Stop reading this now!

Go over to Sarah Hoyt's site and read this -- I'll be here when you come back:

Drinking Their Own Ink
Sometime ago I started talking about the problem with the publishers being that they were drinking their own ink. I.e. they make up stuff, put it on paper, and then piously believe it, as though it were a fact.

They tell themselves the bestsellers � you know, the ones they actually give publicity and support to and to whom they pay high advances � support their houses, and next thing you know, they�re believing it, and getting rid of midlisters left and right and becoming puzzled when the bottom line doesn�t improve. That�s because � duh � what they�re doing is roughly the equivalent of a steak restaurant deciding they make most of their money on the desserts and the appetizers, which are, of course, the highest priced in relation to cost on the menu. Therefore, they�re now going to serve only appetizers and desserts�

The problem goes way deeper than publishers, though � we have a whole slew of people drinking their own ink, starting with our own government. (Possibly because our government, our churches, our arts, our media, all draw for leadership from a pool of people who know each other, run in the same circles and were taught the same �truths� by the same mentors.)

Take that amazing froth of wishful thinking called the State of the Union address � did any thought go into what the speech writers wrote? No? I think not.

Nails! It! Be sure to scroll down and read the 240+ comments -- some great observations and debate there -- she hit a nerve with this post.