Welcome to the Self Publishing Guide
The Self Publishing Guide contains all the information you might need to help you find a publishing partner and produce your own publishing projects. From a completely DIY approach, to having a dedicated publishing assistant, there are a wide variety of companies which are prepared to help you.
There are three or four different avenues available to a self-publishing author.
1. Use a partner such as Lulu, and be prepared to do all of the preparation work for yourself. Lulu have a variety of options ranging from allowing an author to produce a single book without an ISBN, sell books through their own Lulu store, and also sell on Amazon and other online retailers with an ISBN using either the Lulu imprint, or an authors own. This requires a reasonable amount of proficiency, and takes quite a lot of time to do properly.
2. Really do everything yourself. Set up a small publishing company, obtain accounts with Lightning Source and the ISBN providers. Format and prepare your manuscripts, ensure that they meet the Lightning Source specifications, and sell through Amazon and other online retailers using your own imprint. Of course this requires very much more time, and a greater investment in money and effort. But if you are planning to produce a number of books this can be a viable option.
3. Use an Assisted Self Publishing partner, such as Getting Yourself Published, and allow them to provide the support and professional expertise to convert your manuscript into a printed book available on Amazon and other online retailers with an ISBN. Assisted Self Publishing providers can take away all of the difficult work of formatting a manuscript, preparing it properly for printing, and providing ISBNs etc. But it is necessary to find the right partner who is providing a comprehensive range of services at a reasonable price.
Getting Yourself Published do provide a Self Publishing Guide which may help explain the process. They also have pages which define the terms self publish and getting published.
Coffee House Wall
If you are interested in current affairs and political comment then visit the coffee house wall. It is the independent edition of the old Spectator Coffee Houser's Wall which was created when that other site was closed down.