Jumping into the world of self-publishing can be daunting for several reasons.  The first reason is that you may not know enough about what it takes to start. The second reason is that most folks assume that without the big PR machine of a publishing house, they'll be too small of a fish to compete with the big guys in the ocean. Finally, self-publishing can be glamour-less since every aspect of what it takes to get readers and buyers is up to the author to take care of.

All these reasons are real reasons to not want to publish a book.  Yet as Deborah J. Jacobs explains in a Forbes blog post becoming a self-made best seller is indeed possible.  In the post, Jacob explains how she was able to get her book, "Estate Planning Smarts" to become an Amazon best seller.

She doesn't make it easy to get a book the audience it deserves but she does make it seem possible if you have a good strategy. She writes for example, "My business model involved going against the grain by spending money where big publishers are cutting corners: high-quality paper, two-color graphics, printing on a Web press, rather than print-on-demand. And while big publishers were cutting experienced staff, I retained top talent for editing and graphics, on a freelance basis. The goal was to produce a high-quality product that advisers would give to their clients and friends and family would share with each other."

Jacobs decided on self-publishing because she wasn't happy with the money traditional publishers were offering her. That is one of many good reasons why self-publishing may be a good option. She also lets us know that if self-publishing is what you've decided you will do, then you must be willing to put in the work.

For more, including some of her lessons learned, take a look at her detailed 3-page post.