The book industry is tough, and more people don't make it than do.

Kidding.

I had a friend that went the self-publishing route.  I think I was the only one that ever bought his book.  Sure, the self-publishing company helped him get his book on all the big sites (ebooks weren't popular yet.)  But they don't really care if you succeed.  One of the self-publishing companies actually said something along the lines of it being better for them to have a million authors selling one book each rather than one author that sells a million books.  It makes sense when you consider they make money on the front end (you pay for their editing, book printing, etc) and regular publishers make it on the back end when people actually buy your book.  I'm by no means a expert on the publishing industry (there are people on here that are) but I'm not aware of any famous authors that started out self-publishing.

Agents (typically) know the business.  They may even have contacts in the publishing industry to help get your book into the hands of publishers.  Publishers have marketing departments.  Agents and publishers both only make money when your book sells.  They have incentive to make your book do well.  They have the resources to put your physical book all over, as well as your ebook.

Personally I'd only resort to self-publishing if I'd sent my book to every agent and publisher in the world.

I think readers love well told stories.  It doesn't really matter, to me at least, if authors use old stuff or make up new.

Creating your own world is great, but it can take away from the story a bit, as the focus becomes more about the world you're building, and less about the story that you're trying to tell.  That's not always the case, but it can happen.  I don't know if you've ever built a world, but it's a whole lot of work to make sure your world is not flat.

Borrowing/stealing myths and changing them a bit can be easier, and a little less strain on the reader.  They don't have to learn new stuff and the story can really start straight out of the gate.  Look at the Dresden Files, all kinds of action, very little explaining what's going on.

I do think built worlds are more memorable.  There is (or was I'm not sure anymore) a group of people trying to live by the standards of the White Tower in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time world.  Look at how many Star Wars fans are still running around, and they haven't made a good movie since '83.

In the end I think it depends on what genre you're going to write.  If you're going for fantasy, create your world.  Fantasy readers usually have the patience and maybe even the desire to see big and complex worlds.  If you want to write another genre, go with the borrowing of myths and changing them to better fit your world.

I like my kindle a lot.  But I'd likely like any ereader that had an e-ink display.  As far as I know, there is no way to write seriously on a ereader.  If you want to write on a portable device, then you're getting into tablet territory.  But tablets don't display well in sunlight.

As far as ereaders go, there is a couple of threads on them already. I have a Kindle, and it's awesome.  Shecky likes his Sony reader.  Others like their Nook.  I think any e-ink device will suit your needs as far as reading in sunlight.

But that's all ereaders do, let you read anywhere just like a book.  If you want to be able to write, or do other things, then you're into tablet territory.  The only problem with tablets being that they're all backlit, and much harder to read in sunlight.  If you're willing to wait a few years you might get a tablet that has e-ink technology, but for now, not so much.

So for now you have to decide if reading or writing is more important to you.  Writing will take you down the path of tablets, and other types of mini-computer devices.  Reading goes down the path of ereaders.  If you need more info on ereaders, ask us, people seem highly opinionated on the subject

Yup.

Nothing I've actually written, since I've never actually sat down and written anything longer then a few pages.  But I've seen magic systems and plot lines very similar to mine in published works.  It worried me at first, but I don't care anymore.  I've come to the conclusion that it's impossible to come up with something that's absolutely 100% original.  Someone somewhere will have thought of something similar.  As long as you do it and do it well I don't think many people will mind.  I mean heck, look at every romance novel out there. 

There is even some blatant rip-offs out there that have done very well.  I don't remember the series, but one of Terry Brooks' series is Lord of the Rings with a few things changed.  I actually had a friend that wrote and self-published a book filled with things that he stole from his favorite video games.

In your defense, that important sticky should probably not be titled several asterisks and "Read This", it should be titled "Please Don't Post Your Original Material in This Forum, Post a Link Instead" or something like that that instantly pops out to new or casual Forum Readers.

Agreed.  Especially for the casual users of any forum "read this" threads usually are just a reiteration of normal forum rules, no swearing, be nice, etc.

A couple of sites that might help:
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/construction/electrical_incidents/eleccurrent.html

This is for your hand cannon idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKlnMwuCZso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXECU3YKMfI&NR=1

First off let me say I like the CA series.  I really didn't notice that all of the Important Characters survived.  But having thought about it I think I see where the complaints about ALL of them surviving come from:

People are human.  Humans make mistakes.  Normal mistakes are so common that most people don't even notice.  Oops, dropped my pen, now I have to bend over and pick it up.  99% of the time when you buckle your seat belt you get it right the first time.  But occasionally it takes a second, or third, or twelfth time, depending on how much you've had to drink (just kidding, don't drive drunk!)  Ever bite your tongue while you're eating?  And how many times have you chewed?

Adrenaline and high stress situations make mistakes more common, and costly.  I'm an excellent shot.  Put any gun in my hands and I can hit any target at any distance that the gun is capable of shooting.  It's one of the few things I'm really, really good at, partially through training and partially through natural skill.  During one of my initial training events (after boot camp and all of that) in the Marines we were using training rounds (basically modified paintballs made to fit an M-16) to clear a house. It was fun, exciting, and the adrenaline was pumping.  There was 13 of us against 4 of them.  A couple of mistakes led to the slow whittling down of the 13/4 to 1/1.  We were about 6 feet away from each other, both firing, and both missing like crazy.  It wasn't a lack of skill that was making us miss, or the weapons, it was the adrenaline.  Had it been a real situation, me and my entire squad would be dead.  Oops.

The people of CA are just that.  People.  Humans.  They're capable of making mistakes.  And yet they don't.  At least not ones that lead to realistic consequences.  They go through a series of high-stakes world altering events in which they're always outnumbered.  Where any single mistake would lead not just to the death of that character, but possibly the death of their entire civilization.  And despite all the chaos and pressure, they make the exact right decision that leads to the ideal result.

As readers/viewers we suspend our disbelief until the situation becomes unbelievable.  And when it becomes unbelievable it Violently Ejects you from the world that you've pleasantly immersed yourself in.  That's the biggest complaint I've heard about the CA series.  Tavi was raised as a freak, and has had to think quickly his entire life.  In a very real way he's been trained to make something out of nothing.  It's a logical extension that his ability to think quickly might translate into a combat environment, making his survival believable.  But what about the others?  They're supposed to be just normal, average people.  Lot's of normal, average people are dying, why do these guys get to survive?  Is it because they're Important Characters?  That's a good enough reason I suppose, but it's not very realistic.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't think you should be running around all willy-nilly lopping the heads off of Important Characters just because.  That would be, as someone pointed out earlier, too Whedonesque.  There should be a reason for their death.  To not have a reason can lead to the Violent Ejection as well.  At the same time, you can't run around all willy-nilly having all your Important Characters survive for no good reason, else, Violent Ejection.

So to me, that's what it all boils down to.  People are human.  Humans make mistakes.  Even, especially, when it counts.  Those mistakes in high pressure situations can result in death, even to loved Important Characters.  To take away those mistakes takes away a portion of their humanity, which makes them harder to identify with.

And if anyone actually read all of that, here's a cookie <cookie>