Like other cultural industries, publishing is founded on hits. Yet the business of predicting best sellers remains an enigmatic art—the province chiefly of gut instinct and educated guess. Sometimes these faculties serve the industry well; other times not so much, especially when it comes to first-time authors. J. K. Rowling and John Grisham endured serial rejection before landing the deals that brought their work to the masses. E. L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey found a traditional publisher only after it had been self-published.
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