Dana wrote to ask, "How much of marketing a book is the publisher's department, and how much is the author's responsibility? It seems like publishers used to do more marketing."

 It's funny, but authors tend to think there was this perfect situation in days of yore, in which the hard-working writer turned in her manuscript, then sat back and watched the publisher market her book to the masses. Um… I've worked in publishing for a few decades now, and I don't know that scenario was ever true. In my view, the first part of the perfect marketing situation is this: The publisher likes the book, gets excited about it, and really markets it hard. I don't see that happen a lot — sometimes, but not a lot. I mean, I'll often see an editor get excited, and I often see hardworking publicists trying to make things happen, but to have the entire company get behind something is fairly rare. The publishing industry has become much more of a celebrity-driven/bestseller-driven industry than it used to be, and publishers spend the bulk of their marketing time working on books they know are going to be winners. Publishing is an 80/20 business (that is, 80% of the profits come from 20% of the books), so publishers tend to go the safe route, pushing the new book from last year's bestselling author, or focusing on the books by people with big author platforms. That's just good business, so that particular plan doesn't bother me one bit.

When Publishers Weekly did their year-end report on last year's nonfiction bestsellers, I found it fascinating that seven of their top fifteen authors have huge built-in marketing platforms. (That list included Bill O'Reilly, Chelsea Handler, and others who have TV shows or serve as television commentators.) That says something about the importance of an author having a platform. But don't miss the second part of what I consider the perfect situation: the author had to work to develop that platform. None of those people just woke up one day and found themselves hosting a TV show — they worked hard to get there. And that's what an author has to do in this era of media-driven publishing. So, in my way of thinking, the BEST thing a publisher can do is to acquire books they really believe in, insist the sales and marketing people read them (you'd be surprised at this), and decide to push hard on certain books. And the BEST thing you can do as as author is to politely say "thanks very much" for everything the publisher is doing, then go work as though all the marketing is your responsibility. Because, in my view, it all comes back to the author's work anyway.

Yes, there are cases where a publisher decides to market a book so hard that they push it onto the bestseller lists. I used to be a publisher for the old Time-Warner Book Group, and we did exactly that with a couple titles — Nick Spark's The Notebook and Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian. Neither author was well known, and with both books the publisher got the manuscript in early, had everybody read and get excited about them, created a lot of buzz, and determined to drive the books onto the bestseller lists. But that's rare. In fact, a publisher will only choose to do this process (it's called a "make-book") once or twice a year. And there's no guarantee it's going to work (we've all watched expensive ad campaigns flop). So the lesson is clear: Author, invest the time to build your platform. Take on the marketing of your books. Approach this as a business, educate yourself, and do the hard work to become known.

Continuing with questions about marketing, Dave wrote to ask, "What should you do if your publisher doesn't have adequate resources for marketing and promotion?"

Um…okay, here's a suggestion to all authors and wannabe authors: Before inking that deal, ask some questions and find out what sort of marketing effort your publisher is going to make on your behalf. I'd say about half the books released every year have zero marketing efforts planned for them. So ask some basic questions: What are some of the things you're planning to do in order to sell books? How have you promoted similar titles in the past? Will there be ads? Will you be sending out review copies? Will radio talk show hosts be contacted? Will you use postcards or bookmarks or shelf-talkers? Do you plan signings or a broadcast fax or in-store promotions? Will you to doing extensive web promotion? Do you expect me to walk around Central Park with a sandwich board?

I won't bore you with sob stories, but it's hard to find an author who is satisfied with the marketing their publisher did for them. I suppose they're out there, but they are rare. Many authors feel they were promised the moon, then handed something considerably less. At the same time, it can be hard to find a good freelance publicist. They are out there, but they're busy — a professional who has the contacts and know-how to actually help an author get the word out. It's why some authors will swear by one publicist or another — they had a good experience, and they want to duplicate it on their next book.

So if you're working with a publisher who apparently doesn't have the resources to support your book, you've got a choice to make: Do I let this book die because the publisher doesn't want to get behind it, or do I decide to promote it myself? (Hint: if you're self-scoring, the answer you want is the latter.) It could mean spending your own money. It will definitely mean doing some looking around to find somebody who has the know-how, the time, and the reasonable budget expectations to help you. I realize this isn't what you were hoping to hear, but this sort of question faces authors every day. I've been talking to a friend just recently who has a book releasing with a major house, but they've had some staffing changes and seem to have forgotten all the conversations they had with the author about marketing her book. She's faced with two crummy choices: leave it in the apparently incompetent hands of the marketing dimwit she's been handed, or invest her own time and money to try and make something happen. She's choosing the latter, since she's already put a year of her life into researching and writing the book, and she'd prefer to not see it die a quick death.

Still, that's a hard choice. There are a million ideas an author can use to try and market his or her own book, and it means doing a lot of research to figure out what the right choices are — who the audience is, how to best reach them, what methods will be effective in getting the word out to the most people possible, etc. You can spend a fortune in no time on ideas that won't generate many sales. In her case, she's going to contract with a freelancer to (a) get review copies into the hands of those most likely to help her, (b) connect with radio hosts in order to get her booked onto every talk show in America, (c) query magazines and e-zines about the author creating short articles and sidebars that will support the book, and (d) give her some guidance on web ads. Fortunately, she ran out of money before she could implement (e), which consisted of the words "have the marketing director whacked." However, the author will be working on her own to set up dozens of blog tours, she's doing a mailing and email blast of her own to loyal readers and those interested in her topic, and she's jammed her schedule with speaking venues to help her promote the book. It ain't perfect, and it's a lot of work…just like everything else in publishing.

Once again, I'm inviting people to send in questions about writing and publishing, and we'll try to offer a bit of wisdom. Recently Bobbi wrote to me to tell me I've been too hard on marketing types in the past, and to ask, "What sort of marketing would you suggest to an author? And what sort of marketing would you most like to see?"

First, I'd suggest an author decide to take control of marketing for their own book. Put aside that old fashioned notion that the publisher is going to market your book for you, and start learning what you can do to help get the word out. Second, I'd suggest some field research — who is the audience for your book? What's the best way to reach them? (If the answers are "everybody" and "beats me," you're screwed.) Third, I'd start checking out the creative ideas people are using on the web. Internet book sales equaled the sales at brick-and-mortar stores last year for the first time in publishing history at most of the major publishing houses. It's the place to buy books. That means it's probably time you took a fresh look at your web site, your online videos, your blog, and anything else that sounds vaguely connected to Al Gore's invention.

As for what I'd like to see? I can think of dozens, but here's two… Many publishers have forgotten about radio. But it's on all the time in our culture. People don't like noise, so they have their radios on at work, in the car, in the kitchen. And it's FREE to listen. It's also cheap to advertise. I'd like to see more publishers figure out how to effectively promote their books via radio. A second area is one that authors could work harder at: articles. There are newspapers, magazines, and e-zines all over the world, and they're all looking for content. A magazine is a monster that must be fed. Yet I don't see authors taking their work and reshaping it a dozen times, for a dozen different e-zines, in order to get the word out about their book. It's probably the most under-utilized marketing method out there. If you've written a book on "how to be a great mom," you could take your info and craft a couple dozen articles. Each venue gets a unique story to tell, you get great press…and if you're lucky, you'll often get PAID for the effort. Why won't most authors do this? Because it means actualwork, and let's face it…most writers are basically lazy. But there you go — two responses out of twenty I could have tossed out.

Of course, I'd also like to see publishers give away more copies, since I think it seeds the market. I've never understood why this has gone out of vogue. Publishers claim it's too expensive — but that 176 page trade paperback that sells for $10.99 in the stores only cost the publisher $1 to produce. so giving away 200 copies would only cost them $200. Giving away 100 e-books costs them almost nothing. Yet they'll fight over this, arguing that "it will cannibalize sales!" Rot. Publishers see cannibals everywhere. They've been watching too much Tarzan.

Read up on the topic of marketing. Buy some good books and educate yourself. Attend a marketing seminar. Look for unique ways to sell yourself and your books, rather than duplicating what everybody else is doing. You'll find yourself an expert in no time.

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I don't know if it's possible to start out a blog and not say something about what the author has been doing. So… here it is: I've been writing a book. 

No, I'm not kidding. It's called 40 Ways to Get Closer to God. 

Here's the cover. I'm happy with it. It's an important topic for me, and I was thrilled to be able to work on it with Keri Kent, a writer I respect. But let me warn you: if you read this book, you're not going to glow in the dark. It's not one of those, "I worked to be perfect… now YOU can be perfect like me" type of books. Those books always make me want to vomit. Besides, I'm not tall enough, and I don't have cool enough hair to get my picture on the cover. Instead, this is more of a "I'm a dork, but I did this stuff, so now I'm less of a dork than I used to be… in a way, I guess" sort of book. 

I can tell you one bit of good news: I know if you and I sat down at Starbucks to talk about this topic, the things in the book are exactly what I'd say. The stories (about my dad's suicide, or my friend's death, or my kids going for a pajama ride) are all true, and they're the stories I'd tell. There's no pretense here.

There's also no magic potion. Moving down the road spiritually takes time. You don't pick up a guitar one day and start selling concert tickets the next. You don't take up a paint brush in the morning and expect to create a masterpiece in the afternoon. Anything good takes time — and that includes your spiritual life. 

So I don't know if this is the most important thing you can do if you want to improve your spiritual life. (If you need to see faster growth, try serving at a soup kitchen for Thanksgiving.) But it's one thing, and it's mine, so I thought I'd tell you about it. If you order a copy through Amazon or B&N.com, let me know, so I can tell everyone what a wonderful person you are. 

Thanks for letting me brag about me today. 

-Chip

A year ago I decided to take some time away from from blogging. I was tired, becoming repetitive, and ready to take a break. So I took a year off. I've had a lot of people tell me, "You can't just take a year away from writing — it won't work." But… I did. So here I am, back to it. 

I love to write. I love to talk about writing. So, here I am, back to writing my blog. The focus is to offer advice, tips, and wisdom to those who want to write and get published. I hope you find it helpful. 

And yes, it feels good to be back. 

-Chip MacGregor