And as another Mars bar bites the dust after an inglorious and unequal fight my thoughts turn to self-publishing.
Anyone have any experience?
There's a firm called Lulu which requires no money up front and allows you to simply buy on demand.
http://www.lulu.com/uk
As an experiment I've just had a go at putting together a book I've written and ordering it. I'm quite impressed by the company and look and feel of the actual book, but the shipping cost doubles the cost from about a fiver to ten pounds. As a vanity project I guess that's OK but makes it unlikely as a profit-making enterprise. A slim paperback of short stories by an unknown author can't merit that sort of cost.
I'm wondering if anyone knows of any other firm that doesn't need money up front and perhaps British...

I claimed to be an expert on the erotic delights of chocolate on molt's blog recently.
The following is a piece of fiction I wrote - The character in question happens to share my knowledge of chocolate, but luckily I don't share her obsession with slimming mags!

She’d used the loo at Jo’s and discovered a stack of slimming magazines. What had surprised Jane was that someone as bright as Jo (not to mention thin!) could spend money on magazines that had so little to say, none of which would be new to anyone who read mainstream magazines or watched T.V. Jo agreed. She knew a Mars bar had 290 calories but three mini ones seemed more satisfying although ‘weighing in’ at a mere 270 calories. Jo could probably lecture for Wales on chocolate satisfaction – it seemed it contained something called ‘phenyl ethylamine’ – the very chemical your brain released when you were in love! And then there were seretonins and endorphins to soothe you and cheer you up… Past experience told Jane about Jo’s knowledge of the sensuality of chocolate. Jo would explain the oral satisfaction of chocolate’s body temperature melting point with the naughtiest leer. Jane had never felt the need to ask Jo what would be easier to give up – sex or chocolate – it was too obvious… Jo was not blinded by her passions however. She knew about exercise, diet, and the madness of fads yet her addiction to chocolate was as seriously matched by her fixation with the bloody awful slimming magazines. She knew it was stupid and she knew they were all the same but it was the before and after stories of the ‘successful’ slimmers that reeled her in every time…