The guru's of the human potential movement always say, "Begin with the End in mind." In other words, know what success looks like and it will be easier to recognize the path that leads you there.
A book has three major milestones in its life. Most authors think that getting published is the biggest one, it is not. Getting published is just a milestone on the journey enabling the true objective.
The first major milestone in a book's life is the writing. Creating the work is the first major hurdle. You've probably already accomplished that phase of your book's development. You are to be congratulated at that accomplishment! This piece includes the editing and the polishing. The final product of this milestone is a work of literature that can be confidently passed on to a publisher.
The second major milestone is getting the book published. There are many ways to do that, self-publishing, commercial publishing, partner publishing or e-publishing. The publishing process is so much easier than the creation process. There are so many choices. If just getting published was the ultimate objective, then this would be a very short book!
The third and most important objective of a book is getting it read! (by someone other than your mother).
