Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
Sturgeon's law (90% of anything is crap) applies just as much to indies, fanfic and regular authors trying to find a publisher.
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And to 90% of authors who have found a publisher, to put it in terms of the tortured last sentence of your construct. Or, more logically, to 90% of traditionally published fiction. Your underlying assumption is that the Publishers weed out the 90% of the "crap", as you put it, and publish only the 10% which is not "crap". An assumption which simply does not hold up. Here is a link to a post by JW Manus which discusses this
http://www.thepassivevoice.com/08/20...-tells-you-no/. One very relevant quote;
"The reason I’ve changed my mind is because the prevailing myth is that the reason agents and editors reject writing is because it’s no good. It’s not just a myth, it’s an outright lie. The ONLY reason any work is rejected is because the agent or editor doesn’t think they can sell it. That’s it. The only reason. One person (or a committee) decides a particular piece of work is unsaleable, and rejects it."
My experience is that it is no more difficult to find a good book now than before the explosion of Indie Titles. The actual crap is usually avoided with very little effort and there are far more books available in any particular areas in which I like to read. Based on my experience publishers did little if anything to eliminate the 90% of crap. In fact, they seem to have published quite a bit of it.