In the basic scenario of book publishing, a writer finishes a book and then finds an agent who helps sell the book to a publisher. When someone asks, "How do I find a publisher?" they're often looking for the details of this scenario. But let's backtrack a little. The answer to this question has to do with what you as a writer want out of the publishing process as well as what the publisher wants. It's best to be as clear as possible on both counts. Here are a few things to consider.

Publicity is that elusive thing that can make or break your book - in all sorts of ways! Learning to promote you and your book is something that can take a bit of "re-training" for most new authors (and many old-timers too). Publicity is really all about selling your idea (and you), but all too often the word "selling" brings up images of polyester clad used-car salesmen, telemarketers, and strong-arm sales strategies that do nothing but alienate your intended customer.

To market your book successfully, you don't need a book full of jargon and buzzwords - but you do need a marketing plan. For most authors, and many large publishers even, a marketing plan will produce rather underwhelming results. There are numerous opportunities for a marketing plan to go awry, so I've outlined a few of them below that are the most common and fundamental - hopefully this will help you avoid them!

I’m sure you’re not too surprised to find out that your work as a self published author doesn’t stop when the presses finally start –actually, some of the most important work you’ll do to make your book sell STARTS now (if not a bit earlier…)