I am a self-published author, and I am curious how many other authors around here are going that route. As far as I can see, self-publishing has the following pros and cons:

Pros

• You get a much higher percentage from each sale
• You won't have to deal with rejection letters from publishers - only you decide if your work gets published
• You usually retain all rights of your work, and don't need to agree to any exclusive contract
• Only you decide whether your book goes "out of print"

Cons*

• You have more up-front costs for illustrations, layout, editing and copywriting, etc.
• Your bookkeeping will get much more complicated as well
• You won't sell as many books in total as with a traditional publisher
• You need to work harder to get valuable feedback, and won't be partnered with an experienced editor who will find major flaws in your work
• If you go the Print On Demand route, printing costs per unit will be much higher
• If you order entire print runs, you will have huge up-front costs and will have to deal with all the logistics that come with storage, shipping, and so on
• You have to do all your marketing yourself
• You will have a much harder time getting your books into physical bookstores

For me, the Pros outweighted the Cons. How about you?