I really think that despite what many writers (and everyone selling you promotion) say, the writer has little control over how a readership grows. A boost from a social media maven or a legit publisher can make a career but doesn't guarantee it. So much is timing and luck and, indeed, niche popularity. I run into resentment from writers who do all the best practices and they fall short of their goals and are miserable and not doing what they love (creating) because they are running publicity campaigns based on conflicting advice. I have met some successful authors who seem to sell a lot of genre titles, but they are happy to spend their time cultivating chat groups and making a contest of beta readers and posting cover reveals and having release parties and providing online giveaways. If I wanted to work that hard doing something besides writing, I'd have stayed a computer programmer. All I can do is shrug along with you lol