Publishing as personal: lessons from giving away a debut novel online

This business model looks too much like the unpaid work experience for adults business model. Do this normally paid job for free, it will give you experience and access to new clients! The problem is, while it will work for a few people, generally these will be the ones who didn’t need the money or publicity anyway and meanwhile you’re actively reducing the chance that you or anyone else like you will find a paid job at the end. If anyone gains, it will generally be your employer or the website hosting your material. It’s always been hard to make money as an author, but I very much doubt that this will improve matters.