An interesting article on the approach towards being published. However as Bob Bly pointed out (and I agree with him), when it comes to non-fiction works it is often much better to draft a book proposal and shop that proposal to agents and publishers first to see what level of interest actually exists in publishing such a book.
When it comes to books of fiction however much of this is sound advice.
5 Reasons to Wait and Slow Down When It Comes to Publishing Your Book
Among the many differences between traditional publishing and self-publishing is the turnaround time from book completion to book publication. A common distinction you hear between the two publishing options is that authors have to “hurry up and wait” in traditional publishing, while they “wait and hurry up” in self-publishing.
In traditional publishing, the hurrying up and waiting stems from authors hurrying to make their deadlines and then waiting the inevitable six months-plus for the long-lead publicity campaign that their publisher is (hopefully) mounting. In self-publishing, the waiting and hurrying up refers to the tendency of self-published authors to have spent forever and a day writing and/or shopping their book to agents and editors, so that by the time they decide to self-publish they’re anxious–hurrying to get their books out ASAP.
Neither of these strategies is ideal, however, as both scenarios tend to make authors anxious, and the “wait and hurry up” strategy of self-publishing can be downright harmful to a book’s success.
Wyrdwend 