96-year-old blazes a trail on the net

Francis Bartels has a story to tell. Of his experience as a black man in Hitler's Germany and of his memories of his pupil Kofi Annan, who would become the world's top diplomat. Bartels has written his memoirs but, at 96, knows time is not on his side to get it published, writes David Smith.

So the great-great-grandfather turned to a website which is quietly changing the face of the publishing industry. Lulu.com offers the chance to upload writing on the internet for sale on demand. The site is now selling 2,000 different titles a week and will produce about a million units this year, making it one of the world's biggest publishers. It costs budding authors nothing to put their book on Lulu, although they must format and edit it themselves. Money is paid only when anyone orders a copy. Some are printed only once, some never.

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