You know well that you commented in bad faith on my original reply TO SOMEONE ELSE in agreement with him/her. I was interested in a discussion around the real challenges involved in self-publishing, starting a business and similar. These are challenges expressed by the OP, and which virtually everyone faces.

Then, you jumped in and, instead of engaging with the substance of my comment, decided that you'd make yourself look "smart" by dismissively condescending to me with a snarky comment. It was unwarranted and is up there for anyone to read, as much as you'd like to pretend that it's not.

So, I called you on it. As I said then, it was smug and dismissive. And, I'll add here, rude and trollish. Yes, you look bad. And, if you don't like looking bad, then the right thing to do is to own-up and apologize instead of doubling-down. The latter is the behavior of a spoiled child.

You want to offer up advertising as an alternative, then just say "What about ads?" or similar. Could've been an interesting discussion around the challenges there for startups. Instead, you snark, "someone should invent ads...blah, blah...".

It's not too late to acknowledge that you were wrong. But, if you truly don't see the difference, then I'll repeat here for you: it's not my responsibility to teach you how to talk to people.

So, I'm done replying to this silliness. If you want to accept responsibility and apologize, then I'll accept your apology. Otherwise, no need to waste your time.