books
I was on a fun radio show last night -
where we talked marketing and authors. There are a few things that need to be repeated.

First, authors need to understand that their book is product just like a television, refrigerator or bag of chips. That means it needs to be marketed in a business way. And there are several ways to do that.
In order to understand where your audience reads, watches, listens to and surfs you need to do a survey. The survey should contain 10-15 multiple choice questions to get a feel where the people you have communicated to get their information and entertainment. Here are two questions that everyone can use:
When you turn the TV on, what do you look at first?
ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX Movies channels Sports channels Real life
When you listen to the radio, what do you listen to most?
News Country Rock Jazz Hip hop Contemporary
Now all you need is 8-13 more questions that fit the market you are going to advertise into. That can be a city, state, region or national. Send the survey to all the email contacts, Facebook page friends, LinkedIn connections and ask Twitter followers to ask for the survey. This way you can get the most opportunity to get great replies.
Next you need to schedule your daily Social Media posts to 3-6 times during the day - every day. When you post things at similar times your audience gets to rely on them when they check their pages. Take time on Sunday evening or early Monday morning to pick out the things you plan to post for the week so you are not wasting time getting prepared.
Also you can get cable TV ads for under $30 an ad in most markets or market segments around the country. If you have a good budget you can get great exposure in many parts of the country. In larger markets the cable company will split the market into segments that also helps control the costs. The big expense is producing the commercial itself. It can range from $1500-%2500 or more. But once it is done, it is ready to go.
Direct mail is another way to promote your book. You can buy lists of names from magazines, distribution houses and list brokers. Again it is a one time expense. But this also get into the hands of the people you feel target the subject matter of your book.
Be smart, educated and consistent. It is a fun process.