I can't really see Amazon as anything but a boon for obscure writers, to be honest. I don't like them as a company, but as publishers, they beat traditional hou

I can't really see Amazon as anything but a boon for obscure writers, to be honest. I don't like them as a company, but as publishers, they beat traditional houses on every scale. Getting published via traditional means essentially works through networking, luck, and a bit of skill - and the amount of support the book receives is also predicated mostly on the first two. Amazon, on the other hand, offers great discoverability, especially if you write something people really like. A lot of great writers had trouble getting published using the traditional system. Nietzsche, or HP Lovecraft, or Marechera, for instance. The traditional publishing industry had a purpose - to turn manuscripts into print, with a side of helping people discover good books. They're now irrelevant for printing, and they were always terrible at the discovery thing.