Maybe "the universe" is too big a venue for your writing. And I know what you mean by "universe" - its metaphorical. As writer (about to publish my second book) I am learning that marketing is as important as the writing.

I've been writing since the 6th grade - badly I might add. It's taken many years to become adequate, and now some of my readers say they love my writing.

Medium is more of a platform for community. And while Illumination has a large following I have found that smaller publications seem to have a better sense of community and support for the new writer. This is especially true for an old school essayist, fiction and non-fiction author such as myself.