Whether you've just published a book or have a book that isn't selling, now is the time to get to it; start marketing today! Self publishers need to have a good marketing plan to sell books and should be written prior to writing your book and in place a year prior to publishing your book. Your book selling, book marketing, and book promotion planning should begin before the manuscript is completed.

Your book press release should not be written as you would a sales letter or flier, it should be written for the editor and tell about your book in a factual way, no opinion or glowing remarks. Mail a press release to at least 1000 print and broadcast contacts just prior to publishing your title and again and again after you publish; you can never send too many.

Make sure you have at least one good press release, written in AP style, that you can send out for the lifetime of your book.

Using press releases can be a very effective marketing tool if used properly. Make sure your press release spells out the 'who, what, where, when, and why.' Learning to write and use powerful optimized press releases can often drive tons of traffic to your website while providing multiple back links that can lead to increased page rank and numerous top ten search engine rankings for your targeted keywords.

Don't underestimate the value of a good press release for making book sales. Send out the same press release to the editor of your local daily newspaper every week until you are called for an interview or are written up.

Make five telephone calls a day that relate to marketing your book. Create an online contest and list it in online contest directories to drive traffic to your website. If your book solves a problem, focus on this in your marketing.

Get as many testimonials about your book, as possible, from experts in the field relating to your title, not customers; use on your fliers and back of books. I've seen publishers lose a lot of money paying


If the world is flat, as the prophets of globalization proclaim, then what happens on the underside? Alex Perry answers with Falling Off the Edge, his eye-opening journey through the planet's most dangerous hotspots. "Perry, to his great credit, is on the beat, scratching under surfaces and helping to clear away the obfuscation around this important issue," says Kirkus Reviews. ]]>

Number one New York Times-bestselling author and two-time Oprah's Book Club pick Wally Lamb delivers his first novel in over a decade — an extraordinary work of prodigious scope and ambition that explores the consequences of violent events, and the chaos that ensues. "[A] tour de force," proclaims Entertainment Weekly. "The Hour I First Believed is his best yet (Grade: A)." ]]>

From the bestselling, award-winning author of A Conspiracy of Paper comes his most powerful historical mystery yet. Set in post-Revolutionary War America, The Whiskey Rebels is a superb rendering of a vivid and perilous age. "A raucous mix of historical fiction and action-adventure thriller," hails Booklist. ]]>

For Things the Grandchildren Should Know, Mark Oliver Everett draws upon the relentless tragedies in his life (that also inspire his highly acclaimed music with the indie rock group the Eels) to pen a memoir that is a rich and poignant narrative on coming of age, love, death, and the creative vision. Kirkus Reviews calls it "refreshing and bracing. A great big grin of a book, winced out through gritted teeth."]]>

The eagerly awaited third book in Gregory Maguire's beloved Wicked trilogy has arrived! At once a portrait of a would-be survivor and a panoramic glimpse of a world gone shrill with war fever, A Lion Among Men is written with the sympathy and power that have made his books contemporary classics. "An absolute must-read for fans of this ever-evolving dark fairy tale," cheers Booklist. ]]>

Winner of the Washington Writers' Publishing House fiction prize, the stories in David Taylor's Success probe the lives of people caught in an increasingly intertwined world, close to home and abroad. Exploring a human calculus of love, betrayal, and fantasy, this moving collection makes those dramas vivid. ]]>

Second Helpings of Roast Chicken is the sequel to the phenomenally successful Roast Chicken and Other Stories, which was voted as the most useful cookbook of all time by Waitrose Food Illustrated. This new book takes 47 of Simon Hopkinson's favorite ingredients as a starting point and provides new inspiration to Hopkinson's many fans. ]]>

In A People's History of Sports in the United States, sportswriter Dave Zirin offers a rollicking, rebellious, myth-busting history of sports in America that puts politics in the ring with pop culture. Booklist calls it a "thought-provoking, contrarian take on American sport." In this INK Q&A, Zirin describes his literary pilgrimage to Powell's, explains why writers are better liars than other people (maybe), and more! ]]>

The New York Times-bestselling author of Reading Like a Writer returns with Goldengrove, an emotionally powerful novel about love and loss filled with echoes of the classics Vertigo and Pygmalion. In this INK Q&A, Francine Prose shares the most interesting letter she's gotten from a reader, the best book she's ever read, and more!]]>

A masterpiece of narrative history that vividly brings to life the original crime of the century, American Lightning shows the lasting impact the 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Times offices had on three remarkable individuals and, through them, the country itself. In this INK Q&A, Blum shares the excitement of writing for the Village Voice in the '70s, five books he's given to girlfriends, and more!]]>

David Boling's debut novel Guernica is an extraordinary epic of love, family, and war set in the Basque town of Guernica before, during, and after its destruction by the German Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War. In this INK Q&A, Boling reveals the strangest jobs he's ever had, shares the question that compels him to write, and more!]]>

Paul Auster's Man in the Dark is the story of 72-year-old August Brill, who is recovering from a car accident in his daughter's house in Vermont. In this INK Q&A, Auster tells us about his literary pilgrimages, how he relaxes, and more!]]>

An astonishingly wise, ambitious, and riveting first novel set in the American community in Cuba during the years leading to Castro's revolution, Telex from Cuba is a masterful debut that will put Rachel Kushner on the map of American fiction. In this INK Q&A, Kushner shares the joys of a paper route, reveals her strangest interaction with a reader, and more!]]>

Angel's Tip is a harrowing stand-alone thriller from former Portland deputy D.A. Alafair Burke, author of the bestselling Samantha Kincaid series. In this INK Q&A, Burke shares which fictional action hero she'd like to date, the origin of her name, and more!]]>

Eminent pollster John Zogby offers The Way We'll Be, an illuminating, fact-filled look at the changing nature of the American Dream and how this is influencing everything — from the politicians people vote for to the goods and services they buy. In this INK Q&A, Zogby shares the favorite breakfast he can't eat anymore, what his favorite historical figures have in common with Larry the Cable Guy, and more!]]>


for expensive display ads, so beware if you do this; I don't advise it in the beginning -- get your feet wet first so you know what you're doing.

When you get a nice write up or feature about you and/or your book, have it laminated and set it up on an easel at trade shows.

Every day it's important to focus on a variety of marketing approaches. If your book fits a specialty market, find a store that fits the genre and offer to leave books on consignment; many publishers have sold thousands of books this way. Make sure not to overlook the Internet; get yourself interviewed or profiled for sites both about writing, publishing and about the topics covered in your book.

Remember to make sure your book is listed in Books-in-Print; don't assume its already listed. Submit articles to online article directories that focus on your book's topic to drive customers to your website. Contact non-bookstore booksellers and offer to leave books on consignment.

Build a web site that provides another avenue for ordering, a virtual online press kit and link exchanges with sites that relate to your topic. Make sure to promote and market your book each and every day, both online and offline.

It's important to publish a website that focuses on your title; you'll be able to refer editors and customers and all interested parties to your book information with the click of a mouse. Local radio shows and television appearances are good but are often forgotten within hours of the broadcast; make sure to make or get a copy of any television broadcast for future promotions.

Make sure to do some serious marketing and promotion every single day, no excuses. Don't delay another day if you've fallen by the wayside; make sure to focus on promoting, selling and marketing your book each and every day. One of the biggest problems self publishers and book publishers tell me about is the hundreds of books they have in inventory they haven't set up a marketing plan for; don't let this happen to you -- get prepared now.

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