Introduction

If the world of traditional publishing is driving you mad... Self-publishing can be an exciting and rewarding alternative. I would not necessarily recommend it for your first book; but, once you've got one or more books selling well with a 'proper' publisher, :: You have the credibility :: You have the clout of an established reputation :: You know your way around enough to think about doing it yourself First buy the bible: HOW TO PUBLISH YOURSELF: A Practical Guide, by Peter Finch - Allison & Busby, ISBN 0 85031 777 0. The new edition (which even includes a section on How to Publish on the Internet) came out in December 1997. It's beautifully written, asks some serious questions; has all the practical information you need and - above all - will entertain you as you learn about the supposedly arcane world of publishing. You can get it through your bookseller, or you can order it direct from The Oriel Bookshop in Cardiff, Wales - where Peter is the Manager, when he's not being a poet. When you have read it, and - if you decide that you want to go ahead - come back to this, and read on. So what have I got to offer, over and above what you have learned from Peter? The answer is the experience of having done it myself, armed with nothing more than Peter's book, and the NLP structure for making life simpler, and making things work. I learned a lot about how publishing works from the publishers of my first book NLP for Lazy Learning: getting it ready for press was a nightmare! Whereas EASY BEING: Making Life as Simple and as Much Fun as Possible - the DIY job - was a breeze thanks to my brilliant support team. The Proof of the Pudding EASY BEING is doing really well. By publication date, I had already sold over £1,500 worth of books - and I am not even the distributor. I had also sold the Swedish rights for £1,700 and had two other foreign publishers interested in the rights. In other words, over half the printing bill was covered. The press are producing brilliant support: 'Good Housekeeping' did a feature; and lots of other glossies followed up with features too. One of the main reasons for publishing the book myself was to prove that the EASY BEING system works. It does! The Structure of Success It doesn't have to be Publishing - this section of the web site has the structure of success in any project you may be thinking of.