Writers are an enthusiastic and passionate bunch, but when it comes to marketing, we see more confused faces, blank stares, and resistance than in any other industry. It's easy to be idealistic about writing a book, but when it comes down to it, publishing is a business, and authors who want to sell books need to be on top of marketing. To offer some guidance on the topic, here are the top five mistakes we see authors make in their marketing efforts.

It’s an unfortunate reality that writers are often targeted by scammers and other creeps. They come at us from all directions, finding us at conferences, slithering through our emails, and sneaking into our social media feed. As a writer you need to protect yourself.

It’s that time of year. Time to sign up for gym memberships, to clean out cluttered spaces, and to make grandiose lists of things to-do in the New Year. All joking aside, if you want to make a real go at becoming a published author in 2011 there are a few commitments you need to make.

One of the most frequently asked questions in publishing is “Do I need a literary agent?” Well, that depends on your goals, genre, resources, and which publishing option you choose.

There are many reasons why authors choose to self-publish or go with a hybrid model that lets them retain their rights, but one of the most frequently cited reasons is ownership of inventory. Having ownership of their own books allows authors to sell directly to the public at high margins, which is great for entrepreneurial authors interested in back-of-room sales. (In a traditional publishing arrangement, if the author is permitted to sell direct, the contract generally includes a set 40–50% discount for copies the author purchases from the publisher.)

Unlike fiction, where an author must have a completed manuscript ready before they approach a publisher or agent, a nonfiction author only needs to develop a proposal to submit to publishers and/or agents. The proposal should answer the following questions:

Any opportunity you have to get in front of an agents or publishers and tell them about your book is a precious opportunity, no matter how brief the encounter. Don’t waste it. Make the moment memorable (for the right reasons) by crafting a series of brief, targeted talking points about your project.

Oftentimes authors are quite confused about what exactly each person does in the publishing process. There are so many people involved in developing and promoting a book that it is easy to get overwhelmed by the many functions and responsibilities of each department.

It’s a commonly held misperception that authors are rich. Yes there are some authors who are well off, and yes some of them sell thousands of books, but here’s the real reason those authors are making money—they’re thinking beyond the book.

This week is Banned Books Week. To celebrate, the American Library Association has compiled their list of the top 10 most challenged books of 2009. Here are the books and the reasons why each one was challenged: