Branding - or Who The Heck is D G Keohane and What Have You Done With Daniel?
Nothing. Daniel G Keohane is fine, and author of Margaret's Ark and Solomon's Grave (and the upcoming Plague of Darkness, but that's another topic for another day). But there is a concept called Branding, where your author name becomes synonymous to readers with your most well-known works, and directs them to the next book, and the next. As much as Solomon's Grave is labeled a horror or suspense novel (it was a finalist for the coveted Bram Stoker Award in 2009), it's also an Inspirational Suspense novel. Same with Margaret's Ark, which is by far (and so far) my most successful and well-received novel, based on so many positive reviews coming in from all kinds of readers in the US and abroad.
Now, in January I released Destroyer of Worlds, and though the couple of reviews it's gotten on Amazon so far have been tremendous, and personally I think it kicks major butt novel-wise, it's more a traditional horror novel - part supernatural, part psychological drama. It also has a lot more swearing and sex in it. Though not all readers of my previous novels Margaret's Ark have been Christians/religious, many are. And much of Destroyer might not appeal to them. In fact, it was the mix of reviews on Goodreads itself which got me thinking of how the audience for this book versus the others might be (sometimes) different.
Branding. How do I differentiate to a reader without resorting to content warnings the difference in the two sets of novels? Answer: the author name.
Daniel G Keohane, my full name and long-standing author de plume, for my faith-based novels.
D G Keohane, similar to the above, and still my name but a way to make the horror style of anything else I wrote stand out. Someone likes Margaret's Ark, they'll look for more books by Daniel G Keohane. Someone likes Destroyer of Worlds, they'll look for more from D G Keohane. Now if I can convince the publisher of Christmas Trees and Monkeys to change the name as well...
It's not unique. Other writers have done this in the past (one extremely good dart player who comes to mind is author Michael Marshall Smith, aka Michael Smith, aka Marshall Smith).
Let me know what you think.
Dan
aka, D :-)
Now, in January I released Destroyer of Worlds, and though the couple of reviews it's gotten on Amazon so far have been tremendous, and personally I think it kicks major butt novel-wise, it's more a traditional horror novel - part supernatural, part psychological drama. It also has a lot more swearing and sex in it. Though not all readers of my previous novels Margaret's Ark have been Christians/religious, many are. And much of Destroyer might not appeal to them. In fact, it was the mix of reviews on Goodreads itself which got me thinking of how the audience for this book versus the others might be (sometimes) different.
Branding. How do I differentiate to a reader without resorting to content warnings the difference in the two sets of novels? Answer: the author name.
Daniel G Keohane, my full name and long-standing author de plume, for my faith-based novels.
D G Keohane, similar to the above, and still my name but a way to make the horror style of anything else I wrote stand out. Someone likes Margaret's Ark, they'll look for more books by Daniel G Keohane. Someone likes Destroyer of Worlds, they'll look for more from D G Keohane. Now if I can convince the publisher of Christmas Trees and Monkeys to change the name as well...
It's not unique. Other writers have done this in the past (one extremely good dart player who comes to mind is author Michael Marshall Smith, aka Michael Smith, aka Marshall Smith).
Let me know what you think.
Dan
aka, D :-)
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