Writing.Com General Discussion

Most publishers will shy away from anything that has been previously published, but if the book was a flop, that might not stand in the way. In the end, they'll be asking themselves if there is still a market to be tapped. An agent might pick up a self-published book and realise that there is a much broader market for it - Fifty Shades of Grey started as Twilight fanfiction for example.

In other words, it is still possible to take a book from self-published to the more traditional route, but the fact that it is available already will be a hindrance.