Hey, I noticed you mentioned the difficulty in building a following with short stories. I just wanted to recommend @bananafish - they are a for fun (as opposed to self improvement) writing group, joining in on the weekly contest is a good way to meet other authors who are interested in short stories and maybe even win some steem. No pressure to join in or anything, but took me far too long to find a place on here for fiction and know you'd be very welcome there <3