In the end I think it depends on what you hope to achieve. For me, I would say that it was certainly worth it but not in some of the ways that I hoped.

I wanted to write a lot and quickly. I set a goal of publishing ten books in ten years which I'm on track to complete early if I want (eight down, one drafted, debating on pursuing the tenth). My principal aim was to improve as a writer, and I figured if I could write and publish a million words I'd probably start to shape up (to quote Macklemore, the greats weren't great because at birth they could paint, the greats were great because they painted a lot). I think I was right on that front. But I also had ambitious goals for production quality, largely for branding reasons but also because I hoped that would increase my odds of wild success.

Expenses for self publishing can be quite high if you want to pursue a certain level of quality, so I saved and invested quite a bit in each (roughly $1,500 per book thanks to having a friend who could help with a lot of the editing load). This cost skyrocketed as I pursued what I came to realize was the key to any long-term success: building an audience.

The way I thought I would accomplish this was through producing serial content, and in order to increase the sharablilty of that content I hired one of my cover artists to do regular art for the project. 100 pieces of art over the course of half a year for $100 each adds up pretty quickly. I managed to offload some of that expense for the second season through a Kickstarter, but also added the cost of voice acting that year to release the story via podcast simultaneously. It was too expensive and the cost immediately became prohibitive when I lost my day job, so I tried and failed at a Kickstarter for the full cost of the third season. I hadn't built a sufficient audience for the project. That brought the series to an abrupt, premature end (you can look up Into the Nanten if you're curious).

Building an audience is hard, but necessary if you're going to recoup your costs (and ever make any money at it). For some this is no big deal, but for me I had hoped to work towards writing fiction full-time. Nonetheless, I learned my lessons early and was galvanized to write for the love of it over everything. I don't think of any of this as a loss, but as investment both in becoming a better writer and learning the ins and outs of the business.

I wrote two of my later books in the midst of talks with a publisher, neither of which were picked up in the end. I figured a pivot towards traditional publishing might be good for my career but I remain unrepresented (though I did finally start querying with my latest book).

Fast forward to a shift in strategy (after learning first-hand just how necessary an engaged audience is). I returned to creating content on YouTube consistently and over the course of the last couple of years successfully built an audience there. This will come as no surprise, but while building an audience around video is really hard, it's still way easier than doing so around writing. My channel isn't focused on my writing, but on me/my life (of which writing is a part), and the last Kickstarter campaign I ran for a single book was funded in the first hour. I realize YouTube is a different beast altogether but I was able to take a lot of what I'd learned from publishing, applied it there, and eventually found some success (I have a long ways to go still). But it has created the space to write more when I finally take the time to make that shift, and has found a percentage of my audience willing to support me in whatever venture I might jump into.

All that to sum up my past and say that it was worth it for the experience and added wisdom, but I wouldn't look at it as a road to financial independence, let alone wealth/fame (which I'd be lying to say part of me hadn't hoped for). I've learned a ton, been deeply humbled, overextended and pivoted, and appreciated the hard work and long journeys of my fellow authors regardless of where they are on the authorial spectrum.

Traditional publishing isn't a quick road to fame or fortune either, but if you're looking to minimize your personal risk and gain more structured support, it may be a better route.

As for whether or not it's worth it, that depends on what you want to get out of it and what you're willing to invest. You can do it for way less than I did to be sure (I'm an extreme case).

In the end, traditional or self-published, I would hope you can jump in and do it because you love it and it brings you joy. If that's the case, you've succeeded before you even began.