WHY PUBLISH? . . . Jorge Luis Borges, who claimed everything he published was a "rough draft," explained why people publish books (or stories, or essays, or virtually any text), in an interview in which he recalled a conversation with Mexican writer Alfonso Reyes-- 

Well, he once said to me, "Why do we publish books?" "Yes," I said, "I often ask myself the same question. Why on earth?" He said, "I think I've found the solution." "And what is that?" I asked. ""We publish books," he said, "in order to avoid spending our whole lives correcting the errors." And I agree. If one publishes a book, he can then go on to other things.

From Jorge Luis Borges: Conversations (edited by Richard Burgin).