Like almost everything else, publishing has a long and complex history. Nowadays it is based on an elaborate division of labor between author, agent, publisher, editor, copy editor, artist (for doing the cover), printer, binder, wholesaler, and retail seller. But neither have things always been that way nor is there any reason to think that it will necessarily last. Here it pleases me to focus on the alternative, self-publishing. Why I took it up, what its advantages are, and a few hints on how to go about it.

Back in 1999-2000 I wrote my book, The Privileged Sex. The title speaks for itself, so I shall not repeat the contents here. At the time I was on sabbatical in Germany (Potsdam, of course). I had, however, already told some friends back in Israel about what I was doing. And somehow the word spread. The outcome was a memorable telephone-interview with a well-known Israeli female journalist. It was early in the morning and she rang me out of bed; I still have a photograph of my wife took as I gave it, sitting naked on one of those little round Ikea stools right opposite a mirror! For my pains the lady, not to use some less complimentary terms that come to mind, produced one of the most hostile pieces of writing ever done about me. And it worked. Entering my first class of the year a few weeks later, I had to call security to make my way through a crowd of perhaps two hundred who had come to demonstrate against my “male chauvinist” views.

I had little difficulty finding a German publisher for my work. Later a Portuguese-language edition also appeared in Sao Paolo. Both versions made the cover—the cover—of one of the most important news magazines in each country. But in the English-speaking world? No way. Here every word feminists utter, however false and however idiotic, is taken as holy writ. For ten years on end my brave agent, Ms. Leslie Gardner, tried to get the book into print. For ten years on end she met with nothing but refusals.

Early in 2013, encouraged by a Dutch publisher’s request to translate the book, I felt that enough was enough. I decided to take the road so many others have taken before me, i.e. to self-publish the English version. The terrorist road to publication, as someone has called it. The name is apt: self-publishing in many ways is to publishing what terrorism, or guerilla, or insurgency, is to regular interstate warfare. It fits perfectly into the prevailing wind. To me at any rate, fancying myself a terrorist, albeit a very minor one, in the cause of free speech merely added to the attraction.

Two developments made things much easier than they would have been even a decade ago. First, technological change, principally e-books and print-on-demand, has sharply reduced the cost and, with it, the risk. In fact it meant that there was almost no risk involved. Second, technology had got to the point where much of the technical work, such as pagination, copy-editing, indexing and page-shaping no longer demands great expertise. Third, Amazon.com provides a way to sell one’s work without having to go through the chore of begging booksellers to take it, ship it to them, and the like.

The outcome was the English-language version of The Privileged Sex. A book, I am proud to say, as politically incorrect as any that has ever been written. For those of you who care, no. It has not made me rich. But it has more than covered its cost and, two years after publication, is yielding a steady, if small, income. Month by month. Others I know have done considerably better than I. Either directly, because people bought their books. Or indirectly, because those books were picked up by one of the major publishers who otherwise would not have given the author the time of day.

Self-publishing has other advantages too. One is speed. Publishers are often excruciatingly slow. Academic ones in particular never seem to have heard that time is money. By contrast, self-publishing, means that how long it takes is entirely up to you. Another is flexibility, meaning that you can always introduce changes at no extra cost. Last, and to my mind not least, there is freedom. The freedom to say and do exactly as you please with your own work. Having worked with publishers for over four decades, I can tell you: it is intoxicating.

So for those who may be thinking of taking that road—as far as I am concerned, there cannot be enough of you—here are some pieces of advice.

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1. Assuming your Ms. is complete and you are happy with it, you may want an editor. Finding one on Freelance.com is easy. However, beware: editors are an opinionated lot. Very often they cannot agree among themselves as to what does and does not represent good writing. So find a good one and stick with him or her. And remember: you have the final word.
2. Do not dispense with a copy editor. That is because, Microsoft Word and other programs notwithstanding, finding errors in your own work is very difficult, often impossible. Again, you can easily find one on Freelance.com.
3. If, like me, you are not an artist, you will need someone to do the cover for you. I myself was lucky in that my wife, Dvora Lewy, is an accomplished painter and just happened to have done a painting ideally suited for the purpose at hand. But I still needed someone to do the rest.
4. If, again like me, you are more or less computer-illiterate, you will need someone to put the thing on Amazon.com, create the necessary links, etc. Here again I was lucky because my stepson, Dr. Jonathan Lewy, was and still is willing and able to do whatever needs to be done here.
5. In my limited experience, the kind of organization that promises to promote your work online is all but useless. Better send it to as many friends and acquaintances as possible and ask them to review it. If, proceeding in this way, you can get many reviews during the first week of publication, so much the better.

Good luck!