Hi,
New to the forum today so this is sort of a belated reply.
As far as resources to figure out how to self-publish, two I highly recommend are
Test Page for the SSL/TLS-aware Apache Installation on Web Site by Peter Bowerman and
Para Publishing - Welcome to Para Publishing by Dan Poynter. Each of these gives you all the nuts and bolts and how to for just about every aspect you can imagine. I'd start with Bowerman though as Poynter's manual can be overwhelming if you're just starting out.
However, I don't recommend you go very far except to acquaint youself with the basics from either of these before you step back and lay out your plan to see if self-pub is the best choice. You may find traditional or even POD might be a better option. You won't know until you thoroughly learn about each.
One other note to the reply about blocks of ISBN, I don't know how it originated exactly, but until recently, most publishers intended on publishing multiple books so my thought is it was probably more convenient than coming back to Bowker every other week for a single one.
Also,
Self-Publishing Resource with Online Instant Book Printing Pricing is licensed to sell them one at a time. Cost doesn't work out the greatest, but if you're just starting out and testing the waters, it will save a few bucks at the outset.
Good luck & keep learning.
