New Writer with Questions about Publishing

[Kragar00]

Hello, all!
I've been working on a product for quite some time and as I come closer to finishing it, I'm begining to look into how to publish it. As I don't have a company to publish through and have never published anything before, can anyone tell me what I should keep in mind when publishing?
I've looked at copyright law and PODs, how to get an ISBN, and various other things, but one thing which I haven't been able to get answered is "do I need a company?"
I can go through any of the various companies I've found online to have them self-publish my work, but do I need that? Can I do it myself? Does anyone have any suggestions of who to go through? Any positive or negative feedback on who you've used?
I know a lot of people out there do have their own publishing companies. Do you have any insight on how you started, what you found difficult, or what you forgot?
Thanks!
~Kragar00

 

[DaveMage]

Here you go...

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=158888

Edit - the link above is for .pdf publishing. If you want to go print, your best bet in the current market is to hook up with an established publisher.

 

[Kragar00]

Thanks!
I'll have to take a look into this.

 

[Prest0]

Publishing is a LOT of work, and if you're doing it from the ground up then expect a fair amount of start up expense in terms of software, artwork, etc. If you want to WRITE, find someone to publish it for you. (If it's as good as you think it is, you won't have a hard time finding someone. If it isn't and you can't... you might want to reevaluate why you'd want to take of the financial burden of self-publishing something that might need more polish.) If you want to spend >80% of your time working on your website, hiring artists, editors, cartographers, writing PR, and so on... then publishing is for you.

Either way, welcome to the fold!

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

If you want to spend >80% of your time working on your website, hiring artists, editors, cartographers, writing PR, and so on... then publishing is for you.

Quoted for truth. This cannot be made clear enough.