Can anyone recommend an online site that will publish/print your own book? Most seem to offer a similar package but it would be nice to know who are reputable and who to avoid. Many thanks for any help.

Are you thinking of a subsidy publisher (vanity press) -- thousands of dollars? A free or low-cost venture?

Thank-you for your reply. I am based in the UK and I basically have a small collection of poems that I want made into a book more for my own benefit rather than anything else. I have seen that some sites offer to advertise on Amazon etc and they will print on demand and I guess that's the type of thing I want. However, I don't have very much money to spend and as I say, really its just to prove to myself that I have a book under my name. Very new to all this, its only that a local "whats on and where" booklet has made a feature on me and has given me a regular space that has proved to be popular so its given me the confidence to just have something of my own in my hand.

Most subsidy publishers charge thousands of dollars to edit and publish your book, but rarely does the author make any money, and certain never gets back what was paid out. My two nieces wrote a novel and spent $6,000 to have a subsidy publisher "publish" and market it. After three years, they haven't sold enough books to eat in a nice restaurant.

Smashwords will let you publish an e-book for free, but you have to design your own cover and BE SURE to read their style guide and follow it to the letter. Amazon publishes both e-books (free, I think) and print (for several hundred dollars), but be sure to read all their instructions on their home page on how to do either one. You're mostly on your own for marketing.

The publishing isn't the problem. The "problem" is the marketing and getting people interested in your book. Join online writers' groups, start your own blog (and make it attractive so you get lots of followers), get promoted by others who have blogs, contact bookstores to set up book signings and promotions, set up author talks at libraries. In other words, promote your book in any way you can. There are web sites that will give you more marketing ideas.

Good luck!

Thank-you so very much. You have been very helpful and have given me lots to consider that I wouldn't have thought about otherwise. I will certainly do my homework and there is plenty that you have mentioned that I would have tripped up on if you had not told me about. I appreciate all your help. Thanks again and enjoy your day.
P.S. I love that last quote about animals.

If you want only a few copies, you could probably put this together yourself. There is a $109 program you can download called Publisher, but MS Word might be good enough for your purposes. There is also Photo Books | Photo Cards | Canvas Prints | Calendars | MyPublisher in which you can add photos/illustrations as well as text. My friend used that to make a very nice album of her trip to Italy. She produced a CD of it as well as a print album she can hold in her hands.

The smashwords one looks good from what I have briefly seen and yes, the few copies is all I need really so I will certainly look at the others you have suggested :)

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Originally Posted by snowflake10

The smashwords one looks good from what i have briefly seen and yes, the few copies is all i need really so i will certainly look at the others you have suggested :)

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Smashwords used to be only e-books, unless they have changed that and included print. A male friend published his novel with Smashwords and was happy with how it turned out. (Again, memorize their 25 or so page style guide!) If you need help with that, I can put you in touch with him and bring him into this thread. He is a member here on this site.

Excellent, thank-you, I will think over what I want to happen and would love to take you up on your offer to talk to him if I go down that road. I hadn't really thought through whether to go for e-books or not but it's a definite possibility. Just looking at the "my publisher" site at the moment and that looks like the one I initially looked at then forgot what it was and couldn't find again. Lots to consider now :)

You can have your poetry on CD or in an e-book or in a print book form -- or all three.

Be sure to let me know if you want my friend's help, and I will invite him to this thread. I will wait to hear from you.

***ADDED*** Be sure your poems are well edited too before you start the publishing process.

Wow, that's really cool. I will look at all your information tomorrow and will be in touch to let you know what path I decide to take. Thanks again for your help and your time, I have somewhere to make a start now which is something I really needed. Will talk to you soon, Vanessa.

Just to let you know I decided to go for an actual book rather than an ebook in the end. Even though ebooks seem an easier way to do things, I would rather have a copy to keep as my own. Thanks again for the offer and for all your help.

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Originally Posted by snowflake10

Just to let you know i decided to go for an actual book rather than an ebook in the end. Even though ebooks seem an easier way to do things, i would rather have a copy to keep as my own. Thanks again for the offer and for all your help.

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How will you do that?