I understanding where you’re coming from, but the poster was asking about publishing on the cheap. To me this is almost the same as asking ‘how can I publish without a professional editor’, as they are the costly bit after you’ve written your manuscript... Well, there’s also all the marketing but there are cheap alternatives to that as well.

They do say it’s a pay to play arena, so of course you will get better results with a hefty marketing budget and a top notch editor.

However, many can’t afford all that and are forced to rely on people in their lives to help them out. No, it’s not ideal, but it is better than nothing. I wouldn’t publish without letting anyone see it, as they will at least catch something the author will miss.

And to be honest I’ve seen first hand that some authors are doing very well with a spot on cover and a text littered with typos. The book cover really is all that at the end of the day.