Reply #163: Well, there are still some editors that sell authentically great books at a loss for the prestige

[themadstork]

that comes with it. They're dwindling, but they're out there.

But yeah, the model you describe in your last paragraph is truly exciting. I think eventually we'll end up with something like the inverse of the patronage system, where each working artist is supported by a small group of loyal fans--perhaps even those fans are "subscribers" and are regularly sent the artist's work, or even allowed to give feedback on drafts, etc. There are so many great places this could go. We'll probably see a situation where megasellers go all but extinct, but a great many writers are earning a nice supplementary income from their work.