| Sumario: | The world of academic publishing is curiously archaic and bound by odd traditions. In Australia, as elsewhere, academics are under pressure to "publish or perish" in an environment driven by outputs, metrics, publication points, journal rankings and "research excellence" frameworks. At the same time, the world of commercial book publishing is driven by an economic bottom line as large publishers are mainly concerned with "shifting units". However, a textbook that may sell hundreds of units is still not counted as an academic text for research publication points. Self-publishing through a small commercial press, however, is a way around this dilemma. This paper will outline and discuss the process of niche publishing in Australia through Post Pressed, a small commercial press based in Queensland. A number of academics from the University of South Australia have successfully published, authored and edited books through an arrangement with this imprint, which provides ISBN, verso details and distribution, while the authors contribute to printing costs. An initial printing run could be as low as 50 copies--relatively affordable. Book sales then go towards printing further editions. Over the last decade, a number of successful titles have been produced and distributed that otherwise would not see the light of day. In particular, a number of doctoral theses that have been written using a personal narrative approach, and deserve a wider readership than the examiners and the occasional library researcher, have been successfully published through Post Pressed. Edited books also provide the opportunity for early career researchers to contribute chapters and see their work in print. A number of examples of such titles will be presented and discussed.
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