Writers understand that writing and marketing are two different things. Given that a great majority of writers are solitary creatures, introverts who find solace in the purity of a quiet environment, many of them admit that they’re not keen when it comes to marketing. They do, however, get out of their comfort zones and are very keen to doing book signings and media appearances to promote their work. Nowadays, with tons of authors competing for readers’ attention, book marketing now extends to creating online awareness.

Many factors affect the sales of a book, and reaching the right channels is one of them. The good news for the modern writer is that they can find many ways to leverage their work. Follow these helpful reminders to help you tap into productive promotional opportunities that will even help you become a good book marketer.

1) Know your demographics. Well, most writers know what type of readers they are writing for. However, knowing your demographics is not confined to knowing that your readers are into the type of genre that you write. It’s not enough that you know that your YA novel caters to teens or that your business books cater to entrepreneurs. You’ll want to know more information about your target audience in order to have a deeper understanding of what they want. You may want to know about their age, relationship status, and where they live. Are they students or professionals? What other types of books do they read?

2) When you know your readers, you know your market. What is the present condition of the market for your book? Are you positioning your work carefully? This means entering the market at the right time. Have you visited physical and online bookstores to see what type of books are published in the same genre as yours? Are you reading publications related to book publishing to find out the latest trends and what publishers are looking for? Most importantly, if you’re writing nonfiction, does it fill a much-needed gap in the market? Why do people need your book? Is there a future for your work, meaning, will it have a strong recall among readers? As of this writing, many traditional publishers are publishing more nonfiction work. If you write fiction, see if the market conditions would be welcoming to your entry.

3) Too many books in the same genre. Remember back in the days when the Harry Potter Series started creating a buzz in the publishing world? In just a month or two, new fantasy series about a young boy in a magical world started to flood the market. Again, it has something to do with banking on popularity, and the trend continues to the present. YA supernatural series abound after the success of Twilight. Dystopian topics have become popular after The Hunger Games. Now ask yourself: Am I going to jump in, or have I written something different? Popular genres are not much of a problem. Traditional publishers are more than willing to publish popular genres. This is because they are sure that it is worth the investment given that there’s a sure market for it. If you’re going to jump in, make sure that you’re offering something unique and original, even if you’re writing a story in the same popular genre.