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.

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.

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.)

Upon further discussion, I learned that she had printed 3,000 copies of the book at a cost of about $10,000. Add this to the expensive menu of other production and marketing services she purchased from AuthorHouse, and it turns out her investment totaled about $20,000. It was with a sinking heart that I told her she had more or less wasted a large amount of money on books that would probably never reach readers let alone the library market. I explained the difference between true self-publishing and vanity/subsidy publishing; I told her she could have published books under her own imprint with her own ISBN for a fraction of that $20,000—and she would have had saleable, reviewable, marketable books.

So where did she—and countless other authors who fully intended to self-publish—go wrong?

Her primary mistake was in not understanding the definition of vanity and subsidy publishing.

Here’s how Writer Beware describes them:

A vanity publisher prints and binds a book at the author’s sole expense. Costs include the publisher’s profit and overhead, so vanity publishing is usually a good deal more expensive than self-publishing. All rights and completed books are the property of the author, and the author retains all proceeds from sales. Vanity publishers may exclude objectionable content such as pornography, but otherwise do not screen for quality.

A subsidy publisher also takes payment from the author to print and bind a book, but contributes a portion of the cost and/or provides adjunct services such as editing, distribution, warehousing, and marketing. Theoretically, subsidy publishers are selective. A subsidy publisher claims at least some rights, though the claim may be limited and non-exclusive. The completed books are the property of the publisher, which owns the ISBN, and remain in the publisher’s possession until sold. Income to the writer comes in the form of a royalty.

However, the lines have blurred over the past few years. What you’ll most often find nowadays is neither a vanity publisher nor a subsidy publisher in the classic sense, but a hybrid of the two–following the vanity model in terms of pricing and selection (building a fat profit into its fees and publishing anyone who will pay), and the subsidy model in terms of book ownership and income to the author (the publisher owns the finished books, and the author earns royalties on sales).

Writer Beware goes on to explain about a new player in the publishing arena that has joined the game in recent years: POD self-publishing services. These companies are similar to vanity publishers—upfront fees are charged, they will publish almost anything, and marketing services offered are minimal. The main difference is that it is less of an investment on the part of the author since books are printed only when orders come in, saving authors from printing thousands of books up front. (As an aside, let’s go over the definition of print-on-demand [POD]: It refers to a digital printing technology that makes it cheap and effective to produce books in small numbers, such as one or two at a time.)

POD “self-publishing services” use digital printing to provide publishing services to authors for free or for a very low cost. Most offer free templates that enable authors to upload and format their books. Most also offer fancier packages that include editing, design, and marketing, which can cost several thousand dollars. These services tend to be poorly done and not worth a fraction of what they cost.

It’s also important for authors to realize that the average book from a POD service sells fewer than 200 copies, mostly to the author. Companies like Author House, iUniverse, and Xlibris—all of whom are owned by Author Solutions, Inc.—lay claim to selling millions of books each year. What they don’t tell you is that given the sheer volume of books released, it averages out to only around 40 books sold per title. Lulu.com founder Bob Young admits that the average Lulu author sells fewer than 1,000 books (and I have read in various places that it’s really more like two copies). (Find additional stats here.)

POD services call what they offer “self-publishing” or even “indie publishing,” but it is not. With these types of services, authors are bound to the package deals these outfits offer in terms of production. The bulk of any money made off of sales is kept by the company to offset their costs; authors are likely only entitled to a small royalty. (What this means it that authors pay twice—once at the beginning and again with every book sold.) Most of these services own the ISBN assigned to the authors book, giving them at least some claim on publishing rights.

All that said, what exactly constitutes true self-publishing? It’s incredibly simple.

In true self-publishing:

The author controls all aspects of the publishing process, from manuscript editing to interior and cover design to pricing and promoting. There are many services, including my own company Self-Publishing Resources, that cater to authors in need of help with these services.

The author keeps all profits from sales of the book.

The author starts his or her own publishing company (very easy to do!), purchases his or her own ISBNs, and maintains all rights to the book.

The author works directly with a POD printer, such as Lightning Source, or an offset printer—or both. (Or neither—and simply goes the ebook route.)

The author has mainstream review, distribution, and sales opportunities that are not there with a POD self-publishing service or vanity/subsidy press imprint on his or her books.  

According to Writer Beware, whose mission is to track, expose, and raise awareness of the prevalence of fraud and other questionable activities in and around the publishing industry (the site also includes a much more in-depth explanation of the various publishing options), “POD services often portray themselves as a revolutionary new publishing model that’s opening up a world of opportunity for writers locked out of the market by the narrow standards of the monopolistic commercial publishing industry.” Don’t believe what these services say. The only way you can truly self-publish is to do it under your own imprint and your own ISBN. It’s that simple.

Before the Internet, there were essentially two ways to garner attention for your product or service:  advertisements and the media. But in recent years, a new arena has opened up vast opportunity for authors—particularly those who are self-published.  Terms like “Twitter,” “friending,” “hashtags,” “Facebook,” and “tweeting” have become part of our everyday vocabulary. Publish interesting content in the social media marketing format, and you can potentially have thousands—millions—of people read it and take action. Take yourself on a “virtual author book tour” and you can put yourself in front of an endless number of potential book buyers. Put an interesting video on YouTube and it has the possibility to “go viral” and reach the masses.

Sure, the Internet has been around for a while, but unlike the old days when you simply had to put up a website and wait for people to find you, you now need to maximize your site’s value through interactivity, sharing, and building relationships. Although some people are intimidated by the newness of viral marketing or turned off because they believe it is a time waster, they needn’t be. Leveraging social media marketing to build your platform and to make yourself stand out from the crowd is not that difficult. And it does not have to take hours each day.

Unlike traditional media, which more or less is a one-way form of communication, social media promotes discussion, feedback, voting, and other sharing of information. It also enables participants to stay connected with other people and resources. It is often described as the online practice wherein people use technology to talk, participate, network, and bookmark. Social media sites blogs, microblogs, podcasts, videocasts, forums, wikis—all are included under this umbrella.

New social media channels are cropping up on a seemingly daily basis, but don’t think you have to do anything and everything in terms of social media. Pick two or three things that seem most applicable for you (my number one favorite is Twitter, followed by LinkedIn and Facebook), and work at them consistently.

If you’re still not convinced, consider these statistics I quoted in my book, The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, 5^th Edition: Nearly half of all adult Internet users have created content online. And some studies show that 67 percent of businesses say their best source of advice for products and services are their consumers (who communicate with them via social media). Can you afford not to ride this technological wave of the future?

To learn more, be sure to sign up for the Self-Publishers Online Conference (May 10–12, 2011).  You can learn the ins and outs of the publishing business—including social media marketing—from 16 experts right from the comfort of your own computer. With the SPOC’s special online conference software, you can attend seminars live or via recording, learn about useful publishing resources in the Exhibit Hall, and interact with speakers and other attendees through the live discussion areas. Visit http://www.SelfPublishersOnlineConference.com for more info. Take advantage of Early Bird pricing now and get an additional 10% off by using the special discount code SueCollier11 when you register.

Before you write it

1. Have a unique approach to a relevant topic. There are a lot of books published every year. Make sure yours stands out from the crowd for the right reasons.

2. Decide why you are writing a book. To make money? To establish expertise? To see yourself in print? All are valid reasons that may impact how you publish as well as market the book.

3. Make sure you have an audience for the book. And make sure you know how to reach them. If you plan to market strictly online and your audience is made up of non–Internet savvy readers, you may have a problem.

4. Build a following via social media sites. It’s never too early to start making connections with potential readers and relevant professionals via social media. There are many sites out there, but Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are the most common. You may also want to check out sites such as book marketing expert John Kremer’s Book Marketing Network.

Before you launch it

5. Create a website that features your (forthcoming) book. This one is a no-brainer.

6. Start building your email list. Publish an ezine and offer a free report, free chapter, or some other bonus for people to opt-in with. When you attend events, collect business cards and email addresses. Send them an email or a copy of your ezine, and invite them to opt-in. 

7. Start blogging. This is the best way to keep your website content fresh. It’s also a great way to stay in touch with potential readers and professionals within your industry. You can also use it to establish your credibility well before your book is published.

8.  Use your blog to ask for feedback on your book’s content. Then promise to acknowledge everyone who comments in your book. These people will feel an “ownership” in your book and will help spread the word after it launches.

9. Create a list of important bloggers in your field. Start interacting with them by commenting on their blogs.

10. Get testimonials and endorsements from pertinent people in your field. These are great promotional tools that can then go on the book cover and/or inside the book. Post them on your website and use them in news releases.

11. Approach associations relevant to your book’s content. Suggest ways you can work together. Perhaps you can put on a workshop or seminar, speak at an event, or write an article for their newsletter or blog.

12. Set up Google alerts. Stay abreast of industry news by setting up an alert in your name, your competitors’ names, and other key terms. This will enable you to jump into the online conversation in a timely manner.

13. Have your manuscript edited by a professional. Ensuring that your content is top-notch will go a long way in making your reputation is top-notch.

14. Have your book cover designed by a professional. Don’t skimp on this very important sales tool. A professional book cover designer will ensure your book stands proudly next to any other book on the shelf.

15. Create your own competition. Create a competition on your website or on Twitter (Tony Eldridge has written an excellent book on Twitter contests) with copies of the book as prizes. Follow up with those who entered but didn’t win and offer them a discount to purchase your book.

16. Offer the book as a prize on other websites and blogs. You should have already put together a list of blogs and websites where your book could potentially be promoted. Offer the blogger or website owner free copies of your book to be used as competition prizes.

17. Send out free copies of the book. Don’t skimp on this important aspect of promotions. It’s a great way to garner reviews and endorsements. Send out copies to influential bloggers and journalists. 

18. Pull out excerpts of the book to use as articles. Post them on free article sites that are available all over the Internet.

19. Create and post videos. Keep videos short and sweet (under 10 minutes) and publish on YouTube and your own website, as well as other sites. 

20. Schedule a launch day. Pick one specific day and make sure plenty of activity is planned around this day. Notify your email list, post some videos to YouTube, hold a webinar, plan some guest blog posts. All that activity should go a long way in creating momentum.

After you publish it

21. Offer a chapter as a downloadable PDF. Post one of your book’s chapters on your website as a free, downloadable file. Encourage readers to share it with others. Include a summary of the rest of book to encourage people to buy it.

22. Publish the book’s table of contents on your website. Include a brief overview about each chapter. Optimize the page for search engines.

23. Organize an online virtual book tour. Touring the country to physically visit bookstores is cost prohibitive for most authors—and not all that effective unless you are a celebrity.  Arrange a tour online with virtual stops at websites and blogs. You’ll gain maximum exposure for minimum costs.

24. Encourage people to write a review of your book on Amazon.com. Ask everyone who gets a copy of your book to publish a five-star review of your book on Amazon.

25. Publish reviews and testimonials of the book on your website. Include reviews from Amazon.com and other sites where your book has been reviewed, as well as any testimonials you’ve received.

26. Arrange interviews with bloggers in your genre and radio hosts interested in your subject matter. This is a win-win since it provides them with valuable content and you with valuable publicity. Include these as part of your virtual author book tour initially, but you can continue to schedule interviews even after your initial publication. As long as your book is for sale, the promotion push should be ongoing.

27. Makes sure you always have copies of your book with you. I’ve had clients sell 20 or more copies out of their trunk or waiting in line at the post office. One author I know gave away a copy of his book to an executive, who ended up ordering dozens of copies for his company.

And don’t stop with this list. There are dozens more things you can do to promote your book. Get creative, be persistent, and watch your book sales go up.

To be effective, the Foreword should be by someone who is known to, and respected by, your potential reading audience. You want a “name” so you can use it to help promote the book. Ideally you have developed a relationship with key individuals in your topic area. This is one reason to continually network within your industry. Attend national conventions and regional workshops where you can reach opinion molders. Use social media to make contacts with heavyweights. Follow up these meetings—both virtual and in person—with personal notes and keep up a dialogue.

Once you identify who you want to contact, the challenge is how to reach them. As mentioned previously, social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn can open doors that would otherwise be closed.  If you can’t find them there, try Google.

Now you’re ready to launch your campaign. Put together a powerful one-pager to these people telling why your book is important, different from others, and why it will be of special interest to them. Customize each note to give it personal appeal. Invite them to read your book and give you an advance comment. You’re not asking for a Foreword at this point. Ask only for their feedback. Include the table of contents, introduction, and promotional material to titillate their interest—and offer to send an advance review copy of the book.

When you get a glowing response, then approach that person about writing a Foreword. This shouldn’t be a saga: one to three pages is normal. People have often asked me whether they should pay for a Foreword. No! This is not accepted industry practice. (But you should make sure to spell the word correctly. I often see the erroneous “Forward” used all too often!)

What sometimes happens is the expert is too busy to accommodate your request and read the book. Is all lost? Never! You might say something like, “Why don’t I put together a few paragraphs for you — subject, of course, to your approval or revision?” He or she will usually quickly agree. Yes, you will write the Foreword. This gives you more control over both the content and the turnaround time.

Just how do you proceed once you’ve garnered this precious gem? Promote the heck out of it! Splash the names of any notables boldly across your cover and promotional materials.

Of course, the brief advance comments (often called “blurbs” in the industry) you collect from other famous people can be put on the back cover of the book, added to the very front of the book before the title page, and interwoven in promotional materials. Third-party accolades win sales. Blurbs also lend credibility to your ads. A statement carries more clout if it comes from someone other than you.

So when you’re looking for ways to help your book stand out from the crowd, don’t be backward about getting a Foreword. It can give you added visibility, credibility, and profitability.