I have had people suggest to me that I could simply put my Llangattock book up on the web or publish it as a CD . . .
Well, since the research for this book started in 1985 and the writing in October 1990, with completed drafts in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2009 (when I've completed the Carno Adit exploration update later today, Lapworth's geological report once a copy arrives from the archive in a few days and the Daren Cilau 2002-09 exploration update . . . before Christmas!) then I have no intention of not publishing it, as Pitlamp suggests, "a good statement of the state of exploration at a certain time", in book form.
Peter has got to the nub of the problem which is finding a suitable printing firm. The quality of the print job and advice given in terms of satisfactory reproduction of the illustrations is all critical. However, if the costs mount and hidden charges later appear on the bill then the whole operation could end up being a loss-making enterprise unless a reasonable, not too expensive sale price can be set to attract people to buy the book.
Things like proof reading, designing the layout, sorting out ISBN numbers and making sure the proper legal checks and statements have been made are where authors normally opt out of the equation, but it's worth surmounting these difficulties to get a specialist caving publication into the marketplace when there are otherwise no publishers around like Dalesman to do what they used to do 30 years ago. Also, any publisher that does pick up on your work might have a completely different idea as to what is 'commercial' and you could end up finding that you have signed a contract which sends all your rights and the creative heart of your work to the wall - all quite 'legally'.
How many years was it 'Limestones and caves of Wales' was in the making? I can't remember how many authors had actually died by the time the book appeared, but the achievement was this it DID appear in the end, against the odds. Perhaps delays and setbacks are there to help give you time to iron out the mistakes, omissions and weaknesses, which you'd later be very pleased not to see in print!
I've given a caver a printed copy of a few pages from my Daren Cilau guide from the additional Llangattock guidebook which I've also written, but foundered when Mendip Publishing went under in 1994. The intention is to publish this as a book, too, on the back of the returns from the exploration story and local history section. What this caver was busy doing when I last spoke to him on the telephone was copying and laminating the pages to be able to take them underground, which will help me find out if the guide actually works in practice, when someone who doesn't know where they are going in the cave tries to use it! This is exactly what I'd expect cavers to do with the guidebook itself, when it is finally published. So, the pages will be laid up with appropriate drawings to show complex junctions against the associated descriptions in the text - taking such factors into consideration.
A web-page which looks attractive and interesting, which you can easily scroll down through, without too many words to slow you down on the way, is a completely different art form.