As one whose first career and first love was publishing in London, let me 
add something about self-publishing.
Although self-publishing is respectable and the less commercial genres of 
literature (e.g. poetry) only see the light of day through this medium, the 
only limitation to publication is whether the writer can afford it or not.
These publishing companies do not have expert editors who check the 
credibility of the work or its authors and the author has sole 
responsibility for checking the text for errors, either factual or 
grammatical.
So any idiot can write a piece of rubbish and provided he has the money to 
have it published and promoted, his product can have an ISBN number and 
appear to be a bone fide book sold in bookshops and online.
If the author has contacts, this product may even be reviewed in newslpapers 
and literary journals.
But when it comes to non-fiction parenting books, most discerning readers 
prefer a book that has passed the test of the highly competitive publishing 
houses, been read by professional editors.
Since publishing is highly competitive today, some excellent books may slip 
through the net, but if they are well written and have useful information 
they will sometimes be published by a non-profit organization.  e.g. my 
nephew Andrew Don wrote a beautiful book:  "Fathers Feels Too" about  men`s 
experiences of pregnancy loss.  This is published by SANDS in the UK, the 
Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society and the profits go to the 
organization.
The book by the anti-breastfeeding father is hardly likely to be adopted by 
La Leche!  But let`s not give it too much airing because the author might 
sell it through the formula "information services".

Wendy Blumfield 

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