Possibly, but personally, and perhaps predictably, I do not think so. At this stage I have had enough reviews and feedback on my writing to know that at the very least it is of a satisfactory and saleable standard. I'm not one of these "I am an undiscovered literary genius" types.
Secondly I could not agree more with the publishing industry's overtly commercial attitudes. Wayne Rooney will sell a few million books? Fine, give him a massive advance, pay a ghostwriter and cash in. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, business is about supply and demand, and in this case HC were supplying a demand.
I do believe that if a writer whines about Wayne Rooney etc, and publishers not being interested in real writing, then the chances are their own writing is pretty crap. If that is the case and it will not sell then it makes no sense for someone to publish it. Simple business sense once again.
Thirdly, I do have sympathy for the gigantic pile of rubbish that agents and publishers receive. I've seen some of it and it is truly horrendous. It is completely understandable that they don't read it, the cost of the time involved makes it completely uneconomical even if there is hidden gem. It's that business acumen again.
But that is my point; the great paradox of publishing is that whilst on one hand they justify, quite sensibly, their decisions on simple business nous, on the other they also try to concoct some sort of mystique about the whole process, and hence there are all sorts of industry protocols, accepted practices and snobbery which is quite frankly a load of nonsense. The industry is thus riddled with self important half-wits, (apart from a few notable exceptions) who, if they were in the business of manufacturing and selling any other product would be found out immediately.
Much more to come on this subject.
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