While I half agree with your sentiments, people still like a physical book in their hand. We have to embrace both worlds. I've self-published 12 novels and many poems on here and I just get angry with the new set-up on here. The many friends and contacts I used to have on Medium, that I used to chat with I now have to seek them out. I don't even know if they get my newer pieces. As others have already said, we still have to get past the gatekeepers.

I suggest we embrace this new world in addition to traditional publishing routes. When I read a book, I usually read 2 or even 3 at once, a physical book and a Kindle or Kindle App by my side always. I probably read 2 fiction and 1 non-fiction simultaneously. Even while I write another novel, the non-fiction might be research for my books.

Look at traditionally published or physical books like Vinyl records. They are coming back with a vengeance.

There are charity shelves of books everywhere now and I still get pleasure from browsing those and often pick up a gem for less than a £ or $. I used to leave books I'd read at airports or on planes or on hotel shelves with a note asking for anyone who found the book to donate a dollar to charity in the vague hope that we'd benefit society somehow.

My novels have cost me more than I made in marketing, but "Persistence R Us" in the hope for some form of monetary recognition one day.