I say it over and over, but it’s worth repeating: Publishers are not mighty conglomerates run by white men getting fat off authors and laughing gleefully as they reject new work. They’re businesses that rely on an extremely unpredictable market, and sometimes even the giants fall. Also, they’re run mainly by women.
So please, let go of the myth of the major publisher as a baddie. That just makes new writers more vulnerable to scams and foolish decisions.
Some readers also try to punish publishers by boycotting certain books. John Scalzi says please don’t.
Unfortunately it’s hard to remember that when a publisher is making decisions which seem so irrational… you start to think it MUST be a conspiracy, they can’t actually be so silly, right?! LOL
Stace: And so many awful books get professionally published. . . it really messes with your head. I have to keep reminding myself that publishers aren’t the big bad. If anything, it’s market forces that are bad – or at least bizarre and unfortunate.