the stigma of self-publishing

I don't know what it is, but it seems I have an aversion to self-publishing. I guess I want to believe that someone thinks my manuscript is good enough to publish. Last week I read an article in the Toronto Star Newspaper (I got it free) that featured a cookbook author who self -published for $45 000! She mananged to get her book in Chapters, and instead of $1 a book profit (the industry standard) she gets more. She has to sell alot of books just to get her money back, never mind a profit. But that's not why I write. I'd love to make money on my book, but I'm more in love with the notion of being a tortured writer, slaving away in solitude at my messy desk...