[psi75]

There are tiers of what it means to "get published".

If you want your book to get a decent editor and maybe get a print run in the three or four digits, you don't have to deal with all the faddish bukkake (social media presence, trendy subject matter, performative wokery designed to signal virtue without actually changing anything or challenging capitalism, dodging cancel mobs). You can just write, and you may be able to find an audience organically if you put time and money into it. You probably won't, however, make enough money to write full time.

If your focus is on getting set up to make enough money to write full time, then you do have to worry about all that garbage, because there just aren't many good book deals to go around.

[stubish]

Yes, 'getting published' refers to people with a $0-$10000 advance from a small independent press through to the million dollar deals discussed in the article. And nobody can guarantee that you will sell enough to get past your advance, but being a social media personality is a huge boost. Fantastic reviews and most awards and prizes do not actually indicate good sales. To make a living, you need to get on the best seller lists. What we now call going viral.