As the squeeze on author earnings continues, writers are looking for ever-more-inventive ways of getting their work to their readers.

The award-winning novelist Kate Pullinger tells us why she decided to sign a conventional publishing deal in Canada for her latest novel, Landing Gear, and then publish an electronic version herself. She describes how it developed online, out of a collaborative storytelling project. Many more writers are going to have to take control of their publishing careers, she argues, in order to tackle what she calls a "crisis in the mid-list".

Two months after the launch of the Guardian/Legend Press self-published novel of the month, we look back at the first two winners, and talk to Legend's Tom Chalmers about the challenges of seeking them out from the 500 entries that pour in each month.

Finally, we turn to a poet who has never had any truck with conventional publishing. Fresh from Glastonbury, and en route for the Latitude festival, Scroobius Pip demonstrates his unique form of performance poetry.

Reading list

Landing Gear by Kate Pullinger (Katepullinger.com)
Scroobius Pip Live at the Edinburgh Fringe will be available from Scroobiuspip.co.uk from August 4