Vicki:
You said, " I'm not very good at writing them. They don't 'pop' enough nor do they express any excitement. Do you address press releases in your book? Do you suggest any other places to submit press releases other than prweb and netread?

Finally, all good promotion is going to cost money, even the most frugal of promotion. What types of promotion do you recommend for those of us who don't have lots of $ to spend? Should we purchase the postcards, business cards, and book marks? Should we create the flyers and brochures? Where would our money be best spent"

Vicki, I advise people to get the basics of press releases before they try to make them pop because that effort often makes them appear very unprofessional. It sounds as if you've done your research on the basics, though, and yes, I have some ideas in FRUGAL for how to make them do that. I also suggest you all subscribe to Joan Stewart's Publicity Hound newsletter. She talks about releases and approaching editors a lot. Also, remember! Media releases, not press releases.

Regarding few dollars--the whole book is about this but my favorite that reaches a targeted audience is the perks offered on Amazon. I also have utilized writing reviews to the advantage of my promotional campaigns. And, I'm not much on spending money of give-aways but there are times when it is effective--depending on the subject matter of each individual book. There's a whole section on that including links where you can go to BUY souvenir type promotional things and nicer ones, too.

Hope this helps!