Follow Lisa Black around on her workday and you might uncover the plot behind her next mystery novel. It might even be in the little notebook she pulls out to jot notes and ideas for characters or sequences.

But don't be fooled. While the ideas may come

from her day job, Black, a forensic specialist with the Cape Coral Police Department, devotes almost all of her off-the-clock time to writing. And then there is the new demand on Black's time -- promoting her books.

Indeed writing a book while you still have a day job has always been difficult. But because of new economic pressures in the publishing industry (decimated publicity departments), authors are finding more demands on their time not only to write books but also be their own marketing muscle.

As the Miami Book Fair International gets underway, more than 400 authors have discovered they must be there to push their books, either by nailing a spot on a panel, hosting a session, or shaking as many hands as possible to get noticed. Of course, there's the social media component, too. They must write on blogs, reach fans through Twitter, even make online and the usual in-person book club appearances.

Most are realistic enough to know the payoff as an author is modest. They are lawyers, doctors, teachers, chefs with day jobs who juggle workloads and writing because they see prestige, glamour, even romance in calling themselves book authors (on average, published authors earn about $6,000 a year.)

Still, blockbusters such as Harry Potter and the Twilight series have given aspiring novelists encouragement. That, and the recession, which has people looking for income from anywhere they can get it.

In 2008, the publishing industry saw more titles than ever, close to 290,000. But the big story in 2009 is self-publishing, which grows 30 percent every year as mainstream publishers cut back, paying less to authors and becoming more selective about what titles they publish. This has authors working that much harder to get their books noticed.

Here's how five authors who will speak at the Miami book fair balance the new world of publishing with their primary careers. Each has advice for aspiring novelists:

Make a schedule: Gaby Triana of Miami is a grade school teacher and author of young adult novels including Backstage Pass, Cubanita, Temptress Four, and most recently, Riding the Universe. She says her writing life begins when she puts her kids to bed. She also has a baking business in which she makes cakes as imaginative as the plots of her young adult novels. She sells them for special occasions.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights Triana secludes herself in her home office and writes or edits. ``Those few hours a week are valuable. I have to do something in those hours.'' Triana also has had to designate time to promote her books alongside other young adult novelists on websites and social networks. ``I have to be where teens see me. I have to tell them to go to the store and buy my books.''

Think promotions before you get started: Sam Barry works as a marketing manager at HarperOne and plays harmonica in The Rock Bottom Remainders. He wrote his book, How to Play the Harmonica: And Other Life Lessons in the mornings ``when I felt freshest and had the least interruptions.'' He disciplined himself to produce in the time allotted.

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