Promotional copy for jackets or covers, catalogs, press releases, brochures and advertisements must be developed long before the book appears for public consumption. Publishers will commonly have an author fill out a questionnaire designed to provide material for the campaign. While the questionnaire may ask some personal questions, its objective is to determine directions for marketing and promotion. It is not without reason to say that the only legs a book is apt to develop are yours. The stories of independently published books achieving considerable success result because the author worked assiduously in promoting it.
Large publishers set up budgets for sending authors on tour to promote their new titles.
Established writers also recognize the importance of their participation in the book's promotion. Whether the book's sales continue in the months and years to come may depend largely on the efforts of the author.