When it comes to marketing, what makes one book sell more copies than others in its genre? Is the content most important? The cover design? An expensive public relations campaign? A hot social media account? Boosting posts? Getting big signing events?

If you want to sell more books, then having your book in the mainstream, large-scale bookstore distribution is the most significant difference between traditionally published and self-published authors. This is a priority to keep in mind when considering self-publishing companies. Most self-published authors do not have access to large bookstore distribution once their titles are released. This means you will need to make a plan, or hire a professional, to help get your books in bookstores, land signing events, and catch the public's attention.

It is vitally important to develop your marketing plan in mind early on in the writing process. Look for sound bites, bullet points, and sentences to extract for marketing your book while you are still writing and editing your manuscript. Pull out important quotes and ideas to utilize in a marketing one-sheet or press release.

However, no matter how great your marketing strategy is, there is only one must-have piece that is mission-critical to the success of your book. According to Nathan Bransford, that one thing that every author must have is an online presence. This can be a website, a social media account, a blog, or all of the above. It doesn’t matter which avenue you choose; however, it’s paramount that readers can find your work and where to buy it when they search for you online.