When most unpublished writers imagine their careers, they think they’ll finish a book, find a publisher, and then sit back as the publisher markets and promotes it. Not true. Not anymore. Now writers take on a large part of the responsibility for marketing their books. While publishers still promote, they divide that time between all of their titles, and writer promotion can make all the difference between low and high sales.

Lots of writers don’t think about how they’re going to promote their books, so here are some suggestions. One of the new trends in publishing is having more available writers, writers who tweet and post on Facebook, so my best piece of advice relates back to all of these. Contact the people you know. Hit up your friends and family for any support they might be able to offer.

Social Media: Since lots of readers want to connect to their favorite writers, social media provides a great opportunity. Find people who like discussing the same things as you. Ask your friends and family to link your book or blog.

Reviews: You can actively solicit reviews. Bloggers write their own reviews; find one and ask if they’d be willing to read and talk about your book. At the same time, you can hit up your friends and family to post reviews on Amazon or elsewhere. This second part is frowned upon by some readers, but if you’re just starting, it’s important for your book to pop up on search results pages.

Book Trailers: Book trailers have a lot of potential. Plenty of new writers think they would be a good idea. After all, every movie has a trailer, so why not your book? Too often though, I see book trailers on TV that look cool and exciting, but they don’t make me want to read the book. Why not? Simple, a trailer is set in a different medium. I can watch a trailer for an episode of TV or some movie, and it works. I get a snippet of what I might eventually watch. For books, it doesn’t work so well. Instead, consider filming yourself reading your work. Let your audience hear the book. This might get them excited.

Blog: Your blog is your chance to introduce yourself to new readers. It’s also a great place for readers to find you between new projects. Writers have to fight video games, TV, and movies for readers’ mindshare. It’s up to you to make sure they have enough content so that they don’t get bored and wander off. Blogs can help you there.

Guest Blog: I am a huge fan of guest blogging. Plenty of writers are out there, and they have their own blogs with their own readers. Their biggest problem is finding enough content. They can’t write an article every single day, so they ask their fellow writers to write for them. I do this all the time, and I get the chance to meet new readers and introduce my work to them.

Forums: Forums are another great place where you can meet new readers. Kindleboards.com offers some great opportunities for writers. Also, check out the various discussion boards on Facebook. You never know what you might find.

While MQuills Publishing is one of the few small presses that will actively promote a writer's work, succesful promotion largely also depends on the writer now. Fortunately, the internet makes self-promotion a lot easier. Go through the people you know. Talk to people online. Hit the forums. Promote your book wherever and however possible.

By Jeremy Trimble

When I first started writing First Admiral in 2006, the world was a wholly different place for the last of the e-dinosaurs like me. Oh, I had only just managed to master the complexities of fixing a laptop into the phone socket and waiting patiently for the correct tone to indicate that I was “…connected...” to the t’interwebs thingy. I also knew that I had to wait – with equal patience – for the slow-creeping little blue bar at the bottom of the screen to tell me that the file was either downloaded or had been sent away into that mythical realm known as "The Server." That was about it.

Yes, those were days of blithe innocence for us e-dinosaurs. Anyone mentioning the word “e-reader” would have drawn mystified stares and suspicions of something highly illegal; possibly related to the drugs scene, with nervous, head-scarved mothers shepherding their frightened children away from that strange person from Outer Space. The word “kindle” would have conjured up images of open fires and snowy Christmas scenes with otherwise sane and respectable people grinning inanely whilst wearing questionable and bright knitwear as they sang something cheerful and syrupy to accompany Perry Como, Andy Williams or Bing Crosby.

Yes, I’m showing my age here!

As for “Social Networks”, well, they were something that happened in your local bar at the weekends... usually under the affluence of incohol (hiccup!)

But, as with all endangered species, the e-dinosaur had to learn; to evolve or perish. The law of the concrete jungle was harsh and unforgiving. Working in a job that required a lot of travelling put this particular e-dinosaur in hotel rooms for three to four nights per week in the far-flung corners of the corporate empire. With rubbish TV, and a hideously expensive mini-bar, the bored (and exhausted) e-dinosaur drew out his trusty new shiny laptop and began to write. He had been good at what was called “Creative Writing” at school, even managing to get some naïve and idealistic adolescent poetry published in the school magazine. But the reality of life, and having to work to provide for a family got in the way of those early literary ambitions.

Now, he had time on his claws and the directive from Head Office to adapt or die! So, with much wailing and gnashing of teeth (plus a good part physical violence and verbal abuse), the e-dinosaur resurrected his old literary lessons as he hammered and pounded the pliant and un-protesting keyboard. Before long, his wild ramblings and lunatic ravings were beginning to take the shape of a coherent story. Yet, he was never quite happy with it, and most frightening of all he was hooked on writing. The old writing bug had bitten the e-dinosaur quite badly.

And, before anyone knew it, the e-dinosaur had become a shambling, wraith-like, shadowy figure stalking the corridors of Head Office, begging, pleading and cajoling the Admin and I.T. staff with questions of "how do you make the machine do this?"

As his level of skill grew, so did his appetite. Prowling the work stations, the e-dinosaur struck fear and terror into the hearts of his colleagues as he sought new information, new experiences, new techniques and further training until one day the e-dinosaur made a momentous and astounding conclusion: Maybe, I should try to write a novel!

The moral of the tale is clear - beware of those e-dinosaurs. They might just be of the large, hungry and carnivorous variety!

To be continued...

By William J. Benning (author of the First Admiral series, published by MQuills in 2012)

Literary agents and potential publishers generally want a query letter. They want a one page document that will introduce yourself and your work. Slogging through hundreds of submissions is hard enough, so they want some way to filter through all of these materials. This then begs the question of what goes into a query letter. As you start your query letter, think of it as your introduction to your book. Ask yourself, what does the publisher need to know?

Most queries are sent via website contact forms or emails. If you’re writing an email, make sure your subject line is clear. You don’t want your email to get deleted because it looks like spam. When I submit a query, I’ll usually write the subject line as, “Query Submission: Midfire”. I make it clear what this is, and I include the title of my work.

Once you get to the body of your query, remember to include your contact information. This generally includes your name, address, phone number, and the email address where the publisher can contact you.

After your contact information, write a one sentence description of your work. This hook should include a very brief synopsis, the title of your book, and its length. For example, I might write, “Amber fights a horde of monsters in Mindfire (approximately 60,000 words)”.

From there, you can include a one paragraph summary of your novel. This is difficult, but you might think of the summary as an elevator pitch. You should be able to tell your prospective publisher (or agent) what a novel is about in a hundred words. If you can’t, it’ll probably be too convoluted for anyone else to get excited.

Finally, you want to list your publishing history, credits, or reasons why your potential publisher should accept your work based on who you are. Getting a publishing history is a lot easier now. All you have to do is start your own blog. If you do this, be sure to include a link. That makes it a lot easier for your reader to track you down.

This format is formulaic, but it gives your audience a very easy template to follow: hook, summary, credits. Keep in mind, your potential publisher is probably sifting through hundreds of queries and story ideas every week. Make it as easy as possible for your reader and your chances of publication go up. When I worked as an editor for a literary journal, I remember scanning across the first paragraph for a single typo. I wanted to throw those prospective stories away. The stack of submissions was just too big to give each piece a lot of individual attention.

By Jeremy Trimble