Unfortunately, this very neurosis that is in service of the ego to get you started can metamorphose into a beast itself once that first book does hit the shelf. I don't know how many authors I've spoken with and heard from who two years after publication of their first book, or even the second, sit frustrated, sometimes bitter, and often demoralized because the sale of that book didn't change their lives. They're often more frazzled and sometimes poorer if that day job did go by the wayside too soon. Problems with publishers abound. I've yet to know anyone who had a perfectly pleasurable trip with his publisher.
Some problems always arise.
Often, these arise around the hidden numbers' games that some publishers play, and of which you can't know until you're too far into said game to avoid the pitfalls. Lack of self-promotion is another, but that's an entire year of columns in itself. The truth of this business is that writing is very much like beginning a second career. Don't expect the rules to be different in publishing. Not being a musician or a visual artist, I can't tell you how hard it is to have a number-one record, or sell at Sotheby's.