What are some marketing methods for promoting my nonfiction book?

[Tiny Clouds]

My book is nonfiction and is probably considered a "how to" book. I need to come up with promotion and marketing ideas...things I'll do to get the book "out there" when it is published. I have come up with a few obvious ones: facebook, myspace, twitter, personal e-mails, word-of-mouth, and some local appearances. What else is there that is relatively inexpensive? Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

[Dan K]

You sound self funded so this will be kind of hard for you.
First you need to analyze your demographic. I don't know what your book is other than it's non-fiction and maybe a DIY so it's hard to help you figure out who to try to sell it to. From there it is easier to figure out your outlets. Lets just say your book is about how to be a better runner. You would probably want to search free demographics online, there are some mediocre sites but you will get a general idea of where to target locally for advertising.
Facebook has a very dynamic advertising system but like all online advertising it is pay by click which can get costly.
Locally, I would recommend placing an ad in you news paper, possibly direct mail (more people read them than you think), and maybe a radio ad since those are relatively cheap and 2 of the 3 deal with print which is obviously a trait of your target market.
I would then suggest trying to get someone (i.e. newspaper columnist) to review you book and write about it.
Also, you can talk to you local book store owners about advertising, selling through them, and maybe having a book reading or some kind of promotion in the store.
Good Luck!