Small Press/E-Press: What Works?

Hi Deb,
Here's my opinion:

1) Try submitting your book to different review sites. This might require you to buy extra copies for your publisher, but it'll be worth it.

2) Author interviews, both locally on the radio and on-line. Depending on the genre, there should be plenty of sites who are interested in doing that.

3) Author chats. Find a writer's chat and join in. Or, schedule to be hosted for one. NOTE: I would not recommend going to yahoo chat. I tried this earlier and got spammed to death. By the end of it I couldn't trust who I was talking to.

4) Locally, place an ad in the paper, or put flyers of your book around town/coffee shops. If it's an actual physical book, you can do book signings or chats in coffee houses as well.

Hope this helps

I haven't found chats to be worth the time. Reviews are nice to have whether they sell books or not. Blogging is a good idea, if you are good at it. Having a few copies to show people at cons and other events helps. Having a business card with a book cover on the back can help too.

In general I spend time in places that are fun or productive, not a waste of writing time. I spend money rarely and cautiously and make sure I make it back in sales. Print ads, IMHO, pay off better in small, cheap, niche zines rather than large expensive magazines or newspapers. One guideline is to sped 10% of your advance to promote, and I think that applies when your advance is 0.