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Originally Posted by DiapDealer
Is it not equally possible that some are grossly over-estimating the value provided? Surely it's mostly a subjective perspective issue?
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I would say that it's possible to overestimate if one's position is that _all_ authors require the support of a major publisher. On the flip side, it's a rare author who doesn't benefit from a competent editorial staff and a competent publicity campaign. Is it possible that some independents will step up and provide those services to authors? Sure, I fully expect they will. On the other hand, as is obvious by watching how the quality of various big name authors works degrade as they become major properties, many authors simply won't listen to editors if not forced to.
As far as publicity goes, I think that a book isn't going to be successful unless there is some level of publicity about it. The books that do well based purely on word of mouth are few and far between.
The final service that a publisher provides is a filter to remove the 80-90 percent of great American novels that are utter drek. This is the service that publishers provide the reading public.
Does that mean that publishers have to be mega-corporations? No, especially as ebooks and small print runs become more and more viable as a business model. But I think that it's fair to say that the model of throwing thousands of unedited books into a heap and letting the readers dig throw the pile to find books that they like isn't going to be a long term success.