I read quite a lot - always buy through amazon and read on the Kindle app on my cellphone while commuting and when I hit the sack. A lot of 'self-published' authors go that route as there's no editors demanding a cut and giving timelines and taking all the joy out of writing.
 
I've 'discovered' a few good sci-fi authors who self-publish on Amazon who have since gone on to become best sellers, and am on a beta reading list for one of them so I get to read first drafts (and get to offer suggestions on them) many months before the books are made public. If you're going to do it, I strongly suggest a personal website too were you can offer beta drafts and gain some loyal followers who may point out plot holes you may have missed before you officially publish. I always buy the final book when it is published, but that's just me.
 
My father-in-law and wife recently published a book on Amazon (not a novel though, a technical book). I believe it was relatively easy. On the bad side, within the same day they first published, their book was already being offered on 3rd party sites for free in pdf format if you clicked through a bunch of advertising pages first. Scammers everywhere.
 

I really don't see a problem with going self published if you are planning to write for fun. It could lead to becoming a discovered writer and good things. You have to consider that way people can read your work. When you consider JK Rowling got about ten rejection letters from publishers before Harry Potter was published.

just do it .   don't worry about what others say or do  ..   if its something you want to try  just try you never know intill you try    success of fail   then if at first you don't secede  tryn , try again
 
you got to put it out there and try to build a following  .   how much did Stephen king write  before he got a best seller ? how many publishers may of turned him down at his start ?? 
 
pen name ??   just google it up for any help 
 
http://writersrelief.com/blog/2008/06/pen-names-what-you-need-to-know-about-using-a-pseudonym/
 
https://www.wikihow.com/Copyright-a-Book-With-a-Pen-Name
 
https://kdp.amazon.com/community/message.jspa?messageID=692371

knightsilver
Looks like, Amazon does Paperbacks for Print on demand:
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202059560
 
 
Anyone got a Kindle E-Reader? "I do hate direct light"
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IOY8XWQ
 

Amazon also has it's own digital ebook lending library, they call it Kindle Unlimited. I don't know what they pay authors to add their ebooks to that library, but it's something you should look into. There is an ever-increasing number of other public digital-libraries too, such as the one I use: http://bexarbibliotech.org/
 
Yes I do use a Kindle, an old model Paperwhite without the light up screen and higher PPI display they now come with. The E-ink display is awesome and significantly easier on the eyes than LCD screens. I'm not as big a fan of short stories as I am of longer series with intricate, amazing plots/character arcs. (Think Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, though I admittedly appreciated how Brandon Sanderson finished it since Jordan began drawing things out a little too far. But I digress). I chew through a lot of ebooks on my Kindle, I'd much rather read a decent book than play time-wasting phone games. If I want to game it'll be a real game that requires a full desktop to run.  

My original thoughts way back in high school, was to do a series of 7 to 12 short novels, with and overall story and plot arc, but still each book could stand on its own to a point. 

I wouldnt do it for just money. Id hope for a few young adults and maybe a few grown adults to see them selves, that they can do better, that life isnt always about getting what you want...