Publishers vet books, and they do a good job keeping out the low quality. But they also miss some good quality.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Publishers like a good buzz, and negative responses sell books just as well as positive ones.
People have bad things to say about publishers, but I think they still have services, and I want to see what they are. And if they end up not being any good, I don't have to keep using them.
One, I have a wonderful publisher, Black Sparrow Press; as long as they exist, they will keep me in print. And they claim they sell very respectable numbers of my books, so I guess, and it's true, every place I go, my books are in libraries and on bookshelves.
It seems the world of book publishing is constantly changing. Whether it was the rise of chain stores or their decline, or the digital revolution... fortunately, we have been able not only to adapt but to thrive.
What makes a publishing house great? The easy answer is the consistency with which it produces books of value over a lengthy period of time.
I don't write for publishers, certainly not for critics, and not for readers, But I am delighted that so many people have found my books enjoyable and want to continue to read them.
I try to keep all my novels in print. Sometimes publishers don't agree with me as to their worth.
Books are good enough in their own way, but they are a poor substitute for life.
There are a lot of wonderful books out there that aren't marketed properly, and readers who might love them never even know they exist.
Printed books usually outlive bookstores and the publishers who brought them out. They sit around, demanding nothing, for decades. That's one of their nicest qualities - their brute persistence.