Before I got too bogged down in the ins and outs of it all, I read a couple of helpful articles to get my brain ticking over. The first one I came across (and I had no firm plans at this point beyond having agreed in my head that I was going to go it alone, and publish my own book myself) was https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28268014 which was an encouraging tale of how Nick Spalding started publishing eBooks. It gave me a boost to know that apparently, anyone can do it, and everyone *is* doing it, so why shouldn't I? A lovely bit of confirmation bias, right there! I already knew I wasn't going to be making a fortune, but you know what? That didn't matter. All I wanted was for one person that I didn't directly know to buy my book because they quite fancied reading it.
The second article I read was a Wiki https://www.wikihow.com/Self-Publish-a-Book-in-the-UK which was an enormous help. A few things seemed obvious to me - regard your manuscript objectively, make sure it's edited properly (and even before that, get it checked for grammar, spelling and punctuation - you would be amazed at how many writers there are who do not prioritise this essential stage of the process...) and get some opinions from readers before you go near any kind of publishing.
The one aspect of the process I hadn't been aware of was the sending of copies to the 5 UK holding libraries, and the British Library, and investigating the US tax laws if you’re self-publishing in the US as well as in the UK. I had considered the need for registering for UK tax self-assessment in the UK, but I hadn't considered the US (although I was fairly sure I wasn't going to go down the eBook route).
And so the process had begun. I was ready to delve a little bit deeper into the world of self-publishing. I was ready to start sending my novel, slowly, steadily and surely, out into the world. Well, out into the UK, at least...
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