Self published books….there’s a lot of them about now. Blurb, Trafford, Lulu, AuthorHouse and many more companies can all publish books ‘privately’ on your behalf. Trafford is based in Victoria, BC (our hometown) and not long after I arrived at Abe I went to visit their operation. There is a long digital printing press and a man presses some buttons to download the files and minutes later some books appear at the other end. Easy and quick.

In reality, folks have been self publishing for centuries. Some of the biggest names in literature – Stephen Crane, Walt Whitman, DH Lawrence – have resorted to self publishing after being knocked back by publishers. Check out our new feature in the Rare Book Room about the self published gems that have become collectible.