Something that struck me is that when it comes to fiction and changes in fiction, we almost always think of authors. Be they authors we love or hate, we assign them with a superhuman ability to drive trends and changes in publishing. That's not quite right, though.
We love authors! We love the fantasy of creative people sequestered in solitude to craft stories for us. It's a fantasy with a strong hold over us, a fantasy upheld by profiles, biopics, and listicles, all undergirded by the expansive business of marketing and publicity. But
The story I tell is one where what publishers can publish and what publishers will publish is shaped in the context of business logics and what sorts of cultural work publishers think will be profitable to produce. The story of US fiction is one that involves the efforts publishers invest in shaping the tastes and preferences of those who pull the levers of the industry and the broader economy.
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