There are several different ways to market your book after it is published. There are even some tricks you need to know before you actually write it. Below are some marketing basics categorized appropriately. This list is not comprehensive and only provides a quick overview. Future IndyPublish articles will deal in much more depth with aspects of marketing discussed in this article.

Before You Write Your Book

Know your readers: Knowing your readers (i.e., audience) affects every aspect of writing and marketing. How can you gage if your book will do well, if you don't believe there is a specific audience that will buy it? How can you generate publicity, arrange promotions, or develop advertising if you don't know the right commercial magazines, trade rags, radio shows, etc., that cater to your audience?

Understand your book's genre or category: Knowing your book's genre or category (e.g., is it a horror book? a book on personal finance?) is important. Like knowing your readers, this knowledge will guide your marketing efforts. Would you send a press release about your book to a personal finance magazine editor if your book is about business finance? Likewise, you wouldn't contact a horror magazine if your book is a romance.

Before You Submit Your Book For Publication

Create good titles and subtitles. Would you rather read: GOLFING FOR WINNERS: How to Shave 10 Strokes Off Your Score Without Cheating! or IMPROVING AT GOLF? You get the idea.

Send your manuscript to experts and well-known people to solicit supporting quotes. Getting recognized experts in the field you've written about to read your manuscript and give you a supporting quote can be invaluable. If you've written fiction, than a quote from a recognized author will also be invaluable. Even a local celebrity can be helpful. The point is to get as many credible people as you can to say good things about your work and get their permission to print what they say.

After Your Book Is Published

Develop a marketing plan to include traditional marketing and online marketing. Traditional marketing includes book tours, local media publicity, and book reviews that appear in print magazines. Online marketing includes posting your book on online bookstores, arranging book reviews that appear in online magazines, creating your own book website, having your book be the subject of online book clubs, generating discussion of your book in chat rooms, using sites that link authors, agents, publishers, taking advantage of book promotion sites, etc. You should develop a plan and approach for each.

Develop a press kit to include a press release, sell sheet, and a synopsis. A press release that announces the publication, or pending publication of your book, is sent to editors of newspapers, magazines, etc., and is intended to create interest in your book to generate free publicity such as print, radio, or TV interviews. A sell sheet is a flyer about your book that provides information on your book and describes your marketing approach. A synopsis is a short overview of your book that provides some detail, but mainly creates questions and intrigue that leave readers wanting more.