The main value publisher's can add is paying for promotion and giving an advance on sales. Self-publishing authors are either going to have to foot the bill on

The main value publisher's can add is paying for promotion and giving an advance on sales. Self-publishing authors are either going to have to foot the bill on travel expenses to promote their books or they're going to have to stick to twitter and facebook. I think old style promotions is still necessary to have a big hit, if that's what you're going for.