I’ve spent a fair chunk of my working life designing for book publishers across all genres from non-fiction educational to illustrated trade titles. Of course, anyone can make a book. These days it is easier and cheaper than it has ever been. Is it a good book? That’s a whole diffeent question. To do it well, you need; firstly a very good author. A project manager, an editor, proof reader, sales, marketing, rights management, to name a few. That’s before you even get to the design part of it. Books these days are usually financially successful once they have been been sold as co-eds in other territories. So, can you self publish? Of course. However, one of the best litmus tests for whether a book is likely to be a success is whether a publisher picks it up or not. It has to be if they are going to invest a considerable amount of time, effort and money into it.