Great advice, thoughts and comments on self-publishing.
The best is the new trend toward artisanal publishing: controlling every aspect from creation to publication for the highest quality.
I did this with my sole nonfiction book Seven Sisters: Spiritual Messages from Aboriginal Australia. The interior has full color on every page with graphics designed to reflect Aboriginal symbols, themes and meanings.
More of my clients, even those who are in the stables of traditional publishing houses, are taking the same steps with single titles. The end results are about the love of books…and that is its own reward.