Thanks, Brian, for all the great advice. Personally I never had any desire to purchase books advertised by the author in a forum like this. I am very susceptible to the "hype" that a book is receiving. The books that I often considered buying were those on the best-seller lists, heavily advertised, or displayed prominently in bookstores. There were exceptions, but they were rare. I bought the last two Harry Potter books the first day they were available, even though I still haven't finished either of them. It took all my will power to resist the temptation to buy Eldest by Paolini. I think I am similar to the vast majority of book consumers out there. The moral for me, someone who dreams of becoming famous as a writer, is that I should focus all my energy and resources in finding a good agent, who will hopefully in turn find a big publisher that will spend heavily in advertising. Those are just dreams at this stage.
