In truth, most publishing is about vanity but we have to admit, there a some really shoddy self-published books ot there. Equally, thousands of important books that do not see dsaylight because the gatekeepers don't think they can move a million copies, not due to their quality or content. Did you know that Margaret Atwood, E L James, Mark Twain, Stephen King and (our own) Wong Phui Nam all self published?

Let's be brutal. Customer's buy books of people they know (even if it's someone they don't know in person). Name recognition is the game. You may have the most brilliant book, but if no one knows your name, you'll sell zilch. But, no need to despair. In this age of the social media, if you're good at something, you can easily make yourself known. Discuss your ideas. Share it. Build your following. Word of mouth is the best advertisement.