I've had this debate nefore on twitter, personally I don't think that we should self publish; but work hard at finding a specific publisher who's willing to pay us to submit work for them. For many this in itself is a mine field, and a lot of effort to find one, maybe just that one publisher who's willing to give you a shot.

I've looked into self publishing with Author house and Lulu, there seems to be a calling for a huge investment on your part of the deal; and very little in return on theirs? What are your experiences?