By Stephanie J. Hale  » Increasingly, agents and publishers are asking authors to help with the marketing of their books.

Many writers are taken by surprise when they receive a request for a "detailed marketing plan" - often before an agent has even taken them on.

Don't be daunted. Treat this as an opportunity rather than a hurdle. Many successful authors draw up a marketing plan before they even start work on their book.

Your Marketing Plan requires research and creative energy - skills you already possess in abundance!

To get started, list your Marketing Plan under the following headings:

• Book Category: 

What genre/s does your book fall under? Choose books similar to yours at Amazon and see which category they are listed under.

• Sub Categories: 

What are its sub-categories? Again, use Amazon for this.

• Market Summary 

Provide a convincing argument that there is room for a new entrant in the market. 

If you can, obtain sales figures for your particular genre or subject area. (eg. 10 million romance novels were sold in the UK last year).

Is there a book similar to yours that has sold well? (eg. My book is aimed at the same market as xxx by yyy which sold zzz copies last year). Often, you can find this information using Google, as well as authors' and publishers' websites.

• Closest competitors: 

List your 'competitors' (in terms of content, focus & title) giving title, author, publisher, year, price.

• Unique selling points: 

Identify what is unique and different about your book.

This should help you get started with the marketing plan for your book. 

Now to complete it, add this extra information:

• Target Readers 

List the people most likely to buy your book. (eg. women aged 18-25). 

List the types of organizations, associations and clubs that might be interested in your book. 

List schools, colleges, universities, charities and specialist libraries, etc.

• Potential buyers: 

List the types of organizations, clubs and associations that might bulk-buy your book. 

List business websites; membership sites; clubs. 

List retail outlets (such as Waterstones or Barnes & Noble) and book clubs. 

List schools, colleges, universities, charities and specialist libraries.

• Reaching target readers: 

Suggest ideas for bookshop promotion. (eg. End-of-shelf posters). 

Suggest a targeted PR campaign. (eg. a press release for local and national media.) 

Suggest a public event you could hold to tie in with your book. (eg. a quiz, a seminar, an awareness day.) 

Suggest promotion via social media. (eg. YouTube; Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc.)

• PR/Awareness Raising: 

Offer a free incentive to promote your book. (eg. An MP3; an online interview with the author, etc). 

List seasonal events or anniversaries that could tie in with your book. (eg. Halloween; Mother's Day; Remembrance Day, etc.)

Offer audio extracts or free books for the many sites that offer services and content to your target readers - in return for a link to publisher's shopping cart.

List some of the organizations, clubs or magazines that may be interested in your book.

Brainstorm ideas for publicizing and promoting your book with a couple of friends. Write down anything and everything you can think of. Try not to censor the ideas or rule anything out. When you've finished, set your list to one side for a couple of days before going back to it. You'll be surprised at the number of great ideas you can come up with when you combine creative energy.

• Stephanie J Hale is a leading writers' coach and publishing scout. She's worked with bestselling authors and top literary agents for over 20 years. She specializes in helping writers get the publishing deal and readership they deserve. More free publishing tips at: www.richwriterpoorwriter.com