It All Starts with WhoIt is an exciting time for writers. Now, more than ever, there are a number of ways to get a book into the hands of readers. Let me state right here that a majority of the authors I interviewed for this book are self-published. Besides the fact that they were readily accessible, I thought it would be important for you to see what a self-published author can do in the arena of events and not just those traditionally published, who you may feel have some advantages; namely, distribution. Therefore, whether you will be working with a publicist, one assigned by your publisher or one that you’ve hired, or doing it on your own, you need to have a strategy. But before we discuss the strategy, you need to understand that even if you do have a publicist, he or she will have other clients’ books to promote, so much of the work will fall back onto your shoulders. That’s the bad news. The good news is that no one knows your book better than you do. It is your child, so you should already have a strong sense of how to nurture it to success. Even before your book has been written, you should have a market or audience in mind. This holds true whether you are writing an historical novel or a book on cryogenics. Over the years, I have attended a large number of writers’ conferences where hopeful writers were asked the all-important question: “Who is your audience?” Invariably, the answer would be, “Everyone!” There was the belief that their book was going to be for everyone, in hopes that a publisher would say, “Wow! This will be easy to sell since everyone will buy it!”            Unfortunately, that cannot be the case.