Brand DNA Generator — updated walkthrough
Actual app captures. Prepared fictional example. AI narration. No live generation demonstration.

Choose one pen name
Brand DNA Generator turns your brand decisions into a reusable reference. This walkthrough uses Avery Vale and Rowan Finch, two fictional pen names, in the actual app. The narration is AI generated. Brand DNA itself needs no API key. Start with one pen name, its genre, and the experience readers can expect. Avery writes intimate gothic stories about memory, belonging, and the cost of saving someone. A specific reader promise gives you something useful to check your next post against.

Define voice and emotion
Move through Voice and Emotion. Choose a few descriptors, then explain what they mean in practice. Avery is poetic, warm, and mysterious. The social persona adds quiet intensity and tenderness under pressure. Words this pen name would never use help avoid generic sales language. Emotional territory describes the reading experience: longing, awe, and catharsis. These are decisions you supply. The form organizes them; it does not analyze your books or discover a brand automatically.

Set visuals, content, and boundaries
Visuals lets you choose up to four palette colors, an aesthetic, and cover direction. Content gives you recurring themes to rotate through, such as character teasers, writing process, and mood boards. Guardrails records what the pen name will never do, will always do, and should watch out for. Our example rules out invented reviews and spoilers. These are reference notes, not automatic enforcement. Brand DNA does not create images, schedule posts, or publish content.

Review and keep your card
Generate Brand DNA Card assembles your answers into a printable reference. Read every section and use Edit this profile when something is too vague. Print or Save PDF keeps a readable copy for a designer, collaborator, or your own desk. Export profile creates a JSON backup of the editable brand fields. Keep both if you want a reference to share and a profile you can import later. The card is built from your answers without a model call.

Switch profiles and recover versions
The saved-profile menu keeps Avery Vale separate from Rowan Finch, our cozy mystery author. New profile starts another author identity. Save as new profile copies the current draft into a separate profile. Watch for All changes saved in this browser before leaving. Reopening restores the saved profile. Under Recover an earlier version, choose a saved version and restore it. The app keeps the last twenty changed saves, and restoring creates a new version instead of erasing the history.

Move between browsers and sites
Profiles stay in this browser and on this site address. They do not automatically synchronize with another device, browser, or Darkling member site. Export profile before moving, then use Import profile at your destination. Import creates a separate copy and preserves existing profiles. Give copies distinct names if that helps you tell them apart. If another tab saved a newer version, keep your draft with Export profile or Save as new profile before reloading. A PDF cannot restore the editable questionnaire.

Reuse the brand in HookHero
In HookHero, open Use a saved Brand DNA profile and select the pen name. On the same site and browser, saved profiles appear in the menu. On another site, use Import profile backup. The status shows the chosen voice and reader promise. Paste your scene, chapter, or summary separately. Brand guidance shapes marketing language; it does not supply missing story facts or change Book DNA extraction. Refresh profiles retrieves the latest saved version. No brand profile turns the optional guidance off.

Practice the complete handoff
For practice, complete one pen name, review its card, and download a profile backup. Open HookHero through your existing purchase or member access, select or import the profile, and confirm the name before generating. HookHero needs your supported provider connection, with usage billed by that provider. The free Brand DNA form and this tutorial do not unlock HookHero. This recording demonstrates setup and profile reuse, not a live generation. Review generated copy for accuracy and brand fit before using it in your publishing workflow.