1) It is a mistake to leave marketing/ publicity out of the budget for the publishing processes of your book.

Several authors have discovered this the hard way. They’ve sunk every last dime into getting the book published but have failed to budget for publicity.

Result: the long-awaited books are just sitting there in a warehouse (or the dining room), and because they don’t have the means to advertise, there is little hope of getting those books into the hands of paying customers.  Even offering a book for sale on Amazon requires some publicity. Potential buyers won’t be ordering a book online that they’ve never heard of.

2) Publicity is better left to the professionals.

Publicity isn’t as easy to do as it looks from the outside looking in. It takes longer than you think, and without specialized knowledge, you may waste time and money on fruitless strategies. A publicist will help you craft your message into sound bites that quickly and clearly deliver your message. A good publicist has spent years building relationships with the media. Because good publicists have invested so much time in learning different audience demographics, these media contacts trust them and often think of them when putting together expertise on a subject for a show.

The preferences of the media vary from region to region and from program to program within a specific region. Good publicists understand those nuances. They will not expect to pitch an author/service/book to conservative Tyler, Texas the same way they would to liberal Oregon and Washington stations. Few people have invested as much time learning about the qualities of the tastes of different audiences.

Good publicists are also aware of coming trends long before the rest of the general public, and they draw on their research and instincts to position authors for exposure at just the right time–when the media is ready for it. Experience has taught them to recognize the hidden historical or internal political ramifications that may affect each author’s book campaign. Good publicists take all of these factors into account, and this allows them to present the possible public face of you, the up-and-coming author.

3) There are some things you can do to start attracting a following and make yourself more appealing  to media outlets.

• Participate in local and regional book clubs.
• Seek out speaking engagements close to home in place like rotary clubs.
• Use the internet to share your message: Start a blog, get a Twitter account, and post videos on YouTube. These venues are some of the most effective ways to get your name in the public arena.