Thank you for this. It's helpful to hear that another writer doesn't find their views growing alongside publishing frequency. I decided a few weeks ago to try going "all in" on Medium for a few months to see what happens. This means, put my "day job" on the back burner and really commit to writing. I set myself the goal of 2 stories per week. With some family issues, an overseas move, and bureaucratic chores, it's been hard to meet that goal... but even over the past week or so, when I wrote 3 or 4 stories, I've noticed that my follower count grew fast (I think I've gained something like 30 new followers in that short time span!)... while my views, reads, and claps remain unsustainably low.

I'm trying to figure out how to make it as a writer at the moment because I just can't do the academic copyediting thing anymore. I don't want to put all my eggs into the Medium basket, but I also don't really want to become a copywriter. It's tough to figure out how to make that work. But as you said, Medium is still a valuable time investment — because even if it doesn't pan out as a reliable income source, it's still a space for building a portfolio, which is never a bad thing. :)

Wishing you much success and fulfillment!