I have a very good friend of mine who went through the process of publishing his own book, and who has offered it for free multiple times trying to drum up interest. Unfortunately, despite the impressive caliber of his book (reminiscent of both John Carpenter and Stephen King) and his work on the graphic design and polish, he's barely broken even, and sales have dried up completely. I and others who are friends with him have tried to promote his book as aggressively as we could by word of mouth, but...well, here we are. This is excellent information for any author that wants to publish, myself included. Even self-publishing takes money, and it takes a lot of time as well. That's to say nothing of the time dedicated to simply writing the book in the first place.

Just like Steemit, one should temper one's enthusiasm with realism and adjust one's expectations accordingly. You have a new follower. :)