Initially, the ebook was (and still is) our own marketing plan, which we developed through more than 10 years of research, hands on experience, information gained from business marketing courses and conversations with both upcoming and successful authors.

I found that I was being asked questions on the writer's forums so often that Dave and I decided to publish our marketing plan as an ebook. It was important to us to ensure the book was available for a frugal price so that authors on a limited budget could afford the investment. It was equally important to us that it be released as an ebook so that readers can begin promotion activities and marketing research with just a click of their mouse.

Our ebook talks about many aspects around a writer's career that goes beyond creating a marketing plan. You see, many people view the world of writing as a career of leisure – which is actually opposite to the truth. For one thing, writing is a creative process and like any artist, writers need the time and energy to craft their work. This can include brainstorming sessions, research, querying and following-up and learning new writing or technical skills. Time is consumed by office work, from book keeping to recording efforts and results. So as a self-employed person, a writer is actually putting in many more hours than the regular 9-to-5 career demands.

Another misconception that often lives in the minds of authors is that they think once their book is written, the work ends there and the royalty checks will just come pouring in. Again, this is far from the truth. In fact, once the book is actually accepted by the publisher, goes through the editing and proofing processes and is released to the public, the authors’ work has just begun. As much as 85% of an author’s time is for marketing purposes alone – and marketing plans typically begin several months prior to the release of a book.

We know from first hand how quickly a promotion budget will dwindle away and the difficulty of gaining name recognition and an Internet presence. Purple Snowflake Marketing is an author’s guide to developing a frugal and effective marketing plan. We start with the 4 main areas an author needs to evaluate including research, evaluating what others are doing, gaining name recognition and discovering the strengths and weaknesses of both their own particular situation and their book’s as well. So by knowing these 4 main points well, an author can use the information to design a highly tuned marketing plan that makes the most efficient use of both their time and budget. We also discuss delicate issues from handling family and friends who are not supportive, jealous or those who say they’ll buy a book – but don’t. These are often surprises and hurtful events for authors, but they need to be prepared to keep their expectations on a realistic level.

Purple Snowflake Marketing deals with every aspect of a marketing plan and offers tips on how authors can stand out in a crowd like a purple snowflake in a snowstorm. And this is really important, because there are nearly 200,000 books released annually in the US alone; all of these books are direct competitors with our own book. We need to find a way to stand out among all of these recent releases and those that have already been published in the past, not just in our own country - but in other English speaking countries as well from Australia, the US and the UK to Canada.