Writing and Publishing a Book—I’m getting ready to Ramble Here

If you’ve just spent thousands of hours crafting a story and dialogs and narratives, it’s important to get the right kind of help to make sure your book(s) achieve their best potential.
—Developmental editors can act as a sounding board to identify holes in your plot, or to highlight weakness in your writing, or your characters. It’s the first step for me to have an experienced developmental editor throw darts at what I’ve written, while not necessarily expecting the book to be 100% complete.
—Beta Readers. You need readers, preferably from the demographic group you’re targeting, although this isn’t necessarily a requirement—it helps. Beta readers’ comments help you to see where you haven’t been clear, or where the story lags or doesn’t make sense.
—Editor / Copy Editor: Absolutely essential. You’ve read your story a hundred, or several hundred times. Believe me, you no longer can see the errors, or the residual weak elements. The editor can suggest areas to be changed and he or she is the main defense against releasing crap.
—Artist: the cover is a part of the book, and getting the main graphic elements to match the story is a big help toward making a complete story. I like the graphic element to also tell the story in a symbolic way, although this isn’t essential
—Designer: The designer does the interior layout and—perhaps—the cover layout for your book. The designer may or may not have generated the main graphic element, but they make both the fonts and the cover look good.
—Proof Reader: Also absolutely essential to catch those last minute errors, he or she also checks the designer’s errors.
Writing the manuscript is a rather lonely affair, and you’re pretty much on your own, but turning the manuscript into a book is a team effort, and—of course—you are a part of every collaborative effort. There are usually back-and-forths at every step, because—in the end—the book needs to fulfill the vision you had for it.
For me, a book is a 1 to 1.5 year effort, but then the way I write is nauseatingly iterative, and some people can turn out a good manuscript in jus a pass or few. My first book required 200 passes and my second, over 20 major rewrites with an even greater number of polishing passes. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.