I'm not going to say that you absolutely shouldn't self publish, just that it's very much not the optimal situation. First off, the stigma surrounding self published work will be enough to deter many readers. People know that self publishing is the route people take when they have a work that publishers reject, and most of them consider that a reflection of quality. While that's not necessarily true, since books can be rejected for reasons other than low quality, it's something that'll hang over your work like a dark cloud.
Second is the issue of publicity. If you don't go through a publisher, you're going to have to handle all the publicity yourself, and that's a big job. If you have any desire to turn a profit, then you'll have to do something to let people know that your book exists, since it'll get lost in the sea of other self published books if you don't. While this can include things like advertising on forums (though not this one, since self advertising isn't allowed here) it will have a very low success rate. After all, how many times has an advertising post on a forum convinced anyone to buy anything? People will buy your book because something about you tells them that you're a serious author who has done work that's worth paying for and devoting the time to reading. This means setting up means of promotion which are perceived as legitimate. Do you have a local bookstore whose owner you might be able to talk into letting you do a book signing? If so, you'll still have to write a professional looking press release so that people show up. Another option would be paying for banner advertising on a website with traffic high enough to be worth bothering with but low enough to be affordable.
You will also have to get reviews of your book from individuals who have at least a small amount of authority on the subject. For a self published book aimed at teens, this means you will probably have to send your book (for free) to bloggers who write about books. But you will also have to convince them that your book is worth reading before they will review it. For people who review books for a living time is money, and you'll need to come off as professional enough to convince them that it's worth spending time on your book. This may mean writing the most convincing cover letter you've ever written, or it may mean paying someone just to read it (and you should know ahead of time, that just because you payed them to review your book, does not mean that they're required to give you a positive review. Book reviewers will carry every bit as much stigma (if not more) for self published works, so finding a reviewer is going to be hard work.
Also, you WILL need to have a website. There's no way around this. You HAVE to have a website, and it HAS to look professional. If you don't know anything about setting up websites, this means either using a template (which isn't ideal) or hiring a professional web designer. On top of that, to make the website look legit, you will HAVE to have art assets. People will judge your book by its cover, and since you don't have backing from a publishing house this means either making your own cover (and again, it has to look good) or hiring someone to make a cover for you. Ironically enough, for a medium built entirely around words, no one has ever purchased a book from a website with nothing but words. A website will also have to have features like an author's bio (which you'll have to write yourself), and again, that has to look professional too.
I realize all of that is kind of shitty. As an emerging painter myself, it's the same kinds of things I'm having to deal with (getting and promoting my own shows, and convincing people that I'm serious enough to buy work from). You probably want your work to stand on its own, and in an ideal world it would, but the world we live in is far less than ideal. Customers, quite unfortunately (especially in worlds like art and literature, where clientele consider themselves to be sophisticated and intelligent), are quite often idiots. They're often incapable of judging a work of art or literature for themselves, and as such you have to tell them why your work is worth the price. Getting a publisher does a lot of this work for you, because people look at a published book and think "well, someone thought it was good enough to publish!" And as lukewarm a response as that is, if you don't have a publisher, you're going to have work hard just to get that.
Should you decide to take this route (or any other for that matter), please feel free to contact me regarding any issues I can help with. What I know is limited, I'm still an art student in his final semester after all, not a recognized professional yet. However, I have the benefit of some professional training in self promotion. Granted, it's directed at visual artists, not authors, but there's quite a bit of overlap in terms of what promotion entails. I know what a professional press release looks like, and I can help you write one. I know about writing proposals and artist bios. And while I'm not a graphic artist, and thus could only help you with the creation of art assets in a very limited capacity (if you were even interested in my help), I know enough that I can help you differentiate between professional graphic artists who are and aren't worth your time.
There are, of course, some other options for you as well. One of the big problems you're probably facing with getting publishers to consider publishing your work, is that you don't have a work history (or at least if you do, you haven't mentioned it here). And I'm not talking about work in the sense of a part time job, I'm talking about work strictly within the literary and artistic worlds. Much like the previously mentioned reviewers, for publishers time is also money, and they have to be convinced just to look at your work. The way in which most (though certainly not all) authors go about getting publishers to take them seriously is by writing and publishing short stories. Short stories, because they are short, are a lot easier to convince people to publish, and when you get them published you can add them to an author's resume, which will help convince publishers that you're worth considering publishing. Not only does it show that you're dedicated to the craft of writing as a whole, it also means that someone liked your work enough to publish it, and it probably means that some people have already read and liked it (and those people are more likely to buy your book, since they've already gotten a taste of your work.)
Another option would be to look for groups of emerging authors who work together to improve their writing and get it published. Doing this will accomplish a couple of important goals. First, working with other people will improve your writing and your storytelling skills, meaning that your work will be more appealing to a publisher. Secondly, working with other emerging authors will create a network, which is invaluable in the world of the arts. If one of the people you've been working with gets published, which is probable if the group you choose to work with is serious, then they gain some authority in the literary world, and if they're willing to plug your book a bit (presumably for all the help you gave them editing and improving their own) then that'll help you a lot in terms of getting people to take your book seriously.
There are a couple of books which you might find helpful (before I took up as a painter, I wanted to be an author, so I have done some research in that world). The first, which you hopefully already have, is the Writer's Market. This is a book which updates every year (so this years is called the 2013 Writer's Market) and contains a detailed list of anywhere you could go in hopes of getting published. It'll give you information about publishers, whether they accept unsolicited manuscripts (I.E. do they look at work from authors who don't have managers?), whether they charge a fee to look at your work, what kind of stories they're looking for, etc... The second is Stephen King's book On Writing. The first half of the book is King's autobiography, the second is advice on writing and getting published. Say what you will about King, but there's no denying that he's one of the most widely published authors out there, and his advice is worth listening to.
Finally, don't give up. Rejection is a big part of life for an artist working in any medium, whether it's literature, painting, music, or anything else. The simple fact is that there are so many people who want to do creative work, that to get noticed yours has to really shine. Perseverance is the name of the game, and if you keep at it, in time it'll pay off. Best of luck to you!
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