It is aimed at producing a bestseller by any means. This policy serves, in fact, to do more damage than good to the writing community in general. For one writer who gets published today, there are at least ten talented writers who are left out, because there are no standard criteria for selection. Then the publisher who has not raked in enough of money from one project, would naturally be reluctant to take chance with other writers. The reality today is that many big publishers have already suffered because of their hefty advances.
Publishing now proves to be a kind of gamble, and they are never sure of winning it anyway.
Expectedly, they will be more and more choosy in their enterprises, and since they have not enough idea of what a good book really is, the selection will be guided more and more by gut instincts and market forces rather than by the merit of a book. This is sure to affect the writers, specially the first-time novelists. The big advance is indeed a bane in the guise of a boon. All rights reserved. Used under License.