You wrote a wonderful book appealing to a large audience, and you even got it published. But even with all that going for you, book sales were less than desirable. Where did things gone wrong? Could your perception of the publishing process have been skewed by some preconceived notions? Let’s take a quick look at seven book publishing myths and see if we get a better understanding of why your success was limited.

Myth #1: Your publisher will help you market and advertise your book. Uh, no, they won’t. Not unless you are famous, have a proven track record of book sales, or a big, receptive audience.

Myth #2: Your publisher is all-powerful and all-knowing. Not really. There was a time when publishers had all the answers and knew exactly how to sell a book, but those days have drifted away into cyberspace. Today, selling a book is way more author and much less publisher than ever before.

Myth #3: You have to be famous—like Tom Brokaw—to have your own significant marketing platform. Uh-huh. Being famous certainly helps. But technology and the Internet have made it possible for even unknown authors to make a name for themselves. And truth be told, it is relatively cheap and easy.

Myth #4: To be a bestseller, a book has to be well-written. Not by a long shot. Check out the Non-Fiction Bestsellers List. Read one page from each of the top five books on that list and see if you still believe brilliant prose is the key to success. In reality, a solid platform and a savvy marketing campaign are infinitely more important.

Myth #5: Everyone should shoot for the U.S. bestseller lists. Let’s be honest — not every author is ready for prime-time. Gunning for a bestseller requires getting your book on big bookstore shelves. Not only that, but you have to have the platformand marketing plan in place to sell thousands of copies when you get there. Fail to do so and you most likely will not get another chance. Many authors would be better off self-publishing their books and using them to build bestselling platforms for the future.

Myth #6: It’s all about you and your book. Actually, it is all about your audience, their preferences, and how good you are at understanding these things in order to properly market to them. Intelligent, thought-provoking, emotionally relevant books written by great writers fail all too often due to lack of focus on the reading audience.

Myth #7: Word-of-mouth and traditional PR sell books. No, they don’t. Word-of-mouth and traditional PR help when a book already has legs. They are a nice support, but without a marketing plan, a platform, and an audience, these tools are not relevant and persuasive enough to move books on their own.

So What Is the Truth about Publishing?

Things starting to make a little more sense? The key to realizing your book publishing goals is understanding your role in the relationships you form with your publisher and other book industry representatives. That role used to be encapsulated in the writing of the book. You handed your manuscript to your publisher, cracked a cold one, and toasted the completion of your end of the bargain. Unfortunately, those days are over. In today’s publishing world, writing the book merely positions you to undertake your next responsibility – marketing your own book.

But you don’t have to go it alone. Promote A Book is ready to help you be successful with your book. Are you ready to get started?