J.A. Konrath has become  a bit of a legend in the self-publishing world. He has a popular blog where he freely talks about his successes and his failures. He was a New York-published author with a mystery series. It sold well, but he was still a midlist author, and those are being winnowed out by the big six who only want bestsellers. Anyone looking into self-publishing, check out his blog, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/