Question for you all: Let's say you want to advertise. A book, freelance editing services, whatever. Have there been any sites you felt were especially worth the investment?

Background: A friend of mine is a self-published author, whose third book is coming out in February 2016, and we freelance as editors as well. Her debut got a great Kirkus review, which was amazing! We have years of experience interning for editors and agents, and we're working on getting word out about both, and we're releasing a co-written series late this year. So we're trying to put together a real marketing plan, but neither of us really have a strong idea what to do. We're still in the phase of throwing promotion at the proverbial wall to see what sticks.

Suggestions are very welcome. We do have a couple of well connected friends, but they already help as they're able, so we're trying to figure out what (potentially paid) services deliver a good return on the investment.

Not sure about advertising, but congrats to you and your friend!

Writing a full blown book is no easy task!

Thanks! Once you've written one book, it doesn't feel as monumental when you repeat it, especially multiple times, ha! :D

My sister is a published author, and her advertising opportunities come from local author spotlights at local libraries, and writing conventions. Pop culture conventions are a good place to start, too, especially if you have trinkets or something to catch people's eyes and give potential readers a first impression of your characters.

Follow other writers on Twitter and try and build a community before a fanbase.

That's the route she took, at least.

Your friend should definitely look at seeing about local author events at the library if able to, especially since the novel got a good Kirkus review. There's authors who use Twitter really well for marketing and building fanbase/community, and I'm guessing the same would go for Facebook or other social media.