As the world of publishing becomes more and more competitive, smart authors and publishers start thinking “marketing” when they first begin a book project. Sound strange? Not really. There things you can include as you create and shape the manuscript that will furnish additional clout when it comes time to sell that book. There are also things you may want to omit (this will be discussed in subsequent posts).

Adding chapters to your book for greater diversity

The more promotional angles you provide for a book, the more sales will sizzle instead of fizzle. You widen the book’s appeal by thinking through your topic and slanting parts of it to different target audiences. One reason this is a shrewd approach is that magazines and newspapers often buy what are called serial or excerpt rights. That means they purchase a small portion of your book to run in their publication. And even though the overall thrust of your message might not be applicable, they may be encouraged to find a section, chapter, quiz, or list of tips that appeals to their particular readers. Such exposure can be crucial in bringing your title to the attention of hundreds of thousands of extra people and stimulating word-of-mouth sales.

Let’s suppose you have a book on alcoholism. Have you included a chapter on teenage alcoholics? This will open a whole new niche for marketing the book to schools, professional counselors, even progressive churches. What about a chapter for the mate of an alcoholic? Adding such information could turn a book that has no appeal to women’s magazines into one they would consider reviewing or excerpting.

Maybe your title is The Second Time Around. Besides the usual focus on how to meet someone and develop a good relationship, probe deeper. How about a chapter on dealing harmoniously with ex-spouses? How about adding advice on visiting arrangements for grandparents when normal family ties no longer exist? Such information may be just the hook you need to interest AARP the Magazine or one of the host of other publications slanted to the grandparenting crowd. Wouldn’t a section on handling hostile stepchildren be useful to many?

Look for ways to give your book more universal appeal. Until recently, there was no book on how to produce, package, and market cassette tapes. Let’s pretend we’re doing one. When developing the Table of Contents, think about the kinds of people who might use such a book. Publishers to be sure. But what about a separate chapter for aspiring musicians? And how about specific sections for ministers—speakers—trainers—authors—sales managers—politicians—even meeting planners who are often responsible for making arrangements to tape conventions? Thus a book that might appeal only to one major market is expanded to many potential outlets.

As the world of publishing becomes more and more competitive, smart authors and publishers start thinking “marketing” when they first begin a book project. Sound strange? Not really. There things you can include as you create and shape the manuscript that will furnish additional clout when it comes time to sell that book. There are also things you may want to omit (this will be discussed in subsequent posts).

Determining your USP

Every product—from soap to refrigerators to cars—has a unique selling proposition, or USP. Books need this differentiating element too. Some people call it “positioning.” It takes something common and makes it uncommon. So how do you make your books better, more unusual than the competition’s?

You need to know the competition. Authors tell me almost daily, “There’s no other book like this.” Chances are, that is not the case. They just don’t know about the other books because they haven’t done their homework. Stopping by a big chain store and checking the shelves for similar works is not the way you determine what else is available. That store, no matter how huge, only carries a fraction of all the books available.

Here’s how to really check out the competition: First, go online to www.amazon.com and bring up your subject area. Then study the information on the books that come up and note which ones you want to investigate further. Second, go to an independent bookstore. Chat with the owner or buyer about your project and ask their opinion for recommendations on the topic and why those books are good. Buy them. Devour them.

Third, contact your local library and find out if they have a subscription to the New Books in Print ® (launched in February 2011, it replaces all other Books in Print versions). If so, you should be able to log on for free as a patron to study relevant subjects. Check out the 10 top books you want to peruse. You can ask for an interlibrary loan to obtain those not readily available.

Once you know the good books out there, you’re ready to determine how to tempt people to review, purchase, and read yours. After you’ve identified their strengths and weaknesses, you can position your book to outshine their weaknesses. Will you make yours shorter? Funnier? More complete? Will you add illustrations? Quizzes and checklists? Take a different approach?

That’s what the authors of What to Expect When You’re Expecting did. There were scores of guides on preparing for baby when they were writing their book. They added a new twist: taking readers through the process month by month. Did it work? That book has sold more than 14.5 million copies, has led to three companion volumes that are also racking up huge sales numbers—and there is even a movie coming out in May 2012.

Whatever you do, give your all. If you make the quality and research of your book a prime concern, then you’ll have a superior product to promote. Love your readers and make a passionate commitment to them. Tell your readers everything you know on the subject. And stretch yourself to learn more. By making content king you turn up the juice and blast out of the gate at a run instead of at a trot.

Here are some of the most common:

1. Setting unrealistic goals. In spite of recent success stories in the news, you probably won’t become rich from your publishing venture. And you probably won’t sell a million copies of your book. Keep in mind that a book that sells 10,000 copies—whether self- or traditionally published—is generally considered to be a “success.” Another thing is that too many authors also believe that just putting their work out there is somehow going to result in sales, so they neglect putting together a marketing and promotions plan—which leads to the next item on the list.

2. Failing to think about marketing before the book is published. This is a biggie. I know that writing a book is no easy task, and authors tend to get caught up in the process before thinking of the next step, which is ensuring your book reaches your audience. I frequently speak with authors who have had their books out for months and have generated few sales. When I ask what they’ve been doing in terms of marketing, I often get a vague response. Or I have authors call me in September, asking to help them plan a promotions plan for the upcoming holiday season (which they should have started long before fall). It’s never too early to think about promoting your book and building your author platform. You’ll definitely want to have a plan in place well before the book’s publication date.

3. Not knowing your audience. Perhaps your book does have wide appeal, but not “everyone” is going to read it—even if you think they should. Also, consider your competition: Does your book offer something new and unique to potential readers?

4. Going the vanity press route and thinking you’ve self-published. If you pay a publisher to publish your book, and that publisher uses its own ISBN on your book, you have not self-published. And chances are, if you’ve got a vanity (or subsidy) publisher imprint on your book, reviewers won’t give it the time of day. Although the stigma is diminishing for true self-publishing (you purchase your own ISBN prefix under your own publishing company name and assign a number to your book), it still exists for vanity and subsidy publishing because editing is often nonexistent and interior and exterior designs are usually templates that look substandard. So if you hire a “self-publishing service,” make sure the end result is a well-done book that is truly self-published—by you.

5. Thinking you can do it all yourself. You can—but the end result will likely be an amateurish book that is riddled with errors. Even the best writers need good editors. And unless you are a book design professional, you want a pro to design your interior and exterior so they don’t scream “self-published.” Too many times I see authors in writers groups who post a book cover designed by themselves or a family member—and they almost always look it. Surround yourself with professionals who can help ensure your book reads well and looks good. (Get recommendations for professionals from other self-published authors whose books you like.)

6. Being stingy with review copies. Reviews are an essential part of any book promotions plan, so budget the cost of review copies in your original promo plan. I have worked with authors who were opposed to sending out “free” copies of their book—and the number of reviews they received suffered for it. It’s not unusual to hear some successful authors reveal they sent out a hundred or more review copies.  

7. Not looking at self-publishing as a business. Once you’ve decided to self-publish, you are no longer just an author; you are also a business owner. And just as a commercial publisher looks upon any new book as an investment of its resources, so too do you.

I’m really excited to welcome back guest blogger, Lindsay Buroker, for part two of her article on SEO. Thanks to epublishing, Lindsay is a full-time indie author and she’s also starting a

She has been writing fantasy novels and short stories since she was seven. She’s been finishing them since… well, that’s a more recent development. Originally from Seattle, she’s currently traveling the world and writing from the road. She was a professional blogger for years, so she had to learn a thing or two about SEO—which most people have heard of but many know little about. Hopefully, Lindsay’s post will change that.

If you’re a fantasy fan, you can check out her free fantasy ebook, Ice Cracker II. (Yes, she even SEOs her author bio!)

Advanced search engine optimization tips

If you read part one of this post, and you found yourself nodding instead of scratching your head, you might be ready for a little more. Here are a couple more tips:

Set your site/blog up so it’s “SEO friendly”

If you haven’t chosen a domain name (a yourauthorname.com address) yet, you may want to work your main keyword into it, especially if your name is already taken. An example might be jeffsmithmysterynovels.com or janesmithromance.com. Don’t go crazy with the keywords or choose anything too long as you want fans to be able to remember your web address.

You’ll want to use your main keyword in the title of your site as well. Instead of something like, “A random writer’s musings…” your blog might be “Jane Doe Historical Romance Author.”

On the main page of my site, the title (the text that appears in someone’s browser bar) is “Lindsay Buroker — Fantasy Author,” and, as I write this post, my site appears fourth under a Google Search for “fantasy author.” I hope to make it to the #1 spot some day! (Though these things take time, so you have to be patient.)

Note, I didn’t use my keywords in my domain name (people generally have a tough time spelling my name correctly, so I didn’t want to add anything extra, and since it’s an original name, the .com address wasn’t taken yet). I just point this out so you know the final decision is up to you. Do what you feel makes sense and looks good to you.

Get links to your site

While it’s good to be SEO friendly, what you do on your site is only part of the battle.

In the early days of the internet, you could fill a page with lots and lots of instances of a keyword in order to rank more highly for it. And that actually worked.

The search engines are much smarter these days. They figure that links to a site count as votes of confidence, so they are factored into how well a site ranks for its keywords. People usually link to things that are useful, so the more links there are pointing to a site, the more likely search engines will consider it an authority (AKA a site worthy of doing well in their results). Also, links from older, more established sites count for more than links from new sites with few visitors of their own.

Try to get people to link to your main page and also some of your individual blog posts. Remember how I said the main page of my site ranks decently for “fantasy author” even though I don’t use that term in my domain name? That’s because I’ve written a few guest posts (like this one, hah!) on other people’s blogs where I’ve linked to my own site with that keyword (scroll back up to the top of the article to spot where I snuck it in here).

Eventually, if you maintain a useful blog (or you’re a great author!), these links will come naturally, but it’s tough getting noticed in the beginning (as with selling books, huh?). Guest posting is a good way to get links. (Click that link to read an article I wrote on the topic.)

Be patient, young Jedi…

If you start employing some of the SEO techniques I’ve discussed here, you’ll be way ahead of the game. Most authors don’t know anything about this stuff (not everybody is a geek like me whose been making a living online for the better part of the last decade).

It does, however, take time for you to start seeing significant traffic from the search engines. Plan to post to your blog regularly and work on getting links to your site (even if you just blog once or twice a week and try to get one link a week, you’ll be doing great) for the next six to twelve months before things really start kicking in.

I know that sounds like a long time, but you’re an author planning to build a whole career out of this, right? The good thing about SEO is that the things you do today (especially link building) will pay off in the future as well. Five years down the road, someone might find your site on Google, thanks to an SEO-friendly article you wrote today.

If you’re looking for more tips on blogging, SEO, and book promotion, you can stop by my self-publishing blog. I’m adding new articles each week, and I’ve also started a “Savvy Self-Publishing Podcast” for those folks who enjoy learning while in the car or at the gym.

Thanks for reading my posts and checking out my links!

I’m really excited to introduce guest blogger, Lindsay Buroker, who will explain SEO for authors. Thanks to epublishing, Lindsay is a full-time indie author and she’s also starting a

She has been writing fantasy novels and short stories since she was seven. She’s been finishing them since… well, that’s a more recent development. Originally from Seattle, she’s currently traveling the world and writing from the road. She was a professional blogger for years, so she had to learn a thing or two about SEO—which most people have heard of but many know little about. Hopefully, Lindsay’s post will change that.

If you’re a fantasy fan, you can check out her free fantasy ebook, Ice Cracker II. (Yes, she even SEOs her author bio!)

Search engine optimization or “SEO” isn’t exactly the most riveting topic. I know; I did it for years for my day job before switching to writing full-time. It is something, however, that’s worth knowing a little about since it can help bring more visitors to your website and/or blog via the search engines. Eve better, some of those visitors might like what they see and go on to buy your books. (Though I’m just a nobody-special independent fantasy author, not too may days pass without someone buying at least one of my books through my blog.)

Sounds good, you say, but what the heck is SEO anyway?

Search Engine Optimization is the art of convincing Google and other search engines that your website/blog is particularly useful and important in your niche, thus meaning it should rank more highly in the search engine results than the sites of your competitors. (In other words, if someone types in “fantasy author” or “fantasy novel,” I want Google to list my site before the sites of all those other fantasy-writing folks!)

When people use search engines, they type in search terms or “keywords” (these can be single words but are usually combinations of words). The search engine attempts to deliver the most relevant results by looking at numerous factors, including:

• How often those keywords are used on a webpage or blog post (ie. you get more points if the keywords are used in the title, text, and the web address).
• The number and quality of links coming in from other sites, especially links that use those keywords in the “anchor text” (the underlined words people can click).
• Overall age, popularity, and “authority” of a site (it’s easier for more established sites to rank in the search results)

Are your eyes crossing yet? I hope not! The important thing is to start thinking about what terms people may type into the search engine to find you. For example, if you’re a historical romance author, people might enter “historical romance” or “historical romance novels.”

You can play around with the Adwords Keyword Tool to get an idea for which keywords are popular in your niche or genre. Once you decide which phrases would be applicable to you, consider making an effort to use them on your website or blog (just focus on one term per page or post). This alone will put you ahead of lots of other authors!

If you’re looking for more tips on blogging, SEO, and book promotion, you can stop by my self-publishing blog. I’m adding new articles each week, and I’ve also started a “Savvy Self-Publishing Podcast” for those folks who enjoy learning while in the car or at the gym.

Check back tomorrow for part two of this post, which includes advance SEO tips.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

How long are you willing to wait to see your book in print?  Let’s skip right over the months and possibly years it might take you to find representation and assume you already have a finished manuscript and an agent. It may take some time for the agent to shop around and find the right place for your book. Let’s further assume the agent finds a publisher who is interested and offers a reasonable contract. You still might have to wait another 12 to 18 months to see your book in print.  Self-publishing can be done in a much shorter amount of time—usually just a couple of months if your manuscript is professionally edited and the book is professionally designed.

What are your reasons for wanting to be traditionally published?  A lot of authors today make the choice to self-publish rather than pursue a traditional deal. They believe they can better produce and market their books—and potentially make a lot more money. But in some circles there is still a certain amount of “prestige” in landing that trad contract. If it’s the so-called status of a traditional deal you crave, then self-publishing may not be right for you. If you simply want to get your work out there, then collecting rejection letters may just postpone the inevitable.

How much control are you willing to let go of? In general, when you sign a contract with a traditional publisher, you give up a certain amount of control over your project both editorially and creatively. The publisher will likely have final say over the content, the title, and the cover design. Most of the time, authors are satisfied with the results. However, having worked on the traditional side of publishing for a number of years as managing editor of a small press, I can think of a couple of different instances when authors were not happy with decisions we made regarding their books. They had no choice but to live with it. With self-publishing, you maintain full control over every aspect of the production process.

Do you have a sizeable author platform in place? You may not have a chance with a traditional publisher if you don’t have a large list of connections and potential buyers. The fact of the matter is that regardless of how good your book is, most trads expect you to have a large following before they will sign you on.  (Plus, you’ll still have to shoulder much of the marketing and promotions burden yourself.) Of course, author platform—and marketing and promotions— is equally important in terms of sales if you decide to self-publish.

Would you be self-publishing strictly out of frustration? Self-publishing is not as easy as simply uploading your Word document to CreateSpace. At least, it shouldn’t be. Care should be taken to ensure your content is top-notch (hire a good editor) and its presentation matches that of the trads (hire a book designer). There’s the also the little fact that you are now taking on the role of publisher in addition to author, which leads me to the next question.

Are you interested in becoming a publisher in addition to an author? This is a biggie because as a self-publisher, you are forced to take on that role. Even if you hire professionals to help put your project together, you’ll still have to make final editorial and design decisions. You’ll need to decide on a name for your publishing company and open up a bank account. You’ll have to obtain the appropriate numbers for your book. You’ll need to handle accounting and budgeting for the project. You’ll have to figure out distribution and fulfillment. Of course, there are companies that can help you with all that, but it’s definitely more involved than “just” being an author. It’s not for everyone. 

Do you have the budget to do it “right”? Sure, there are places where you can get your book published for “free,” but chances are your book will be immediately identifiable as “self-published” and disregarded by reviewers—or worse, trashed by them. I simply don’t believe there is any way around having your book professionally edited and designed. You don’t need to pay thousands for each, but you’ll probably have to pay something. And please make sure you have enough money to purchase your own ISBN. Never use one of the so-called “POD self-publishing” company’s ISBNS. Never. Make sure you are the publisher of record.

Do you truly have a quality manuscript with a unique message? Have you tried but failed to get a traditional deal because your manuscript is a piece of crap? Has no unique message? Is poorly written? Then self-publishing is not for you either; you’ll probably waste a lot of money and time on something that will not sell—and worse, could harm your reputation. If, however, you truly believe you’ve been rejected by the trads through no fault of your manuscript (it’s tough to land an agent, let alone a contract these days), self-publishing is probably your best bet. With a good book and a solid marketing plan, you will probably even be successful.

From The Domino Project: Are you feeling lucky?
One of the biggest distinctions between old publishing and new is the nature of luck.

From The Savvy Book Marketer: The Media is Paying Attention to Self-Published Authors
I came to self-publishing by accident. I wrote a novel, A Great Place for a Seizure, with the plan to find a literary agent and a publisher. Several rejection letters later I decided to be strategic and attempt to win an endorsement for my manuscript from organizations that could attest to the value of a novel that gives a well-rounded account of life with epilepsy.

From Publishers Weekly: Amazon Launches The Kindle Cloud Reader
As expected in the wake of Apple’s new restrictions on buying content outside the Apple in-app purchasing system,  Amazon.com has launched the Kindle Cloud Reader, an HTML5 reader that will allow consumers to buy and read Amazon titles through the web browsers found on almost any PC or mobile device.

From Authority Publishing: 12 Tasks Every Author Should Tackle Before Publishing a Book
1. Start a Blog – Do not wait until the book is in print to start building your audience. Write about topics of interest to your target audience and update your blog at least twice each week.

From TeleRead: Google adds book sharing feature to Google+
Google has added a feature to let people share links to Google Books e-books on their Google+ social network circles. The feature can be used either by clicking a link on the e-book’s “About the Book” page, or by pasting the Google Books URL into the Google+ Share box.

From Pod People: Indiereader
Indiereader started out as a site for readers of self-published material to mingle and discover new books. What they discovered, and most people already knew, is that dedicated self-published books readers are a demographic that barely exists outside of the authors themselves (and sometimes not even them).

From the Idea Logical Company: If you like irony, you must love the publishing world of today
Anybody who doesn’t find the publishing business interesting in its time of digital change is simply not paying close enough attention. No matter what story we’re focused on, scratch the surface (or scratch your head) and you find you are pondering something else.

From Mashable: How Blurb Tapped Into the Burgeoning Self-Publishing Industry
For the last six years, Eileen Gittins has made it her mission to help anyone and everyone become an author via Blurb. What started as a self-publishing startup for do-it-yourself bookmakers has become a multi-platform storytelling service, adding an app for iPhone and iPod Touch in April, and most recently, an iPad iteration. Mashable spoke with Gittins about the conception and evolution of the company, her inspirations and, of course, cowboy boots.

How Authors Can Benefit From Article Marketing

by D’vorah Lansky

If you are an author wishing to increase your readership, article marketing can send highly targeted traffic your way. Everyone wants free traffic, but in order to get it through article marketing, you need to write articles. What do you write about?

You want to write about your topic area, your expertise and topics of interest to your target audience. By identifying problems and pains and providing solutions, you will quickly develop your readership.

Writing articles for article marketing is very similar to writing posts for your blog. Most experts recommend articles between 400-500 words, about the length of an average blog post. There are other similarities, too. When picking topics for articles, consider the following:

• Choose topics that are of interest to your target market. If your blog audience is interior designers, your articles should be aimed at providing ideas and solutions to that same audience. Remember, your goal is to drive targeted traffic to your site. In other words, you want to attract people who will read your article, find something of interest, and click through to your blog for more of the same. Do not disappoint them by writing articles about one topic only to greet them at your blog with totally unrelated content. Readers will become annoyed and they will click away as fast as possible.
• You want to develop a loyal and thirsty readership. If you provide quality articles, people will be eager to read more of your work and find out more about you and your book. Through your articles, you will be able to connect with your readers, intrigue them with your message, have them click on the links in your resource box, and bring them to your website.

Invite Your Readers to Reprint Your Content

A fantastic way to get in front of new audiences is to provide articles on your blog and invite others to share your content. This is a common practice and a wonderful way to provide readers with great content and access to your knowledge. On the page where you have your articles listed, you can post a statement, giving permission for others to reprint your articles as long as they include the author information you have listed at the end of each article. In that section, you can include your name and website, as well as an invitation, for example, for people to receive more tips by opting in to receive a special report.

Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Articles

When setting up your fan page, you can pull in the RSS feed from your article directory accounts as well as from your blogs. An excerpt of your articles will then be displayed on your fan page. This will provide you with exposure to more readers and, again, position you as an authority on your subject.

Become a Guest Blogger on Sites Where Your Target Audience Frequents

Share your articles on other blogs, where you are featured as a guest blogger. This is an excellent way to get in front of new audiences and increase the likelihood of your articles being read. When other blog owners share your work, they are, in essence, endorsing you as an expert in your field. They have the trust of their readership, and if they are inviting their readers to read your articles as guest blog posts, then they are giving you their endorsement. To maximize your effectiveness, become a guest blogger on sites that attract your target audience and/or the people who serve your target audience.

Find Niche Article Directories and Publish Your Articles There

In addition to article directories that welcome articles on any topic under the sun, there are also niche directories which publish articles on specific topics or written by specific types of experts. To locate niche article directories, do a search in Google (www.Google.com) for terms such as, “niche article directories” or use the term for your niche topic. An example would be “book marketing article directories.”

By establishing a regular writing and article marketing schedule, you will create an abundance of content while becoming known to new audiences you might not ever have had the opportunity to get in front of. I’d like to invite you to visit my main community blog. You’ll notice that there are lots of articles by fellow book marketing experts. I love having guest bloggers as it provides fantastic content for my readers and provides me with the opportunity to develop relationships with amazing writers and exceptional marketers.

D’vorah is the bestselling author of Book Marketing Made Easy: Simple Strategies for Selling Your Nonfiction Book Online - Visit her book blog and check out the full virtual book tour schedule at: www.BookMarketingMadeEasy.com.

D’vorah offers programs for nonfiction authors interested in growing their brand and their book sales through online book marketing practices and strategies. You can purchase her book on Amazon at: www.BookMarketingMadeEasy.com/amazon

1. Educate yourself. Publishing is a business and needs to be treated as such. There are books, blogs, websites, and associations devoted to self-publishing. Failing to learn all you can about it can mean wasting thousands of dollars by blundering along without knowledge or a plan.

2. Study the competition. Be sure your topic hasn’t been overdone. Check the library, your local bookstore, and Amazon.com. But don’t stop there: Check Books in Print Subject Guide and Forthcoming Books in Print Subject Guide. Then make sure yours is better than what is already out there.

3. Write what other people want. Catering to one’s own personal desires often makes for a blah book nobody buys. Face the facts: Personal journals and impassioned tirades are best saved for family and friends, not foisted upon the general public.

4. Think “marketing” from the start. The time to start generating marketing ideas is before you even write the manuscript. Identify your market. How can you reach them? Start folders of ideas. What catalogs might be interested? Which associations reach your potential readers? Can you sell the book as a premium to companies that would give it away as a gift to entice new customers or use it internally for training? Think about who else reaches your potential customer and how you can partner with them. Do you have contacts who have national name recognition and might write an advance endorsement?

5. Get professional editing. You cannot edit your own work. You cannot.

6. Create a catchy title. The right title can make a book. Short is best. Clever is fine but don’t sacrifice clarity. Include a subtitle for nonfiction books as it gives you extra mileage in ensuring readers know what the book is about.

7. Include all the vital components. Depending on whether your book is paper or electronic, you may need an ISBN, LCCN, EAN scanning code, subject category on the back cover, the title displayed boldly on the spine, and so forth. Don’t know what you need? See item number 1 in this list!!

8. Have a dynamite cover. Get it designed by a professional who knows book cover design, not just someone who does nice logos or brochures. There is a lot of competition out there; this is your opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

9. Make the interior inviting. Study the insides of books that look clean and user-friendly; use these as your model. The production values of your book must meet the competition to be acceptable in the trade. It is not advisable to do your book layout in Word, so if you are not budgeting for the steep price tag and learning curve of a program such as InDesign, hire a pro.

10. Price properly. Books that are much more costly than the competition—or even sometimes a lot cheaper—can meet resistance. Figure out a per-unit cost that still offers you a margin for profit and enables you to offer booksellers a discount—and that keeps you in line with your competition.

11. Publicize, promote, publicize, promote. Eat, sleep, and talk your books. Ongoing, enthusiastic marketing is the real key to success. Never quit. Always be on the alert for new opportunities; marketing is forever and your efforts today can yield results way down the road.

(Portions of this post have been excerpted from the upcoming second edition of Jump Start Your Books Sales by Marilyn Ross and Sue Collier, scheduled for release in late 2011.)