But in more cases than not, it will leave you poorer, said the former owner of The Best Little Bookshop In Town.

Jan Cornish, who is now a part-time employee at the Cronulla store she once owned, has seen many wannabe authors come through the doors over seven years.

She has accepted the self-published works of eight budding authors and declined just one a novel about a current political leader who wants to take over the world.

"Self-publishing is hard work,'' Ms Cornish said.

"There are probably lots of authors who started like that but I don't know many.

"If you can't get it through the recognised channels it's really hard.

"I know of one person whose book was in our store that found a large publisher.

"But it's very rare that you see a really good self-published book.''

Nicknamed 'vanity press', Ms Cornish said it could be a bit self-indulgent to think that others wanted to read what you had written.

She said the biggest downfall for wannabe authors was not doing their research. "You need a good editor, a good illustrator,'' Ms Cornish said. "Just check the amount of words your book should have for the age group you're focusing on. These are just simple little things people just don't even think about and then they wonder why it's not selling.''

Ms Cornish regularly runs creative writing workshops and is currently editing and proofreading four manuscripts. She suggested budding authors should research the basics on the internet or attend a Sydney Writer's Centre manuscript assessment for unbiased, independent feedback.

Irene Margaritis, of Caringbah, self-published her first children's book, Could You Imagine?, in mid-2009.

She has so far sold 200 copies of the rhyming book which is in stock at The Best Little Bookshop in Town.

"I contacted three or four different publishers and I just kept getting the same automated knock-back letter back,'' said the mother of five young boys.

"I thought they weren't even reading the book so I just decided to publish it myself.''

The former childcare worker said she wanted to become a children's author because she loved children.

Before taking her book to the printers she visited a school to get feedback from the children and teachers.

Despite her earlier setback she still hopes a large publishing house will take on one of the 11 other children's books she has written, including a follow up to her first book, Could You Imagine Once More?