I set up THE ROSE BOOK CO (now no longer in existence) to acquire an ISBN number, which allowed me to self-publish my novel.

After studying several books on publishing, especially 'Publishing Books Using Your PC' by Domanski & Irvine, I decided to use Microsoft Publisher 2000 to create a book layout document (double-page A5 format), and then I inserted the text from my novel, chapter by chapter, (which had already been completed in Microsoft Word 2000), into the book format pages.

I printed a master copy on a Canon BJC-4100, and multiple copies were made on a Canon PC-7 copier. The pages were then cut to A5 size on a small office guillotine.

I used Artic White card for the cover, which I cut to size, slightly larger than A4 to accommodate the spine, and printed my own cover design on it.

A small Rexel BindMate was used to bind the pages and the cover together (white plastic binder used).

I enjoyed working on my own, which allowed the process to develop as I considered each stage, and I could print on demand. I learnt a great deal from this exercise. Later, I was able to arrange for a small number of copies of my novel to be printed by a local firm - a much easier option.

Finally I gained enough knowledge of HTML to create my Website.

The positive feedback I have received from satisfied readers has been most rewarding - click on Testimonials in the Options column to read their comments.

One tends to be a jack-of-all-trades when setting out to self-publish, but a salesperson I am not. Nevertheless, it has been a great experience to achieve the completion and publication of my novel. My second novel, A Gift Most Rare, has been planned, researched and is in the process of being created.

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