Writing a book is hard enough. Then comes selling it.
And it’s not enough to market the work—you must also market yourself as an author. Why? Because people buy from whom they know, like, and trust!
So, how do you make yourself stand out in a sea of authors? The answer is branding—the unique combination of logos, fonts, textures, symbols, and voice that identify the things you make and put out there as yours and yours alone. And one very important component of branding is the color palette, the set of colors you’ll apply to everything from your website to your social media graphics.
But First, Here’s What Not to Do
You might be tempted to go to a random color palette generator and just click the refresh button until you hit something you like. Or you might browse color palettes other people have put together in search of a spark. Trust me when I say both of those methods take forever, and they’re not even guaranteed to get you what you want.
Like I said, you want a look that’s unique to you!
Another method you want to avoid is simply using your book’s color palette for your author brand. I’m sure your cover is stunning, but no matter how beautiful it is, there will come a time when you’ll want to update the cover to keep up with the current trends in the market. Plus, you may someday have another book or series, and you don’t want to be stuck with a particular set of colors, or have to rebrand yourself all over again.
Seek Inspiration from Your Genre
If you write science fiction, you’ve probably seen a lot of your comp authors using cool blues, greens, and silvers. If you write horror, the same will be true for blood reds and gray-blacks.
Am I advising you to copy what everyone else is doing? Of course not! But studying the authors of your genre who are killing it can give you an idea of the kinds of color combinations that might speak to your ideal reader. Jot down a list of combinations you like, then start playing around with sites like Coolors to create palettes.
Pull From Your Image(s)
You might be entering the color palette conversation with some ideas already in hand. I usually start this process for myself and others with a big, beautiful image that I feel encompasses what I’m trying to say. It usually becomes the header image on website and/or the banner on all the social media platforms. (And if you choose to do this, make sure to use royalty-free sites like Unsplash or Pexels!)
Once you have an image, you have tons of options for pulling a color palette from the image! I like to use Canva’s Color Palette Generator if I want a done-for-me palette with colors that are guaranteed not to clash, Coolors’ Image Picker if I know what specific colors I want to pull from the image for the palette, and CSSDrive’s Color Palette Generator if I want a comprehensive breakdown of all the colors in the image.
Another route similar to this that may work even better is creating a mood board based on the kind of author brand you’d like to have. Once you’ve acquired enough images, you can download the mood board as a single JPEG or PNG and upload it to one of the aforementioned tools.
Consider Looking to Your Color Season
This was the game changer for me, personally.
Color analysis has been blowing up lately on TikTok and Instagram, and I’ll admit that I’m a sucker for any kind of quiz or tailored-to-you schtick. So, naturally, I jumped down the color analysis rabbit hole. When I discovered I was a dark winter, I tossed out the color palette and brand board I’d made days before and started from scratch, abandoning one of the colors that I’m known for sporting in my circle. (IYKYK!)
My initial goal was just to choose a color palette that looked good on me, but along the way, I did some intense soul-searching. I asked myself who I was, who people thought I was, and who I wanted to be as a writer, and that led to so many revelations you can read about on my personal blog. (Spoiler alert: I was wrong about the genre I’m called to write.)
To make a long story short, changing my color palette to dark-wintery colors made my author brand look and feel more harmonious with who I am as a writer and as a person. Plus, at in-person events and in pictures, I’m going to glow because my color palette compliments me so well and already lives in my wardrobe! I will never not be “on brand!”
This route isn’t right for everyone, but it was for me, and it might be for you, too!
