This isn't strictly necessary, though obviously it increases your chances if you write for a small, boosting pub where your work is guaranteed to be seen by a nommer, and isn't competing with a load of other hopefuls.

If you have nominators following/subscribing to you, they can still nominate your self-published stories.

The pub's follower count is fairly irrelevant, I think. Just because you post on Illumination, doesn't mean your stories get sent out to 80k readers - you will do just as well at a smaller pub with a more specialised and dedicated following, and a more personal editorial experience. Iberospherical, for example...

The 'boost or bust' distribution is a problem. It's a decision that Medium has taken - 'we want to separate out a hand-picked selection of articles that will always occupy all the visible slots in every user's feed, except for a few set aside for their personal follows'.

Es lo que hay. And it will work better, the more the programme is expanded, to make it more accessible.

Other options include general interest pubs that although not boosters, are 'on the radar' of a number of nominators, and have a quick turnaround and no messing about with authors approach: Pitfall and The Pub are my go-to titles, and All About M for stories about Medium like this one (the latter will never be boost-eligible, but will get more readers from the dedicated and active community at that pub).

All three of those will normally publish stuff with no changes, and promptly, which is a close second-best to self-pubbing in terms of immediacy and control, I feel.

Hope that perspective from a fellow writer helps, Eunice.

Keep up the great storytelling!