1) Product (Book)

This is the most important P. Good marketing helps a bad product fail faster.
The question is not “is this book good” the question is “is this the kind of book people would want to buy and then read”
Every product has a life cycle. This is particularly true for fiction. Old fiction does not generally sell well. People are willing to pay a premium to read a book that their friends are also reading at that same time. A short trip to your discount store will show you shelf after shelf of $1 books that are only a few years old.
Product mix. Focused vs general brand. Complementary products. In fiction the best way to do this is to write a series of books. Book #1 helps sell Book #2 and vice versa.

2) Price

All prices are relative. A good deal is all about how a book is priced in comparison with other books. How much does an eBook cost?
Price communicates value.
The problem with racing to the bottom is that you just might win.
You have to consider your product mix while picking your price. So it may make sense to price the first book in a series cheap or free to suck people into buying the later books in the series at full price. 

3) Promotion

When most people think about marketing, all they think about is promotion. All advertising is marketing, not all marketing is advertising. All ham is pork, not all pork is ham.
This is how you tell potential readers about your book.
Promotion always costs either time or money and often both.
If you are self publishing, you need to set aside money for promotion. Product and price alone will not make your book a success.
Find a news hook for your book for some free PR.
A sales team for your book is also part of promotion.

4) Place

This P is where most self published authors really fail.
How convenient is it to buy your book?
Where can I buy your book?
Q: What is the most important for your book to be? A: The airport bookstore.
Getting into more places requires both sales and distribution.

5) Purple Cow
A few years ago, Marketing Guru Seth Godin suggested that a 5th P be added called a Purple Cow.

Drive down the road, see a purple cow, what do you do?
How remarkable is your book?
How is it different from other books?
What about your books makes people want to talk about it? (Cosemear)
Purple Cow effects whether your book “goes viral” or not. Most books are not purple cows.

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