Marketing plans are great guides for business owners. And a book marketing plan is the specific tool you will use to find and create places to sell your book(s).

Consider these six areas when developing your marketing plan.

1. The Audience: Who did I write this book for? Make sure you narrow your focus and target specific groups. Try to network with networks instead of one-on-one.

2. The Product: What kind of book is this? Check out your competition; see what the latest trends are with books similar to yours. One current trend is to sell your how-to book at the end of free how-to teleseminars.

3. The Price: How will I price my book? Make sure you don't price your book too high. Again research your competition (and/or your friends!) to find out what books like yours sell for. I've seen lots of POD (print on demand) books outrageously priced because of the high cost per book to the author. I can't imagine they are selling many books when their competitors are selling similar books at half the price. Remember that printing larger quantities on your own allows you to achieve higher profits per book.

4. The Packaging: How will I design and package my book? Packaging makes all the difference and is the most fun to plan! This is where I get creative and try to incorporate what I love most about the different books that I buy. Make your packaging passionate!

5. The Promotion and Publicity: What promotional methods will I use to sell my book? This is another fun and creative area to plan. A few words of advice: Be unusual and different because this creates buzz and free publicity. Make sure to combine your unusual promotional techniques with steadfast long-term tactics too. I love to do seasonal off-the-wall stuff, yet I always have ads running consistently where I know my customers will see me.

6. The Distribution: How will my customer purchase my book? You must have a website that features you and your book(s). Writers try to tell me all the time that they just don't need a website. That maintaining it takes time away from their creativity. If you aren't networking with networks (in this case the entire world) then you are working much harder than you have to. Of course you can distribute via traditional markets such as bookstores and gift stores, but what sounds more efficient to you? Don't think of having a website as an option. Consider it a great way to connect with your customers and really have control over your marketing plan.