There are an overwhelming number of things to consider when self publishing, kind of like the multitude of living wonders in a Costa Rican cloud forest.  Here's my skywalk level overview of the tasks before me.

1) Get a copyright -- I think you can go straight to http://www.copyright.gov/ and apply directly.  Or there's also https://www.legalzoom.com/.

2) Get an ISBN number -- http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/index.asp. It looks like you need one for every format in which you publish.  So one for the Kindle e-book, one for the Nook e-book, one for the Create Space Print on Demand (POD) paperback.  Oy!  And they're about $125 each, from what I can see.

3) Buy my domain.  (I'll probably go ahead and do it through Weebly.  My good friend Siri, who knows her stuff, seemed to think this was a good way to go.)   ***Postscript: Done!

4) Create a cover design.  (Yippee!  I get to exercise my visually artistic side!  Sure hope it hasn't gotten too flabby from lack of exercise.)

5) Figure out who to publish with -- ebooks on Kindle and/or Smashwords (for Nook and other formats).  Amazon's Create Space for print on demand.  I think I'll start with Kindle and work down the list, provided things go smoothly.

6) Read/edit the manuscript yet again for content and consistency.  (That's right.  Don't forget the most important part.  Make sure the book is perfect.  Well, as perfect as possible in the totally subjective world of literature where perfection is in the eye of the bookholder.)

7) Format the manuscript to meet the requirements for the chosen publisher(s).  Oh look!  Smashwords has a free ebook style guide on how to format your ebook!  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52.  Reading material for tonight.

I haven't felt this excited in a long time.  It's like I finally grabbed hold of my own destiny, and no matter where it takes me at least I am in the driver's seat for a change.  Onward!!

Ok.  Yeah.  I'm a little nervous.  I've got a manuscript I've loved (and hated) for many years.  It's been to critique groups and SCBWI critiquenics, and a novel workshop where one of my peers bragged about it all weekend, and beyond.  

It's been requested in full by an editor.  It won a first place in a contest.  (It was politely panned by a friend in one of its earlier stages, but we won't talk about that.  It's 1000 times better, now.  And seeing as how I'd used her name for the drunken mother, what exactly did I expect?)

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm not just throwing a POS into the wind and hoping it doesn't fly back and hit me in the face.  I believe in this book, and I believe the self publishing wave that's upon us might be just the chance it needs.

So --- CHARGE!!!