I’ve been hearing and reading some disturbing articles lately re the publishing industry. The most distressing is how the market’s flooded with “graffiti” writers, meaning bloggers with no regard for the craft. The same bunch of characters you often bump into or bump into you on the web. The practice has caused a large amount of slush piles on editor’s desks. The consequence of this is that aspiring legitimate writers are being lost in the shuffle, so to speak. There’s also mention that if a writer dreams of having a story published he better know somebody in the field i.e. a friend, family member or God himself. Another alarming article suggests using something called a “Pre-publisher”, google this and get details first hand; it’s not easy to understand. First it was POD then e-books, now we have Pre-Publishing or is it PP? What it all boils down to is that the traditional way of query and submit may be on the way out. My impression is that overwhelmed publishers and agents are now concentrating on established money makers ONLY. I would love to be wrong but my rejection slips and lately the lack of them suggests otherwise. Due to computers and the internet, the writing community has risen well above normal. Housewives are number one on the list, followed by the so called Graffiti crowd. Writers, let’s be realistic, the world is changing around us as we type our souls out. This brings up another topic, predators. Heartless beasts lurking out there waiting to pounce on gullible writers with offerings of get-rich-quick schemes. You’ve seen the buy this or that to make you a better writer scams. Some are legit and serve some purpose but others including some agents and publishers are sharks in disguise. If further evidence shows the aforementioned is a national trend, I will bow out, say the hell with it and turn to blogging.