Have you completed step 1? Take your time, get it right and then move on.

Step 2: Track Your Audience Down Online

I don’t mean stalk them! Look for blogs or forums that your audience may frequent. Find out if there are any associations that they may belong to. If your book is for legal librarians, then look into the American Association of Law Libraries. If mothers are your audience, head to mothering.com.

Have a look at the leading blogs in your niche and see if they will allow you to write a guest post. If they do, you can link to your website (you do have one, right?) to gain more coverage.

Step 3: Set Your Budget

From here, how much money you have will determine how much more you can do. Your budget must be included in your marketing plan and, if you have a big enough budget, consider purchasing ads to go on search engines and websites.

Step 4: Write a List of Guest Post Topics

Jot down some ideas for guest posts that relate to your book. These posts need to be unique, interesting and valuable. If you write fiction, write a short story that is based on your book, introducing a couple of the characters. If you write non-fiction, come up with a few how-to articles.

Ask yourself these questions:

Do my audiences have any needs that I can cater to?

How is my book going to help them?

How can I solve a problem for them?

You might not get your post published on Forbes, but most blogs are always on the lookout for high-quality content that drives traffic; you write it, they’ll publish it.

Step 5: List Every Person That You Know

And I mean, everyone. Your family, your friends, social media followers, the postman, your bank manager, everyone. You need to start building up some momentum early. Use social media and email to do this; make it personal and offer a free copy of your book in return for an honest review.

Step 6: Plan to Get Quotes, Testimonials or Reviews

Make a list of anyone you know who would be willing to give you one of these. If you know an authority figure in your niches, a good quote from them can propel you onwards quickly. Write down how you are going to get your book to them and what you want from them.

Step 7: Time to Draw Up Your Email List

If you have a website you probably already have an email list, which is great, you can use that. If you don’t, you need to build a list quickly. A quick search online will tell you how to do this and, once you have, you can get ready to start sending information out to them. These people already have an interest in what you are saying so they are more likely to purchase your book.

This isn’t easy, I know, but it is vital to the success of your book, so keep going and, when you are ready, on to step 8.