One of the best things you can do for yourself these days is market your books through the internet. The response time is instant, the reach is unlimited. And the cost can be as little as two minutes of your time.

Publishers respect a strong internet presence these days. They understand what it means about your seriousness as a professional author. They also understand how it can positively impact book sales.

When you’re working on your book proposal for novels or nonfiction, consider your electronic reach. The most common ideas are:

• A blog tour, where you write guest blog posts for a dozen or more blogs in the same timeframe (say a few weeks)
• Post book excerpts anywhere you can find the space
• Garner book reviews, or take ones that have appeared elsewhere and repost them
• Interview yourself! Write up the top five questions you receive about your book then write the answers to each. Send that around to sites interested in your book’s topic.
• Book yourself on podcasts, blogtalk radio, or standard radio shows
• Offer books as giveways for bloggers and electronic database subscribers
• Think long term and generate ideas for webinars you can offer
• Videos of you reading an excerpt, you talking about the book, or you talking about the process of writing the book can be posted on blogs and social media. Videos work because readers want to know the story behind the story…and that means you!