As little as ten years ago, the only legitimate way to publish a book and realize sales across the country was to go through the big New York publishers. Writers would either get an agent to shill for them or submit their manuscripts themselves, adding to the infamous "slush pile."
Gems were found in this pile and occasionally polished into bestseller diamonds, but like finding a gem while strolling by a stream, it was a rare occasion. The vast majority of books never saw a reader's bookshelf, because the public's access to new writing was vetted by that limited number of agents and editors who controlled what was published and what never saw the light of day.
