Learn how to successfully market your book with these 10 valuable book marketing tips.

1. Take Risks. Be willing to put yourself in uncomfortable situations (like speaking and selling) to market your books. Pretty soon you won’t be uncomfortable anymore and you will be selling books.
2. Accept Mistakes. Not everything you try will be effective. Some of the promotions you dream up will fall flat and others will be very effective. You have to test your marketing plan, and accept the mistakes as a guideline for what NOT to do the next year.
3. Don’t Take Criticism Personally. The act of marketing your books invites criticism. Fear of criticism keeps people from marketing more than anything else. Learn to weed out the constructive criticism from the toxic criticism.
4. Separate Yourself From Your Book. Marketing a book is a business function. If you can treat it that way, you will be much more successful building relationships with bookstores, editors and so on.
5. Think BIG. Think about what you can do for them. Create win-win relationships. Lots of speakers pay the large organizations to be able to speak because they realize that getting in front of that market with their product will benefit them for years to come.
6. True Authority Is Achieved Through Genuine Knowledge. When you first start marketing your book–speaking to groups and organizations and meeting professionals that can help you grow your business–it can be tempting to overcompensate and spew everything you know in one interaction. Don’t do it. True authority comes from sharing genuine (experience based) knowledge. Build relationships slowly and they will be strong.
7. Understand That You Will Always Be A Student. Every six-figure professional I meet has this one thing in common and that is that they continue to learn–they invest in their education and they surround themselves with people more successful than themselves.
8. Treat EVERYONE With Respect, Empathy, And Patience. Long-term relationships are built on this rule. If you always treat people this way, your marketing efforts will be so much more effective. Be of service and you will succeed because people will want to do business with you. Think about it–don’t you always want to be around people who make you feel good about yourself? This is true in business too. Marketing is business. Try to make your interactions good ones.
9. Understand The Dynamics of Change And Why Change Is Desirable. Through change we learn. And if we aren’t changing–guess what–we aren’t growing and learning. Don’t fight this, get used to change and welcome it in. It is an opportunity. I meet people who argue that things must be done a certain way to effectively market. Not true. Be open to many things and don’t be rigid just because you are comfortable with your marketing techniques.
10. “Hold Your Space” By Being Firm and Gracious. I have learned over the years that you must learn to “hold your space” to be successful. Once your book business has grown, you will be approached on a daily basis by people wanting something from you. Try to create a win-win relationship whenever possible if you can see the true benefit in the relationship. Say no when you need to, and don’t waiver and always be gracious that the person brought the opportunity your way to consider.

Sheri McConnell is the President of the National Association of Women Writers (http://www.NAWW.org). She helps women writers and entrepreneurs discover, create, and profit from their intellectual knowledge! Free reports for writers available with subscription to NAWW Weekly. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband Seth and their four children. Contact her at [email protected] or her toll free number at 866-821-5829.

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