Digital Foundations: Building Your Author Brand [ Webinar Transcript ]
/
The following content comes from a free FriesenPress training session broadcast live on August , 2026 (edited for length and clarity). Register here to join us live on our next broadcast!
Hello everyone, and welcome to Digital Foundations: Building Your Author Brand.
My name is Rebekah Caris, and I'm a Promotion Specialist and Employee Owner at FriesenPress. Joining me today is Brian Cliffen, who leads our marketing team and will be helping moderate the Q&A portion of the session.
We called this session Digital Foundations for a reason. You don't need to build a massive digital empire to market your book, and especially not overnight. We are simply laying down a strong foundation that you can build on at your own pace.
I know the phrase book marketing can feel a little intimidating, rigid, or even tech-heavy, but I'm here to assure you that it doesn't have to be overwhelming, and you don't have to do all of it at once. Today is all about practical, bite-sized steps that will help you step into the online world with confidence.
Pillar One: Why Marketing Matters and How to Define Your Brand
When you publish a book, there's a lot to consider beyond the writing process itself. While having a finished book is essential, you also need to think about how you're going to help people discover it.
Our world today is filled with entertainment and endless reading choices. In many ways, that's fantastic. But it also means it's easy for a great story to get lost in the noise. This is why consistent and targeted marketing is so important. It's the bridge that connects you and your hard work to the exact readers looking for it.
Marketing strategies are unique to each author and each book. That's a good thing. How you market a romantic fantasy novel with a huge and highly active online community is going to look different from how you market a historical romance or a nonfiction guide.
There are foundational principles that work for everyone, but keeping your specific reader at the forefront allows you to shape a strategy around your strengths and the places your readers are already excited to engage. By building this foundation during (or even before) the publishing process, you give your book a warm place to land once it launches.
Identifying Your Ideal Reader
Before you start creating online profiles and building your digital footprint, the first step is figuring out who you're talking to. Think about your ideal reader. This might include age range, demographics, geographic location, or shared interests within your genre.
A fun and practical exercise is creating a reader persona, a character in your mind who embodies your ideal audience. Give them a name. Picture what their daily routine looks like. Think about what podcasts they listen to and where they buy books. Then, whenever you're writing a blog post, creating a social media update, or exploring a new promotional avenue, you can ask yourself:
"Would this person find this helpful, inspiring, or entertaining?"
When you speak directly to one person, your marketing naturally becomes warmer, clearer, and far more magnetic to everyone else who shares those same interests.
Building an Author Brand
Once you have your target reader in mind, you can start building your author brand. Your brand is much more than using the same fonts and colors—although that's definitely a fun part of it. Your brand is the feeling and connection people have when they see your name as an author. It's the complete package you bring to the table as a writer.
I challenge you to look at the common threads that tie together your passions, your values, and the reasons you started writing in the first place. Then consider how those themes connect directly with your target reader. An effective author brand doesn't just highlight the book itself—it highlights you and the topics your readers can connect with you on.
A Practical Example
Let's say you wrote a children's book about a lost puppy finding its way home. On the surface, it's a story about a puppy. But at its heart, it's likely a story about resilience, facing fears, and problem-solving. With that in mind, your online content doesn't need to constantly say, "Buy my children's book."
Instead, you could share:
Thoughts on raising resilient children.
Tips for helping kids face big fears.
Ideas for encouraging early literacy.
Your brand becomes much bigger than a product link. It creates opportunities for genuine conversations with readers who care about the same things you do. From there, you can layer on visual elements such as colors, fonts, and graphics so your presence feels cohesive wherever readers encounter you.
And as a bonus tip: try to keep your social media usernames as consistent as possible. It makes it much easier for readers to find you across platforms.
Pillar Two: Your Digital Home Base
Once you've defined your audience and brand, it's time to build the home base of your online presence: your website. I often have authors ask me if they really need a website. My answer is always yes.
A website is the perfect choice for every author, regardless of genre. Think about the last time you looked up a business, restaurant, or organization online. You naturally looked for their official website because it feels legitimate and provides the most reliable information.
As an author, your website is where readers enter your world. You set the tone using colors, graphics, fonts, and language that reflect your work. A dark mystery author's website will look very different from the website of a nonfiction author writing about ecology, and that's exactly how it should be.
Why Websites Matter
One of the biggest benefits of having a website is that it gives you one universal link to share everywhere. Looking for social media? Check the website. Looking for book purchase links? Check the website. Looking for event information or bonus resources? Check the website. Instead of sharing multiple long links, you direct readers to one central hub.
Your website also improves discoverability through search engine optimization (SEO). Having your author name and book title naturally included throughout your site helps search engines understand and catalog your content.
At FriesenPress, we love using Wix because it offers intuitive design tools, built-in SEO features, AI integrations, and analytics. You don't need to use all of those features immediately, but it's nice to have them available as you grow. Your website grows with you. It doesn't need every bell and whistle on day one—it simply needs to provide a solid foundation.
Blogging and Substack
You can host a blog directly on your website, but if you're excited about blogging and have the bandwidth to learn a new platform, I also recommend looking into Substack. We're seeing a huge shift toward Substack because it combines a blog, social media profile, and email newsletter into a single platform.
Instead of hoping social media algorithms show your content to readers, Substack delivers your writing directly to subscribers' inboxes. If Substack feels like too much right now, that's okay. Start with what feels manageable. You can always begin blogging on your website and move content over later.
In marketing, it's always best to start where you're comfortable and grow from there. Every blog post you create can also become social media content. You can pull a compelling quote, insight, or teaser from the article and direct readers back to the full piece. It's a simple and effective content cycle.
Pillar Three: Social Media and Reader Hubs
Now that you've established your home base, let's talk about social media. Before we dive in, I want to share my ultimate rule for authors:
You do not need to be on every platform.
In fact, we generally advise against it. Instead of spreading yourself across four or five platforms and heading straight toward burnout, choose one or two places where your readers spend time and where you feel comfortable showing up.
Choosing the Right Platform
Facebook tends to skew a little older and offers flexibility through text posts, photos, videos, and groups. Instagram focuses heavily on visual storytelling and is a fantastic place to give readers a feel for your book's aesthetic. TikTok trends younger and thrives on frequent, casual video content. X (formerly Twitter) remains useful for quick updates and networking within the writing community.
My advice is to research the platforms, learn how they function, and figure out what feels realistic and sustainable for you.
Authenticity Matters
One of the biggest shifts we're seeing right now is a move away from hyper-polished content. People crave real human connection. In a world filled with AI-generated content and influencers who seem to have perfect lives, authenticity stands out. That doesn't mean your content should be low quality. It simply means you don't need to wait until everything is perfect before you start sharing. Imperfection is relatable. Some creators even post bloopers because audiences enjoy seeing what happens behind the scenes. Focus on being real over being perfect.
And remember, it's completely okay to have boundaries. You don't need to share your entire life online. You are representing your brand. You can be genuine and approachable without giving away everything.
Bringing Your Brand Into Social Media
Your social media should feel connected to your overall brand. That doesn't mean every post has to use the exact same colors or templates. It simply means your profiles should feel cohesive. Readers should immediately recognize the vibe of your brand whether they're visiting your website or your Instagram page. Let's go back to our lost puppy book example.
Instead of constantly posting about the book itself, you could share:
A story about helping a child overcome a fear.
Tips for encouraging children to read.
Reflections on resilience and confidence.
Notice how those topics connect directly to the themes of the book without constantly saying, "Buy my book." In fact, neither post has to mention the book at all.
Put on your author hat whenever you're creating content. Let your author voice lead the conversation while still allowing your personality to shine through.
Goodreads and Amazon Author Central
While social media helps build relationships, dedicated reader platforms are also incredibly valuable. Goodreads gives readers a place to track books, leave reviews, discover new authors, and connect with reading communities.
For authors, a Goodreads profile creates another professional landing page where readers can find your books, learn more about you, and explore your catalogue. The setup is free and requires very little maintenance.
Similarly, Amazon Author Central allows you to create a polished author presence on Amazon. You can add your bio, upload a headshot, include editorial reviews, and help readers discover your other books. It takes about fifteen minutes to set up but adds a significant layer of professionalism.
Pillar Four: Modern Search Made Simple
Our final pillar focuses on future-proofing your online presence. You've probably noticed that search engines like Google, and tools like ChatGPT, often answer questions directly before users even click a website. That's a major shift. Instead of simply aiming to rank on a search results page, you want your author brand to become a direct recommendation.
The good news is that you don't need to be a programmer or AI expert to make this happen. The foundation remains the same: Use clear, descriptive language. Include your author name, book titles, and genre naturally across your website, Goodreads profile, Amazon Author Central page, and other online spaces.
Creating a Clear Brand Summary
One of the best things you can do is develop a clear tagline, mission statement, or brand summary. Feature it consistently across your platforms. This makes it easy for both readers and AI tools to understand exactly who you are and what your work is about.
The Power of FAQ Pages
Another simple but powerful tactic is creating an FAQ page on your website. AI search engines love direct questions paired with direct answers.
For example:
What genre does P.L. Stewart write?
P.L. Stewart is a Canadian author who writes epic fantasy novels and is best known for The Drowned Kingdom Saga.
How many books are in The Drowned Kingdom Saga?
The Drowned Kingdom Saga is a planned seven-book epic fantasy series.
Notice how simple and clear those answers are while still including important keywords. When AI systems crawl the web looking for information, they can easily identify and use those answers. It's a small change that can help future-proof your website and improve discoverability over time.
Q/A Section
What are your thoughts on Threads and Bluesky as social media platforms? How might an author choose one over another?
Rebecca: Those are more up-and-coming. They’re not in the main bulk that we typically list and go through, but all of them have their own benefits. Bluesky is short snippets, same with Threads. They’re less image-heavy than Instagram and TikTok are, so it really depends on your preference.
Threads still is within the Meta system, so think Facebook and Instagram. There are ways to connect those, and we saw those take off when they first launched. They don’t always keep up with the main core, but I always recommend, if you’re interested in those ones, explore it. Watch some videos, check it out, see if your people are on there.
And if you’re not wanting to do lots of photos and pictures, that’s perfect.
If you’re publishing books in multiple genres, how does that affect how you present yourself as an author?
Rebecca: That’s an awesome question, and it really comes down to preference and how different those brands are, right?
If you write children’s books and then you write spicy romance books, you’re going to want those very separate because they’re not the same audience. But some people will decide to publish another genre under a pseudonym or a different author name to help that be completely separate.
Again, depending on the appropriateness of them being interwoven, I’ve also seen some authors, and helped some authors, make different sides of a website. So they have, I’ve seen authors do dark fantasy on one section of a website that they kind of toggle to, and then do epic fantasy on a different side.
So it really comes back to what genres you’re writing, knowing your audience, knowing what they would vibe with and what they would be like, “No, I want that separate,” and then finding a way to either integrate them or keep them separate.
I don’t think that there’s a black-and-white answer to that. It really is dependent on what your plans are.
Do you need two websites? One for your book and one for your author?
Rebecca: So, I think you can just look at how that information is structured for authors.
Typically, I would recommend you don’t have more than one website because that can tend to split your readers. Again, if you have two very different things—so maybe you have a professional business that is very not related to your book—then that would make sense.
But for the most part, you want to build a brand around those core values. And if your brand has those core values, you can slot your book into that, right? So it doesn’t have to be separate. It can live on maybe a separate section. It doesn’t have to be the book website, but you want an overall brand website.
So you don’t incur additional fees for website maintenance, and you want to group all of your readers and your followers together in one place.
Where is the best place to put an FAQ section on your website?
Rebecca: Yeah. The great part with it, if you’re just doing it for AI, you can kind of put it anywhere. You can hide it on your site. It doesn’t have to be out in the open because the AI can scroll the sites and find it.
But if you do want it actually for your readers to access, it depends how your site is set up.
Sometimes people will put it in the footer of their website. That’s also an ideal place to put your social media links if you don’t have them in other places, also.
But for sure, in your footer. So you could do a footer, you could do a separate page. Those are really the only two options I would opt for.
So it just depends how comprehensive that FAQ page is going to be and how your site is already laid out. What makes sense?
If you have a website already, can you add an author page to that website, or are you recommending starting a new one?
Rebecca: Depends what your website currently is.
So, if your website is totally, completely different from what you want your author brand to be, and again, this is going back to the importance of knowing what your brand is—if your website could be part of your author brand, for sure include another page.
Do a callout on the home screen that’s like, “Hey, check out my book. It’s new,” and then do a page based on it.
But if you have, maybe you’re a doctor and you have a website that is completely about you being a doctor and your professional experience, but you write fantasy books, that wouldn’t slot into that website.
So it really just depends on your brand and what would be appropriate. How does that look? Does that split your readers?
Is there one social media site you recommend above all for authors?
Rebecca: Depends on your audience.
I think the most broad social media is Instagram because it has a really wide variety of things, right? So you can, there is the stipulation you have to be willing to post images, so keep that in mind.
But you’ve got a really broad age range. You’ve got all sorts of book community folks. You’ve got all sorts of niche interest folks on Instagram.
So if I had to choose one, I think Instagram is the broadest. But make sure that that functions how you need it to function, and double-check that your people are on there.
Is LinkedIn a viable platform for nonfiction authors specifically?
Rebecca: LinkedIn is awesome. It is going to be less of like “social butterflying”, like you might on other platforms. LinkedIn is really good for, again, if you have a professional brand that your book is slotting into.
A plumber writing about plumbing? Perfect. LinkedIn is where people are being professionals online. This is where people are networking for jobs, they’re talking about their careers, they’re doing personal development and growth.
You just have to make sure, if you’re using that platform, one, is that your audience? Because if it’s not, then don’t bother. It’s not worth it for not finding your audience. But if your audience is there, you just want to make sure you have your professional hat on and make sure that everything has value to these professionals that you’re posting to.
Thoughts on Pinterest? Is it a useful platform for authors?
Rebecca: Yeah, Pinterest is kind of a double-edged sword. Pinterest is definitely nice for what it is. People use it to pin fashion. They pin craft ideas, they pin recipes and things that they want in their home. But we find there is a lot of AI on Pinterest. There are a lot of scammy links that people do. There are a lot of reposts.
It really depends on what your book is. A cookbook could certainly live on Pinterest. That would totally make sense, whereas a fantasy book or maybe even a kids’ book wouldn’t be the right fit. So I would say, for your effort, I don’t think Pinterest is right for an author brand most of the time. There are, of course, exceptions.
For the amount of time that you want to be spending establishing that genuine connection with people, that is usually not going to be worth it or available on Pinterest.
