Here are three building blocks of a good marketing campaign, with resources for each:

Website

If you want to be perceived as a professional writer, I strongly recommend hiring a professional to design your website. Here is an excellent one I recommend:

Andiamo Creative: www.andiamocreative.com

(Andiamo Creative did my current website.)

If you’re good with design tools and/or your budget is tight, do-it-yourself services such as Wix, Website Builder, SquareSpace and GoDaddy are good options. Just be careful not to end up with a site loaded with advertising, which can look gauche and turn off potential readers.

Newsletter

I recommend using a newsletter program over email for multiple reasons, such as the option for subscribers to opt in (or out), and your ability to track subscriber engagement. Two solid vendors are:

Mailchimp: www.mailchimp.com

Constant Contact: www.constantcontact.com

I use Mailchimp, which is free for unlimited messages to less than 2500 subscribers, and a modest fee per month on a sliding scale of subscribers from there.

Business cards, postcards, bookmarks, etc.

Easy-to-carry giveaways with information about your book are a great marketing tool, and the following vendors offer fantastic pricing:

Vista Print: www.vistaprint.com

Got Print: www.gotprint.com

I recently ordered 250 customized, two-sided, color business cards from Vista Print for less than $30, and I believe there are also basic card options for free. In addition to my contact details, each of my cards includes my website color, logo and tagline: Bestselling novels about life, love and friendship.

Book marketing is hard work and takes a lot of energy, which can leave authors of every genre feeling overwhelmed and discouraged. While there’s no magic formula for conducting a marketing campaign, the above basic elements will get you started, and in my opinion that’s half the battle.

-Maria