Hi --

I just found this place while self-promoting my first novel. While there is a diversity of opinion on proper protocol for this behavior, I testify that some people who think it's spam can be downright mean.

Others have been very nice, and helpful. A few, however, act like an unknown writer telling people about a new piece outside of mainstream market profits is the same as trying to sell fake Viagra. The worst was a newsgroup whose members actually posted fake negative book reviews on the Mobipocket site, one of the two places that sells my novel, as revenge.

I was following an exchange on the Chonicles (science fiction) forum (I've been banned) at work today. It's a good thing that Specfic didn't say he'd written anything, or he may have been banned too.

I'm a 56 year old therapist in a children's mental health program. My novel was published in July, 2006, and was just named as one of the best fifteen releases under the Noble (not Nobel) Prize criteria. I've become so cautious about posting self-promotion, that I'm not saying any more.

If this is a place where writers won't get bashed for not having traditional advertising dollars, its existence is justified.

Hi Robert,

Welcome aboard! Thanks for asking the questions that you have!

There are two places that have been created specifically for small press publishers and authors to promote their work.

Log in to the main site here. After having done so, be sure to add your book to the "Marketplace". It allows you to upload a cover pic, a _link_ to your publisher (fatcat) and as much promo-text as you would like. Any book you upload to the Marketplace will automatically appear in your profile, here.

You are also welcome to announce your new release here. It might also be appropriate to give a heads up to our moderator scififan. He moderates the science fiction forum. He could also set up a user-submitted review of your book if you like.

As you have already, join the forums and start sharing your opinions and perspective. Often, there will be discussions about the direction the Small Press Exchange has to take, and decisions will be made as to the functioning, structure of this site. Share your knowledge, and contribute to the community by taking active part in discussions, and providing feedback.

As this site is, at its heart, a social network, the more you contribute, the more you will take away. The more insight you provide, the more advice you give, and the more you help out, the greater impact you will have on the site.

For a year or more, a common buzzword uttered by people out on the web has been "social media"—the idea that one-to-many communication on the Web has given way to many-to-many communication, and that traffic and conversation naturally cluster around content, such as videos, photos, blog posts, and bookmarks. Examples of social media in action at the Small Press Exchange include our bookmark directory, where users can save, share, and tag Web pages they've visited; our profiles, which act as a social networking service, allowing photo uploads, etc. Our reviews section, etc. So feel free to submit interesting sites to our directory, or offer to write a review.

So it's a party here, and you at most parties people will sometimes promote themselves. On this website, it's a matter of determining when someone steps over the line, and there's no absolute rule. Same as in real parties.

If you need a hand with any of the site's features, just give me a shout!

Your instruction was so helpful that you could be the Counselor in cyberspace. I usually have a hard time figuring stuff out, and sometimes give up. I blame my age and son -- a genius (literally) at all this. When he lived at home, I would yell for his help. Now that he's moved out...and there's nobody to get help from, I realize that I should have educated myself instead of depending on him.

Thanks again.

Hi Robert. I googled your book and found a couple of solid reviews—one from the Midwest Book Review and another from the Missouri review.

These are great venues and will no doubt serve as great blurbs for a future book.

Anyway, as a first time author myself, I would be particularly proud of those!

Thanks

Hi Robert,

I got Dan's personal message (PM) about a prospective review for your book and PMed you the other day. Let me know how you would like to proceed.

We've got a short list of reviewers for sci-fi (2) but they are eager!

Theo