A lot of the time, the post would've been recommended for votes but the author is already well compensated relative to their previous posts and pending payout and it also doesn't help that the author is already above 70 rep. These factors are beyond the control of the author and it's not because their post was anything bad, it's just suffering from success.

As for averting the mainstream content, I can relate. Though I would post mainstream content depending on how much I like the subject rather than trying to force standing out from the crowd. I just started liking non-mainstream content because I want to put my headspace in a content consumer perspective, why would I be interested in something less novel? and that's just how I go about approaching my posts.