I Tore Down My Author Branding and Built Something Better

My author branding used to include everything—my face, my identity, the skin color of my characters. And for a while, that felt like connection. Then it became the only thing people saw.

This is the story of how reader expectations pushed me to completely rebuild my brand, and what I learned about protecting my peace in the process.

How Reader Expectations Changed My Author Branding Forever

When I started my publishing journey on TikTok and released Night Shade, I began showing my face. The response was immediate—people commented on the color of my FMC's skin, a Black woman, and on my own skin tone, as I'm also part Black.

At first, the comments were positive. People felt seen because the main character looked like them. I loved that.

But then the conversation shifted.

People started telling me they were only reading my books because the FMC was Black, POC, or BIPOC. Or they were only reading from me because I looked like a Black woman.

To some, that might sound supportive. It's not.

I write paranormal romance. I advertise and promote my books as paranormal. Reading something solely because of someone's skin tone—fictional or not—isn't support. It's a box. And what happens when you don't like 700-year-old vampires?

The "Stay in Your Lane" Problem

Then TikTok exploded with people saying authors should "write in their lane"—if you're Black, you should only write Black characters. If you're white, only white characters. Writing outside your race meant selling out.

I didn't think it would affect my books much. I'd already shared information about book two, where neither character was Black—though one was POC. I figured it would be fine.

It was not.

To date, that book is still my worst-selling novel, even though it's better written. When it released, I received comments and emails telling me people wouldn't read it because it wasn't a BIPOC FMC or BWWM.

I thought it would go away. It hasn't. My third book has a Latin FMC with dark skin, and it sells on par with my first—while my second still doesn't.

The Part That Hurts

I don't think people understand how much that hurts.

They don't see the countless hours spent behind the scenes writing these books. And somehow, even in fictional worlds with vampires and magic, race remains the defining factor in whether someone picks up the story.

I'm not alone in this. I've asked in multiple author business groups, and others have experienced the exact same thing.

Making the Hard Call

I received a critique from five different authors about my whole author brand. Their advice was unanimous—remove all traces of race from my author branding.

Change my logo to just text. Change my book covers. Remove my books from the Interracial/Multicultural Romance genre—even though they are—because it was causing too much chaos. And remove my face from it all.

And the hard truth? They were right.

We read books to escape, to step outside this world and live in someone else's story for a while. But some things follow you in. People have preferences, and regardless of how well I've written these books or how much effort I've poured into them, all of that is moot against someone's preferences.

What Changed

That realization brought me down—hard. But I knew I wouldn't stay there.

I've made the changes that were advised. I can't keep fighting a battle I won't win on my own. Here's what's different now:

• My logo (which I'm obsessed with)
• My book covers for Chronicles of The Otherworld
• My overall author branding approach

What I Want You to Remember

For anyone reading this—whether you're an author, a creative, or someone navigating something you can't seem to fix—you're enough. You don't have to be everyone's cup of tea. You don't have to conform.

You get to choose how to resolve the things you don't like in your life.

For me, that meant changing my covers, my blurbs, my genres. But I'll never take down my books, change anyone's skin color, or remove myself from publishing.

I love what I do, even if others don't like how I do it. That's my compromise—that's me choosing my peace.

I urge you to do the same whenever you need to.