As a contrast argument, Last month, I had my best paid month outside of '$500 bonus summer'. Didn't do anything different at all. I write three times a week and have for most of the year. This month I'm on course to earn about 1/3rd of the amount from last month.
I think what you're likely seeing is a redistribution of attention that hits those with big followings the hardest. Following someone used to be a good way to catch all their work - particularly if they were great writers (as you are). You've got 17.5K, Jessica Wildfire has 100K but that keeps out newer indie writers who can't get a foothold. It did for a long time. It didn't matter what anyone wrote, all you got was Shanon Ashley. It's taken me 4 years to amass a following of nearly 4K people, that's incredibly slow.... but my income from the platform has risen, with some peaks and troughs, across my time here in a fairly steady way.
Other writers may have financially exploded as a result of writing very popular pieces and are now seeing their growth reigned in a little. I suspect the new CEO is a little more Marxist in his approach to wealth redistribution.... that means the financial elites are in uproar but so are the Medium bourgeoisie.
Medium has done this time and time again and the question is.... do you want to write here? It's their house and their rules. I don't pay much attention to the financial comings and goings because most of my money is earned elsewhere and it's incredibly demotivating to do so. Barring them getting heavy handed with freedom of speech, I'll keep writing here whatever the payment structure because I enjoy it. :o)
If Medium do manage to piss off their brightest and best then so be it - and a new generation may have to emerge. It would be a loss to lose some big writers but we may be seeing that happen already and a clean out after eight years might be just what the platform needs. Umair, Ashley and Kuegler are getting stale, QJ and Jgln are just getting going. If it's not working for you at the moment, scale it back - there's always another change due on the platform eventually. :o)
