Don’t forget your college alumni magazine. They probably have announcements of alumni achievements or even book announcements. I graduated from Mills College in Oakland and they were happy to add the publication of “Baker’s Dozen” to the class notes. Also, think of neighborhood associations that are looking for announcements. Join organizations that will promote your book. For example, I’m a member of Sisters in Crime. They have a newsletter that promotes books written by mem

Reviews on Amazon are very important. You'll want to encourage anyone that reads your book to post a review. I can't emphasize this enough: Reviews! Reviews! Reviews! Don't be shy, just ask nicely.

Not surprisingly, photos of books with dogs, cats and even famous plants make great ads that will receive lots of love. I am Groot! Did I say cute animals? Well, here's a particularly cute spider.

My most successful marketing campaign was “Where is Lexi?” I asked my readers to post pictures of the book where they were reading it. This lead to amazing adventures, as I put it, for Lexi, the book’s protagonist. Readers posted photos from across the United States as well as many places around the world. The campaign was a hit because I involved my readers and they got a kick out of taking the book on their travels and posting pictures. With the information on where the boo

Paid ads are way too expensive so I made my own. I create the posts in PowerPoint or Word but if you have friends with better skills, create better ads. You might be asking how I came up with the ads? It's easy. Look at ads for books that you like and come up with your own take. These are a few of my favorites that I created and posted on Facebook. Word to the wise, only use images that you create or that are public domain.

BOOK PARTIES: A great way to promote your book is with parties. Not only are they fun, but you can fill them with friends and family so it’s a win win. After publishing my first book, I had three wonderful parties in the LA area and one in Washington, D.C. The enthusiasm for the book and the delight at celebrating with people I care about and that care about me still fills me with joy and humility. The other advantage of parties is that you can practice reading from your book

If you have the money to pay for Public Relations/Marketing, do your research. What organizations are they affiliated with? What writer’s conferences or book festivals? How popular are these events? How many events do they organize and how often? What radio, magazines or podcasts do they work with? I went with a boutique PR firm, Black Chateau. The owner and I got along like a house afire. Their services included radio interviews, magazine mentions, book festivals and readin

Create a FACEBOOK AUTHOR PAGE. This is where you can send blog posts from your website. You will need a banner photo as well as an author photo, probably the one you use for your book. After posting a blog entry on Wix.com, it allows you to select a Facebook page you manage, your personal page, twitter, Linked In and email to post your blog. It’s incredibly convenient. Also on your Facebook Author Page, create events and post photos and ads that you create. As I said in an ea