Do writers need an author brand?Utsudo and a writer friend talked about “author attributes” — the first impression readers and the industry have when they think of you. Since her works span so many genres that they’re hard to categorize, she combined them with her beloved Lolita fashion to define her attributes as “Lolita × light novelist × VTuber” — while reminding everyone that the novels themselves still need to keep improving.

Translated from Utsudo’s original Chinese column.

Author brand: what are author attributes?

　　One day, while chatting with a certain writer, we got onto the topic of author attributes.

　　Simply put, it’s like a character setting: the first attribute that comes to mind when that author connects with the world (readers, editors, other writers and so on).

　　Then he listed the attributes of several authors, and I nodded along vigorously, finding it fascinating.

　　I thought: wow, who knew being a writer these days means understanding brand marketing too — pretty neat.

　　Then he suddenly asked:“So what’s your attribute?”

　　I froze.

　　It felt like zoning out in class thinking about my lunchbox, when the teacher suddenly ganks me and makes me stand up to answer a question.

Veteran author or campus author?

　　I remembered when I was invited to a livestream and the title said “veteran author.” I felt a bit awkward, because for some reason it reminded me of a certain black-label sausage brand (X). After thinking it over with them, we changed it to “campus author,” since an editor once told me my books sell especially well at campus book fairs XD

　　If you specialize in one type of work, that naturally becomes your “attribute.” But my works have always spanned all kinds of genres, so categorizing them really isn’t easy QQ

　　Anyway, I stayed silent for a long time.

Lolita × light novelist × VTuber

　　Then I thought of something I really love — Lolita fashion!

　　And I suddenly had a bright idea: if from now on I wear Lolita-style clothes whenever I attend author events or creator gatherings, not only would I enjoy wearing them, I’d also get an “attribute” — that seems pretty good.

　　I don’t think any other author has this attribute yet — can I claim it for myself (X

　　Thinking about it this way, it seemed just wonderful, so I started shopping for Lolita online and bought a few new and secondhand pieces, then wore one to a gathering in Taipei right away. The photos turned out well, and wearing cute clothes really does make me happy >//w//<

　　Wearing a pretty little skirt, it feels like even the breeze around me is different, and I can’t help smiling — so happy~

　　Though I don’t know how many more years I can wear it (scared)

　　But I’ve decided to wear it anyway — precisely because I don’t know how long I can, I should wear it now!!!!

　　So I’ve taken it upon myself to decide my attribute is:Lolita × light novelist × VTuber (?)

　　Fellow creators, what’s your “attribute”?

　　Ah, but having an attribute isn’t enough — of course the novels still need to keep improving.

FAQ

Further reading (in Chinese)

• Previous: #70 (in Chinese)
• Next: #72 (in Chinese)
• Start from the beginning: #01 — Utsudo’s debut
• Column introduction
• Utsudo’s books

About the author

Utsudo is a Taiwanese light novelist and novelist VTuber with more than ten years in the industry and 40 commercially published print books. Her novel 《遺失的情書》 received a 2022 Ministry of Culture youth creative award. The 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 series records her experiences as a novelist in Taiwan.

📚 More on this topic: Author Branding, Income & Promotion: Ghost Island Column Guide