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Guest post by: Anthony Mora Become an Author

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Congratulations. You finished that book you've been threatening to write, sent it to publishers, amassed a mountain of rejection slips, but finally found that right publisher. Your manuscript was accepted. Or, you realized that traditional publishing is only one approach and you decided to self-publish your work. Either way, you're going to be a published author. Great - you can now turn your attention to your next book. Your first book is finished; your publisher will take care of everything from here on in, or people will flock to your website to buy your new work - right? Surprise!

Whether you’re a self-published, first-time author or a writer who’s landed multi-book deals with a major publisher, the truth is your job’s just starting.

If you’re with a traditional publisher, it would be easy to blame the company's media relations departments, but that's not the problem. Most publishing companies have slashed their in-house staffs and their publicists are overloaded. Every month, up to thirty books are dumped on one or two in-house publicists.

It's an impossible task. What has happened is that many in-house departments have been reduced to little more than direct marketing departments. They send out books, press kits and press releases and hope for the best. They have neither the time nor the man power to make follow-up calls. And unless you have name recognition or have written a shocking expose that the entire world is waiting to read, chances are you and your book will get lost in the shuffle.

If your book is self published, don’t expect that placing it on Amazon or building a website is going to do the trick. Whether you’re self- published, published by a small house or a major publisher, you need to launch and implement amarketing campaignto promote and support your book. If you have the means, I strongly recommend you hire a firm that understands book media relations to implement your campaign. Although some books are evergreen some are time sensitive. This is one time you don't have the luxury of learning as you go.

If you want to have your book reviewed, you need to send a copy of your book, or the galleys, to reviewers, often as long as three months before the publication date. Once it's published, you immediately want to hit the local media, the talk shows, and the national press.

One area you definitely want to focus on is national and regional radio. There are hundreds of regional and local radio talk shows and current event-oriented programs that feature books and authors. These interviews are almost always conducted over the phone. You can be at home in your bathrobe, discussing your book, while thousands of people listen.

If you are publishing with a major house, view your publisher primarily as a printer and distributor and assume that all of the responsibility for securing media coverage for your book rests firmly on your weary shoulders. If your publisher actually launches a campaign for you, that's great, but don't count on it.

And the one great leveler when it comes to marketing is the Internet. Build an interesting site, create a blog, blog regularly, utilize all of the social media sites, including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Digg, etc. Create short inexpensive videos of you talking about the book, or reading excerpts. Be creative. Come up with short, interesting, enticing videos. You want to create interest, start a buzz and develop a fan base and – sell books!

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

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