Features

To generate a PDF, open your manuscript in OpenOffice Writer and select Export to PDF from the File menu. Enter a name for the file. A dialog box will pop up giving you control over the generation process. Make sure that you select 'lossless' compression rather than JPG for your embedded images, or they may appear slightly blurred in places. Then press Export and, if you have Adobe Reader installed, double-click on the resulting file so you can check the formatting.

It is important that you read your generated PDF carefully and in its entirety in order to ensure that all aspects of the content are exactly as you want them. You may encounter problems with tables, for example. OpenOffice Writer does not always put all the lines around the cells, especially if you have formatted the table to use several columns on the page. Ensure that you can see the frames properly in the original and the PDF should be OK. Once you are happy with the file onscreen, print it out and check it again. Seeing it in another format can sometimes highlight any subtle errors you have missed onscreen.

The only drawback to using OpenOffice to write and format your book rather than Word is that the full download is currently over 90MB. However, you will find the program in the Expert Toolkit section on the cover DVD.

Marketing strategies

So what do you do once you've uploaded your masterpiece? To boost sales, some authors like to order their books in small batches and sell them personally. One is

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Kenneth Campbell, author of The Fifth Category. "I got [the manuscript] into final form in November 2005 and have been marketing ever since," said Campbell. "I count as one of my successes a signing at a local winery. I managed to sell about 20 books to strangers. Since then I've had more signings, I've noticed Amazon sales starting to register and the book is in several bricks-and-mortar stores in North and South Carolina."

Various POD sites offer a service whereby they'll assign your book an ISBN number and give it a listing on Amazon. For some authors, this can be the difference between being an enthusiastic amateur and becoming a professional writer. Your chosen POD site will have details of how to buy an ISBN from them and any restrictions this places on your work, such as the changes you can make. Prices for ISBNs vary, however. Lulu.com, for example, charges $99 (around £50) whereas OpenMute.org charges only $20 (around £10). However, the latter is a much smaller publisher which also charges an upfront £150 publishing consultation fee. So it pays to calculate the total price of getting into print before making a final decision.

ISBN and distribution deals can also work if you know a market exists for your work and all you need is to make it available. New Zealand poet Faye Kilday is one author who was let down by a publisher only for POD to come to her rescue. "This put me off approaching other publishers, but I knew that people love my poems and that there's an international market for my work," she said. "I haven't sold any books through my Lulu storefront. All my sales have been from Amazon and other retail channels Lulu provides with global distribution."

So it's not only possible to get into print, but also to find yourself on sites such as Amazon, selling books and being listed alongside the likes of Dan Brown and JK Rowling. But just as in other areas of creative endeavour, the ideas and hard work still come first. US sportswriter Red Smith summed it up eloquently: "Writing is easy. All you do is sit at the typewriter until drops of blood appear on your forehead."