Episode 32: Branding Strategies for Authors

Cassie Newell (00:18)
Welcome to episode 32. I'm Cassie Newell, and I'm here with my co-host Angela Haas. We're kicking off a new month talking about how to grow your business. Today, we're diving into something that's near and dear to my heart, branding. As someone with a background in design, I've seen how powerful, clear, consistent branding can be for an author's career. Whether you write romance, thrillers, cozy cat mysteries, it's all branding.

Angela Haas (00:41)
Okay, it's all

Cassie Newell (00:43)
let's talk about it a little bit. So let's start with the basics. When we say branding as an author, what do we really mean? What are the pieces that make up a brand? we're really talking about the author experience

Angela Haas (00:44)
let's talk about it a little bit. So let's start with the basics. When you say branding is an offer, how can you win? There's a concept. you're really talking about offers.

Cassie Newell (00:57)
from the vibe of your book covers to the tone of your social media to how you post on your website and what promises your stories are going to deliver. That is branding.

the basic, basic definition. I feel like if you think of it in simpler terms, it's how readers feel when they interact with your work. At its core, it's made up of your genre, your voice, your tone, your visual style, even, and your emotional promise that you make to the reader. if you take it to that emotional promise,

I really think that hones in and we'll talk about some of my favorite branding too and maybe some of yours. ⁓ But for me as CK Darling, promise sigh worthy, steamy, small town romance and bite sized reads that leave you grinning, right? that is what I work to do whenever you see my posts, my items to leave you grinning, happy, sigh worthy fun, right? That's my romance.

That's how I look at it. ⁓ And that's what I try to wrap up in my website, social media, when I'm just talking with readers in general, all the things. Angela, what is your emotional piece to your readership?

Angela Haas (02:12)
Well, it's changed a little bit because, when I was writing Super Hero Sci-Fi, and still will return to that series, but the emotional experience was more on like a supernatural level of you're going on this journey, the hero heroines journey, if you will, and you are going through

these high stakes action, adventure, suspense, highs and lows of that character. So the emotional experience I wanted people to have was just almost like being on a roller coaster ride. And when you're finished, you want to do it again, because, even though there were highs and lows and twists and turns, you saw the characters overcome something, grow and be better people.

because of their experiences and become superheroes. that's something that's completely different as I've transitioned to my writing my first romance and I had to relearn okay, well, what do I want people to feel now? I just want people to have fun reading my romances, but also go through still a hero's journey with that character as they have highs and lows and

I always have, I will always have characters that have to overcome something to fall in love. It's not just insta-love for me. So you'll laugh, you'll cry and feel like you have new best friends. That's the emotional piece that I want people to have, but I want people to always escape when they read my books. They can be with another couple and feel like the world melts away.

Cassie Newell (03:40)
Mmm.

I love that. And your books are funny. You are a natural comedian. So I think of your books to as not only the the kind of swoony but laugh and cry. Like you don't know why you're crying. It's either because you feeling the emotion or you're laughing your ass off. Because you have you're really quite good at the comedic parts. So

Angela Haas (03:51)
Yeah.

thanks.

Yes. Right. Yeah.

Thank you.

Cassie Newell (04:12)
What are some of the common mistakes that indie authors make with their visuals or their brand that can dilute themselves? And I think I learned this early on, just myself, is inconsistency. Maybe your covers say rom-com, but your Instagram looks like dark academia, like no go. Readers get confused.

Angela Haas (04:32)
Right, right.

Cassie Newell (04:34)
and they get confused and they don't buy. Another is using really generic visuals. I love Canva templates. Don't get me wrong. They're fabulous. But customize them to your colors. Customize them to your brand. You've got to have something that's uniquely you. And not everything needs to be unique. I mean, a lot of romance writers use the color pink.

Angela Haas (04:46)
Mm-hmm.

Cassie Newell (04:56)
that is not my color, you know, in terms of it only belongs to CK Darling, but I have a certain combo, I have a certain feel, so that is what I'm emulating. certain colors do mean certain things. They particularly talk about different emotions. I know that's something you'll talk about later too. But was there anything...

When you started out that you were like, I'm getting this wrong. I don't know. As a retailer, you probably had a really good grasp of that, though.

Angela Haas (05:25)
Yeah, I had already an idea, but it's different when you're creating a brick and mortar store versus your website. but I actually drew on this and it's an activity I did to help authors figure out what their vibe or brand or mood is. I said, visualize yourself as a bookstore.

Cassie Newell (05:31)
Mm.

Angela Haas (05:48)
If you, if money is no object, had the best location and you could open your own brick and mortar bookstore, what does it look like? What does it smell like? What do you want people to feel when they open the door? Because it's not just about books on shelves, it's about creating an environment. So jot down some thoughts about if I had my own bookstore, that's just me, everything I like to read and write.

Here's what it is. And is it kind of dark and moody? Is there plush pink velvet chairs? Is there leather chairs and cigar smoke? Visualize everything about that and that might help you figure out what your vibe is. And then take those visuals, maybe even doing like a little Pinterest or Milanote or Campfire, whatever you use, storyboard with colors that match that feeling.

Cassie Newell (06:17)
Right.

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Angela Haas (06:41)
And then you

might have a better idea. So with the superhero stuff, I picked colors that had meaning, you know, green, blue, purples, but that making them more supernatural and electric, because that's what I visualize. There's colors like that in space and Milky ways and things like that. And so I was going there. But then when I came out with the one romance, I didn't do a pen name. So I just had my web.

Cassie Newell (06:56)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Angela Haas (07:07)
developer do a choose your own adventure, sci-fi this way and romance this way. So it kind of combines the two and then you can just click where you want to go. But I'm still trying to figure out.

Cassie Newell (07:14)
Yeah.

And I went the opposite direction.

I chose separate pen names to manage it all separately. And I gotta tell you, it's a lot. So, CM Newell has basically just stopped. I'm not really writing Young Adult Fantasy anymore. I'm not putting the effort there. It's still running. You can still buy the books. It still makes me money.

You know, it's still available. I had my passion project with poetry. All my colors were very royal, very fantasy oriented. You would expect purples and dark blacks and things like that. It's definitely there. On my nonfiction side, it's quite bright, oranges and pinks and things like that. And then, you know, for for the romance side, I just

Yeah, I went with pinks and fun and I am not afraid of color. and that's just my design background. And that's part of what some might say my bubbly personality is. So nonetheless, there are some examples, though, of author visuals that I feel like I've really nailed it, you know, but I also think it takes time to really nail your brand visuals and things like that. So

My big advice to our listeners is don't feel. You have to have it perfect out of the gate. It will evolve as you continue to write. You continue to feel the business, feel yourself in terms of what you're writing and who you want to be as an author and what you want to convey. But always think about the emotion you're giving your reader.

But one brand I really love is Ali Hazelwood. She has bold colors, consistent character, art style. ⁓ Even her reels feel like an extension of her books, even though she just took down her social media. But they were nerdy, flirty, and fun, right? So you know what you're getting before you even open the book. There's this expectation. It's the reader feels, right? She's delivering on all those promises, and it's conveyed in her full brand.

Angela Haas (08:54)
Mm-hmm.

Cassie Newell (09:19)
I feel that way about Melanie Harlow, who I've recently discovered. I am enamored with her website. It's just, ⁓ I just love her branding. It's perfect. And then ⁓ Megan Quinn screams rom-coms and it's bright and it's colorful. All of her series, they all align. And what's interesting is the ones that don't align,

are really reduced at the bottom of her website. Like, do you want this thriller mystery? Come here. But her main stage is definitely where she's focusing her time. And I find that really interesting. Are there any strong author visual brands that you've noticed over the years that you're like, wow, that really hits the mark in terms of grabbing you as a reader?

Angela Haas (10:08)
I haven't finished the rest of the series, but Rebecca Yarros is a master class in branding. she writes contemporary military romance, but she writes romantasy And her romantasy branding is just perfect. And you just know what you're getting.

Cassie Newell (10:17)
That's right.

Angela Haas (10:25)
she really tries to touch base with her readers and she doesn't just always post about her books, which I love. She keeps people engaged, her followers who have probably already read and have the books by asking them questions, posting memes. Her brand feels very light and personal.

and like she's really reaching out to you. I love that extra touch because one principle which people may argue but from the time, the early times of Facebook and when it was in its beta, I used to run social media pages for different businesses. And I would say it's, it's always like part your product, part you and part.

Cassie Newell (10:47)
Hmm.

Angela Haas (11:09)
your community or the world or something relevant. And Rebecca Yarros does this beautifully because if you think about it, if you, you, we do want to post the same content because you're going to hit different people who see different things in the algorithm. At the same time, if you only post that sometimes you might lose people who are like, well, I already have all these books and that's all they're posting. So I'm going to snooze for 30 days or something.

but she always asks questions, she's always talking about events, she's always doing some personal thing about her, and that's part of her brand. She feels like she's accessible and like she's an author just like us or a reader just like us. She makes it so personal and that's what I also love about her brand. It's not just the visuals, but it's that personal touch that she adds.

Cassie Newell (11:41)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I think authors also have to decide how personal and comfortable they are with revealing more intimate things about themselves because she talks. I mean, you're going to find out she's a Swiftie, but you're also going to find out, you know, about a lot of her children too with disabilities and different things. ⁓ Some people may not want to share that.

Angela Haas (12:11)
Right.

Cassie Newell (12:21)
There's also, I know you and I have had these private discussions about political views. Like we've chosen not to discuss that. And that's not something I'm ever gonna discuss as an author. I will talk about it with my husband and my really close friends, but it's not something I'm gonna do here because my goal is reading. know, sigh swoon and grinning. that's my reader emotion I'm looking to do. I'm not gonna bring in.

Angela Haas (12:36)
Mm-hmm.

Cassie Newell (12:46)
those other topics that don't give me joy for that and that's not part of my brand. I think you also have to make those decisions as well. And that's

Angela Haas (12:49)
Right.

Yeah.

I don't talk about politics either. I will in the public sphere. that's something from, where people would have brisk heated political discussions face to face

Cassie Newell (12:58)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Angela Haas (13:09)
And that's the best way for me to have discussions that are serious because you have immediate feedback. People can have your tone, your expressions, and that's, think, what it takes. it's not that I think you should be avoiding talking about politics, but with my author brand, I run my author brand like we run our brick and mortars. People come into our stores.

Cassie Newell (13:13)
Yeah.

Sure.

Angela Haas (13:33)
They want to have a good time. They want a bison burger, a Starbucks. They want a t-shirt or a piece of art or a fine piece of jewelry. Can you imagine if someone came and they're buying t-shirts and we're like, before you go, we need to tell you how we feel about our political views. Our customers would be like, we didn't come here for this. I know other people were not.

Cassie Newell (13:55)
Mm-hmm.

Angela Haas (13:57)
shaming or throwing shade. If your brand is that you discuss this and that's your comfort and your readers love that about you, that's great. It's not me because we just don't conduct our brick and mortars like that. And I feel like people come to my page because they want to learn about romance or my English bulldog or something else. That's just sort of part of that escapism that I want from my books.

Cassie Newell (14:19)
Yeah.

Angela Haas (14:25)
So that's how I manage it as well. Right.

Cassie Newell (14:26)
partly I want that escapism.

You know, the world is just a crazy, crazy time. sometimes I get over inundated with my work with all the other. This is part of my escapism too, you know? Yeah. And speaking of tone, right? how does your brand show up in your voice, in your newsletters, your captions, even how you interact with reader groups?

Angela Haas (14:40)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, exactly.

Cassie Newell (14:51)
⁓ I was thinking about this question because obviously I wrote that question out. I think a lot of us do this intuitively. Once you you narrow down your emotions and the start of your brand, you really want to carry that through to everything. I have like, very cheeky sign offs and Southern isms in my newsletters every time.

Angela Haas (15:10)
Yeah, I love those.

Cassie Newell (15:12)
A very playful tone with and this is something I got from you and I was like, I'm keeping this a very playful tone with my chapter titles. I was like, I love that. It's fun. I, I didn't realize how much fun I was having with my dedications and readers like loving that. And I was like, I'm going to continue that. Let me tell you though, those dedications are tough to write. So I feel like I'm writing like

log lines and it takes me longer sometimes to figure out my dedication than write a chapter but I'm I love it because it's a part of that whole feeling. You know it's it's a mix of warmth, sass, southern charm like that lives in my books but it's also authentically me so I just chose to lean into that. So how how do your brand show up?

Angela Haas (15:43)
Mmm.

Cassie Newell (16:03)
and things like that. I mean, I'm noticing it a lot in your social media, but I'm just curious, how do you see it carry through and other things besides your book?

Angela Haas (16:12)
I, have a lot of me in my back matter because I just like to talk conversationally. my thank you page for my reader in my books is hey, reader, I'm talking to you, that's how I talk, And so I have a lot of that in the back matter, kind of fun, sassy or meaningful dedication.

Cassie Newell (16:18)
Yeah.

Angela Haas (16:34)
I am gonna start putting in my playlists, printing the playlists that go with each book into the book itself. Because I've seen that and that I'm really musically motivated and whenever I've done an event and had the playlist card out, sometimes they take the playlist card and not the book. So I'm not sure if that's backfiring, but.

Cassie Newell (16:55)
I

it.

Angela Haas (16:55)
But people

do like to know what songs inspire you or what might go with the book. So, and I love music. I write to music. Music inspires me to write scenes. I come from a musical family. So yeah, that's important to me. And I'm gonna start sharing that more because I love it.

Cassie Newell (16:59)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I love

Yeah, I have a Spotify list and it was so funny. if watchers don't know, I'm moving to Tennessee. So we're doing a lot of driving back and forth from Florida and I have a playlist. It's called my Peachwood Grove playlist. And I was like, OK, my husband's great. He's read all my books. He knows all the things. And I was like, which couple do you think this song is? And so that's where.

playing as we're driving. And there's a couple of songs where I'm like, well, it could be this couple that I was thinking of this couple, you know, when I put it in the playlist. I love those. let's talk about reader expectations and how you make sure your brand communicates the kind of stories or experience that they're going to get. I think the biggest thing I've seen in terms of that not working out

Angela Haas (17:41)
Mm-hmm.

Cassie Newell (17:58)
is inconsistency. if I say my books are spicy, but sweet, set in a small town with HEAs, I need to deliver that every single time. Right? That's why I also include spice levels and reading estimates like about two hours. It's really hard because some people are really fast readers and some people are really slow readers, but mine are right about that two hour, you know, it's your brand promise.

Angela Haas (18:20)
Right.

Cassie Newell (18:24)
I think brand promises are really important. Have you? Have you picked up a book and you were like, this didn't promise what it said at all? And how did you feel about that? Just as a reader?

Angela Haas (18:36)
Well, it depends on the severity, but I think I just don't finish it. I put it down and then I don't, I may try one more by that author and then if it's kind of the same thing, I just don't finish it. But then I don't leave a good review. I don't ever leave bad reviews, but I just, don't. And then, well, I tell people I don't like the book verbally, but not in an online space.

Cassie Newell (18:41)
Yeah, you do enough it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Angela Haas (19:01)
Well, because I think karmically, that's not good karma. But, I think it's happens more in sci-fi, where I thought something was gonna be really good and then it didn't work out. I'm finding more in romance they,

Cassie Newell (19:02)
Yeah.

Angela Haas (19:15)
did deliver what they promised and I didn't like that. I didn't like what was being delivered. yeah, I'm like, actually, There is some times that I've not finished a traditionally published like these are really famous successful authors. So I won't name them, but we can talk about them because whatever I say is not going to matter in their world. But I do not like

Cassie Newell (19:20)
You're like, I didn't know what I didn't know until I finished.

Angela Haas (19:41)
dual timelines where the other timeline going on in the book is a different couple. And that's happened a couple times where I read the blurb and was like, this sounds interesting. And then it's like, you've got the present day couple and it flashes back to a story of a past couple that is not

the present couple. It's a completely different love story and a completely different

I could see some flashbacks if that story is relevant as a family piece to the current couple. But there's two books by very successful traditionally published authors that I put down and I was frustrated because like, I don't care about following and learning all the names of this past couple. I'm here for the new couple and their romance, you know?

I'm okay with if I've seen some dual timelines where you're learning about how the past couple, what happened to them and how they got to the present. I love that because it gives you more information about why they broke up and how they're gonna get back together. this one author, she had a story going on in the 1920s.

Cassie Newell (20:37)
Yeah.

Angela Haas (20:48)
It was a big family. There were so many names. It was like Lord of the Rings. I was just going like, who is this? And I put the book down because I'm like, gosh, I'm not invested in this whole other story. It makes the book so much longer. That's the one time I didn't understand that from reading the blurb that it would be so intensive, like two books basically in one. And I'm not here for that personally.

Cassie Newell (20:53)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah,

hmm, that's tough. So if you had to start your brand over from scratch today, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently? Would you do anything differently at this point?

Angela Haas (21:17)
Yeah.

I... Well,

I did something different with my superhero series and I had to redo and rebrand all of those because it was leaning to hard sci-fi in my covers and my feel and I was not attracting the right readers. I was attracting people who were giving me one-star reviews because my physics didn't make sense and I'm like, well, the superheroes, okay? I don't know.

Cassie Newell (21:37)
Mm-hmm.

Angela Haas (21:50)
I'm concerned about the superheroes and their powers and their limitations. I'm sorry I didn't quite describe at length how they got from one planet to the other. mean, it's not about that, you know? But my cover was giving away those vibes and it was hard sci-fi. So I had to rebrand the sci-fi series completely. I did new covers that focused on one superhero on the cover. You can tell it's a superhero.

Cassie Newell (22:02)
Yeah.

Angela Haas (22:19)
and rebranded my keywords. I had to really start over I'm still figuring out with the romance. I'm coming up on designing a cover for my second book and I'm torn a little because, for the genre, my cover may not.

totally fit, but it fits my branding. And so I know that's the advice you're getting. And I mean, have to entertain the advice you're getting if it's people that know their stuff. But I'm doing illustrated covers so that you know that the books coming out under the romance side of me, they're going to look and feel the same.

Cassie Newell (22:37)
I don't think that's true though. I'm so different on that discussion, but.

Angela Haas (23:00)
My subjects may vary. So, the first one was fake dating wedding. The next one's more doctors. The one that's coming out is going to be sort of having a military undertone Colorado dude ranch. The next one's going to be in Hollywood. One's in New York. So they're not all in the same small town. So didn't want to do the couples, you know, the photo realistic couples.

They're all going to have humor. So I'm just going to stick with the illustrated covers for now and see how it goes. And if people are really feeling like this isn't what I thought, but it's not like I'm trying to write dark romance and I have an illustrated cover or billionaire romance and it's just an illustrated cover.

Cassie Newell (23:41)
Yeah, but you

could say the same thing if you look at Ali Hazelwood, you look at Meghan Quinn, all illustrate covers, all different types of series. I think your branding and.

Angela Haas (23:46)
Right.

Cassie Newell (23:53)
Also the separation of choose your own adventure really suits itself for illustration here. Not so much on the sci-fi side. I think that that needs to stay consistent where it's at with the darker colors, the pop of the jewel tones and the other side, you kind of have this, it's not muted colors, but they're not super bright colors. I think you could stay that way.

Angela Haas (23:57)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

yeah.

Cassie Newell (24:15)
with Hollywood and hospitals and I mean, there's a lot to grasp from that that that you would have consistency there. Yeah, and I also I think too, it's really interesting. I'm watching trends change. I don't discount experts at all. But I also know that if you've been researching and you've been in the space and you're watching the trends change, you may be further along in that.

Angela Haas (24:17)
Mm-hmm.

Right. Yeah, exactly.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Cassie Newell (24:42)
I know a lot of people think illustrated covers are only for rom-coms. I completely disagree. I mean, I've gotten so many hockey romances and various sports romances that are all illustrated covers. They have funny elements. They are not rom-coms. They are sports romances. However, I'm not really seeing romantasy in an illustrated cover. If it is, it's going to be

Angela Haas (25:01)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Cassie Newell (25:08)
design oriented, it's not going to be two couples or a person really sitting up front, it's going to be skulls, it's going to be houses, it's going to be, you know, very Gothic or filigree design. I don't know, I find I find it interesting, how things evolve over time, and what readers enjoy. Some readers love having people on them. And then you have other readers that are like, I do not want models

Angela Haas (25:11)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Well...

Mm-hmm.

Cassie Newell (25:34)
and bare chests on my book cover. I want illustrated covers because I feel comfortable taking that to my kids soccer game. know, versus something else. And hence why a lot of us have Kindles too, because nobody needs to know. But at the same time, I think there needs to be consistency of what you're promising the reader because a lot of people say don't judge a book by its cover. Total falsism.

Angela Haas (25:38)
Right. Right, exactly. Yeah.

Right. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, in this industry, yes. And I think, my story and my writing is all gonna feel very similar. So it's not like you're gonna pick up something and it just strays way off from the tone of my book.

Cassie Newell (26:02)
Everybody judges a book by its cover.

Angela Haas (26:19)
I only have one romance out. And I wrote a story that may fit more of a photorealistic couple. But then it looks like I've got something completely different coming out. It's a new, different series. I mean, it is a different series, but it's the same feeling in the book.

So I'm just staying Illustrated. I think if you lean heavily into having the best keywords, a very good Amazon sales page description that's clear people will understand what they're getting, no one's going to be shocked when they pick up this book that it feels like something completely different, you know? So yeah.

Cassie Newell (26:44)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. So let's,

let's kind of move to I had a little bonus section. let's talk about brands, not even in publishing, because I think authors can learn a lot outside of our industry, too. I think you need to pay attention. But I also think in our industry, you need to pay attention. But I think if you look outside of our industry, it's really helpful. So thinking about brands that are outside of this industry,

Angela Haas (27:05)
Mm-hmm.

Cassie Newell (27:19)
that really hit the mark. One of them for me is Magnolia, Joanna Gaines. If you watch HGTV, know Chip and Joanna Gaines. But I always come back to Magnolia because everything about that brand is soft, neutral tones, warm, inviting language, calming visuals. It creates this perfect, peaceful comfort feeling. That is emotional branding at work. And as authors,

Angela Haas (27:25)
love yes,

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Cassie Newell (27:44)
we can learn to infuse some of that consistency and tone in our emotions across everything we do from our covers to our emails. Like she it's it's very consistent, right? You know, Joanna Gaines, as soon as you see it. Another one I thought of ⁓ is glossier. It's it's this ⁓ beauty brand if you don't know what glossier is it's it's clean and it's considered clean approachable beauty is for everyone vibe.

Angela Haas (27:58)
yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Cassie Newell (28:13)
that

that's their thing. Their brand is really fresh. It's very inclusive. For authors that really like clean, clear tones and design, like their cohesion is gold. Like, yeah, very simple. If you're building a reader base through direct communication, social newsletters, check them out. I also another one I wanted to say just because I lived

Angela Haas (28:23)
Very simple, yeah.

packaging.

Cassie Newell (28:35)
in Europ e for a while is Milk Bar too. It's playful, nostalgic, little rebellious. It's sweet, but it has an edge. So as a romance writer, I love how they blend that like the cute and the bold, you know, that's kind of how I think of my stories too. So again, not afraid of color. It kind of kind of reminds us we we don't have to be like one note either in your branding. So branding can be really layered.

Angela Haas (28:38)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Cassie Newell (29:02)
and yet still cohesive. Like, so I always think those are important. What are some of the brands you think of that you're like, especially as a retailer, you see all kinds of brands outside of our industry that you're like, that's, that's solid. That message is clear. Is there any?

Angela Haas (29:18)
Well, I

actually wearing glossier Skin tint and eyeliner so love their brand Well, I always think about you know, my favorite brick-and-mortar stores, so I love Anthropologie Anthropologie is everything that I am and they have actually Also very inclusive models on their website

Cassie Newell (29:25)
You're like, I know.

Yeah.

Angela Haas (29:47)
So they had an amputee model in clothing. They have always plus sizes, very diverse catalog of models, which makes you feel like, these clothes are for me as well, not just for the certain type of stereotypical size, their own model that we always see.

I love just the feel of their stores and they smell good. They always have candles going. So it's a very sensory experience. So I love everything that they do. I have a lot of cosmetic brands that I like, but Jones Road is one of them. It's a Bobbi Brown. It's her kind of new line that's.

I would say it's, it's for everyone, but she really reaches out to like the mature women's skin and her packaging is very bold typeface and, but simple. And I love just her marketing is, is just really clean and concise. And you can still tell that it's Bobbi Brown, So yeah, those are kind of two that come to mind, I guess.

Cassie Newell (30:29)
Yeah.

I love that. The other thing

as a designer that I would tell people, it's not only the colors and those aspects, typography is so important. I mean, I have taken so many classes on typography It's ridiculous the amount of fonts I own, by the way. But a lot of people will get their coloring and everything right, maybe even their logo, but then their typography

Angela Haas (30:55)
Mm-hmm. It's important.

Cassie Newell (31:09)
is horrible, like it's hard to read, or it doesn't really fit your genre. understand that just a little bit, or be basic. When websites give you a choice and they're packaged together, there's a reason for that. Try not to be overly creative and overly original. Choose one. Trust me on that. Because...

Angela Haas (31:25)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Cassie Newell (31:32)
There's a lot going on with typography and there should be some consistency definitely within your website and social media if you can. Sometimes you don't have the option but certainly look into that if you're making your own pictures and things like that and captions. Just look for the clear things. It's really important. Yeah.

Angela Haas (31:54)
Yeah, exactly.

Cassie Newell (31:55)
So this was fun talking about branding. ⁓ I love branding. And I love

Angela Haas (31:56)
Yeah. Yeah, lots of you had so much good advice. So thank you for... Yeah.

Cassie Newell (32:03)
logo design. think the one thing that I want to tell people is logos shouldn't be that complicated either. Simple is better. Go to these websites I'm talking about, Ali Hazelwood, Meghan Quinn, Melanie Harlow. Logos should be simple. They really should. Don't make them

crazy because it should be something that represents the entire brand and simple that you can use and over and over and over again. So, yeah, that's the one thing I want to say about logos. I could have a whole episode on those two, but we won't go there. So let's just dive into personal updates. Angela, what's going on with you?

Angela Haas (32:43)
Yeah.

Not too much. The summer is taking its toll. Just retail. This is our high season. It's tourist season. So, you know, there's just a lot going on. So I'm just finishing. No mountain High Enough Getting the cover. I've got my 15 minute checkpoint that I'm reviewing for the audiobook for My Plus One Equals You. I'm just sort of in those finishing stages of some of these things. So yeah, that's where I am.

Cassie Newell (33:08)
Yeah.

I am too. So I'm working on the next series in Peachwood Grove, which is the holiday matchmaker. It has been, let me tell you, summer is hot here in Florida and it has been fun to write something that's happening in winter. And I have been putting on Christmas shows because it's, you know, Christmas in July, and.

things

like that. And yeah, my family's kind of like really, I'm like, don't you feel the coolness just coming in from the TV? But yeah, so I've been, I've been just damn giddy. I really, it's been a lot of joy and I'm doing the same thing. I'm finishing up my book covers, have a few tidying things to do on them, but they are so adorable. So I'm loving them. That's been a lot of fun because I designed my own book covers through my

Angela Haas (33:41)
Yes.

Cassie Newell (34:02)
but cover company and I've been having a lot of fun with those and getting all those things together, but it's a lot of work. I'm looking forward to the end of summer and also my planned time off at the end of the year. Like it's push, push, push so I can ⁓ relax. So yeah, goodness. All right, table topics. I'm scared.

Angela Haas (34:21)
Yes, exactly. All right.

What's your worst driving habit?

Cassie Newell (34:32)
⁓ my worst driving habit? You know what? Since I just talked about going back and forth between Florida and Tennessee, you know, which is going through Georgia and all that, I don't love cruise control.

Angela Haas (34:47)
I don't use it.

Cassie Newell (34:48)
I use it and then I get a little like as soon as traffic really hits. I'm just kind of like, I don't want it. I don't feel like I have as much control. And I've got a newer car that has that assisted driving. And so it will slow down automatically and all this stuff. And that's been wearing me out too. I'm just like, I feel like I don't.

Angela Haas (35:11)
Mm-hmm.

Cassie Newell (35:12)
have as much control and maybe I wasn't that great of a driver to begin with and I should have been slowing down but I just you know like some of those things I think those are the things that I don't think makes me a bad driver just kind of I like if I am driving I really want to be in control of it so yeah

Angela Haas (35:20)
Yeah.

Yeah, I

don't use that for the same reason. also I well, I'm better at this now. But when I was younger, I was like, because I love looking out the windows and seeing and sometimes I'd like, be driving and be like, what was that? And I just, I'd scare some of my friends because I'd have a habit of like, looking out my driver's side window. I Yeah, that's yeah, that's the thing. But for a while, I'd be like, Oh, man, oh, you know,

Cassie Newell (35:43)
Hahaha!

as long as your wheel stays straight and you're not turning with it.

Angela Haas (35:58)
It's like, I don't know.

So yeah, I get easily distracted. That's not good. Yeah.

Cassie Newell (36:03)
gosh, I love that.

I love that. And I'm like the opposite. I'm like straight ahead. The hubby will be like, Hey, this that and I'm just like, Hmm, sounds great. Like if I can't quickly, like I'm just not. I'm one of those. So I'm like, I don't care. Unless it's crossing in front of me. Or something coming up behind me. ⁓ yeah, that was fun. so thank you for joining us today.

Angela Haas (36:12)
Mm-hmm. Right.

Yeah, exactly.

Right.

Cassie Newell (36:30)
Don't forget to give us a review and a rating wherever you listen to the podcast. It really helps us with visibility and sharing is caring, my friends. Sharing is caring. Next week, we're talking with Bryan Cohen. I can't believe it. This is going to be so fun. And his take on business strategies because this month it's all about growing your business. So keep writing and keep doing.

Angela Haas (36:38)
Yep.

See ya.

Cassie Newell (36:51)
Bye.