Where is your marketing plan?

Posted on November 8, 2011 Updated on August 19, 2014

When I left my day job to pursue a career in writing, I didn’t know I’d spend so much time marketing my work. Like many starry-eyed beginners, I had visions of sitting all day at my desk, waxing words that moved readers to tears. Just as I had to learn how to structure a solid story, now I’m learning how to create a great marketing plan, which is usually the first thing an agent or editor asks when queried.
Dear Author, what are you going to do to market this book?
Wait, isn’t that the marketing department’s job?
Dear Author, times are tough. We have no marketing budget for your book. Where’s your marketing plan?
In an attempt to better understand the revolving world of marketing and publishing, I recently attended the Idaho Book Extravaganza in Boise, Idaho. The two-day event was exhausting in that this event focused on the how-tos of marketing, not the how-tos of writing.
Marketing is just another aspect of a writing career, and it was great fun to discuss the industry with good friends like author Kelly Jones, and publisher and editor of Idaho Magazine Kitty Fleischman.
What are you doing to develop your marketing plan?