Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
The primary thing that publishers bring to the table is filtering out the garbage, and editing those few books that are worthy of publication such that they become readable. Alas, you only have to look at the overwhelming majority of books by independent authors to see the result of not using a professional editor.
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You don't need a publisher to use the services of an editor, but I can see why a lot of first time or amateur writers wouldn't bother with one.
What publishers really do is choose which books they think are the most likely to sell, based on what is currently selling. So if you had a book about sparkly vampires versus zombies you would have a better chance of being published than if you had a book about snail racing. Any subjective "quality" difference between the two books would be irrelevant.
This is why Harry Potter was turned down so many times. I'm not saying it's a "quality" book, I've never read it, but it seems to sell well. But when it was first pimped out to publishers there was no similar books with a proven sales record, so it was turned down. When it did sell, it opened the doors for other writers with boy wizard type stories.