Its hard to make money as a writer. It is a race to the bottom when it comes to the amount of money being paid per article and with less people in general reading - its hard to advance from hobby to professional.
It's not this way all over the world. There is a unique situation happening in other parts of the world - more people are reading and are reading more often.
China
Why China? China is at an interesting point in its development - the old socialist system isnt able to catch up to the internet and the new world. Almost everything about doing business in China requires some sort of work around - so its satisfying when things work the opposite!
Indie Authors are in huge demand in China - the Chinese cant seem to read enough. The market is expected to reach 12 billion this year.
Why is there a large economy for books (specifically electronic)? There are a few reasons for this. The largest reason according to most people is the fact that the Chinese government "sanitises" movies and publications. Chinese movie goers will often miss scenes depicting magic and spirituality often seen in mystery movies as the Chinese government attempts to curb superstition. In an effort to get their fix of mystery and magic - the Chinese subscribe to services like Qidian - where for a fee subscribers can read serialised chapters of their writing. Many of the authors are indie authors and some have become wildly successful financially.
E-Publishing, Tablets and Phone
Another reason for the uptick in reading is many Chinese have access to phones and tablets that allow them to read using apps like Qidian. When physical books are issued an ISBN and all the official things that go along with traditional publishing - the government is able to censor the book. Since content is being serialised (much like on Steemit) it does not fall under the same strict government controls and people get to read "edgier" content.
In 2018 those who are looking to have their writing both make money and gain following should look at the Chinese literature market and specifically sites that accept authors like Qidian. Its easy to find translation services for cheap on a site like Fiverr.
For those who are not interested in writing but still want to make some money - webnovel.com is the English site for Qidian - they translate some of their novels from Chinese into English then using native English speakers to edit the content.