Hi Tessa - I get the general case you are making, but Medium has made it more nuanced due to publications and boosts. This double-layered editing process allows the “cream” of Medium’s content to float to the top. Just this week I have a story hit $80 with fewer than 400 reads, but a lot of genuine engagement. Now, last fall, my best stories were topping $200 and had double the reads. So yep, there’s a big price adjustment. But I don’t write for the income, I write for the joy of it. And - I also send my stories out on social media and to my own mailing list of some 60 friends, so I do my bit to draw new readers to the site.