So I've read advice that says this is good. Your, well edited, book is out there, potentially growing a fan base whilst your submissions work their way through various agents/publishers ever growing subs.
However I have my doubts, or rather concerns. Would this appeal to agents/publishers? Be off putting? Irrelevant?
I'm not sure which way to go with this one either. But I have heard several authors who have self published using kindle. Then been scooped up by a big publisher after they have seen the book has promise.You can also test the market by using this method and earn funds while its been put out there for people to read. I have always been a bit skeptic about this online publishing, but Kindle seem to have cornered the market and it proves to be working. plus using this system means you aren't tying your self in to an air tight contract. you get to decide when you pull your book, or how long you let it run for. This is the only thing I can comment on regarding your question, I'm not sure whether its of any help.
The author of Eragon self-published his book first and through this it came to the notice of an agent and went on the be published through a publishing house, that is atleast what I heard when he was interviewed :) Check out his website, maybe he's written something there about it :)
Hi!
I'll say straight away that I know nothing about self publishing, never having done it (and indeed never having written a full length book), but I went to a talk/lecture recently and one of the topics the speakers - all of whom were writers, publishers, agents etc - talked about was self publishing and whether or not it's a wise idea if you hope to be published through a mainstream publishing house or agency. The general consensus was that it perhaps isn't a great idea - but that it depends on the publisher you approach. I think that opinions could change based on - as you say - how well edited the book was. Self published books are sometimes less well edited than non-self published and this is probably something the publishers will have in mind before seeing it.
But as I say - this is one opinion gleaned from a lecture, and I'm afraid that I can't really expand as I know very little myself on this. But best of luck with it all - you don't mention if you are already self published or are just thinking about it, but either way I'm guessing that you have written a book/story long enough to be publishable. Congratulations! I am full of awe - I have never managed to achieve such a feat!