The only thing that "self-publishing" and "stigma" have in common these days is the letter S

You can't really call self-publishers "vanity publishers" anymore. Once, writers who weren't good enough or marketable enough were forced to turn to self-publishing as a way of disseminating their work. What would follow was months or years of attending book fairs and bargaining with independent book stores. If you were web-savvy, you could publish on your blog.

Now, the world is changing. There's Lulu for ebooks and a bazillion print-on-demand websites to choose from. And, if you choose to go that route, you're Adventurous, Modern, and Sharp.

I came across an article discussing the new trend towards self-publishing. M. J. Rose talks about how and why a published author opted for self-publishing an ebook over taking a traditional contract.

So, the next time you get the dreaded rejection letter from So-and-So's big publishing house, consider being your own publisher and marketing department. All the tools you need are waiting for you. But keep in mind, many of these outfits don't offer editorial input on your manuscript. They expect that you have done the work in advance, and that the manuscript is ready to be published as-is.