Another Weapon For Your Book Marketing Arsenal

Any writer has a dual responsibility in my view. First, they have to learn the craft of writing and create a remarkable series of words. This "series of words" can take all sorts of shapes and forms--whether nonfiction or fiction--whether historical fiction or romance fiction or thriller fiction or _____ fiction--or nonfiction how-to material or a little gift book or something for children or dozens of other types of books. It takes a lot of craft and energy to put together the perfect book. Many publishers are great at guiding the author, editing their work and improving that storytelling (fiction or nonfiction) and creating a compelling title and design. Eventually after a lot of hard work, that book gets into print and gets into the bookstore.

Publishers (and many authors) are not good about marketing their book. I've heard the horror stories from authors and it doesn't matter if their book has been released from a long-established publisher or the newest small press. It's one of the reasons as someone who cares about books and getting them into the hands of readers, that I continue to encourage writers in their marketing efforts. It's not easy for any author (including me) but the marketing for your book is the second element that every writer needs to take on--especially if they want results. I mentioned this statistic in November 2006 and many writers don't even want to know this information--but they should--the average book in the United States sells about 500 copies. If you want to fall into this statistical average, then don't do anything to help spread the word about your book. If you want to be the exception and sell books, then you need to take back the primary responsibility for marketing your book and gather every possible tool for your book marketing arsenal. I wanted to tell you about another great resource called Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers by She Horowitz.

After reading thousands of book proposals and pitches from authors and would-be authors, the majority have no idea how to write a realistic marketing plan. The bulk of these proposals are written with the assumption the publisher will do the majority of the marketing. Instead Shel Horowitz, creator of FrugalMarketing.com, shows writers how to use easily reached resources to sell books. Valuable tips and insights are scattered throughout his book including areas such as endorsements, book reviews and awards. Tapping into your personal networking possibilities and even hooking the traditional media and how to give a great interview. Also in Grassroots Marketing Horowitz will teach you the straight story about how bookstores work then libraries and the online bookstores like Amazon. Finally in his advanced marketing section, he covers speaking to sell books, trade shows and book fairs, affiliate and joint-venture marketing, advertising and direct mail plus how to extend your brand and increase your profits. This book is another valuable resource for any book author or publisher.

In addition, I recommend you subscribe to Horowitz's book tips for authors. As you explore the tips and resources in Grassroots Marketing, you will increase your value to a publisher and most importantly--sell more books.