An Author's Image: Who Are You?

When a book catches my attention, I read the blurb and I just buy it if it happens to be a topic I'm interested in. I only bother with the author if I enjoyed the book - cause then I would want to know what else they wrote. That's why when I started publishing, I didn't think that revealing my face to the world was very important - I believed that my message and my stories were all that mattered. An avatar to represent me was enough.

However, I write Non-Fiction... and when you write guides and give advise, people want to know what gives you the right to do so. Who is Eeva Lancaster? Here's where credibility becomes crucial.
People don't know me. No matter what I say on my biography, they can't connect with this avatar of a woman working on her laptop, addicted to coffee.
Not that I'm trying to be mysterious, and I'm definitely not a wanted criminal. I just wanted to keep my writing world separate from my corporate life. Hence, the Avatar. In a way, I'm protecting it. I wanted my author persona to have a separate world, untainted by stress, politics or any other negativity. Writing is my refuge. 

But I realized that if I'll ever be taken seriously as an author and as an entrepreneur, I have to share a little bit of my physical self - even if it's just an image, to connect with people on a deeper level. We have a fascination for faces, did you know that? We instantly respond to a face, negatively or positively. An avatar doesn't elicit any emotional response. It's like looking at Hello Kitty or Mickey Mouse. Hard to feel respect or trust for Hello Kitty, although I'm a big fan! 

With that said, if only to be able to connect to my audience, I've decided to update all my author profiles with my real picture. I just hope that it doesn't have a negative effect and scare my readers away! Hahaha!

So, I believe that it's not only important that you make yourself human in your biographies - to connect with people - you also have to show proof of humanity. You gotta have a face.... and well, it's a good thing that I have one. 

I love my author persona. She has all the good side of me. I want my readers to know me and trust that I know what I'm talking about and read my books. If that means showing my face, so be it :)

No... I'm drawing the line on showing my brain. You ask too much. :)








No comments:

Post a Comment

I'd love to hear from you!