Compile all the short stories in one place. After you've amassed a collection of short story, edit them for clarity and consistency and then place them in some sort of order. You may wish to tie the stories together with a similar theme or genre, though it isn't necessary. After placing the stories in an order, type them up on a word processor and format them for publication. Name the short story book. Create a title and copyright page, along with a table of contents and a short author bio, if desired. Use an easy to read font, such as Times New Roman 12 point, and number each page. Create a cover, either by producing it yourself, using creative commons stock photography or hiring an artist. When finished formatting, save the document as a PDF file. Consider hiring a professional editor or proofreader to look over the short story book and offer suggestions on improvement or fix grammatical mistakes.
Obtain an ISBN number. An ISBN number is a unique number that identifies the book. It is required to sell the book in bookstores, including Amazon and other online book sites and to place the book in libraries. An ISBN number can be purchased from the U.S. ISBN Agency. Some self-publishing companies, such as Lulu, will also sell ISBN numbers to authors who use their services.
Determine the publishing method. Decide if you wish to publish a short story book for a select few friends and family, or if you wish to try to attract a larger audience or the attention to a mainstream publisher. Your publishing goals will affect what sort of publishing method you use, whether print on demand, offset printing or self printing and book binding. For example, if you wish to publish the book for only a few friends and family, printing and binding the book yourself may be the best option. If you wish to put the book up for sale on Amazon or a personal website, print on demand may be a more effective route. If you have the ability to market a mass quantity of books, offset printing may be the best option, which allows you to print large 500 or more copies at once. There are many self-publishing methods, and each one has their strengths and weaknesses, so it's important to research the different services and see which one suits you best.
Market the books after printing them. Create a website featuring the book, or post entries about it on a blog or social media site. Volunteer to do readings at libraries or community events. Ask friends to recommend the book to others. Place the book on online markets, such as Amazon, and send copies to independent book reviewers to ask for reviews.