Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemurion
Anyone who has read slush understands just how important the "gate-keeping" and editorial functions of a publisher really are. Baen thrives because of this: it's not simply their approach to ebooks, but also the fact they do have a consistent editorial policy and the fact that I, and many other readers, know that if we're looking for a certain kind of book we can go to Baen knowing that the majority of their offerings in that subcategory will be enjoyable reads.
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Editing is definitely a value that they add. Other than that, the only thing they really seem to do is come up with things to lock both authors and consumers into their distribution chain.
You could probably keep the editors, throw out the rest, and both artists and consumers would be happier in the long run. The problem with that is the current industry (not just publishing, but the music industry as well) is big, powerful, has lots of money, and will fight to the death to prevent themselves from being thrown out. They don't care if the results of that are to the detriment of both artists and consumers.