Great insights, Allison! There are some very successful writers on Medium with big followings who don't get any better. Then there are those who people read based on past experience. I remember when Stephen King was drinking heavily. He wrote some terrible books then, but publishers bought them and people read them because, "Hey, it's Stephen King!" I stopped reading him for a while and started again after he quit drinking. Resting on your laurels doesn't work forever.