With pubs to get exposure, sometimes participating in prompts can help. Find those pubs that have high engagement such as:

Coffee Times,

Reciprocal,

MidForm,

Illumination (it's 5 publications total),

New Writers Welcome,

Anyone Can Write Online,

and Orange Journal.

Highlight, clap, and respond to stories on the pub. Then once a week do a top reads of the week post and be sure to tag the writers of the stories you choose in the post. List about five stories. I would read 10 stories for every story I write. Try it for two months and tell me how it works out.