Whoa. How long have you been trading that you've already lost 2k? Honestly I'd just start smalller since it's crypto anyway, doesn't have any minimum in terms of how much you can trade. And really, expecting to only profit seems kinda dumb? Trading is an activity whede you WILL 100% lose money.

Anyway even if a coin did get listed, doesn't mean its gonna pump even if only for a shirt time. Id suggest looking into the project in the first place before even trying to short and see how what the current distribution is beforehand as well as market influence.

As for merits, just keep posting quality stuff and you'll get them eventually.