It's true that a lot of bigger authors in self - publishing have stopped using free books in their marketing: that's because they don't need to anymore. (creativindie.com)
Do you know of big authors that people might not know got their start as self - published authors? (blog.reedsy.com)
As for big authors staying with big publishers, I am confident they are not only laid well, but get a far better deal than any of us will ever see. (deanwesleysmith.com)