Sucks, doesn't it. I got kicked off the partner program recently because of it too. I haven't decided how to proceed yet. I mean, I didn't really join Medium looking to attract many followers; I simply enjoy writing and wanted to move past answering questions that caught my eye on Quora.

I joined Medium, joined the partner program, and started posting a few things about tech, and did a small experiment publishing my novella as a serial, one chapter at a time. What little feedback I've gotten has been positive, but being kicked off the partner program has me somewhat disgruntled right now.