another option is developing a small indie press as some sort of collective here since there seems to be enough writers and interest
it would take investment, some organization, but i think it would be beneficial in terms of credibility and publicity....and devoting all the attention to one book at a time.
there are people who can make more money self publishing, but money isn't the only issue...if it's less money from a large publisher, but they're selling 3000 of your books instead of 1000, there's 2000 more readers, which breeds more readers and sets up your next book....and there's always the publicity machine of doing a book tour, getting on talk shows, doing newspaper and magazine interviews, etc.
and you're not paying out of pocket for the expense of editors, printing, etc.
and remember, it's all about the rewrite and editing....you may end up rewriting your work 30 times....you may end up rewriting your work until you want to vomit b/c you've read and reread the damn piece so many times....it's all a part of what most authors have to go through.
i have experience as a small press and writing and getting published, so if the small press collective option mentioned above is of interest to anyone i'd be happy to help as an advisor.