>>56779988idk about them but I write for me and that makes it worthwhile all on its own.
And this might sound like cope but I prefer not having a large following. A couple people to a couple dozen is the sweet spot for me where I can be happy other people like what I output and also not feel pressured to pick up the output rate or quality to satisfy a crowd. When my story hit 100+ followers I started getting nervous and it honestly made things less fun for a while.