Book publishing: If you self publish can you go with a publisher later?

Question

If I self-publish a book, Can I also submit my manuscript to a publishing house?
If no, why not?

My goal is to get exposure through self publishing while trying to find a traditional publishing house, then signing publishing rights to them and ceasing my self publishing efforts. Has this been done?

More info:
I know that it would decrease a publisher's interest, but why couldn't I sign over my "first rights" to them if I did find an interested party?
I'm not asking about probability but whether it is at all possible.

An example I'm thinking of is a book written by a fellow in L.A. on driving shortcuts. It became a cult classic, and I'm sure any publisher would love to snatch it up. It would be a win-win if he could sign it over because he'd get broader interest and they could provide more publicity while taking a cut.

Answer 1

Christopher Paolini's "Eragon" was originally self-published. So was "Shadowmancer" by G. P. Taylor.

It really depends on the publisher and the book. I would suggest getting an agent, though. Find someone you trust (and who is trustworthy - do your research) and get their advice before you commit to anything.

Answer 2

A print-on-demand service like Lulu or CreateSpace will allow you to print one copy of a book for yourself. You can mark it as private so that nobody else can see it or order a copy of it. If you're paranoid, once your copy has arrived, you can delete it from the company's website. If you do this, you can still publish your book later with a "real" publisher - or try to publish, since they're very choosy about what they accept.

Answer 3

No, the book you self-published won't hold any value to a traditional publisher. You will have used your "first rights", which is basically what a publisher buys from you. You can use self-publishing to try to gain a bit of name recognition if you have the right connections or an insider's help, and then possibly approach and agent or publisher with a new work, you might have more success in getting their attention.
Not to be harsh, but: if publishers or agents are rejecting your work, it usually means it's not good enough for the competitive marketplace. You're better off spending your money on writing workshops, seminars, how-to-write books, or courses to improve your existing work.

Also "getting exposure" for a self-published book on your own is going to take a lot of time and money. If you don't have any book marketing or general marketing/advertising experience or connections, I'm not sure how you're going to promote yourself.

Answer 4

Yes. Many publishers pick-up self-published books later. The reason is that they see potential in them that they may not have seen before, particularly if it has a cult-following. So, if the publishers think they can make money from it, they'll buy the rights. Many self-published books have been picked up before.

Answer 5

From the beginning I I did the book because I had a bakery open and everyone wanted me to write the book. What I wanted to do was to use it as a fund raiser for the disease that both of my children had. They became very ill and I ended spending all of my time taking care of them. That is no longer the case and I wanted to use the book as a fundraiser.