Today’s guest is Sandra Smith, Founder, and President of Smith Publicity a marketing company that focuses on authors and expert promotions. Many things have changed in the last ten years and publicity is no different.  Sandra walks us through some of the big changes authors should be conscious of and why their social media presence and what they share are more imperative now than ever before. When it comes to success for an author, selling books seems like the logical focus.  We discuss why selling books is great but getting the attention of your industry is even better.  Sandra explains why authors don’t need to be overly concerned with metrics and how the shelf life of business books is much longer than it used to be. Sandra goes on to explain why authors should start a conversation with a publicist before they start writing.  Getting a firm grasp on why you want a narrow audience, how your release date isn’t that important and the benefits of hiring a publicist outside of your publisher can save time and money down the road.   If you are thinking about writing a business book and want to ensure success this episode is a great place to start!   Three Key Takeaways: You need to be sharing your thought leadership content and cultivate your social media presence all the time not just when you have a book coming out. Authors often get fixated with the metrics around the publication date of their book but thought leadership books often do better in their second year than their first. Getting media attention for your thought leadership is good but you have to make sure you have content and systems in place to monetize the spotlight.