>The problem is that nobody has come up with a good way to filter through the self-published dross to find the gold. If you self-publish without doing an ounce

>The problem is that nobody has come up with a good way to filter through the self-published dross to find the gold. If you self-publish without doing an ounce of marketing through curation of an audience, then your book falls under the "vanity publishing" sphere. Then why should anyone care if your work is good? You clearly didn't do a good enough job of selling it. (Note that publishers don't do anything for first time authors in this regard, either.)