the reality v the idea of being published

It's frustrating sometimes that there is the reality of  publishing and then there's the idea of what publishing should be about that many authors, especially first time authors, hold. And there can be quite a gap. The myth of publishing is often much stronger than anything we can say about what the process is really going to be like.

In my publishing world: some good books fail and some bad books succeed, and there is never a guarantee of success. Critical successes are sometimes best-sellers and sometime not. Hard work helps, but success strikes at surprising times. Publishing is illogical and strange, and like any business, it involves risk, and risk management, which is one of the thing that makes an exciting business to be in. It's certainly not "fair".