For perhaps the best part of five years, you've been beavering away each evening developing your manuscript. Coffee, solitude, and a dimly lit room have become your companions. Not without satisfaction, that kernel of a publishing idea has blossomed to the point where, bias aside, you feel your manuscript could be a worthwhile addition to the literature.

Congratulations are in order for having the discipline to reach this stage. You are, however, at the crossroads. Should the manuscript be flung into the rubbish-bin and dismissed as a 'flight of fancy,' or seen through to a preferred conclusion? The latter is fraught with uncertainty, for almost all of the processes that follow writing are beyond the control of the author and their knowledge base. In essence, the project has moved beyond the realm of your PC. Barely one in two hundred manuscripts will strike a chord with a publisher, sparing the author from further anguish. J.K. Rowlings of Harry Potter fame, was initially, not one of the lucky ones!

Additional people and their skills are required to facilitate the manuscript's transition to a book. There is much to learn about the complexities of graphic designing, photographic requirements, such as, resolution and file size, illustration parameters, establishing a book's extent, budgeting for the bookmaking processes, setting realistic timelines, organising printing quotes and grappling with the decision of local or overseas printing, proofreading, editing services, scanning, assessing the printer's proofs, indexing, customs clearance, freight-forwarding, and self-storage. Each process involves a minefield of decision-making.

Copies of the mansucript will have been selectively mailed to the major publishers of your genre. But will yours be placed at the bottom of the slush-pile and gather dust? Until you receive a 'standard' rejection letter from the publisher, you'll always wonder. This painful and rude awakeing may take six, to eighteen months, to be delivered.

The potential for a stalemate to arise, is high. Perhaps it is time to consider utilising Full Swing Golf Publishing's experience. Better still, Paul Daley will minimise your stress early in the project with his publishing advice and project management consultancy. After all, it is one thing to build the perfect beast, another matter to present a tangible product to the marketplace.