My 'Empire' series might have given some of the 'sensitivity readers' heart failure. The MC's more or less loyal citizens of an empire with definite racial dislikes that include 'Pasties' (pale skinned humans of a conquered nation, regarded as heathen demon worshippers), Saban's (blacks, legally condemned to the lower social orders, most often as slaves), and goblins (viewed as either menials or fit for extermination, depending on what part of the empire you are in). Elves are seen as a race of dangerous mind-bending sorcerers - but provide enough interesting trinkets to be 'acceptable in small numbers' ('this is the elf enclave. Stay put unless you're heading out of town.) Dwarves, oddly, are viewed merely as short humans with somewhat longer lifespans. (Most dwell in human cities.)
I don't think gatekeeper lead to great books and vice-versa. Plenty of trad-published books are bad, and plenty of indie books are great. I do agree that the bar for indie books is much lower. Basically any collection of letter can be published.But what those gatekeepers do is to refuse poorly written books, and if the good authors are to have any chance of making any sort of income from their writing then those gatekeepers are needed. Because there is a lot of rubbish out there clogging up the search results, as is shown by the sheer number of self-published books which come out every year.
So in fact there are gatekeepers even for indie books, in the form of Kobo, BookTube, BookTok, Bookhub and others. They just turn up after you've done all the writing, editing, formatting etc. What is the difference between them and an agent, publishers editors or newspaper/periodical reviewers? It's still one or two people making a decision about whether to recommend your book to others.I don't think gatekeeper lead to great books and vice-versa. Plenty of trad-published books are bad, and plenty of indie books are great. I do agree that the bar for indie books is much lower. Basically any collection of letter can be published.
I don't think that makes a case for trad-publishers though. Not all that many readers care about who the publisher is, or can even name the publisher of a book. Rather, it makes algorithms more important, as well as agregators. People look for people who can tell them what to read. It's why Bookbub is so succesful, and things like BookTube and BookTok. They dig through all the rubbish and advice people on what to read.
As a side-note, most algorithms are pretty dumb. Just searching for keywords and synonyms. On the other hand, many online stores still work with editorial recommendations. Places like Kobo handpick the books they place on their front page.
Sorry, I had to be more clear. I meant the algos from stores other than Amazon. Amazon's is indeed fairly smart, in that it considers a lot more than just the words you search for. And especially when ranking results it's very good at doing it in such a way that Amazon makes the most money of the results.From what I've read, Amazon's algos (no one even knows how many) do much more than this and are much more focused on tracking what is bought, by whom, when, via what pathway, and so on. That ties over to Amazon ads, which entails another clutch of algos.
As Skip mentioned, it's different in that in the past the gatekeepers kept you from publishing. Now, your book is out. And it's not so much gatekeeping as marketing. Amazon and all the stores could give your book no love at all, and you can still sell it using ads. Or you can create TikTok videos, or reaching out to influencers, or posting on forums or facebook groups. All of that is more marketing than gatekeeping. And it has little to do with either you as a person or the content of your book. Anyone can create a youtube channel or post on social media. Almost anyone can create facebook and amazon ads.So in fact there are gatekeepers even for indie books, in the form of Kobo, BookTube, BookTok, Bookhub and others. They just turn up after you've done all the writing, editing, formatting etc. What is the difference between them and an agent, publishers editors or newspaper/periodical reviewers? It's still one or two people making a decision about whether to recommend your book to others.
Please spare us that sort of conspiracy theory. Publishers don't make that sort of collective decision. Not the big 6 in the English speaking parts of the world and not the big 2 here in Sweden. A competent agent will usually find a publisher for your English language book. You may not be published under one of the major imprints and you won't get a seven figure advance, but you will be published. Even here in Sweden there are publishers who will take your Swedish/Norwegian/Danish/Finnish language book - but it might not be Bonniers. In fact, most new authors don't start with the big publishers. Terry Pratchett certainly didn't, and neither did Dick Francis. All (?) you need is a decent book.That is very different from there being 6 big publishers who collectively decide who does and does not get published.
I didn't mean that they somehow conspire and all sit together and discuss which author they'll publish over a game of poker. They are, after all, competitors. And each of them would love to find the next Brandon Sanderson or Terry Pratchett or Stephen King.Please spare us that sort of conspiracy theory. Publishers don't make that sort of collective decision. Not the big 6 in the English speaking parts of the world and not the big 2 here in Sweden. A competent agent will usually find a publisher for your English language book. You may not be published under one of the major imprints and you won't get a seven figure advance, but you will be published. Even here in Sweden there are publishers who will take your Swedish/Norwegian/Danish/Finnish language book - but it might not be Bonniers. In fact, most new authors don't start with the big publishers. Terry Pratchett certainly didn't, and neither did Dick Francis. All (?) you need is a decent book.
No, that is a commercial decision about whether they think they'll recover the costs of publishing your book. In short, will your book sell?I didn't mean that they somehow conspire and all sit together and discuss which author they'll publish over a game of poker. They are, after all, competitors. And each of them would love to find the next Brandon Sanderson or Terry Pratchett or Stephen King.
However, collectively they controlled the majority of the market (as in 70%+). If those 5 publishers all decided not to publish your book then you're quickly running out of options. Same in Sweden or the Netherlands. There simply is a limited number of publishers here, and once I've tried them all then my book doesn't get published. That is the very definition of gatekeeping. Not because of some conspiracy, but simple because there is a limited number of publishers and an almost limitless number of books waiting to be published. There's a reason pretty much all royalty % for authors are the same. It's not because those are somehow magical numbers. It's simply because there is a limited number of companies who all look to one another to see what they're doing.
And just having a decent book isn't enough. There are plenty of stories of bestselling authors who submitted multiple times before getting published. Harry Potter was rejected 12 times before being picked up, and that was apparently only because the kid of the editor read the first part of the manuscript and wanted to read more.
For me this is the very definition of gatekeeping, which is what this discussion is about. In regards to publishing, a gatekeeper is someone who decides who gets published and who doesn't. And if there is a limited number of companies, who put out a limited number of books each year, and those are all the people who get published in that year, then those people are the gatekeepers of publishing.No, that is a commercial decision about whether they think they'll recover the costs of publishing your book. In short, will your book sell?