I self-published for four years (granted, sporadically) and never made more than a few cents. I started submitting to publications last month and my reads, followers and earnings (they're now in single digits instead of fractions) have increased dramatically. I'm fortunate that I usually don't have to wait long for a pub editor to publish me, but I am thinking about exclusively self-publishing in December, just to compare with October or November which were my best months on Medium.