Dotsie asked, "what did your book publisher do for you? I don't mean anything derogatory by this comment. I'm curious to know what one can expect from a publisher and I'm sure it depends on the publishing company."
And I laughingly reply, a lot more than my first publisher did. And tons more than my best two writing friends (one BIG publisher, one smaller literary one) did. And she didn't promise more than she could deliver. She does media releases for important stuff, like my new USA Book News "Best Books of 2004" award. She arranged for all distribution--and that's already been mentioned on this thread--like Baker and Taylor and Ingram. All online bookstores and the e-book site I'm using. Book cover. Editing (though I don't recommend anyone turn this over to their publisher with a great deal of trust!), the formatting and takes care fo the yukky little details. She is truly responsive and communicates well--indeed, FAR more than most people can say about their publishers!
But promote FOR me. Never. Besides, no one will do it as well as I do it for myself and the same goes for any author. After all, YOU know your book. YOU are invested in your own book. How can any publisher or publicist beat that???