‘For sure — continue to promote yourself online and maximise your engagements by marketing your content, but keep your eye on the ball. None of that stuff is anywhere near as important as mastering your craft.’

Audience and algorithm can, as you say, definitely make a difference, and I acknowledge the fact that these things, alongside marketing, social media promotion and personal branding, should not be ignored in my article. It’s vital that we learn to navigate the online world of publishing in order to make a name for ourselves.

My point, however, was not that these practices aren’t important, if not essential, but that they should never supersede our efforts to improve as writers. That has to remain our priority, because if it doesn’t, we’ll always remain at the same level. No matter how many people find our content, if it sucks, what’s the point? They’re not going to read it, they’re not going to engage with it, and the hundreds of dollars we spent on marketing is just going to go straight down the drain.

Thank you for your response and personal examples. You’ve done a good job of supporting the points made above and adding some extra depth for readers.