I don't really think people self-pubbing should worry to much about 'reputation'. Really and truly I don't think others are going around whispering behind their hands, 'Oh, that's a self-pubber.' We're all too busy.

Two things I recommend of anyone trying to build a career in writing. Develop reasonable expectations and a thick skin. You need the first so you don't get a big shock when you don't turn into an international bestseller overnight. You need the second because this is a business where someone is always bitching about you wherever you sit in the spectrum. If you're popular the literary people whine you're low grade. If you're literary the popular people moan you don't sell but still get reviews. Really -- if you can't cut out all that low level noise at some stage you'll go mad trying to overhear the next whispered comment.

It's not all like that but it's a bit I'm afraid. And we all get it one way or another. Example: someone has taken what I said above -- all of which is speculative, I'm not saying any of it will happen -- and blogged that I'm an arrogant, condescending author no one's ever heard of doing down the self-pub movement. Really? I was just trying to offer up some interesting opinions. But people will tend to read into things what they want to read into them.