Thanks for writing this. As you know, the problem is entirely structural, and no one thing (or set of things) you had done differently could have guaranteed a different outcome. I know historians from the top Ivy League programs who are giving up on the job market after years of looking for full-time TT jobs.

I do think that the humanities more broadly speaking are moving back towards a "patronage" model, and at a time when more interesting and lovely work is being published by more people from a more broad array of backgrounds and life experiences than ever before. It's no accident that the defunding and the "reprioritization" have come hand in hand with the diversification of higher ed.

Best of luck in whatever path unfolds. Keep writing.