Lauren Shakely Author Branding Is Big Business.(Brief Article)

"At Clarkson Potter," says senior v-p and editorial director Lauren Shakely, "we've been doing lifestyle/decorating books for 20 years." During that time, one of the biggest changes she's observed is that Clarkson Potter books have become a "name" in themselves, as customers come to recognize them as a quality brand. "In the beginning, we were concentrating on books on countries," says Shakely, referring to Suzanne Slesin and Stafford Cliff's popular series, launched in 1985 with Caribbean Style, which is still in print "We used to think of decorating as a series when we did the style books; now we think of our books as individual titles. I don't want to sound arrogant, but I …