When her first novel, Almost Full Circle, hits the shelves this week, it will represent a triumph over technology for retired legal secretary Margaret Moore.

The 72-year-old author, from Long Melford near Sudbury, has self-published her story about characters in London’s East End during the Second World War, via an online publishing company.

And although she called on husband Norman to help her to master the web technology, she says she would encourage aspiring authors of any age – who may have struggled to get their books published by traditional means – to give the online method a go.

The website createspace.com enables writers to create, publish and distribute books without charge, and authors can choose whether to have their books printed on demand or published as ebooks. The finished volumes are then sold via Amazon and can be ordered from independent bookshops, and authors receive royalties for each book sold.

Mrs Moore has already produced a book of 80 children’s poems with 50 illustrations, entitled Short Poems for Little People, via a traditional publisher. But she said: “If people have books they can’t find a publisher for, then I would certainly recommend that they try internet publishing instead. It costs nothing and you can save your work and go back to it.

“It takes a lot of patience and you have to do your own marketing, but once you’ve mastered the technology, it’s an effective way to get your work in print.”

Almost Full Circle, which is based on characters Mrs Moore encountered when she was growing up in London, is available at Amazon.co.uk or through Landers Bookshop in Long Melford.