I self published two books and am almost ready to do a third. No interest in being a famous author or making millions, just glad to get them out of my head and to know they are just what I intended them to be.
I saw a comment recently online regarding publishing an indie video game that "nobody played" where people noted you set out to do your goal that very few people ever complete. You published. You're a winner. You accomplished your feat.
I had similar stuff with music once in my life. It never went where I or others might have hoped. But we recorded and made albums. We played tons of shows. We had a few fans. We opened for big names we loved. I feel like a winner too.
I'm not really saying this to reply to you. I'm not even sure you need to hear it. But someone out there does. Don't let others define what success or winning is. By setting out to accomplish something, and doing it, that's a winner already.
There's a smaller publishing company for small time authors in Florida (if the company is still around) Called witching hour publishing. Their whole schtick is to make publishing cheaper and easier for small time writers. Check it out, might be worth it if you are gonna be prolific.
Thanks. I've got two young kids and a busy job so not as prolific as I'd like. Maybe a book every 3-4 years, longer if it's a grand fantasy. My first one was a quarter of a million words in a world I created from scratch, so that took maybe 6 years.
Speaking as someone who rarely ever writes because life keeps getting in the way but still hopes to be published someday. Every day it seems that dream gets further and further away... :(