The publishing house does a lot for you, as far as marketing is concerned. But, believe it or not, that's not enough for your book to get noticed amongst the raging sea of new books that appears each year.
So what does a publishing house do? Well, that varies with each different publishing house. Rachelle Gardner posted on her blog 34 things the marketing department of a publishing house commonly does for your book.
Now, that list may seem extensive, but in reality, over a million new book titles get published each year. Suddenly you have competition. Imagine a million other authors using the same marketing materials. Whose voice will be heard?
When I tried to sell jewelry online, I quickly realized that I needed a niche. Jewelry is one of the most commonly-sold things on the Internet. Everyone and their mom makes and sells jewelry online. Jewelry is easy to make and women LOVE it. So, naturally, it does well! But, if your product doesn't stand out, no one is going to notice it amongst the floods of other products that look just like yours.
If you're familiar with Etsy.com, this is common knowledge to you. If you're unfamiliar with Etsy.com, try looking up something like "red jewelry heart pendant". I received almost 5,000 results. In order for me to choose to view a seller's pendant, over the thousands of others listed, the seller needs to have a really special product, something that really stands out.
As an author, you need to not only have a story for your book that sticks out amongst the others, but a unique marketing tactic as well. Now, I'm not saying you should create your own genre. You need a market to market to! If your story sticks under the genre of "cowboy environmentalist space romance", you're not going to have a very large circle of readers. Instead, stick to a familiar genre, but dish out something unique, something that stretches the boundaries of that genre. Make sure you can explain your concept and your plot concisely and in a way that entices potential readers.
Check out these great marketing links. One of the lists features links geared toward artists; however, most of the marketing strategies can be adapted by anyone who has a product to sell.
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