In the course of my reading, I’ve boiled the immense world of marketing into 3 easy-to-remember tips. Although I have been garnering lots of great marketing ideas from the books I’ve been reading on the topic, it is easy to feel like marketing a book successfully is an impossible task. But by the time I finished reading How to Publish and Promote Online by M.J. Rose and Angela Adair-Hoy tonight, some common themes seemed to emerge.

I think that condensing the broad concept of marketing into these 3 general areas will give me a better sense of structure and enable me to focus my efforts more effectively in the days ahead. And actually, come to think of it, I almost feel a twinge of excitement at the thought of marketing now, whereas before I felt only dread and total incompetence in the field. Now I can develop specific strategies in an effort to achieve each of these three goals. So, here are the 3 keys:

1. Know your target audience. Be specific. Identify your niche market. Don’t just assume that everyone is interested in your book or you will be lost and ineffective when implementing marketing strategies.

2. Be creative. Look for new, unique ways to present your book to the public and potential reviewers and publicity outlets. While there is certain protocol that should be followed for certain situations, don’t be afraid to branch out and try new approaches to get your book noticed.

3. Market early and often. Don’t wait until your book is published to begin publicizing and promoting it. Take time early on in the process to develop a plan and set it in motion.

If you disagree with the primary importance of these 3 keys or have other suggestions, please don’t tell me. I rather like the simplicity of this system and don’t want anyone to complicate it for me again. 🙂