Either way, there are several good small publishers that might work with you. They'll save you a lot of pain -- don't underestimate the work of printing, marketing, and distribution.
Could you, please, provide some examples of those small publishers you got in mind (in case you actually did)?
> They'll save you a lot of pain -- don't underestimate the work of printing, marketing, and distribution.
That's a great point! I completely agree.
- O'Reilly (huge)
- APress
- MIT Press
- Manning (https://www.manning.com/)
- Packt (https://www.packtpub.com/)
The best way to choose is to look for books similar in style or audience to what you want to write and talk to the authors about their experience. Your experience will be largely determined with the particular editor you work with, so try to get feedback about them. It's also better, when talking to a publisher, to have a warm intro from a fellow author than to cold-email.