When a manuscript for a novel—especially a novel by an unknown writer—hits an editor’s desk, neither the author nor the editor really knows for sure whether the

When a manuscript for a novel—especially a novel by an unknown writer—hits an editor’s desk, neither the author nor the editor really knows for sure whether the story is going to be a hit, a bomb, or something in between. The current publishing world is organized so that the publisher, which has much deeper pockets than the author, commits money up front (not just the author’s advance but the salary of the editor and other personnel); if the book turns out to be a hit, the publisher takes on a better-than-50% share of the profit. This risk structure, as far as I can tell, is independent of the medium in which books are published. Also, when a publisher associates a certain imprint with a book, it advertises something about the book’s contents. (What image does “an O’Reilly book” or “a Baen book” evoke in your mind?) That kind of endorsement is extremely valuable to an author who hasn’t already become a celebrity, and an author-editor team working independently couldn’t duplicate that effect unless the editor was a celebrity. And by the time an author or editor becomes a celebrity, he or she has already built up a mutually profitable relationship with a publisher. (You don’t see Stephen King or J.K. Rowling offering their next books through lulu.com, do you?) Again, this effect has little to do with the medium in which books are published.