Merch as a communicationtechnology for building the author's personal brand

The purpose of the researchis to understand ways ofbuilding the author's personal brand with the help of merch communication technology. Research methods and techniques. General scientific methods of analysis, synthesis and generalization were used during the consideration of the theoretical basis of the researched question and the formulation of conclusions. The descriptive method helped in determining the features of the authors' implementation of merch in modern market relations. A systematic approach was applied, which made it possible to outline the development directions of the author's personal branding thanks to merch technologies. The survey method helped to collect information about the object under study. The development of the questionnaire involved the formulation of program questions, translation of the language of science into questions addressed to the respondents. A total of 16 questions with a list and two with a text option. The survey process itself took place using a Google form through messenger channel mailings. The total number of respondents is 29 people over the age of 18. At the final stage, the received data were processed and analyzed. Results and discussion. In almost all indicators, we observe the opinion of the interviewees regarding the situational nature of using merch in enhancing the image and building the author's personal brand. Perhaps that is why the demand for merch is not so high yet. Getting feedback from the target audience is now the main task in creating a merch product. Conclusions. The specifics of meaningful filling of the author's personal brand with means of merch, highlights of advertising of writers on websites and in social networks are highlighted and described. It was determined that the screen adaptation of books in many ways contributed to the development of merch and increased the popularity of authors and their incomes. The most successful examples of using merch in personal branding of foreign writers are described.Keywords: merch, promotion, publishing business, Instagram social network, brand, reading.