Rick Walton's Comments on Self-Publishing, part 2

There are cheap ways of doing some of these things, but they are risky.

You can teach yourself to use a design program. And you can get a friend who has editing skills to edit your manuscript. And you can collaborate with an illustrator on speculation. However, you might miss something in the design, your friend might not be a great editor, and most good illustrators don't work on speculation much because they are getting paid for their work.

If anyone wants names of professionals, I can give them to you. They will be good, but they won't be cheap. if you have the time, the energy, and the ability to learn, with no mental blocks about technology,you can become fairly competent in many of these skills. But it will take work.

$3000, depending on the type of book and where it is printed, could get you between 500 and 2500 copies of your book.