I recently saw a self published author claim that the reason their manuscripts (be they novels, non-fiction, short fiction, or poetry) were constantly rejected by publishers is because traditional publishers (and specifically the big 6 New York Houses) “won’t take chances on new authors.” Contrary to popular opinion, publishers — even New York — publish brand new never before seen authors every single year.

When a writer claims that, they’ve just shown in one sentence their complete and utter...