You might not have the impact of a Random House, but on the Web even a self-publisher can make a pretty big splash. Nan McCarthy is the publisher, as well as well as primary author of Rainwater Press. She self published her epistolary novel Chat, the story of an e-mail love affair, in 1995, republished it with Peachpit Press last year and immediately generated an online buzz. McCarthy, a technology writer, launced a Web site to promote her press and Chat (as well as its forthcoming sequels Crash and Connect), and it's a useful example of how a well designed site can support a book, and vice-versa. McCarthy promotes the book heavily online (she gets 500 hits or more a day); talks to Chat fans ("Boy, do they communicate"), sells books through the site and has compiled a particualrly effective mailing list. Fans can get information on the sequels, write to Chat's main characters (McCarthy answers them all) or check out other Rainwater titles.