Having your book in your hands is - on a smaller scale - like holding your child right after birth. I've had two "paper children," and the excitement is truly unparalleled.
But between the idea and the book on your shelf, there's a long journey to be covered. Of course, the main and most challenging part is the text, the story, the magic that we authors materialize. However, we also need to go through other steps that require certain knowledge, time, and money - considering that we want a high-quality work.
There are various costs involved in launching a book: cover design; formatting; textual revision (where the proofreader will point out typos, grammar issues, coherence, and cohesion, as well as suggest specific improvements to maximize the text's strength); printing; distribution; marketing; etc. Some of these costs can be reduced, depending on the writer's expertise in certain areas, but others cannot be avoided.
For a quality result, costs can vary from at least $5,000 to over $10,000 - considering an independent writer. For those starting out, this can be a significant barrier. I even believe that many talents are hidden out there with incredible materials, ready to see the light of day but hindered by the cost of investment or even by not knowing the necessary paths for publication.
A tool that has helped many writers in recent years is crowdfunding, done through entities like Catarse, Apoia-se, Vakinha, etc. Thanks to these platforms, many ideas have come to fruition. Not to mention smaller publishing houses that seek space in the publishing market by discovering new talents. Finally, we can mention self-publishing websites, which, if they can't eliminate all costs, at least do so for some.