Who gives you permission to be an author? Not friends and family. They think, if they don't have it, why should you, of all people! The only person who can give you permission to write is yourself. Now you can also get published. With the breakthrough technology of Printing-On-Demand you can organise it all with Amazon on-line from your PC. And your work becomes available worldwide! The romance novel Fifty Shades of Grey set a record in Britain as the fastest-selling paperback of all time. It was published with Printing-On-Demand, and also as an e-book. A first novel is often autobiographical. If nothing else, committing your past to paper may be a form of therapy, a way of providing closure, or a way of reliving past events joyfully in a structured way. G. Schaule wrote this guide based on experience with a dozen publications.