Technically speaking putting your work on Wattpad and slapping in a Patreon link is self publishing.

Writing Excuses has a couple episodes on making a professional go at it that you probably want to listen to, the best advice I recall from it is that you need to understand you're effectively running a small business. Market research/writing for the market, advertising, networking, these are what you need to do to have a realistic shot at making real money doing it.

If that doesn't effect your writing you don't understand the assignment. The first question you need to ask is if you're out to make money with your writing or just doing it as a creative exercise.