I wanted to traditionally publish. I sent queries to agents and publishers. I was so very close to getting a publishing deal, but I wasn’t the perfect fit. So I decided to self publish. I hired an editor, who transported my story. Without her I wouldn’t have got the response I did.
The advice I would give other writers would be to first get your writing beta read. Hire an editor. Make it prefect before it is self published and your words will shine.