I am changing my viewpoint on my previous comment

RESPECT! Thank you for saying that, @skum. Too many people today are too insecure to reconsider their views in even the smallest ways. Intelligent, secure people do it often because they understand the only way to gain new knowledge is to not be 100% right in the first place. Bravo!

I see what you mean about the promotional posts. I think there are a lot of popular bloggers who are on automated bot lists. That means they've put out so much consistently good material, they get voted up automatically. If they use that influence to promote other authors, I think that's fantastic! I'd also like to see each of those authors get rewarded with new followers and more votes themselves. I'd like to think this happens, even if the post being promoted has already paid out. Future posts may be seen by more followers, but even having more followers (especially if they are minnows) will not equal future high payouts.

Thanks again for providing clarification and for being open to new ideas.