The Internet of course offers huge promotional opportunities in that, in some circles, they don't treat me (a self-published author) any differently.  I appear on the same Web site with authors like Sue Grafton and the name recognition is starting to sink in with people and they forget the details of how I am published, but they remember the name.  So I'm able to compete on a level playing field on some of the Web sites, which never happens in a physical bookstore. So right there technology gives me an opportunity where there wasn't one before.  Another thing is that people are able to read my book and find out about me because I have my Web site, which is international, and I join mystery book forums, I do chats online and so people know who I am.  I know my books won't appeal to everyone, but they don't have to...if I have an audience, once that starts to develop that's all I need. They don't care how I get published.  The biggest question I get is "When is your next book coming out?"

I tried to sell to libraries too and sent out about 200 flyers, but I got no response, so I went to my local library and sat down with the librarian and asked her how she made her purchases.  Had I done that in the very beginning I could have saved myself a lot of time and money, but it hadn't occurred to me to sit down and talk with a librarian to find out how they choose titles.  She told me that a lot of times she goes by the reviews that are in the Library Journal—also it's one-stop shopping for them through a distributor or jobber; they don't want to order from individual publishers. 

So I contacted Library Journal online and found out how to get my book reviewed. It's too late for my first two titles, because you must have the book reviewed before it comes out in print, but I'm going through the process now for the third.  In fact I'm thinking about pushing back the publishing date so that I can take advantage of some of these types of pre-publication programs.  I also found a major distributor and recently signed a contract for them to carry my books.  Getting a distributor was a big step for me, but a natural progression. Distribution is more important than I first realized.  Your books have to be easy to buy, especially for those who seldom purchase outside of the system (which is most libraries and bookstores unfortunately).  Do you have to give away a higher discount? You betcha.  And you'll need to pay the shipping.  But when you're moving forward, you can handle giving away more.

Attending trade shows is of course one way to meet other publishers, booksellers, librarians, and other important book industry professionals.  Trade shows offer opportunities to network and learn the tricks of the trade.  You will probably have to become a member of the association sponsoring the trade show, but if the show is located near you, you may find the financial investment worthwhile.

Take review copies for instance—the industry requires a "galley proof" as a review copy, but I can't afford that.  A lot of times you can make your own "fake" galley proof by just running off your manuscript and putting a nice cover on it, or a nice folder.  Go to Kinkos and check out what they have.  That's what I recommend because it's just not worth it to independent publishers to print a galley proof.

In a sense, I would use your first book to get your feet wet in the business.  I'd recommend to writers just starting out to not worry how the first book does, just get it in print.  You don't want your first contact with important publishing people to be when you only have one book out. This goes against all the advice you'll find elsewhere which says you've got to do A,B,C and D...I just don't think that works for someone starting out, because the industry is still very closed.  The big publishing houses have it all, so don't try to do what they do.  You have to make your own path around, because it won't work for you. 

Also, your timetable for publishing and selling your book will be much slower than that of the big publishing houses, so you need to have a realistic view of this.  It's going to take a long time for people to know who you are and you shouldn't pay people to make it go faster.  Number one, it probably won't work and number two, it'll just bankrupt you.  So just tell yourself that it'll happen, it'll take time and that you can't hurry it along by paying these companies that promise they'll help you with promotion in exchange for a fee.  There are so many freebies out there, especially with the Internet booming.  There are also a lot of companies that will offer you a free trial of their services, so try them for free, and if they don't work drop them. Be prepared to work hard, without much reward, for quite some time. But by setting goals and working toward them, you'll eventually get where you want to go.

In terms of taking risks, probably I'd say disclosure.  At first I was very guarded about disclosing who I was. I didn't want people to know I self-published, because I thought that would have a negative impact on my sales.  So I kept it a secret and promoted Independent Spirit Publishing on my Web site and in all my promotional material and I was very vague about who they were.  You don't need to disclose who your publishing company is, you can keep it a secret and be just be like any author out there, so I though that that was what I wanted to do.  So I did not take the risk of telling everyone who I was.  I kept that a secret and you know it didn't really help me—in fact it hurt me tremendously, because people were wondering who Independent Spirit Publishing were and had never heard of them before.  Some people guessed that I must be a self-published author and, you know what, for people who have negative views about self-publishing, not disclosing who you are is not going to stop them from guessing anyway. 

So I missed a huge opportunity there, because I finally realized that people are interested in the fact that I self-publish.  It's become a positive thing not a negative thing.  People see me as an entrepreneur, as someone who is very hard-working.  One person even said to me: "You know, if everyone in the country was like you, we'd have no problems." It was a very different view from what I was expecting.  Sure, there are going to be some people that look at you critically, and maybe I wouldn't recommend making it known you are self-published with your first book, but after you have your first book out, when you have some kind of credentials, or if you've won some award, you can just slowly let it be known that you're self published.