Guest Author - Yvonne Russell

I have just read an outstanding article Editorial - The First Step in Book Marketing, by John Kremer. This information is like "insider trading" as far as authors are concerned. We have the inside story, but in this case, there are no strings attached.

I urge you to read this article. It has a wealth of insights for both current and aspiring authors. It gives you an insight into how publishers and editors operate, and what they do in terms of marketing.

Think Marketing Now
You may be saying that you are not ready for the marketing stage. This would be a mistake. You need to look at your book with a big picture approach. Looking at the big picture of marketing and publishing can help you fine tune your own writing and marketing. That does not mean you need to compromise your writing. It just helps you understand the game.

Market Yourself and Your Book
One of the early lessons, an author needs not only to understand, but to embrace, is the power of marketing. Authors are often more comfortable behind their keyboard, than in the business world. Publishers have marketing departments, but successful authors do a lot of proactive marketing themselves, both of their book and of themselves. Not every author feels entirely comfortable with this, especially at first, but as an author, you are a business person, and your book is your product.

Imagine the store owner who ships in thousands of dollars of merchandise, but is then too shy to display it in the store, or even to let the people know the store exists. A book can quickly disappear into the netherworld of remaindered books, when the marketing momentum wanes. Worse still, is the scenario, where the momentum never really gathered pace in the first place.

Back to the Article
This article covers topics such as the importance of the right title, tie ins with toys, merchandise and films, using celebrity authors, talking to booksellers, keeping up to date with trends and developing new authors, to name but a few. There are a wealth of practical examples naming books and authors.

This article is pure gold for any writer. I welcome your feedback on what you insights you gleaned from the article, and what you found particularly useful. Email me or add your thoughts to our forum.

Read the Full Book Marketing Article by John Kremer.