I don't think it's entirely true, but I agree that the effort you put into creating content plays a big part because when you have a whale that sees your effort or likes you, you will automatically get their votes. I've seen many of my friends get auto-votes and get satisfying votes every day. I'm also trying.
Well glad I titled my post 5 tips for Hive authors, and not 5 tips for attracting whales to my posts. :-)