You're welcome, Mike. To be honest, the workings of the Medium algorithm are a mystery to everyone - probably even the coders who write it! - but the Boost certainly lends a degree more clarity, even when the decisions seem odd, as at least we know that human minds are directly controlling what happens.

They are very keen on expertise and experience as the basis for both writing and editing, so a small, niche pub run by someone with professional experience in the field is just what they seem now to be encouraging. It's worth registering your pub on the waitlist here:

https://form.typeform.com/to/HgdSAbmg?typeform-source=blog.medium.com

You will be asked to give a description of the content, as I recall, and also to give a link to a story that you would have boosted. I don't think it makes it clear if this has to be from your own pub, but my suggestion was anyway, just in case.

After that they review your pub, its stories and writers, and to what extent the area is already covered. They seem to be adding about 10 pubs or so per month at the moment.

Good luck with everything!

If you have any articles to share about Spain/Portugal/Latin America, their languages and cultures, you are more than welcome to join the writers at medium.com/iberospherical - just reply to the Submissions page there, or to this message.