Self-Publishing: A Tiny Saga

Because I am a lecturer in publishing and I teach creative writing, self-publishing often comes up in conversation in class. My only knowledge of it was from friends--their successes and failures--and from what I see on Twitter (that is, the constant spam from some writers). So I decided to try it out for myself, to get an idea of the steps required to go from manuscript to "book". I didn't do it with the idea of making any money; some things are done for the experience, not the results.

Firs...