Top Marketing Books for Authors

In today's publishing world, even the "Big Six" New York City publishers have scaled back on marketing dollars and man-hours put into publicizing your book. What that means is that most authors must take it upon themselves to promote their book in a difficult market. Fortunately, there are some very comprehensive texts available to help authors in their marketing efforts. Here are some of the top marketing books for authors.

Perhaps the best marketing book available to authors is Publicize Your Book!: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book the Attention it Deserves. Written by publicity expert Jacqueline Deval, this up-to-date text includes online publicity strategies and relevant resources. Publishers Weekly said about Publicize Your Book!: "Easily the most incisive and expert guide to book publicity ever." The book is available in softcover and as a Kindle download.

John Kremer's 1001 Ways to Market Your Book is referred to as the bible of book marketing in some circles. Written for both authors and publishers, the newest edition published by Open Horizons contains 700 information-filled pages and is available for under $30. If you are an author looking to take a more active role in marketing your book, John Kremer's tips are for you.

Another popular marketing book for authors is available from Writer's Digest Books. It is called Guerrilla Marketing for Writers: 100 Weapons for Selling Your Work. Not sure whether guerilla tactics work? Well the authors of the Guerilla Marketing series - Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman, and Michael Larsen - have sold over one million copies of their books. And they are endorsed by best-selling authors Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, co-authors of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

In the Internet Age, it is vital that authors utilize technology to boost their book sales. As such, Red Hot Internet Publicity: An Insider's Guide to Marketing Your Book on the Internet by Penny C. Sansevieri is a must-have. Another useful text for navigating the Internet to find marketing tools is Plug Your Book! by Steve Weber.

If you are going to keep one book on your desk, make it Booklife: Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21st Century Writer by Jeff VanderMeer. This text is comprised of two sections: one on how to maintain your public booklife, and another on how to maintain your private booklife. Both are equally important, and it is refreshing to find both issues addressed in a single book. And all at a cost of just over $10 on Amazon.

Jump Start Your Book Sales: A Money-Making Guide for Authors, Independent Publishers, and Small Presses is a user-friendly guide written by Marilyn and Tom Ross, authors of the Complete Guide to Self-Publishing. If you are self-published, your marketing efforts are all the more important, and it would be wise to pick up a copy of both books.

One final top marketing book for authors is The Complete Guide to Book Marketing by David Cole. Published by Allworth Press, this book marketing classic has been fully revised to make authors competitive in today's tech-savvy market.