But then every now and then I get a big upvote from AZ or someone... and I just can't figure out how to get them... consistently.

I suppose that everyone would like to have a consistent money flow from somewhere... 😃

Not that I'm judging or something, but do you publish consistently quality posts? Are you consistently engaging with others, visiting other posts on the chain, and making new friends and connections?

Hive is a different beast than other social media and it does require a lot of interaction, but that's the point of social media... After 5 years on this chain and creating content consistently, I can't count on these "whale upvotes" that you listed either... But, I do have many small upvotes from people who had some contact with me, and I had contact with them (with some of them even in real life!)...

My small advice would be... Don't try to please big whales with your content... Create your network of friends, and grow together with them... It is more fun, and more powerful, and you will "stay yourself" and not sell your cheek for upvotes... ;) Grow your HivePower, upvote others and their posts, and it will come back... Don't delegate more than 20-30% of your Hive Power...

Cheers and good luck!