Publishing a Book Without Selling Out?

Hopeful Author writes "I've written a book, totally unrelated to tech, and I'm at the point where I'm going to look for an agent. My book is a 400-page fantasy novel, what will be book one of three or four (or more), in the style of Lord of The Rings, though with my own elements and twists. I have no idea if it's publishable, though I've had good feedback from those who have read the draft." My take on the situation is that self-publishing would be the best bet, but maybe there's a better way.

"I'm perfectly willing to go through the usual submit-and-get-rejected-endlessly process, and I know I need editorial guidance. My question comes in with the assumption that I eventually get through the publishing process. Then what? Fact is, I don't much like the major book publishing companies. Look at how Time Warner is cracking down on Harry Potter fan sites. I think that's terrible. I would be thrilled to someday have fan sites for my own characters -- I would actively encourage it, in fact. And I'm less-than-thrilled about the idea of signing away some of my rights, say electronic rights to my stories and the like. Yes, I may be able to negotiate the contracts, but as a first-time author I wouldn't have much clout.

"So I could publish on the web somehow, but the fact is I like the distribution efforts the book publishers provide. I wrote my book because I want people to read it (yes, money is not my objective, though it would be nice), and to be able to talk with those who enjoy it. If my book languishes on an ignored web site, I'll feel bad. My question then comes down to this:

"What does an idealistic, /.-reading, not-too-thrilled-about-corporatism author do to maximize the quality and distribution of a book? Are there good open-source type solutions to this problem, ones that will reach an audience? Or are the greedy book corps. the best bet, because of their distrubtion methods, even if their other habits make me sick and I'll lose control over my characters in the process? Or am I overreacting cuz I read /. too much? Any suggestions and advice welcome!"