The final installment of the Bookworm’s Path to Publishing workshop on Sunday discusses marketing a book

Gone are the days when reclusive writers like J.D. Salinger and Harper Lee could sit back and let publishers make best-sellers from their creative work. Today’s authors go on tour, write guest columns for media outlets and sell film rights in order to give their books wide appeal. But for many writers, beating the marketing drum feels unnatural, and book sales become an afterthought to the publishing process.

Today, a panel of bestselling authors and industry experts will convene at The Bookworm of Edwards to share their success with writers who may be trying to navigate everything from online reviews to audiobooks. The workshop will help authors create a customized action plan for telling the world about their books and will provide hands-on tools to cover traditional and social media, events, bookstore outreach and specialty sales.

“There are so many options available to authors that allow them to share their work with readers,” said Nicole Magistro, owner of The Bookworm. “But the world of publishing can be intimidating, and authors can get lost in the process.”

Douglas Pfeiffer, a retired industry professional who now operates his own consulting firm, is one of the industry experts who will be at the event.

“When I realized that I could do what I had been doing for years but help independent authors find their way, it excited me,” Pfeiffer said.

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He works with numerous clients every year in order to strategize the best marketing plan for their manuscripts. One recent success is “Living Beneath the Colorado Peaks,” a book about the story of Knapp Ranch.

“We evaluated the sales goals as a team and created a marketing plan that made sense for the book,” he said. “We marketed not only to regional markets but also broader ones based on interests like architecture, environmental issues, or land stewardship.”

When Pfeiffer first started in the publishing world, self-publishing didn’t exist.

“You can do it all on your own now, and that’s fantastic,” he said, “but you need to make sure your book doesn’t get lost in the millions of other books that are being published each year.”

Pfeiffer will be sharing more advice as part of a panel with other experts including local authors Jennifer Alsever and Elyssa Nager, as well as bestselling author John Shors. Alsever is an independent author who knows about the importance of marketing firsthand.

“The Trinity Forest series started with a dream I had,” she said. “It was so vivid that I knew that it was the book I had been wanting to write for a long time.”

But when it came time to market her book, she struggled.

“It’s always been hard for me to talk about myself,” Alsever said. “But that kind of marketing is vital for an indie author. There’s never been a better time to be a writer because there are so many resources available to you, be it social media or tapping into designers.”

Shortly she put the word about her young adult novels out in her University of Colorado alumni newsletter, a fellow grad reached out to her with an opportunity for a future television show.

“You never know who might pick up your book,” Alsever said, “so you have to make every marketing decision count!”