The hardest part of publishing a novel isn’t the writing or editing, it’s the marketing. What happens to your story once you have it in print or e-book form? If you have a contract with a major publisher, you may have a marketing budget and media activities organized for you. But self-published authors have to do it all themselves.

An on-line presence, including a website, blog, Goodreads and Amazon author pages, Facebook, etc., is essential, but if social media is not your forte, get out there in person. Find groups to talk to, radio and TV stations that will interview you, conventions, fairs and shows to attend. Tread the boards and make sure you get as much coverage as possible from local media.

Book signings can help you gain exposure, though national chains tend to host only the best known authors. My recent signing of A Holiday to Die For, the latest Petra Minx novel, at The Bookshop in San Pedro Alcantara, Spain, generated good traffic and publicity in several local newspapers and magazines.

Having a great product to sell isn’t enough. Be prepared to invest time and money – as much as you can of each – to grow your audience. If nobody knows your novel is out there, nobody’ll read it, you won’t get reviews, and if you have stocks of print books, you’ll have to find a place to store them. Marketing is tough but with luck it’ll pay off.