First novels get by with a lot of help from their friends. 

In that spirit, I'd like to share what the novelist and publishing professional Susan Henderson has to say about publicity: 

"It’s a wonderful thing to get a private note from someone saying how much he or she loved your book. In the end, that’s why you write—for that single connection between writer and reader. But private notes won’t impact sales or word of mouth, and they won’t give your publisher leverage to seek out foreign sales rights, more press, and so on. So if you love a book, and if you’ve already taken the time to do the hard part, which is to put your thoughts into a private note, do the author the grandest favor and post some version of that note on Amazon, GoodReads, FaceBook, or all of the above. You can have a profoundly positive impact on an author’s career whenever you take that extra five minutes, and I try hard to take that advice myself." Read the entire interviewhere. 

Extra Credit: Prominently place a copy of Merit Badges on the set of your network sitcom. I'm talking to you, Jim Parsons.