Here are 2 sites of interest to those who might consider venturing into self-publishing. This is not an endorsement of either - and there are numerous others - but they might help you get started.

Dan Poynter is more or less the current "guru" of the topic. His "Self-Publishing Manual" has gone through many, many editions going back 15 or more years. He does workshops worldwide on the topic.
http://www.parapublishing.com/sites/para/

I get a regular email newsletter from this site, but can't comment on how they compare with others that are similar.
http://www.selfpublishing.com/

Please keep in mind that the production/manufacturing part of the process is the EASY part, and the LEAST EXPENSIVE. MARKETING (advertising, trade shows, conventions, Amazon.com, web site, or whatever) takes a lot of thought because decisions in this area will determine your pricing and other aspects: storage, fulfillment, etc.

This is followup to a conversation with a MG member along these lines.

This is one I always hear people talking about on Podcasts. www.lulu.com

Production costs at lulu.com look pretty high to me, based on what I've paid over the years - even on high volume production. As I mentioned before, spend serious time and effort on working out the costs. They make it sound like they provide "free" promotion, but it would be best to study all the fine print in their agreements.

Would you sell only from their site? Would you also sell through amazon.com, which requires an ISBN for any books they sell directly? They require a 55% discount up front, so pricing would have to be realistic if you expect to make money.

I don't pretend to be expert at figuring out POD (print on demand) economics, as my books have been traditionally printed by a book printer. (For heaven's sake, DON'T have Kinko's or a quick printer do a book!)

Just want people getting into it to realize some of the ramifications.

Good luck!

This site focuses on academic self-publishing. However the blog " Academic Self-Publishing--3" on this page lists a number of subsidy presses, including Lulu. I think someone in MG did a book with XLibris and it turned out beautifully. However don't know the economics involved.

http://www.atlanticpathpublishing.com/blog/blog.html