Granted that I haven't made a fraction of money that you have made, but my self published book from leanpub has sold around 35-40 paid copies. link: https://leanpub.com/antitextbookGo/
I intentionally didn't want to keep the price high, hence the low % of paid purchases, plus the book is FOSS.
That said, I totally agree that self publishing is not held in high regard by most, even on HN I was told that "it's a guide" and not a book and when you mention it on you resume, the interviewer would expect a real book in a real store!
_If_ you hit the right niche, there is a lot of money in self publishing, that's for sure.
I intentionally didn't want to keep the price high, hence the low % of paid purchases, plus the book is FOSS.
That said, I totally agree that self publishing is not held in high regard by most, even on HN I was told that "it's a guide" and not a book and when you mention it on you resume, the interviewer would expect a real book in a real store!
_If_ you hit the right niche, there is a lot of money in self publishing, that's for sure.