Some will tell you it's making a good looking book. Some will say marketing. Really, though it's very simple. The most important part of publishing is to have fun. Because the odds are against your for making money, the odds are against you making it big, but they are absolutely in your favor in having fun and enjoying the process.
There will be times when things get tough, when things seem to be runinng behind schedule, or costing more than you thought, when sale seem slow or distribution headaches get you down. When that happens, take a deep breath and stop to think for a minute why you started this. Why you wanted to publish a book. Then you should remember the joy you felt the first time you held your book in your hand (or, if you haven't published it yet, the joy you felt when you finished writing it!).
And when things are going great, stop long enough to enjoy the moment, because in these quickly moving times we often forget to stop long enough to just take pleasure in the good things. And you've accomplished something that most of the world hasn't so enjoy it. Keep that feeling alive and you'll overcome all the obstacles you'll face in publishing. Keep that feeling alive and you'll sell more books!
