Quote:
Originally Posted by Moejoe
. . . We've had this 'intermediary' for going on 100 years now, and it's not about discovering and promoting talent...it never was and never will be. It was, and is always about bottom lines, what will sell the most units. . . .
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There was a time when discovering and promoting talent was what publishing was all about. Back in the early 20th century this was quite true. Writers like Hemingway would never have made it without the care, nurturing, and feeding (and drying out) provided by publishers. Bennett Cerf was a terrific editor who put content and talent above profits when he ran the publishing company.
The change to bottom line thinking only came about with the consolidation of the publishing industry, which began in earnest in the late 1970s-early 1980s. I know from my own experience that when the family owned publishers ran things, editors were respected, decently paid, and were expected to provide quality work. Today all that matters is price. The editor willing to work for the lowest price is the editor hired, regardless of the editor's skill level. Some publishers today do not even provide editorial services -- the author is expected to do it all, which is not a path to high quality. I am even familiar with a couple of publishers who entire editing process is to run Microsoft Word's Spellcheck over the manuscript, which is why it is becoming increasingly frequent to read, for example, "there" when it should be "their".
Anyway, your statement is only partially true -- both in the past and today. There are quality publishers today, albeit few, who do care more about finding and promoting talent, and there were a lot of such publishers in the old days of publishing.