I suggest to myself here and there that I should write a book - mainly because I've had at least one idea that I really think would make a good book. To me that's not too bad as a starting place.
However, I'm not really considering traditional publishing as an option as I don't see the value in it except arguably a greater financial return which isn't really much of a driver for me.
I think I would rather find a reasonbly priced editor-for-pay with whom I can establish a rapport and use my own contacts for test-reading etc.. and then put out what is hopefully a book that is at least free from error.
In terms of reaching an audience, I've probably got a reasonable chance of at least being available to as wide an audience as with a traditional publisher given that I'm in Australia.
Of course, my attitude towards this may be heavily influenced by the fact that I'm not currently an author (no body of work). I can't guarantee that my attitude wouldn't be entirely different towards things like profitability if I had slaved away for months/years on my "masterpiece".
Regards
Caleb