> AI available to get you through the stuff where you just need superficial or process knowledge, like which firms to hire and how to market a self-published work, what boilerplate legal protections you need

Putting aside for a moment that nobody should be trusting a frequently-hallucinating AI algorithm with any of the above...

Your world-view is one of those that returns to the old adage "it only works if you value your time at zero".

Its the sort of thing we see in tech the whole time. Some dude saying "oh, I can just fix my motherboard myself".

Or in the automotive sector, someone with experience and kit fixing their own engine block.

Well, sure you can dude. Because you've got the domain expertise, you've got the kit AND you are willing to value your time at zero.

However in the majority of cases, if you do not value your time at zero, then spending even just a few hours waving an oscilloscope and soldering iron over the proverbial motherboard is time better spent on other tasks and the "more expensive" option suddenly does not look that expensive any more.

And that is all before we address the other elephant in the room.... Your suggestion that it is easy to self-market a self-published work.

Maybe if you are a well known and respected author, such as Mr Performance (Brendan Gregg) or Mr Oracle (Tom Kyte) etc.

But if you are just Joe Schmoe. And perhaps especially if you are Joe Schmoe who's just written your first self-published book. The outcome is unlikely to be the same.