Book marketing, promoting your book, selling your book, getting your book noticed and pitching your book are the most difficult aspects of book publishing.

Since many authors, especially self-published authors, are on tight bugets here's some book marketing tips that will save you money:

Think outside the box:

* Don't sell your book, sell an idea. Here's what I mean. My friend just released Francesca of Lost Nation. The novel is an adventure story about a feisty and unconventional 59-year-old woman who teams with barn-storming pilots to capture a wanted felon.

While the mentioned description may entice some readers, it may not be a strong enough pitch to land a radio interview or book review. So I started circulating an advertising campaign built around an idea instead of the story itself. It has drawn more attention to talk about how a woman can still be relevant after 40 or to debate the importance of a strong grandparent figure in our lives. The idea opens doors to mention the book. This leads to more discussion about the book and in some cases lands a sale.

* There are a lot of shops that sell gifts or books that authors don't often consider. For example, in Francesca of Lost Nation, the main character is known for her car racing skills. This has led me to contact places with an interest in female car drivers. Since the book takes place in Iowa and one of the scenes is at the Clinton County Fair, it seemed fitting to promote the book there. This resulted in a newspaper article, a pending sale to a gift shop and negations to appear for a book signing to a county fair in 2011.

Don't be afraid to explore:

Rejection is tough but if you want to sell a lot of books accepting NO to your ideas will be a necessary evil before your succeed. There is a lot of competition and just when you find a niche no one has thought about, you see the idea in the news or online and then the market is saturated again, forcing you to look for more alternative marketing strategies. That's why you can never stop exploring or looking for new ideas on how to get your book noticed.

You have to also be realistic. For example, never giving up is one thing, going broke is entirely another. Set limits. If you have to scale back, then do so. That doesn't mean you have given up. While you're on a downturn, keep reading and learning about new book promotion ideas.

Go to your audience:

Finally the best advice I can offer, is know who your buying target is and go find them. It may take some extra effort on your part, especially if your book is not niche specific. But it can be done.

For example, the book I am promoting, Francesca of Lost Nation, is most appealing to women. It is a fiction story with a 59-year-old as the hero. So other people that might like the book would be senior citizens, granddaughters who love their grandmas or babyboomer women who like to read about successful women their age.

To find these people, I can search women magazines, women groups, grandparent clubs and senior citizen organizations.

Here's to your success and don't ever give up in your book marketing pursuits.