Bruce,

I guess I missed this thread when it started. And I've just scanned it quickly so I apologize if I am restating something already suggested.

I find the PBP manual fairly complete except for its dearth of examples. More detailed examples would eliminate a lot of questions or, at the very least, justify a RTFM response.

As for whether it should be bound or HTML of PDF, it's simple to offer both bound and PDF through something like http://www.lulu.com who do a really high quality one-off bound book at reasonable prices and with little upfront cost to the author.

I have this book http://www.pb-beginners.co.uk/ and I'm sure its author would answer your questions about the self publishing process.