This is a misconception - it's like saying Hollywood is worried about Youtube celebs. There was an episode on "What's the point" (a 538 podcast) where book pub

This is a misconception - it's like saying Hollywood is worried about Youtube celebs. There was an episode on "What's the point" (a 538 podcast) where book publishers talked about how they use data in their industry. Publishers are primarily interested in cultivating "star" authors and use social media + a number of other signals to find them. They were asked about it and basically said that the hostility between publishers and self-published authors is only perceived, and in reality the self-publishing makes it easier to find the star authors and pick them up.