Brilliant piece of reality, Todd. These statements struck a chord with me:

"In fact, more than something intrinsic to the work, social factors and social influences often determine how popular a work becomes. The study also found that the more social influences are involved, the more unpredictable popularity becomes".

This is so true especially writing non-fiction about geo-political and development issues in parts of the world where truth is relative and oligarchies and kleptocrats dominate.

I love this paragraph:

"We’ll never know all those creations and creators who remain overlooked. We only know the works that are lucky enough to be held up and praised in our reality. Undoubtedly, there are numerous amazing artists who work in obscurity, and numerous brilliant works that end up gathering dust in an attic until they’re thrown away. Other works might get published but don’t receive the attention they deserve". Spot on.