Ghost:
Major houses don't consider self-publishing to be "true" publishing in any form. Agents won't acknowledge its existance for the most part.
What you hear on the internet is random chance encounters, but don't count on your stuff to be picked up in the same way. (I have blog sites for strictly backup in case of a massive computer failure--and there have been plenty of those lately.)
You can continue to submit and query agents and publishers of the big guns, but the chances of you getting in is worse than winning the lottery.
The industry's needs are changing faster than most people can keep up. By the time you get the next writer's guide or self-help book, everything inside it is already obsolete.
The best way is to get the groundwork laid out for your writing career BEFORE you get published. Get the word out that you are a writer. Keep writing and keep submitting. But also get your work professionally edited before you approach an agent or publisher.
Know the market you are getting yourself into and what kind of competition you're up against. In this field, you'll have to 'follow the pack' in terms of writing what's out there--before you can go off on your own.
However, if you don't feel like you can or don't want to, self-publish your work anyways and keep writing.
There is no rag-to-riches in the writing business. Very few writers actually make it in the traditional route, and many writers who are published, are still working and still writing.
The overall process takes time. And many writers don't seem to know this.
Sky