7 While you're waiting for your book to be completed, let your friends know when you're expecting it and start building an advance list of prospective buyers. Every time you share a couple of minutes with someone, even on the subway or bus, you have a chance to mention your book. Take advantage of every opportunity.

8 The cheapest postage in the world is still a post card. Send postcards to all your friends and let them know your book is on its way. If you can afford it, have postcards made using your front cover. Or business cards. With today's rapid printing you can get several sheets of cards for a fraction of what traditional full-color printing would cost.

9 Instead of introducing yourself on the back cover of your book, turn that valuable space into sales copy. Summarize the benefits of reading your book. Ask questions to entice the person to open your book to the first page.

10 If you work in an office or have a locker or other space that "belongs" to you, don't be shy about posting your book or its cover on the most visible part of your "space." It may be against company rules to sell your book on premises, but you can take names of interested persons and call them later.

11 Along with your sample book to the local newspaper, send along 10 or 25 ideas for stories related to your book that the editor might consider for the newspaper. For example, if your book deals with WWII, suggest 25 local heroes, organizations, events etc. that would make good subjects for WWII newspaper features.

12 Brush up on your speaking skills and offer seminars related to your book's topic. The seminar fee includes an autographed copy of your book. Share revenue from a seminar with a sponsoring nonprofit organization if they actively promote the seminar to their membership.

13 Form a group of self-publishing authors and pool your resources to produce a flyer advertising your books and their availability. If you do the coordinating, the other authors may pay the costs. Be fair, but don't leave yourself out.

14 Look around town for a small shop or office building with a sidewalk window that is empty or has open space. Offer to create a display in the window from your book and extra covers and share the money from sales with the proprietor.

15 If your book's title is memorable or, even better, outrageous, shop around for the best prices and have the title and a design imprinted on a t-shirt--and sell the shirts through a local store or organization. Or give them away as prizes in a competition related to your book.

16 Before the printing job is complete for your book, check into prices for bookmarks, postcards or posters printed at the same time that your book cover is printed. You can print thousands of attractive bookmarks for a few dollars and give them away to promote your book.

17 Prepare a sheet of questions your book addresses, the more thought-provoking the better, and give these to your potential interviewers along with your press kit.

18 Take the topic of your book to your local tv station and offer to put together a 2-minute, 8-minute or 20-minute program featuring local experts as well as yourself on this compelling and vital topic.

19 Make an oversized color copy of your cover, mount it with art glue (spray fixative) on foam core, and display it in your car's back or side windows as you drive around.

20 Team up with a local musical group to create a song based on your book's theme that you can perform and record. Help book your adopted group into local restaurants or organizations. Or start a musical group and give them a name that goes along with your book.

21 Time your book's promotion to fit national holidays, seasons, regional or national events. There is probably a National XYZ Day or Week or Month that is related to your book's topic.

22 Increase the value of your book dramatically by printing a limited number of copies, numbering each copy and printing a box that says, "Limited Edition. No. __ of ___." Autograph these special copies. Set a limited time frame when your book will be available.

23 If your book would make a good gift, see if you can sign up 10-12 students, friends or associates to offer the book to friends and family for a 40% sales commission.

24 Be sure you have a web site, but don't spend more money than you can afford to lose promoting your site. Your book producer will probably give you a free web site, but set up your own URL as well. Make sure your book is listed on all the major search engines. Be sure people can buy the book from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and other stores who will offer the book and pay you when sales occur. Promote the benefits of the book on your web site and write "meta" tags that reflect the book's content for the search engines to pick up.

25 In the first book you produce, promote the next book in the series or the next edition of the book or the next book by the same author. Print an order form on the last page of your book and encourage people to let you know if they want to belong to an organization or cause related to your book.

26 Link to a non-profit organization you like: a church, school, club, anything at all. Better, of course, if it's connected in some way to your book title. Offer to come in person to the organization's next major event, set up your book table and give $5 to the sponsoring organization for each book sold. One of my authors set up a scholarship fund at the high school where she'd taught for 29 years, set up her table at the school's annual taxidermy show, autographed books as people came through and sold 100 books in less than two hours. She ended up giving $3,000 to the scholarship fund and met her break-even costs after selling 225 books in about three months. All of this happened in a small farm community in rural Oregon.

These 26 suggestions are not comprehensive, but they should help you think about ways you can marshall the interests and resources of other people to notice, talk about, purchase, read and tell others about your book. Don't be afraid to stick your neck out. Don't be shy. Enjoy the benefits of "celebrity" status for a while. There are several!