A couple years ago I republished one of my backlist books in paperback. It was a good exercise in learning how to format and all the other elements required. Unless you are prepared to do a lot of work and invest a lot of money in publicity, trying to emulate dead-tree publishers is a very steep hill to climb.
Last year I put that same book on
Smashwords as another experiment but I was busy with a book contract so I let it drop for several months. It wasn't until I found Joe Konrath's blog that I began to see the realistic possibilities in ebooks and began focusing all my attention on digital. So much so that I withdrew the Disconnected book from the publisher considering it at the time. If this book was still with them, I would still be in limbo without an answer/a contract and I would be about 2 years away from publication if they said yes.
Joe Konrath is an inspiration and because I have sent so many of his posts to my friend, she's turning her back on her publisher (who has been nothing but vile to her) and is now embarking on her own digital journey.
Robin