No one ever said successful self-publishing was easy. Yet, so many authors, by making a bunch of typical, easy-to-avoid mistakes, make it far more difficult than it needs to be. No, getting all the following right won’t guarantee riches beyond your wild imaginings, but it’ll clear some of the most common stumbling blocks from your path. After all, if you’re going to crash and burn, why do it for a dumb unnecessary reason?

Average bookstore shelf life these days is just four months, unless you publicize your book avidly. So this month, in no particular order, a list of 19 ways to publicize your book… Create a holiday around the book’s theme or title, Create a contest that ties in to the book.

Producers at top TV and radio shows may receive hundreds of requests from authors to appear on their programs every day. The cover letter you send with your press kit must attract their attention quickly and make you stand out — in a positive way — from the other potential guests. This is more likely to occur if you utilize seven proven techniques for creating an effective one-page summary, each tip starting with the letter C. Your pitch letter can be more effective if it follows the “Seven Cs” of good communication strategy. It should be…

As each month goes by, there is more and more evidence that proves the internet has taken the publishing industry and pulled the dusty rug from beneath it. The Web 2.0 Quake as shaken many of the industry giants right down to their ink and paper foundations. And, bit-by-bit, the hallowed halls of the untouchables are crumbling around them.

‘Social networking’ has become the latest buzz phrase – but what is social networking exactly, and why would you want to get involved in it? The answer is that social networks—Facebook, LinkedIn, Ryze, Bebo, MySpace, etc—are fast becoming a phenomenon worth paying attention to, and are potentially poised to usurp many of the publicity and advertising dollars formerly vested in the more traditional media.

Talk to any book publicist, and you’ll hear the same thing: Getting broadcast publicity for a self-published or mid-list novel is at best challenging, and often nearly impossible. Unless your last name is Clancy, King or Rowling, chances are slim a radio or TV program is going to want you on the air to talk about your book. The reason is simple: Good interviews are usually based on real-life topics, and fiction – by its very nature – is creation by imagination, not real life.

A month ago I would have told you that Facebook was a useless website where 15 years olds trash talked each other and otherwise wasted time. As a mater of fact, I originally opened my Facebook account to try to rummage around and see what my 16 year old was up to. Today I am convinced that Facebook should be considered a primary marketing tool by every self-publisher.