The success stories make news precisely because they are so unusual.
I have no idea what it costs to e-publish -- probably not very much compared to conventional books -- but most authors are not all that good at self-editing. Then there's the bit about getting out word about your book so that people will buy it.
I did go and look at some of the reviews for their books, and the negative reviews were quite interesting.
But heck, we all have different tastes, so if you like it, then read it.
In any case, while I certainly can admire people who can somehow put out twenty titles in six months, you really need to understand that both their output and the sales are not quite the norm.
There is a reason for the gatekeepers, that is the agents and the editors. It has been my experience over and over that the self-published books are simply not very good. They don't have the benefit of professional editing and agenting, and for me they are always a disappointment. So much so, that I simply am no longer willing to read anything self-published.
Since I don't have any kind of an e-reader, I'm not quite as likely to buy a self-published book these days, since most of them are now published electronically.
If you can't get your book published conventionally, the odds are very high that is simply isn't that good. However, if you're convinced otherwise and you want to publish electronically, go for it. You actually have very little to lose, since it seems there's not very much up-front cash investment.
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