Thanks, Neil - I've heard similar stories of Boosts in January picking up under 10 or at most 20 bucks, which makes even a 'write for the boost' strategy worthless, since even if you get 30-40% of your stories picked, you're averaging less than $5 apiece for those polished gems, which is what an 'ordinary' story often used to earn.

And success is placed three times over in the (unreliable) hands of others: editors, curators, and the idiots who coded the algorithm.

Frankly, I'd rather try my luck on Substack and 'fail' on my own merits, for free, than put coins in the Medium slot machine.

I'm still here because nominating is the only aspect of this platform that is - so far - unaffected. And it's utterly crazy that nominators are getting $45 per approval, for stories that then 'earn' their authors just a tenner.

But I can also see the supply of boostable stories drying up for that same reason, at which point, why even bother running a pub?