Hi Brennan,
Thanks for reading. I don’t mind Grammarly. It helps with basic errors which we might miss. But when readers turn into Grammarly bots , that’s annoying!
I have found that when I self publish, the story does not get that much distribution even if it is curated. But if it is published with a good publication, they will help spread it on different channels hence increasing its reach.
That said, if you are a very successful writer , you can self publish and still do very well. Starting your own publication is a good way to showcase a portfolio of your work.