1001 Ways to Market Your Books: for authors and publishers (6th Edition)
John Kremer
Open Horizons, paperback, £14.23, 0-912411-49-X

According to Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society, as announced in the Independent (11 March 2007), the average author earns around £16,000, a third less than the national wage. But when you take out the superstars, the real figure is closer to £4,000.

In a world where publishing is becoming polarised between megastar authors and the rest, John Kremer's 1001 Ways to Market Your Books is a lifesaver.

Aimed at authors and their publishers, it is not designed as a textbook on how to market books but as an 'organised potpourri of useful ideas, examples, tips and suggestions to stimulate your creativity and encourage you to explore new ways to market your books.'

Sections include working with bookshops, television, radio, the press, the internet, advertising, promotion - and much more.

John Kremer considers every aspect of publishing - from design to market positioning - crucial to the successful marketing of a book.'I consiider every function of a publisher to be an integral function of book marketing....No detail is too small if it will make a difference in getting to know about and read your book.'

Above all, the book gives a sense of control back to the author and emphasises that while publishers can provide the channels 'it will always be up to you to provide the motivation for readers to buy your books'. Buy now!

Guerrilla Marketing for Writers
Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman and Michael Larsen
Writer's Digest Books, paperback $14.99, ISBN 0-89879-983-X

Guerrilla Marketing is aimed at people with the time and energy to initiate a multitude of simultaneous small-scale marketing activities. These can then have a snowball effect. Even though addressed to a US audience, many of the tips translate with ease. User-friendly approach, eg inspirational stories, bullet points and quotes. To get a flavour of Levinson's style, dip into the guerrilla marketing website at www.gmarketing.com.

Publicity, Newsletters and Press Releases
Alison Baverstock
Oxford University Press, paperback, £6.99, 0-19-860384-3

Part of OUP's One Step Ahead series, this book is aimed at helping pr practitioners get the fundamentals of written communication right ‘whatever your budget'. Written by one of publishing's best-known writers on marketing, the book’s focus is on the so-called free publicity, though it also deals with wider issues: developing a media strategy, following up, directing communications to the needs of the audiences. A good option for those new to pr.

A good bookshelf staple for people with limited time.

Other relevant titles in OUP's One Step Ahead series include: Organizing and Participating in Meetings, Editing and Revising Text and Writing for the Internet.