Once you transition from having a manuscript to holding an actual book, your job as an independent author switches from writer to promoter. Even if you or your publisher has hired a professional publicist for your title, making the public aware that your book exists should be your top priority (if you care about sales, that is). One part of a successful publicity campaign is having reviews for your book, and even as an independent author there are many ways to secure some solid, unbiased reviews.

First of all, make sure you have plenty of copies of your book on hand (as well as a nice budget for postage!). Traditional means of getting reviewed, like simply submitting to magazines and newspapers, are dwindling. Therefore, the Internet should definitely be your first resource for finding review outlets. On Dan Poynter’s ParaPublishing.com, for instance, you can find a detailed guide to getting book reviews.

This guide offers invaluable information on where and when to submit for reviews.

When you find an outlet that will review your book, pay close attention to its submission guidelines, as they can vary depending on the reviewer. If you don’t submit in exactly the way their website directs, your submission will likely end up in the trash.

You should also have a simple cover letter that you can tailor to each publication to which you are submitting. Keep in mind that these publications receive thousands of submissions a year and simply cannot review everything that comes to them (although some will offer the option for you to pay to get a guaranteed review), so they will not read a long letter. Pertinent information to include is

• a sentence or two about the content of the book
• the name of your publisher
• the book’s page count
• the book’s publication date
• your email address and phone number

Keep timelines in mind, too. You must submit to larger-scale publications (such as monthly magazines) six months prior to your publication date; to trade publications, newspapers, and weekly magazines three to four months prior to your publication date; and to online outlets and blogs one month prior to your publication date.

Another great source for reviews is Amazon.com. Look up other books that are similar to yours, scroll through the reviews that have been posted, and email the reviewers that have put up competent and complimentary reviews. Clicking on reviewers’ Amazon usernames will direct you to their profiles, where you can often find a way to contact them. Add a line to your form letter stating why you think a particular reviewer would enjoy your book based on their preferences, and clarify that if they do want to look at your book, it will be theirs to keep as a thank you.

While you’re online, don’t forget to look up blogs! They are fantastic outlets that grow daily in both readership and content, and you can find them through keyword searches and writers’ organizations. On Technorati.com you can search millions of blogs by category and see their “authority,” which tells you about a site’s standing and influence in the blogosphere, based on its linking activity and other factors. At Alexa.com, you can see detailed information about each blog’s traffic levels, which helps you easily decide which blogs to prioritize in order to maximize your book’s exposure. Bloggers almost always list their email addresses on their sites, so whip out that cover letter and send it over.

If you have your heart set on having your book reviewed in a newspaper or magazine, look up the publication online and find a contact email. Send a personalized email version of your form letter (again, emphasize why your title is relevant or interesting to them in particular), and ask to whom you can send a free copy of your book. A helpful resource for newspaper and magazine contacts can be found at John Kremer’s website. However, these outlets are becoming harder to break into, so balance your outreach here with the aforementioned online sources.

As you can see, the process of securing reviews can be both daunting and time-consuming. There is no guarantee that reviews will be positive, so don’t spend too much time or resources on submissions unless you have complete faith in your product (of course you do not ever have to use a negative review).

Why go through the whole process of submitting your book to reviewers at all?

Having reviews that you can post on your website and marketing materials adds a level of credibility to your title, and even a negative review is still exposure. Most importantly, reviews are crucial to your distribution efforts; libraries, for instance, rely heavily on reviews when deciding which titles to carry. Reviews can literally make or break a book’s chances of surviving in the market, so if you want your book to have shelf presence, start submitting!

Whether you are publishing with a traditional house, an independent publisher, or self-publishing, the bulk of book marketing responsibility is on you as the author. Many authors are choosing to hire a book publicist to help connect with readers and potential audience members.

Before you hire a publicist, it is important to ask a few basic questions to help you determine if he or she is legitimate, effective, and has the background and strengths that you are looking for:

Payment & Fees

• Do you charge a monthly retainer or is payment based on bookings?
• How much is the retainer?

Campaign Details

• How long do most of your campaigns last?
• What type of publicity do you book most: radio, TV, online (blogs, etc) or print?
• Can you describe the involvement required from me?
• Can you describe the extent of online initiatives? The balance between online and traditional media?
• Who will be involved in my campaign?
• How far in advance of publication do you start working?

Campaign Results

• What kind of results are reasonable to expect?
• What results do you consider particularly successful?

Former Clients and Books

• How many national bookings have you gotten in the past 6 months? Which ones? For what book?
• Will you send me a sample schedule for a client with a book similar to mine?
• May I speak with some authors you've represented?

Every author may not need to ask every question, and some authors may want to go into more detail about what they are specifically interested in. But these represent some of the most important items to know before you hire your publicist.

Visit Galleycat to see a great list of book marketing experts and publicists to follow on Twitter.

A few weeks ago, we posted five tips to help you be in top form for TV appearances. Here, courtesy once again of Marsha Friedman, are ten more tips to help you capitalize on valuable air-time when you appear as a TV guest.

1) Use “Tips” as part of your segment! If your topic offers helpful advice then tips are a great way to communicate your message. Television producers want to provide their viewers with useful content presented in a manner that is easy to understand. Develop five tips that solve a problem your topic addresses. Are you a fitness guru with a unique formulation for fat loss? Then offer five fat burning tips! Does your book offer advice about how to live a happier life? Then come up with 5 ways to live happier today!

2) If you’re pitching local TV, find the local angle. Local network affiliates are extremely valuable, so a great method to grab the producer's interest is to find the local tie-in for your topic. If you are a real estate guru, before going on air do your homework and find out what the real estate market is like in that city. Have you written a book about the American economy? Be prepared to talk about the economic climate in that particular city. By highlighting a local angle, your interview will resonate more with the host and the viewers.

3) Don't be monotone. It doesn't work. The alteration of pitch and tone in your voice will keep your audience interested. Stay animated. It's not only what you say, but how you say it that counts!

4) Prepare for personal questions. The job of a producer is to do research for the host about you and your topic, in preparation of your interview. If simple web research unearths two previous bankruptcies and you are promoting a CD series on how to make millions . . . be prepared! Often the best comeback is a real and even comical answer. It will not only endear you to the audience but can deflect the tone of an antagonistic interviewer.

5) Don't overload your interview with statistics. Use stats and numbers wisely. For example, if you have written a book about natural methods of preventing diabetes, the fact that 20.8 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes is important. But if you also mention that 85,000 diabetics have their feet amputated and 12 million people will go blind from it, these statistics will create more of an emotional impact on the host and viewers.

6 ) Double-check your contact information. Before you go on-air, make sure your website is up, your toll free phone number is working and you have a list of the retail outlets where your book can be purchased. Why? If you share the incorrect contact information during your interview, you defeat the whole purpose of your appearance. Also, if you give a great interview and viewers can’t find your book, the TV station will get overloaded with calls from viewers asking for information—and reflects poorly on you as a guest.

7) Record and critique your interviews. Watch your interview numerous times and observe the different elements of your performance. How well did you answer the questions? Did your clothes send the right message? What did your body language say about you? Did you seem natural or rehearsed? Did you remember all of your sound bites? Did you interrupt the host? Identify the points you felt were weak and do whatever you can to strengthen them before your next interview.

8) Look good / feel good. Sleep and good nutrition are obviously important to our daily mental and physical well being; it makes us look better, feel better, and think clearly. But these health points are even more important when you factor in the stress of an important media interview. So try to get a good night’s sleep—and a healthy breakfast before your interview. Don't overdose on the caffeine either! You want to be at the top of your game for your TV appearance.

9) Be gracious on and off the air. Remember to thank the host for the interview while you're still on-air. Make sure to thank the producer as well. It’s also a good practice to send a brief thank you note to the host and the producer. It’s good manners and presents you as a consummate professional. It can also increase your chances of being remembered in the future, when they need to interview an expert on your topic.

10) Prepare for the pre-interview. When it comes to national TV, you may be asked for a “pre-interview”. Don’t take this lightly. Be prepared with your message; be energetic, informative and appropriately entertaining. The interview isn’t completely secured until you pass this test!

Marsha Friedman has been a leading authority on publicity for authors for nearly two decades as CEO of Event Management Services, Inc (EMSI). If you would like to receive her free e-book, How to Be a Great Talk Radio Guest, visit emsincorporated.com.

There isn't much to say about YouTube that hasn't already been said, but it would be careless to exclude this mammoth of social media from our series. And "mammoth" is no exaggeration: YouTube is big, hairy, and, er, tusk-wielding. Well, at least it's the first of those three, unless we were to explore some extended metaphor. Get this: YouTube has the eighth largest audience on the Internet, pulling in 55 million unique visitors each month, according to Nielsen/Net Ratings. Read: YouTube's no fad. Google doesn't pay $1.65 billion for fads. And fads don't hold this much book marketing and publicity potential.

So, what exactly does YouTube---or at least the technology it employs---mean for book publishing?

Well, duh, book trailers for one. (But that's not all. More later.) In an interview with Publishers Weekly blogger Barbara Vey, Sheila Clover English, CEO of book trailer producer Circle of Seven Production, said she "expect[s] to see book video become a main element in most authors' marketing campaigns." Whether trailers become the "main" element remains to be seen, but there's little doubt that online marketing and publicity efforts---including YouTube and other social media---will become standard in book launches.

This year Simon & Schuster partnered with the New York Film Academy to create the "Reel Reads Book Sizzle Contest," in which 400 students were invited to create a three minute trailer for one of S&S's titles. The contest itself hasn't much to do with YouTube, but another S&S project does: BookVideosTV. BookVideosTV is a channel on YouTube that exhibits book marketing and publicity possibilities other than book trailers. It features author profiles and even some behind-the-scene looks at the book in the developmental stage. It's like VH1's "Behind the Music," but twice as sordid! (No, not really. Not at all.)

So, bottom line, YouTube can be way more than just trailers for books. Even Oprah and Harpo Studios announced this month the launch of the "Oprah on YouTube" channel. Neither the press release nor Oprah's welcome video mentioned Oprah's Book Club specifically, but who knows? Perhaps the juggernaut that is Oprah's Book Club will eventually find a second home on YouTube.