Authors must realize that they are a business. Sink or swim. No one will believe in a book as much as the author. Many authors suffer with self-esteem issues and it's our way of anonymously reaching out to communicate. Therefore, when the rose colored glasses come off and we realize that the success of our book depends on what WE the authors do to sell it, life can suddenly become very stressful.

Personally, I'm finding the internet the greatest tool for writers ever invented. I always had a problem with cold calling someone--booksellers, etc--the old rejection thing again. But this way there is no hanging up in your ear--no one getting annoyed because they've had a meeting interrupted, etc. Then, by the time you get the opportunity to meet the individual in person you already know them and can get down to business. Advertising is relatively cheap on the internet. Use it. Establish an author page on a number of sites. Prices are becoming reasonable now that so many are providing this service. Have them link to your home page, which should be professionally done as to make a good impression. Site hosts are usually eager to do interviews and reviews. Set all this up at least a year to six months before the book comes out, then when your book hits the shelf you can sit back and enjoy the success instead of scrambling at the last minute for attention. This will give you the confidence you need to make the next step into public appearances.

Unless someone is in their moment of need for your information, the first time they hear about your book, it's unlikely they'll take that opportunity to buy it. Potential readers get to you by a number of venues, an accumulation of messages, which motivate them, mysteriously sometimes, to finally take the buying action. And most of it has to do with elements over which you have no control: timing, luck, convenience, and their moment of need.

Your overall marketing plan should include both online and offline tools designed to get in the face of your readers as often as possible, without annoying them, with the goal of building up an idea of how they will benefit from the book. These marketing tools affect with each other; they build on each other.

For example, you send a postcard in the mail about an upcoming book signing. Your recipients may or may not attend, but no matter. Even if they don't, your postcard planted a seed about your book. Then you follow the postcard with an email message that includes a short excerpt from the book and, in your signature file, a link to the page on one of the online bookstores where your book can be bought. At that point, they just may click on that link. Or they may need to receive several more messages from you before they take the action. In any case, your job is to plant as many seeds as possible, making it as easy as possible to buy the book with each one.

Use a signature file on your e-mail messages. In addition to providing all the standard information like your address, phone and fax numbers and web site URL, you can plug your newest article or book, or any other project you are working on.

If you're writing non-fiction, write a "tip sheet" with 10 tips on how to solve a particular problem, or save time or money. Submit these to newspapers and magazines.

Provide an incentive to people who visit your web site. Offer a list of tips, a special report or anything of value. Make them give their e-mail address before they get the freebie, then ask permission to email them again the next time you have a new product or service.

Promotion can be a real challenge for authors. It's hard to get optimum exposure without spending a lot of money. One, often overlooked, resource is local newspapers. As a writer, you shouldn't have too much trouble putting together a short article to send to your town newspaper. Send it to surrounding towns too. You won't get paid for the article usually but many will run it and thus give you some free exposure. It's terrific if you can run this in conjunction with a booksigning. Send some publicity photos along with the article. I've even had friends submit the articles under their name so it doesn't seem like self-promotion.

If you're doing a booksigning, take the time to phone or drop a postcard to anyone and everyone you know. Tell them you'll have a free gift for them if they bring a friend along. Take along something eye-catching. If you wrote a children's story about monkeys, take along a cymbal banging monkey. You'll get a headache but it will also attract attention. If nothing else, buy some brightly colored helium balloons to tie to your table.

One of the best and most overlooked promotions is to keep in touch with readers. Answer those e-mails right away and also add something to the response -- My new book is on sale right now. I'm offering a contest for an autographed copy of my current release. And don't overlook those guestbook entries! Connecting with readers is one way to start the most valuable promotion tool of all -- Word of Mouth.

1. A key component to marketing your book is to have a website devoted to it. It can be a site on a topic related to your book or even a site that creates a community for your readers.

2. One of the main ways to bring traffic to your site without having to actively promote it on discussion lists, is to hand submit your website to as many search engines as possible. The key search engines include Google.com, Altavista.com, Excite.com, and Lycos.com to name a few. These will bring you the majority of traffic compared to the lesser search engine sites. Don't forget to bid on keywords on "Pay-Per-Click" search engines such as Goto.com, since they send you targeted visitors.

3. Create a link exchange program with other sites. To be the most effective -- trade links with other book sites, especially those that have similar books to yours. This increases your "link popularity" on the search engines, which could make your book site rank higher. Quality links to related sites are much more valuable to you than just any site.

For the writer who is truly too shy to appear in front of people, there are still great ways to get your name and your book in front of the public. A well-targeted press release campaign is a good first step. The press release should be written in a very informative upbeat manner, and avoid as much marketing jargon as you can! I can't tell you how badly media people hate to have to translate a press release so the average reader will understand it.

E-mail chats and message boards are also great for the shy writer because you can participate from the comfort of your desk, and the only person who has to listen to say "Geeze, what an idiot!" is your computer monitor. I really love electronic connectedness for the person who, like me, tends to be a social disaster. When I get nervous, I trip all over my tongue for the first few minutes. Email, message boards, and chat rooms alleviate the faux paus on my side because I can always re-read what I send before it meets anyone else's scrutiny.

Also, remember that if you're not going to put yourself out in front of your readers, then you need a good creative marketing campaign to do it for you. By creative marketing, I mean things like bookmarks, business cards, education booklets and fliers--anything that you can send out to the general public with other authors who are making appearances. It's been my experience that most authors are willing to take along a few extra freebies for the tables at conferences. And education booklets offer two strengths. They are educating the public about electronic books and they give you a means to include a small advertisement for your own works on the back cover.

Even more importantly, education booklets can be laid out in a format that can be sent electronically. So if you want to distribute them to libraries and schools not in your area, you send the contact your file, they print it out, and you've got education happening. How cool is that?

It really is important that you get yourself, your book, and an image out there in some way. If you really can't face the idea of standing face-to-face with a group of readers, then use some of your creativity to design a way to get an "image" of you in front of them. Printed materials are an excellent choice.

In overcoming shyness when meeting an editor or agent, it's always best to be prepared. Write down what you're going to say if you are making contact by telephone. Say the words aloud a few times before you pick up the phone. If you are about to meet face to face, that same preparation will be a confidence lifeline. Know how to pitch your book in a sentence or two. Know the conflict. Play editor/author with a friend, anticipating possible questions. If you need to write points down and take a cue card with you -- do it! You probably won't need it but you'll feel secure knowing you can read from it if you get tongue-tied. I see nothing wrong with just saying in opening that you're a little nervous. Often saying it aloud will be enough to release the tension. The editor will understand and it'll be a kind of ice-breaker. Too, unless you are way off base in your editor/author meeting -- as in pitching sci-fi to a romance editor -- you will most likely be invited to submit. Editors know it's hard to tell what a manuscript will be like in the few minutes allotted. And even if the editor isn't keen on your story, you can always ask if you can query with new ideas. She'll definitely say yes, and you now have the all-important first line, "We met at X conference and you invited me to query you with any new story ideas I have…" It's helpful in the confidence department to know you are in a win-win situation as you enter the appointment!

Remember, too, that editors are often on overload when they're at a conference. They're meeting so many people and squeezing so much into a day or two that they're not going to remember if you trip over your own tongue.

And if you are really, really, really shy and want to make contact with an editor, why not email me at arcangel@pathcom.com and practice approaching a real, live editor! Send a query or ask any questions you may have.