Steven,

I agree with everything you have written here but it doesn't make it less terrifying for someone who sucks at marketing.

But there is one issue that sticks in my craw - why do I have to become a marketing powerhouse but Medium still won't let me promote my books?

I have 13 published books. Most of which are with the top 5 publishers (who btw, don't do crap to promote your books.) But yet, I am not allowed to have links to my books in my stories? And my "true fans" are going to follow me because of my books, NOT my Medium articles.

It just feels like the dog chasing its tail. I will evolve and get better at this (although I refuse to do the niche thing.) But I do wish Medium would ease up on the self-promotion rules.

And btw, I churn out about 12-15 articles a month. My monthly views used to average 200k. They are now 90k a month and not budging. So I don't think frequency is entirely to blame for your dropped views. I am consistently working my arse off.

But I still would like to read more articles from you than 3 a month ;)