In this new age of publishing, whether an author is published by a publishing house or goes the route of print-on-demand self-publishing, the author will be responsible for a great deal of the marketing of each new book. Authors must blog, tweet, chat on FaceBook, and travel to conferences and street corners to sell their books.

But here’s a neat new twist that just occurred in London. Crime thriller writer Meg Gardiner was dashing to catch the Tube when she happened to glance at a poster on the tunnel wall and discovered that the poster was advertising her latest book. She hadn’t even known that the poster was in the works! Of course, dignified and collected as ever, she skidded to a stop and had her husband preserve the moment. Be proud! That’s your book!

Now that is a great way to market a book. Think of the millions of people who ride mass transit every day in the world’s metropolitan centers. Ride and stare out windows vacantly, hoping for something to distract their minds from the routine and mundane.

Ta-da! How about a book ad! We’ve grown accustomed to seeing movie posters, but book posters! What a great idea!

Now, how to turn that into self-marketing? That’s the challenge.

With new publishing horizons come new opportunities to market. Use the Internet, Twitter, YouTube, and perhaps even posters. It’s a brave new world for those who have the courage to seek new horizons.