Self-publishing My Book

How did I go about self-publishing? OK, first book first “Dig It! Gardening Tips for Dogs”.
This little book started out as an amusing article in a dog club magazine. It then sat in the drawer for more years than I care to think about, before I decided to do something with it. I read it, expanded it, edited it, then I mentioned it to a friend who is quite good at drawing. She asked to see a copy, I gave her a copy, she did a drawing (very good).

We talked about the whole thing and decided to have a go at printing it ourselves. The friend did more illustrations, I organised an ISBN number and barcode, my friend put the whole thing together, I took it to a local printer and Hey Presto, I had a book.

The first print run was for 50 copies, they sold or were given away, I did another print run, same story, sold or given away. Third print run. I still have about half of the third print run left, and won’t be going for a fourth print run this year, unless somehow there is a run on people wanting copies.

It’s been fun, but I know I’m not brilliant at marketing, I have a lot to learn.

Second book was quite different. “How to Lose Weight and Keep it Off”. I had this one done online by Lulu.com. I wrote a small book, and uploaded it to Lulu for publishing as an Ebook. The only copy sold was bought by me, and I would certainly use this method again. The copies are available from Lulu, but there are millions of books there, and mine doesn’t stand out, hence the lack of sales.

For both of these books have a website each, on Blogger.com, and they get a few clicks each, but it hasn’t led to sales at this time.


Adelaide Plains Poets Inc have self-published two anthologies, using the same local printer, who I think does a good job at a fair price. Grandeur Press is the name, in Balaklava.

So that’s my story