depends on how you tell the story.

Book Stories are the stories to be sharing in your marketing, on social media, at events, and in publicity opportunities. Here are some examples of how it can look:

a.) The story behind your book

This is how your book came to be. The story I shared at the start of this article, about how I got the idea for Stuck on Vacation With Ryan Rupert, is a great example of this.

When I tell the story, I structure it like this: (beginning) where I was when I got the idea and what drew me in about the concept (middle) how the characters and storyline for Aubany and Ryan developed, and (end) how I wrote the first draft in a week and went on to publish it five years later.

b.) The story behind your characters

This is how you came up with your characters. I have brand stories on how I came up with both Lysander and Leif’s characters from Kingdom of Sirens and Monsters (you can listen to these stories here and here). 

When I tell Lysander’s story, I often structure it like: (beginning) why I wanted to write a character like Lysander (middle) how I went about writing his character (end) how Lysander is different to other characters we read about.

c.) The story behind certain scenes

I have multiple book stories that detail how I came up with certain scenes from Stuck on Vacation With Ryan Rupert, which I sometimes tell at author events. I also have stories on what inspired certain scenes in my other books – such as the opening scene from Blood Magic (which you can listen to here).

Examples of individuals with clear book stories and messaging

What you will find, especially after writing a handful of books, is that every artist has a common thread that connects all their work together.

I, myself, only identified my core themes after writing ten books, and I didn’t even realise that I had been telling the same type of story over and over, throughout different genres and storylines and character types.

I always write about a protagonist on a journey of self-discovery—whether it be finding her inner strength, or realising her worth, or overcoming something deeply personal. So this is a brand story I could tell that links all of my creative work together, even though all of it is vastly different.

When I think of really big authors like Sarah J. Maas, Rebecca Yarros and Scarlett St. Clair, their stories might look like ‘faerie/dragon/mythology smut’ on the outside, but what I see are global brands built around ‘powerful women’ characters and ‘desirable male’ love interests.

These women write stories that other women can see themselves in – and deeply relate to.

When I hear people talk about and relate to A Court of Thorns and Roses, I often hear how it woke them up to being in a toxic relationship and helped give them the courage to leave it.

When I hear people talk about and relate to Fourth Wing, I often hear how they love the depiction of a strong woman who shouldn’t have been able to thrive in her situation, and was able to prove everyone wrong through self-belief, wit, determination and resilience.

When I hear people talk about any Scarlett St. Clair book, I hear them talk about the representation of powerful women and men who support and lift up those women, rather than tear them down.

In the world that we live in, is it no surprise that these types of stories and experiences are popular, painstakingly relatable, and deeply desirable? It’s no wonder readers resonate with the messaging their brands are built on, because these authors stand for everything a women wants and feels on a day-to-day basis.

Your why behind the characters you write, and the types of stories you desire to tell, is deeply desirable to someone who has been through what you have been through.

Whether it’s found family, building strength and confidence, discovering one’s self, finding true love, or even overcoming a form of adversity, these are relatable themes that can launch a global movement – if you actually talk about the stories behind the books and characters you’re writing.

(P.S: if you found this article helpful for your book marketing, you may find this bundle of mini-marketing trainings I’ve put together especially helpful!)