auto-didact

What do you think about the information in this graphic? https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3BkwFa5qpaINjViNjc4UHlOa1U/edit

A friend and former coworker is a 5x published author and he stated that essentially, it's a networking game like all the rest of the world. Unknowns need a phat pedigree from a fancy school to even get an agent to crack open the draft. Random success stories are the exception rather than the rule.

Meh, that's nothing. I've seen some shit from the .com days where people are instructed to look at the board on the back of the room for their name, and then self-segregate into two rooms. One was the "you're laid off" room, the other was the "can you do 2x as much work?" room.

Company president standing by his new Mercedes telling everyone how sorry he is, and that it's just business.

Man, fuck that guy.

I'm not the OP, but I think I can answer your question and provide some inside into the point of contention between traditional and self-publishing.

Getting a book published is about moving your raw idea (in the form of a first draft) through a series of gates so it can become a finished book. Each of these gates (submitting manuscript, working with editor, working with publisher, etc) is a form of quality control. To be fair, quality control is a debatable point. Some industry veterans might describe it as purely a profit game. I don't care to comment.

The point is, when you're published, the literary community says, "Oh, this book is good." because all along the way, people who read your manuscript and worked with you saw value in it. Getting published is a sort of validation that you can hang.

Therein lies the crux of the fight between the industry and the self-publishers. Any jerkwad can self-publish; doesn't mean it's a good read.

... These are not my opinions, just perceptions. I am not a published author.

Worst and most self-aggrandizing AMA ever. This subreddit was way more interesting when it was garbage men and walmart warehouse managers.

This situation is terrible. Thanks for putting the spotlight on it.