Property rights in book publishing is one important consideration in finding the path that best meets your goals.
In all forms of art—painting, woodwork, sculpture, writing—ownership exists. At many levels. A painter paints a picture. Owns the picture. Sells the picture. A sculptor molds a bust. Owns the bust. Sells the bust.
Ownership changes but the picture does not. The bust does not.
In the Traditional sense, authors sell their work to publishing houses for an advance on royalties. Those publishers then, owning the material, can do whatever they want with your writing—cut paragraphs, chapters, change the title even.
Imagine crafting a beautiful landscape only to have someone paint over it.
The good news is many custom self publishing options currently offer non-exclusive contracts now. The non-exclusive part keeps authors the driver’s seat and preserves the essence and origination of the writing. It’s your work, thoughts, ideas, and stories, after all.
Have fun and keep writing!
Self Publishing Advisor 
For several years I’ve been hesitant to go the traditional publishing route. It seemed inefficient and knowing how much marketing I would have to do just to get an agent to look at me, I dug in my heels like a little kid who doesn’t want to go to the doctor. I finally realized it wasn’t fear of rejection, (I’ve belonged to enough critique groups to let that bother me) but fear of giving up creative and economic control. The rising popularity of the e-reader has changed all that. i’m now excited to go forth into the electronic wilderness and publish.
If you are considering publishing, there is always the question of whether to self-publish or publish through a publishing house. There is a slew of new publishing houses that have appeared with the advent of digital publishing, including the Bad, the Good and the Ugly.
There is a list of epublishing houses with ratings at http://www.epublishabook.com/2011/07/12/epublishing-houses-ratings-list/ where a new publishing house is added every week day. Worth checking when starting to look for a house for your book.
Writers now have the opportunity to get the kind of credit they deserve. Afterall, it is their own talent that puts through an interesting book. With self-publishing, may aspiring writers are inspired to push through their own dreams of becoming an influential person even to a small group of people of their own interest niche. Since they are backed up with recognition plus the financial worth of all their hardwork, it is far easier to come up with more exciting and beautiful books for their readers.