“That’s what she looks like? – Really?”
Part of my marketing plan is coming out of the closet. For me, that is almost literally. Well, maybe it’s more like putting down the book that I’ve been hiding behind and showing off my face for the first time.
According to the marketing plan, you can connect with people more when they know what you look like. Hmmm… I’ve been connecting pretty well hiding behind that book, too. 🙂
I love my book logo, and I don’t think it’s disappearing any time soon, but you will get to see a little more of me as I trod ahead.
So, alas, it is time to come out of the closet and show everyone what I look like.
Step one is splattering my mug on the home page of my blog. If you’re reading this post in email, click on in. If you’re already here, please suppress the giggle. I can hear it now… “That’s what she looks like? Really?” Come on … give a girl a break. This is hard enough!
Step two is my new “About” page. I couldn’t decide on one particular picture, so I did a few. The marketing plan says to pick a picture and stick with that to brand yourself with… but me just sitting there and staring right into someone’s eyes is anything but ‘me’. I wanted to promote a little more fun.
Yes, I can be as boring as anyone else, but I also have a little spunk. I want to promote my fun side as well as my professional side.
So click on my “about” link and let me know what you think. If ya hate it, I can always go back to the photographer and ask for some pictures in my granny glasses.
Jennifer M Eaton 
Heh! I’ve always wondered about the should-I-show-what-I-look-like dilemma. Frankly, I’d rather not have known what Stephen King looks like. The photos on the back of the women-authored crime novels my wife loves all look like feminist rampagers. There’s a lot to be said about connecting with your readers, but I also think it adds to the mystique of the book not to know. It shouldn’t be important.
But maybe it is. I don’t know anything about the publishing world! Who knows, you might even see my face plastered on the back of a book one day (now there’s a terrifying thought)!
Ha! Your little icon is cute. 🙂
I remember when picking photos for my gallery how hard it was. Striking the right tone without being boring was really tricky, but you’ve fine it so, so well. They’re lovely photos and you look lovely in them. 🙂
Thanks so much!
It’s good you came out. I actually thought that person behind the book photo was clip art. 🙂
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought that! 🙂
The photo shoot looks like it was a lot of fun! I like seeing the lighter side of you. To be honest, when I first saw the new picture on your blog, I was reminded of the pretty young Canadian actress from Corner Gas. 🙂
Lovely joyful photos that really complement your work! 🙂
Oh my gosh… I honestly thought that your gravatar image was you. They look great! Really author-ey! 😀
I love the pics, especially the fun one. 🙂
Thanks guys for all the support. This was a tough one fore me.
The picture beside the J.Taylor Publishing Logo is the actual picture they are using for my official author “stuff”. If you want to see the picture before they cropped it, just click on it.
All in all, their marketing person says I should stick with that one, so this is what you will see in “other places” as my mug starts popping up on the internet.
Thanks again for making this easier on me!
You mean you’re not blue?!? Hahaha. I love the little blue lady but I love these pics too:-)
You’re a beautiful person, inside and out. The pics are great.
you are very photogenic. the photographer knew what he was doing and you also worked the camera as well. all the photos are very nice. nice to see you completely in view:)
Great photos–I love them! It is hard to put yourself out there, which is probably why I’ve stuck to posting mostly goofy photos of myself on my blog. For some reason I can deal with that better. Perhaps still a hiding of sorts?
But your shots are great. Thanks for sharing them.
Thanks. It was hard to do, even though I was happy with them.
So brave! 😉 Much braver than I think I’ll be able to be. I like my anonymity just fine thank you. Gao Yu Qing, person of mystery. 😛 I’m even happy if they don’t know what gender I am.
Is that what that means? You should use that as a pen name. It rocks!
Lovely photos! You look so happy 🙂
Can you be so ugly Marketing says “um, never mind the photos?”
p.s. You’re pretty, i’m saying something about me.
Ha! Very funny. Actually, it’s surprising what a good potographer ( and 300+ shots to choose from) can do for your appearance.
Congrats on coming out of the closet! 🙂
Does that mean my sunglasses must go at some point? Nooo! I can only hope my photos turn out half as well as yours. 🙂
I think they all look great and match the personality I see in your blog posts. Sure, I can see sticking with one photo for book covers and maybe a gravatar-type thing, but why not have a few more natural ones on the website if you want?!
I love the picture of you laughing – lovely! 🙂
I already knew what you looked like actually because a while ago I Google searched you. I hope that doesn’t make me sound like a stalker! But I was just interested to see if you were popping up much with the book coming out, and I did come across a photo of you somewhere which I then printed out, framed and put on my wall as inspiration (ok, that last bit about printing it out and framing it and putting it on my wall was a lie, but the rest was true!). So there were no surprises for me in how you looked, and you look fab in those pics, very authorish, but with a fun glint in your eye!
Okay… I’m a little creeped out. 🙂
My first official stalker. 😮
The pictures look great! Nothing to be ashamed or nervous about. Looks like you had a lot of fun getting them done!
I love both pictures and that you used a more studious one for the serious bio and you laughing for the fun bio. It fits perfectly and, as they’re from the same photo session (it’s quite clear), I don’t see a problem, not that I’m a marketing expert. Welcome to the other side of the book, Jennifer 🙂