Self publishing is often unfairly described as 'vanity' publishing. Provided you understand the possible costs involved and heed our advice about realistic potential and hurdles, it is a perfectly legitimate undertaking, especially in the realm of local heritage. Indeed, we have on occasions turned down a title believing it to be uncommercial, only to print the book and watch the author notch up good sales!

The advantage of using youbooks is that you have access to our experienced editors and marketing team, and usually our wholesale distributors as well, and access to our design and print company - pickards.org.uk - who print all youbooks titles as well.

We will advise caution. Do not print too many copies and understand that without publishing clout, it is tough to persuade book shops to sell your title. You may have your own channels for sales or it may not be criticial to you that the book makes a profit.

If your submitted manuscript is turned down by youbooks as a commercial publishing project, by all means talk to us about self publishing. We will be transparent and honest; in fact, we will probably err on the side of pessimism regarding sales – we feel that is the best way we can support budding self publishers.

It is even more important for self publishing that you follow our manuscript guidelines. This will save you time and money when it comes to printing your book.