By Kate Larking

When people hear that my marketing research revolves around marketing and promotion for fiction authors, the first question is usually akin to this:

“Do I need to _______? I’ve been told I need to ________ to sell books.”

What is the ______? It could be:

• Blog every day
• Keep a website
• Be on Twitter
• Have a Facebook Page
• Host giveaways
• Buy advertising on Google
• Manage an Instagram account for my cat

I’ve heard all of these and more. But the main thing it comes back to is the question of “Do I have to?” Usually, when I am asked this question, it’s because the author asking doesn’t like that specific media. She can’t keep up with blogging every day, or he thinks Twitter is 140 characters of idiocy at a time, or she thinks giveaways are eating her sales, or he doesn’t want to advertise because it…