Advertising is the traditional vehicle, and the easiest. You pay someone to reach your target market for you. Getting yourself on radio talk shows and on the speaker panel of conferences is harder, but effective, rewarding, and great fun. Below are a few tactics for reaching your potential readers and pulling books into the pipeline. Guerrilla marketing, where you go to your readers, such as the author who painted the book title on his car roof for people in high-rise offices to see.
Some tactics cost very little, such as hosting an online chat room, but consume a lot of time.
Others are more expensive, but are less demanding. Strive for a balance of time, effort, and hard cash. In parallel with budgeting your dollars, sketch out a preliminary schedule around major events, such as a big distributor's spring and fall catalog, or the local Whole Life Expo. Then fit the other tactics around those major milestones. Distributors and Wholesalers You can sell a lot of books at the back of the room after your speaking engagements, or via an 800-number fulfillment service after a radio show interview, but you will also need help to get into the bookstores.