IDK about AO3. Sure, it'll get more hits than the kink meme, but the fandom is exploding with fic so it's just as likely to get lost amongst other fics. There are a lot of great fics I've seen get lost in the shuffle on AO3.
But my personal opinion is that AO3 is turning into the new ff.net, so I could be biased.
Re: How do authors deal with feeling discouraged?
IDK about AO3. Sure, it'll get more hits than the kink meme, but the fandom is exploding with fic so it's just as likely to get lost amongst other fics. There are a lot of great fics I've seen get lost in the shuffle on AO3.
But my personal opinion is that AO3 is turning into the new ff.net, so I could be biased.