Wonderful post, Jamie! I've been in the business for almost 23 years and have seen the shift from having to obtain a "yes" from a gatekeeper in the publishing industry to all of the freedom we have today. After my experience here on Steemit with Alarm Clock Dawn, I see serialized fiction as a viable alternative to self-publishing on Amazon for, at the very least, a debut novel. Steemit earnings could easily finance the launch of a second book (i.e. cover design, professional editor, publicist, etc.) Thanks for writing this!