I've been writing forever (my medium mission is to increase the medium median age, I sometimes think) and on Medium for about a year. Though I've published a lot in a long writing career, until recently I ONLY self-published on Medium. Just began submitting to publications; curious to see if anything makes any difference. I write for the fun of writing -- which is good, because if I wrote for stats I'd be slitting my wrists. Look forward to following your journey.