Medium can often feel that way. From the little I've seen of your profile, I would say that the quality of your writing doesn't necessarily matter and that you've unfortunately picked a pretty challenging niche to write in. Curators aren't quite as rigid about satire, but it can still be one of the more risky subjects to nominate.

When I began on Medium, success seemed to hinge largely on reciprocity. And even while that's still the case in many regards, the Boost has begun to change that. Still, it's a very narrow scope of what they're willing to offer that wider audience to in my experience. If nothing else, I can try to offer you my advice.

Thanks for the kind words and hope you're doing well!