The Wall Street Journal recently ran a fascinating article outlining how author Darcie Chan’s marketing efforts catapulted her book, “The Mill River Recluse,” onto bestseller lists.

Chan has sold more than 400,000 copies of her book, in large part thanks to paid reviews and banner ads on well-known websites.   

According to the the newspaper, Chan spent $1,000 on marketing. She bought banner ads on blogs and websites devoted to Kindle readers. She also paid for a promotional spot on goodreads.com, which has more than six million members.

Once she learned self-published authors can pay to get their books reviewed, Chan paid $35 for a review from Indiereader.com and $575 for a review from Kirkis Reviews, a book review journal and website.

“The Mill River Recluse” is the story of a wealthy reclusive widow who leaves her fortune to the townspeople who barely knew her. More than 100 agents and a dozen publishers rejected it.

Chan, a 37-year-old lawyer for the United States Senate, priced her ebook at $.99, hoping to draw a few readers and some helpful feedback.

Now she’s dealing with offers from foreign publishers and movie studios.

According to the Journal, Chan has made about $130,000 before taxes and continues to receive royalties every month.

Read the full article by reporter Alexandra Alter.

The Wall Street Journal reports the U.S. Justice Department is investigating the pricing of ebooks to see whether there was “improper collusion” between publishers and Apple Inc. to prevent discounting.

Apple’s role in the investigation involves deals that pushed the so-called agency model, which allows publishers to set ebook prices instead of retailers.

There were also agreements blocking publishers from selling their titles at a cheaper price through other ebook stores.

A similar investigation is ongoing in Europe.

The EU’s antitrust watchdog said Tuesday that it was investigating whether Apple helped five major publishing houses illegally raise prices for ebooks when Apple launched its iPad tablet and iBookstore in 2010, according to the Associated Press.

USA Today reports libraries across the United States are ramping up digital lending in a big way, looking to move more strongly into tablets and smart phones.

Digital lending picked up momentum when Amazon enabled lending for its Kindle at 11,000 local libraries, bringing in a wave of new ebook library users.