SELF-PUBLISHING, or vanity publishing, seems to be the only way to get your writing noticed these days.

Today, celebrity books are more likely to flood bookshops’ shelves than the next Wilbur Smith, JK Rowling or Emily Bronte be discovered.

The recent bestselling hardback non-fiction top ten is overwhelmingly celebrity-penned.

Anyone who has tried to write a book will know how heartbreaking it is to put your soul into your work, only for it to be turned down by uninterested publishers and agents, unwilling to part with their cash to an unknown.

For this reason, more writers are turning to self-publishing.

Creative writing courses and writers’ groups are increasingly popular, offering the support and advice of professionals and peers needed to finish that beloved novel and get it printed.

One such local group, showing how it’s done are the East Dulwich Writers’ Group.

The group was formed about ten years ago by a small band of writers. Some cards in windows progressed to a website and now the group has over 100 members.

They meet (in smaller numbers) in each others’ houses, to read, support and criticise each other's work.

Though some members have had success in having their poems or stories published, many have turned to lulu.com to see their work in print and give friends and family the chance to read it.

Of course, a writer yearns to have complete strangers enjoy their work and so the idea of an anthology was born. Hoovering the Roof was published this month and includes poems and short stories as well as some excerpts of books available online or in bookshops.

Contributors andtheir stories reflect the diversity of culture of South East London.

Content ranges from an acupuncturists’ tube romance, a children’s story about a bunch of rats by a local musician, a historical novel based in the real local art world, a poem about dogs and the juicy seduction of a mango by an ex-criminologist.

The quality and style of writing varies but what the book shows is how one-time strangers can come together as a community, become friends and produce a book for others to enjoy.

It is a great achievement and a very satisfying one.

Community activities are valuable and doing what you love, with others to share it with, even more so.

If you want to start a writer’s group, try advertising in shops or libraries. Or you can contact the East Dulwich Writers’ Group.

The second anthology is already being discussed.

Hoovering the Roof is available from the Bookseller Crow on the Hill in Crystal Palace, a stall in Northcote Road’s Saturday market in East Dulwich and online from amazon.co.uk. For more information, visit edwg.co.uk, info@edwg.co.uk