This Guardian article takes a hard-nosed look at the self-publishing industry. The author proclaims, among other things, that most self-publishing concerns ebooks (print-on-demand services are relatively niche) and the real engine [of the self-publishing business model] is Kindle Unlimited, Amazon’s subscription service. This allows readers to download 20 titles at a time for £9.49 per month, paying authors based on the number of pages read.

It appears some authors live well on the royalties from this scheme.

…The idea that self-publishing is the preserve of hopeless hobbyists producing books no one wants to read is at least a decade out of date.