Just had an argument with one of those authors who think they are godsent and no one can touch them :) I don't blame them, they kind of used to it and they don't think about others.
As you have mentioned there is a problem for minnow authors to get noticed, and for them even $5 upvote is wow.
I think that problem is in the system itself, more specifically in the​ algorithm​ of hot and trending posts. I think this is where the dev. team should start.