I think a simulated "publishing world" would actually be quite a cool idea. BWFoster has already mentioned doing a service where he'll "accept/reject" your manuscript and tell you why he would do so. More services like this could definitely be helpful if the right people are involved and they have a passion for helping new or undiscovered authors.
If I had any skill in editing whatsoever I think a useful addition to the self-published ebooks industry would be editing and/or art in exchange for a percentage of future sales instead of an upfront fee or a traditional publisher. Perhaps it exists already and I just don't know of it but there seems to be a lot of middle ground between getting accepted by an agent/publisher and going full self-publish.
If the editor had a good enough eye for stories it wouldn't take long for people to start checking out other stuff they'd done. Even so far as to have it all linked to the same "author" page in Amazon or whatever so people would easily see everything.