http://ooligan.pdx.edu/a-brief-history-of-self-publishing/

As the link points out I thought a history on self publishing would be a nice angle to look at in my research.  The article starts by looking at the history of the movable ink press, first in China, then later in Europe by Gutenberg.  This innovation was great boost to literacy and reading in a populace ravaged by illiteracy (it was the dark ages after all, what do we expect).

It also discusses the importance of the home press to people such as Ben Franklin, Virginia Woolf, and William Blake.  I think this goes elucidate the facts around the history of self publishing which has taken a great deal of flak over the years.  Without this sort of publishing where would great deal of the political/philosophical pamphlets have come from and without those could powerful social movements actually been galvanized?

The article also discusses the history of the zine, a self published, small time (in general) project that is often somewhat radical and would as such be unlikely to get published in some mainstream way.

Essentially self publishing has served a certain niche for great portion of history and this should be reflected in how people value it as an option.