Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Market realities and the maximalization of consumer good Essay

Market realities and the maximalization of consumer good - Essay Example For purposes of definition,a monopolistic competition will be defined as a type of competition that is defined by the fact that only one business or individual can provide the needs of the larger economyConversely, oligopolistic competition will be one in which only a few very large companies offer the given good or service to the market. Likewise, due to the fact that so few players exist within the oligarchic model of competition, it is easy and often common for them to cooperate in order to stifle any entrants to the market. As a function of seeking o understand each of these models to a greater degree, the forthcoming analysis will seek to provide the levels of differences that exist between the two as well as showing some figures that illustrate the ways in which the market behaves under these different models of competition. Lastly, a value judgment will be made with respect to which of these is the best model of competition to maximize consumer good within the economy. Althoug h it is useful to seek to provide a contrast between the two so that the reader and/or researcher can best judge how these two forms of competition act within the given economic system, there are a level of similarities between the two that cannot be ignored. In both of these models, the consumer is at a price disadvantage due to the fact that the price maker(s) is holding almost all of the power and has the ability to set the price according to non-market regulated means. (Lu, 2011). Likewise, also from the consumer’s perspective, the level of selection of goods or services between both models is similarly constrained. Due to the fact that one or a handful of firms are holding the means of production and/or distribution firmly within their grasp, the availability of substitutes is greatly diminished (Marini & Zevi, 2011). Conversely, the differences that exist between the two market realities also help to differentiate the two models. The first of these revolves around the f act that a monopoly allows for much lower level of consumer choice than does the oligarchic system. Although both systems necessarily constrain the choice to the consumer, it is impossible to consider a situation in a monopolistic model in which a price war would take place (ZHELOBODKO et al, 2012). Conversely, although rare, price wars can and do take place within the oligarchic model due to the fact that a particular firm or group of firms may seek to leverage an advantage and further reduce the competition by driving one of the participants out. Figure 1 and 2 below seek to point out the key means by which monopolistic and oligarchic competition affects the supply and demand curves of the traditional representation of the economy. Due to the ways in which these are warped from the standard representations, the reader can gain a degree of inference with respect to how these effects will be passed along to the end consumer within the markets. Figure 1.0 Oligarchic Competition Figur e 2.0 Monopolistic Competition Consequently, the reader and/or researcher can understand that with regards to the maximizing the good of the consumer, the oligarchic model is most appropriate due to the fact that although it provides the consumer with only a few options between firms or between products, it necessarily exhibits a greater level of offerings than does that of monopolistic competition. Moreover, due to the fact that the firms within an oligarchic system compete, at least to a small degree, some utility is able to maximized on behalf of the consumer (Essen & Hankins, 2013). This is a function of the fact that the monopolistic system is the price maker and the consumer is the price taker. Although one can argue that in the oligarchic system the same is true, the fact of the matter is that it is reduced due to the reality of the small level of continuing and ongoing competition that is present. Though few realistic examples exist within the world with regards

Monday, October 28, 2019

Interrupt and a Trap in an Operating System Essay Example for Free

Interrupt and a Trap in an Operating System Essay What are the differences between an interrupt and a trap? What are their importance? According to Stallings (2012) an interrupt is â€Å"a suspension of a process, such as the execution of a computer program, caused by an event external to that process and performed in such a way that the process can be resumed† (p. 716). Stallings (2012) goes on to say that â€Å"interrupts are provided primarily as a way to improve processor utilization. For example, most I/O devices are much slower than the processor† (p. 14). â€Å"A trap is an unprogrammed conditional jump to a specified address that is automatically activated by hardware; the location from which the jump was made is recorded† (Stallings, 2012, p. 721). A trap is actually a software generated interrupt caused either by an error (for example division by zero, invalid memory access etc.), or by a specific request by an operating system service generated by a user program. Trap is sometimes called Exception. The hardware or software can generate these interrupts. When the interrupt or trap occurs, the hardware transfers control to the operating system which first preserves the current state of the system by saving the current CPU registers content and program counters value. Then the focus shifts to the determination of which type of interrupt has occurred. For each type of interrupt, separate segments of code in the operating system determine what action should be taken and thus the system keeps on functioning by executing computational instruction, I/O instruction, storage instruction etc. Provide an example of each. Example of an Interrupt retrieved from http://www.scriptoriumdesigns.com/embedded/show_codefile.php?fname=interrupts/AVR_ISR_1.c // AVR_ISR_1 #include avr/io.h #include avr/interrupt.h typedef uint8_t u8; // convenient unsigned variable designations typedef uint16_t u16; #define INPORT PIND #define OUTPORT PORTC #define OUTDDR DDRC volatile u8 Int_flag = 0; ISR( INT0_vect ) { OUTPORT ^= 0x01; // toggle LED } void int0_init( void ) { MCUCR = (1ISC01); // enable negative edge on INT0 GICR = (1INT0); // enable INT0 } int main( void ) { OUTDDR = 0x01; // set bit 0 to output OUTPORT = 0x01; // set LED off (active low) int0_init(); // configure INT0 sei(); // enable global interrupts while (1) // loop forever, all work happens in ISR ; return(0); Example of a trap retrieved from http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/aix/library/au-usingtraps/index.html #!/bin/bash # proj_dir=/opt/pcake/bin # check file is present if [ ! -f $proj_dir/run_pj ] then echo $proj_dir/run_pj not presentexiting exit 1 fi # make a backup copy cp -p $proj_dir/run_pj $proj_dir/run_pj.24042011 if [ $? != 0 ] then echo $proj_dir/run_pj no backup madeexiting exit 1 fi # copy over updated file if [ ! -f /opt/dump/rollout/run_pj ] then echo /opt/dump/rollout/run_pj not presentexiting exit 1 fi cp -p /opt/dump/rollout/run_pj $proj_dir/run_pj if [ $? != 0 ] then echo $proj_dir/run_pj was not copied..exiting exit 1 fi References: Stallings, W. (2012). Operating systems: Internals and design principles (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Prentice Hall.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Traffic and Urban Congestion: 1955-1970 :: American America History

Traffic and Urban Congestion: 1955-1970 In 1960, Great Britain still had no urban freeways. But with the ownership of private cars becoming ever more common, the problem of congestion in British cities was unavoidable. Investigating the possibilities of freeways as alleviators of big-city traffic jams, the government-sponsored Buchanan Report was pessimistic: ... the study shows the very formidable potential build-up of traffic as vehicular ownership and usage increase to the maximum. The accommodation of the full potential is almost certainly beyond any practical possibility of being realized. There is thus no escaping the need to consider to what extent and by what means the full potential is to be curtailed.1. In the decades preceding this study, Americans faced much the same problem with transportation in their cities. But the American plan for dealing with urban congestion in the automobile age was very different. In 1954, President Eisenhower suggested that "metropolitan area congestion" be "solved" by "a grand plan for a properly articulated highway system." In 1956, the House Committee on Public Works urged "drastic steps," warning that otherwise "traffic jams will soon stagnate our growing economy."2. Confronting the same problem--urban traffic congestion--the British and the American governments responded with radically different solutions. In Britain, congestion in cities was understood to mean an excess of automobiles entering cities. The problem, to British planners, was to reduce relative reliance on the private car in order to allow better movement of traffic. But in the U.S., planners interpreted congestion as a sign that roads were inadequate and in need of improvement. In the face of traffic jams, the British tended to say, "too many cars!" while the Americans would say, "insufficient roads!" U.S. urban transportation policy was shaped by this tendency, from its origins in the 1940s until the mid 1960s. This essay makes a twin argument. First, the way in which U.S. urban transportation policy was formulated in the 1940s and 1950s precluded the British solution. Regardless of the relative merits of the British and American approaches, discouraging the use of the automobile was not an option American policy makers could consider. The American political culture could consider large scale domestic projects only with the cooperation of the private sector, and in the U.S. this meant largely automotive interest groups. The second point is that American urban transportation policy retreated from this position in the 1960s. By the 1970s U.S.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Article Review LAW 421 Essay

The article was a proposal that tried to justify the reason that congress should repeal the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX Act) of 2002. The act is seen as a problem because individual felt that the act was only put in place so government official could feel better about addressing some issues of popular concern rather than resolving the issue. According to Niskanen the SOX act of 2002 is unnecessary, harmful, and inadequate (2006). Punishments under this act included jail time and loss of personal property. The act was viewed as unnecessary because the stock exchange has already addressed and implemented procedures to deal with most of the issues presented in the SOX act of 2002. Those implementations include accounting standards, prosecution for fraud, audits, and financial reporting procedures. Officials felt that both acts addressed the same issues therefore, congress should deem the SOX act of 2002 unnecessary. The SOX act of 2002 was viewed as harmful because it would â€Å"reduce the incentive of corporate executives and directors to seek legal advice† (Niskanen, 2006). It was also seen as harmful because it cause a ban on loans to corporate officer which would pose a problem for compensation. The act was viewed as inadequate because it â€Å"failed to identify and correct the major problems of accounting, auditing, taxation, and corporate  governance that have invited corporate malfeasance and increased the probability of bankruptcy† (Niskanen, 2006). Recommendation to make the act better included congress needed to state more clearly that criminal penalties under the SOX act of 2002 needed proof of personal involvement and criminal intent. Another recommendation was to reduce the cost it took to implement the act. LEGAL ISSUE The legal business issues raised in the article monopoly and unconstitutional. Monopoly because SOX act would have sole control over punishments. Unconstitutional because private businesses were not targeted therefore, public businesses felt that all businesses did not have the same right. MANAGERIAL PERSPECTIVE The legal issues of the SOX act of 2002 affect the way business operate. Businesses have to have certain measures of internal control with the act. The would also have to report financial accounts accurately and follow certain accounting procedure in their day to day business activities. The issued implemented in the SOX act of 2002 could have been avoided if business owners and executives would have exercised fairness and accuracy in the first place. Government would not have had to step in and make these implantations. Reference Niskanen, W. A. (2006). Congress Should Repeal the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Retrieved from http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6624

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Tom Shiftlet Was Happy with the Craters

O’Conner portrays Mr. Shiftlet very vaguely at the beginning of the story, but she tells readers a few facts about him that are vital to understanding who Tom really is. Mr. Shiftlet comes with an open heart to the Crater’s residence. He admires their home and is willing to work if they let him stay. This reveals that Tom is a hard working man. Although he seems to have an overly keen interest in their automobile, which seems suspicious, he makes an effort to make life easier for Lucynell Sr. and Jr. He even takes the time to Teach Lucynell Jr. a word. Up until this point he seems genuinely happy making them happy. Once Mrs. Crater starts trying to force tom to marry her daughter, he starts becoming uncomfortable with the situation. He even tries to go on as if nothing had happened and keep living as they were, but that does not work and Mrs. Crater keeps forcing it upon him. The most important fact that is revealed about Tom is that he is extremely unhappy with his life. Readers know that he ran away from his mother when he was younger and that he now regrets it very much. He also ends up running away from Mrs.  Crater when she started to try to control him. This suggests that Tom is not very fond of people controlling him. And although he continually runs away he is very unhappy with the decisions that he has made over the course of the years but instead of standing his ground and fixing his problems and himself, he runs away. Mr. Shiftlet introduces himself as a carpenter to Mrs. Carter and has a tin box to prove it. He seems, however, very hesitant to tell her anything else about himself since whenever she asked him a question, â€Å"he didn't answer† (977). He promptly proves his worth the next morning when â€Å"he began on the roof of the garden house† (978). â€Å"He had not been around a week before the change he had made was apparent. He had patched the front and back steps, built a new hog pen, and restored a fence† (978-9). The question most readers would ask is why would he go through all the trouble to fix all of these things? The literal answer may seem simple and functional: he wants to create a trusting atmosphere so he could lure Lucynell into somehow giving him the car. That is, after all what he seems to want. His eye are always â€Å"focused on part of the automobile† (978) and he was able to get it in the end, but it is clearly not what he really wants or needs since he still â€Å"became depressed in spite of the car† (982). What Tom really wanted was to feel loved and needed without being controlled. He wanted to be part of a family again, but under his terms. So he tried with all his might, and even went to the extent of teaching the deaf girl to speak, to make the situation work the way he wanted it to. What he quickly realized was that Lucynell Sr. had a plan for him. As the story progresses readers find that Mr. Shiftlet is quite unhappy with his past. He seems upset when Mrs. Crater calls him a â€Å"poor disabled friendless drifting man† (980). Although she is stating exactly who he is and what he presents himself to be, he does not approve and â€Å"the ugly words settled in his head a like a group of buzzards† (980). Later on in the conversation when Mrs. Crater accuses Tom of milking her, he is â€Å"deeply hurt by the word milk† (981). These two examples demonstrate how hard it is for Tom to deal with reality. Lucynell does nothing but state simple facts, yet he is still disturbed by them. This may mean that he wants to change, or it may mean that he wants to start over altogether. After he takes the car and leaves Lucynell Jr. at the Hot Spot â€Å"he was more depressed then ever as he drove on by himself† (982). This is very intriguing because he no longer has to care for Lucynell, he has money and a car, yet he is still unhappy, and maybe even more than before. Again this shows that all Tom wants is to be part of a family, like he once was. He wants another chance since he ruined the one he had with his mother long ago by running away. Taking into consideration Tom’s feelings and actions, readers can now see the real problem. Tom is a very insecure person, and he is not content with the person that he has become. He claims to have never â€Å"rued a day of his life like the one he rued when he left† (983) his mother. The events that take place after this obviously force him to think negatively of himself. He is not able to handle problems so he takes to running away from them. And like an addict, he keeps on running faster and faster, knowing full well that it is not the right thing to do. It seems as if he is unable to wrap his mind around the ides of someone telling him what to do. When he married Lucynell, he was â€Å"morose and bitter as if he had been insulted† (981). Although Tom is portrayed as a very strong character that takes charge of situations and achieves what he wants, it becomes quite clear as the story goes on that he is the complete opposite. Lucynell Sr. quickly takes control of his life and becomes a little greedy with her demands. It is not enough for her that Tom has made her and her daughter’s lives eons better, and that he has every intention of continuing to do so. She forces him to marry her daughter, and this proves to be too much for Tom. The only thing he knows how to do is to run away from anyone who tries to make decisions for him. He is very discontent with himself and is almost disgusted with what he is; a disabled, drifting, and friendless man. To get rid of some of the disgust, he runs away and tries to start over. This substitutes his inability to repair his own problems and the constant need to flee. In the end, it is safe to say that Tom T. Shiftlet has the desire to be good, and conquer his own problems, but has not found the courage or the ability to do so. He has the desire to be part of a family and be a proper man, but is unable to accept the fact that he cannot control everything all the time. For now he is still a carpenter, and that is as far as his ability to repair things will go.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Deviance Essay Example

Deviance Essay Example Deviance Essay Deviance Essay Charles Wingate Principles of Sociology Professor Ciliberto Paper #4 Deviance Deviance is the recognized violence of cultural norms. The concept of deviance is very broad because norms are what guide human activity. Deviant acts are known as crime, which is the violation of a societys formally enacted criminal law. Criminal deviance varies from a wide range including minor traffic violations, and major violations such as robbery and murder. Society tries to regulate peoples thoughts and behavior through social control. Social control can be informal such as parents raising their children when they do well, or punishing them when they do something wrong. Cases of serious deviance involve the criminal Justice system. How society defines deviance, who is branded as deviant, and what people decide to do about deviance all do with the way society is organized. Psychologists think that personality is shaped primarily by social experience; which allows for deviance to be viewed as the result of unsuccessful learning within socialization. From the symbolic-interaction perspective theorist would say deviant behavior is learned or is part of socially constructed reality that emerges in nteraction . Our social experiences along with the society by which we live in determine our odds of acquiring deviance. The Labeling Theory is the idea that deviance and conformity result from how others react to what people do, not necessarily the act of what they do. As far as deviance is concerned, people may define the behavior in a number of ways. Deviance can be classified as both primary and secondary. Primary deviance according to Edwin Lemert is norm violations that provoke slight reaction from other and have little effect on a persons self-concept. In ontrast Lemert refers to secondary deviance as the change in self concept, or when a person begins to employ deviant behavior as a means of defense, attack, or adjustment to the problems created by social reaction. A stigma is a powerfully negative label that greatly changes a persons self-concept and social identity. Once people stigmatize an individual, they may engage in retrospective labeling, which is the act of interpreting someones past in light of some present deviance. An example of this is if someone were to find out that their neighbor was a child molester, theyd utomatically think he always wanted to be around children anyw?aY, based on his past. Another prime example of this is the situation that occurred with Penn state. Now that the whistle has been officially blown on Sandusky, everyone is saying that the reason why he hosted these underprivileged young men for the football camps was so that he could take sexual advantage of them. People may also engage in projective building of stigmatized person, which uses a persons deviant behavior to predict their future actions. Once someone finds out that another person committed a deviant act, they will assume that the person is oing to continue with these deviant acts until they get caught and punished. The thus increasing the chance that they will indeed come to pass. Like Coolers Looking Glass Self, the social construction of reality is a variable process of detection, definition, and response. Sometimes individuals try to label behavior that they do not like, as deviant instead of as different. They even go as far as labeling them as mental illnesses. Psychiatrist Thomas Szasz stated that in order to avoid this practice is to abandon the idea of mental illness completely. Just because someone is different to he point where they irritate us, does not mean that we should define them as being mentally ill. It is imperative to think critically about how we define the word different. Szasz believed that those who are truly mentally ill cannot help their condition in the same way that a patient with cancer cannot help theirs. He also felt that ordinary people without the proper medical knowledge should not give off the diagnosis. People often try to medicalize deviance by using clinical diagnosis. If someone does something that is bad, the label is scientifically swapped to sick hile good changes to well. Alcoholics were originally viewed as weak people but now, alcoholism is considered a disease which means are alcoholics are not bad, they simply are not well. This leads to deviance being a learned behavior because the deviant person themselves will soon begin to believe that they are not well, and will use this as an excuse for their actions. Sutherlands Differential Association Theory claims that a persons tendency towards conformity or deviance depends on the amount of contact with others and who encourage or reject conventional behavior. Studies have shown that young people are more likely to engage in deviant behavior if they believe that their peers are doing so as well. In a gang environment, current gang members resocialize new members to norms that oppose those of the dominant culture. From the gang, these new members learn that stealing, carrying a gun, and using drugs are acceptable behaviors, whereas they were not before. In the meantime, the norms they learned at home are no longer acceptable within the gang environment, and they must reject those norms and values to accept the new ones. Current gang members also teach new members how to commit pecific deviant acts, such as hotwiring a car or breaking into a home. Even, in highschool a lot of the rebel students try and get other student to cut class, dont do homework and pull fire alarms. The norms that the school administration has put on these students are no longer deemed cool to the rebel students and now they try and change other student to engage in deviant behavior. Travis Hirschis Control Theory states that social control depends on people anticipating the consequences of their behavior. Hirschi links deviance to four different types of social control. The first s attachment, String social attachments encourage conformity. People who feel a strong attachment to other people, such as family or close friends, are less likely to be deviant. If people have weak relationships, they feel less need to conform to the other persons or groups norms. They are more likely to commit a deviant act. The second is opportunity. Individuals who have a sincere commitment to legitimate goals are more likely to conform to societys norms. Those goals could be a legitimate job, higher education, financial stability, or a long-term relationship. When people ave little confidence in the future, they are more likely to engage in deviance. Also, extensive involvement in legitimate activities such as having a Job, and attending and respect for authority figures restrain tendencies toward deviance. We define deviance by what social institution teach us is right and wrong. Growing up in a low income section of Brooklyn NY; my views of deviance are slightly different than many others. Many people view selling drugs as a deviant behavior but as the Notorious BIG (famous rapper) said when I was hustling Just to make some money to feed my aughter would you call a person deviant if they are trying to provide for their family? In reference to murder, social institutions such as school and media taught me that killing is wrong, but significant others taught me its killed or be killed if someone is gunning for you, you have to gun back for them. Being in this class sociology has shown two sides of me. Although I know what the normal standard of deviance is, what I was taught in order to survive contradict social institutions. I would be a prime example to reflect the opinions of symbolic-interactionist in reference to deviance, being that is learned.

Monday, October 21, 2019

How to Market a Book Step by Step

How to Market a Book Step by Step How to Market a Book Step by Step The big day has finally come. You’ve worked hard on your book for months, and maybe even years. Now it’s finally ready for the world to see. You hit publish and follow through with everything you know about how to market a book step by step. With any luck, hard work and a lot of support gets your book to bestseller status.Then a few weeks goes by. Rankings drop considerably. Despite your best efforts, your book plummets down the lists like a stone.How to Market a Book to Sell CopiesWe’ve all been there- that point as a writer when we realize we have to do the other stuff- stuff that keeps us away from writing and creating. In fact, writing and crafting a book is only about half of the process. If you don’t spend 40-50% of your ongoing efforts on marketing, you reach a limited number of people. Your message will get lost in the massive swirl of information available out there.You want to sell more books right? Marketing a book isn’t always a â€Å"n atural† step for most authors. We are writers and creatives, not marketers and salespeople. But if you can combine writing and marketing, you’ll not only be able to write, but also to sell books. And marketing yourself is where it’s at.8 Ways to Market Your Book Like a ProFortunately, you don’t have to be a marketing guru or have a degree in digital marketing and social media mastery to get the word out about your brand. By following some basic steps, you’ll be marketing your books in no time.1. Identify Your AudienceThis is critical when it comes to marketing your book. If you don’t know who your audience is, you’ll end up marketing to anyone. In other words, you’ll be shouting out about your book in a noisy room and nobody will hear you.  Write for a specific audience. To market your book effectively you have to know:Who they are: Who is your ideal customer? What kind of information are they looking for? How do these people spend their time? Create a basic profile of what your reader looks like.Where they are: Your audience is hanging out somewhere. Whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or LinkedIn, they are communicating about the topic and niche your book is about. Find those people and you will be able to market your book.What problems are they facing: It is really important to nail this one. Come up with 20-30 problems your target market is trying to solve. By providing a solution to these problems, you’ll zero in on the readers who are waiting for your bestseller to change their lives. Remember: somebody out there wants what you are offering; they just don’t know it yet!Action Step: Create a readers avatar. This is a profile of what your average reader is like. Include things like gender, occupation, and problems and they are facing. Figure out what solutions you could deliver to help them. Then market specifically to those people.2. Build Your Author WebsiteCan you im agine if you came home one day and your house wasmissing? Well, that is what an author’s life can be like without a website to post fresh content. You’ll always be missing a home where you can park your books. Many authors think they don’t need a website because they can promote their books through social media or the author platform on Amazon.Sorry, not exactly.There is a huge difference. Having an author website is the difference between renting or buying a piece of property. When you rent, you are living in someone else’s space. It doesn’t belong to you and they can cancel your lease at any time.Maintaining your own website on a hosted server with your domain name is the same as having that piece of real estate. You can customize your site your way, publish your own content, and you are always in complete control of how it looks and what gets published. When it comes to marketing your book, the skys the limit. You can:Publish your book’s landing page on your site.Post blogs about your upcoming bookCreate a countdown timer for the book’s release date.Set up an affiliate link to your Amazon page so you get commissions on book salesInclude sample chapters from your bookLink to video clips about the book on your websiteCommunicate directly with your email subscribers about new releases or your current blog postTo set up your website and personal blog on a paid server, you can try  Bluehost  or  Godaddy.  For a domain name, check out name.com3. Build Your Email ListThere is a saying going around that says: â€Å"the money is in the list.† Why? It’s simple. A list of followers who are in love with your writing will be the first to line up when you have a new product to sell. These people are essentially your customers.Your email list is yours. It doesn’t belong to Amazon or social media. You control what you want to say, how you say it, and when. Imagine if every time you had a new book ready to launch, hundreds or thousands of people were waiting for it so they could get it first.If you are serious about promoting and marketing your current and all future books, building your list should be top priority. Nothing else comes close. Although building a list takes time, in the long run it is the easiest way to market. These are the true fans that will get the word out and be the first to leave verified reviews after buying your new release at the special price of 0.99. But that is just the beginning.You can continue to build your list by including a reader magnet at the front and back of your book. Get people hooked on your brand and then keep them there by writing your next book, and then, including them in your next launch. As your book reaches more people, and you get more signups, your marketing capacity growsexponentially.Action Step: If you haven’t started on your list building, go to an email management system such as Mailchimp or AWeber and sign up for an account. Then get building and start to funnel your fans into your books today.4. Reach Out to InfluencersWhen it comes to book promoting, nothing can have a bigger impact on your book than influencers. What is an influencer? Influencers can be podcasters, bloggers, or authors with strong email lists. It’s someone with an established platform that can get you noticed if they notice you.An influencer is someone who has a lot of promotional weight and can spread the word about your book to thousands of people with just a brief mention to their email list, on their blog, or by sharing on social media, for example. Influencers have a long reach. What you can do is identify the influencers in your niche and reach out to them. Tell them who you are and ask if they can help to promote your latest book.Influencers can have a major impact on your exposure as an author, so try to set up interviews in your hometown or reach out to someone online and offer to do an interview so you c an deliver value to their target audience.Guest post blogging on an influencer’s is another way to market your book. For example, if you wrote a book on recipes for Italian food, you could try connecting with people in the Italian cooking niche. They may have a blog, podcast, or a webinar on which you want to appear.Action Step: Identify at least one influencer in your market and reach out to that person. Tell them who you are and what you do. Get on their podcast or get interviewed. Exposure to fans in your niche will have a big influence on book sales.5. Leverage Two Social Media PlatformsSocial media is a powerful way to promote your book. We can engage with thousands of people just by hitting a few buttons. But with social media sites, the big scare is the amount of time we can get sucked into trying to do everything. If you try to connect with everyone, you’ll match up with nobody.When promoting and marketing your book, you can’t be everywhere doing all thi ngs at once. That is why we recommend you choose two social media sites to work with, and post your content regularly to these two sites.For example, you can have a YouTube channel and post weekly videos. After a few months you could build up a library of content, engage with new subscribers and even create a course out of your videos.With Facebook, you can promote your book or blog using Facebook ads. You could also post popular quotes or snippets of material from your upcoming book.With Twitter you can post multiple times a day with brief quotes or messages under 140 characters. Twitter has proven to be a powerful platform for authors when it comes time to promote and market a book.We recommend choosing two social media platforms and focusing on consistent engagement. This will keep your book’s appearance fresh and invite new people in to check out your work.Action Step: Choose two social media platforms and commit to publishing content regularly. If you only want to focus on one, master it and then move to another that is perfectly fine! It is better to do one thing and get it right then do two things poorly.6. Plan Your Marketing AheadThe best time to start marketing your book was six months ago. If you haven’t done that, the next best time for marketing your book is right now.Many authors make the mistake of getting their book out there, doing a promo with their launch team and then start to work on a plan for marketing. The best thing you can do is have your marketing tools defined and ready to roll into action when they are needed.Your marketing plan can include such things as:Having a series of blog posts scheduled to publish at regular intervalsInterviews set up with influencers to talk about your book, either on the day of launch or just afterA course based on the book set to launch at the same time as the book or soon afterGiveaways through Goodreads that attract buyers to download your book by the thousandsDaily blurbs posted on Faceb ook or Twitter. Remember: Engage where your fans are hanging out.Schedule a Bookbub promo (see next step)Marketing takes planning, and you have to be strategic about it. This means building buzz early and keeping that buzz going for months up to and even after the launch. Continued marketing requires deeper tactics such as course building and consistently promoting through social media or Facebook ads, but the rewards are well worth the effort.7. Get on BookbubBookbub is the cream of the crop when it comes to promoting and marketing your book. In fact, you should submit your book for promotion as either free or for 99 cents right after your book launch.Bookbub has a massive following and can get your book delivered to thousands of readers. It really is the â€Å"Big One† when it comes to book promotion. The cost isn’t cheap and can run you anywhere from $200 to $2,000 for a promo, depending on the genre, category, and the price of your book.But is it worth it?Yes. Defi nitely.For example, if you are running a promo for 99 cents in general nonfiction, you could potentially sell, on average, 2,000 copies of your book. Not only will you make a profit, but this could bring in hundreds of subscribers and leads to your email list. From there you can upsell readers on your other books or even a course if you have one.But on a side note, most authors get rejected the first time from Bookbub. If you do, just keep trying. Go here for Bookbub submission requirements. You can also check out the pricing here and submit your book here.8. Write Another BookPublishing another book is great for brand building. In fact, it’s much harder to market just one book unless it is a ground-breaking phenomenal masterpiece. Your book may be great, but you can compound that greatness by writing more books, preferably in a series.With every new book you put out there you increase the chances of your work getting recognized by influencers and people online who are hangin g out in all the places you can target for promotion and sharing.Launching your book is only the beginning. The real work begins after the initial â€Å"bang† is over and you have to dig in deep to promote, engage, and provide solutions to readers’ problems. Remember: Marketing is about delivering a product [your book] to the right people [your audience] who need desperately what you have to offer [your solution].Create this product for your readers, ship it to them and communicate in a way they understand- and you’ll become a great marketing guru as well as an amazing author.