Yeah. The social contract used to be that the publisher would do marketing, editing, layout, and physical production, and the author would make the words, and they worked in partnership so they could both make a living.
Now, the author does marketing, editing, and makes the words, and bargain basement third parties do layout and physical production, and the publisher sits in their office chair screaming into their headset “MORE, MORE, I WANT MORE, IT’S NOT ENOUGH”, thinking that if they can just shave the margins a little thinner and increase the already-bloated salaries they draw for doing literally nothing, then it’ll finally fill the gaping chasm deep within them.
Yeah. The social contract used to be that the publisher would do marketing, editing, layout, and physical production, and the author would make the words, and they worked in partnership so they could both make a living.
Now, the author does marketing, editing, and makes the words, and bargain basement third parties do layout and physical production, and the publisher sits in their office chair screaming into their headset “MORE, MORE, I WANT MORE, IT’S NOT ENOUGH”, thinking that if they can just shave the margins a little thinner and increase the already-bloated salaries they draw for doing literally nothing, then it’ll finally fill the gaping chasm deep within them.