"Options for self-publishing proliferate, easing the bar to entry"

Alina Tugend writes in the New York Times - I'm a snob. Oh, I don't particularly care what kind of car you drive or if you wear the latest designer fashions, but until recently I turned up my nose at authors who published their own books. It smacked of self-indulgence and vanity (as in that old term "vanity press"). But as one friend and then another chose to pay to publish their own books - people I admire and respect - and as the author Amanda Hocking became the superstar example of successful self-publishing, I realized I had been too hasty. The phenomenon was worth a second look