Yes to all of this

It’s not a simple thing to answer. On the one hand, it’s great that people create the thing they have in their mind! Your friend probably feels very fulfilled that he put out the book he wanted to. As a reader, and this can also apply to music too, it’s not always audience friendly and if the artist doesn’t mind then ok.. I’ll give it a go and try to experience it as they intended. But if they have high expectations on the response then they maybe need to lower them, and get some advice from professionals who understand how to produce things in a way that doesn’t alienate the target audience.

There’s also that people are always learning, so someone’s first project probably isn’t going to be their best and as long as it’s interesting enough I’m usually willing to go with it and see how their art progresses.