I'm also in the same boat when it comes to getting noticed. I got really excited when the second chapter of my story generated over 50 up-votes, but I was confused and disheartened when the subsequent chapters didn't garner any real attention at all. Even the people who said they'd follow the story don't seem to be doing so. I, myself, think that our content is just getting lost in the constant flood of posts. I think if they were to overhaul how posts are tagged and categorized it would be a big help.
RE: why I have not been on steemit for a while.