Beware of Author Mills

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you'll quickly realize that if you've written something halfway decent (or something that could become halfway decent with some light copyediting), then you are already in the top 5%. At least 90% (and probably more) of what agents and publishers receive is quite obviously unpublishable.

That's just false.
Mileages vary, but it's like getting a job...you have to compete with all the "friends of friends", mafiosi, politicking frauds and other "chosen people".

The lack of any sort of quality control is, and always has been, the biggest problem with self-published books of any sort, and it affects all self-publishers because of the bias it creates, even those who have high-quality books.

Quality control?
Oh yes, you mean writing what they want to hear...

It is the "vanity" of a person who wants to see their work masquerading as a real book without going through regular channels.

Oh yes? What about the Jewish fraud who published a "orgy of plagiarism" book as part of the Harvard plagiarism scandal? The only difference is THAT vanity gets it on the thousands of "hate remedial" syllabi worldwide...

In comparison, a book at a traditional publisher that only sold 5,000 copies would be considered a total failure - unless it was a highly specialized textbook or some other kind of niche book.

Eh? Many scholarly book (or similar books not geared towards the masses) sell little to next to nothing. I once sought an edition of a university press journal and was told I had been probably the 5th person to request it, and that all copies were gathering dust in some basement.

If you self-publish and fail, the price can be high. Not only do you lose the money that you put into the book, but you also lose a certain degree of respect. You join the vast ranks of unsuccessful self-published authors and are not taken seriously by other writers, let alone by editors and agents.

As I said, it's an almost entirely "political" question. Be a "chosen person" and you'll get all the marketing you may want, interviews etc. Proof? A third rate Italian comedian(!) made a WWII genocide movie...4 Oscars(?) and all the rest...with all the critics kneeling saying it was the best movie since... the last movie of that kind last season.

https://www.createspace.com/Author.jsp
by Amazon seems a good choice.
After all, when you have the book listed on Amazon & a few others, what is that you may need?
Oh yes, raving critics and talk show appearances...see above...
https://www.createspace.com/pub/services.home.do
That's what I plan to do when I will feel like it.
https://www.createspace.com/Services/Pub...eTable.jsp
https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/Index.jsp
Physical POD books.