Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
I also considered whether there was some indirect benefit to writers by having a gatekeeper regulate the market (like De Beers and the diamond market?). The gatekeepers make sure the market is not flooded so my book, if I do get past the gates, may be more likely to get its share of the buyers dollars. But instead Konrath makes me wonder if this regulation is part of publishers' way of exploiting writers. If I get past the gatekeeper once I have a better chance a second time - but if I make too much of a fuss about the working conditions then they threaten to consign me back to the slush pile.
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Allowing your product to trickle out, thereby keeping prices high, may be a suitable strategy for something like a diamond, which is available only in easily-limited quantities, sold simply as a pretty bauble, and not valued for its actual beneficial assets. It obviously works for the diamond industry.
I'm not sure that's a viable strategy for literature, or, for that matter, any entertainment media. Although entertainment media and jewelry share the aspect of being non-essential consumer products, originally controlled by a small conglomeration of organizations, the chief difference between them now is that entertainment media can be created by almost literally anyone, making such gatekeeping impossible (or, if it was more effective in the past, it is much less effective now thanks to digital media).