/lit/ - Literature

Guys, I actually have a serious and legitimate problem.
I went to my local Coles bookstore (and also the one in the next town over).
I browsed the only section worth browsing in a megacorp bookstore (Literature-Fiction).

As I was going through, I was mildly raging on the inside at the horrendous selection. Then I stopped and all the sudden a blackness came over me. I was unaware of the bookstore or the people in it anymore: it was just me and the vast expanse of the universe.

A thought took hold of me and wouldn't let go.

Out of all the books that you have just seen, how many of them will be read? There are millions of fiction books that are written. You only have one life time to read all the books that you can, that is, until life takes you by the balls and your free time is condensed to the weekends. With this precious time, you must decide wisely on which books you shall read. You must read only the best.

But surely, there are tons of filthy books that aren't wroth reading. Shit books probably comprise 99% of the books ever published. What makes a book stand above all the others? How many books have been published that actually had merit, but nobody ever cared about. How many books have been recognized, sold well, and acclaimed, when they actually suck the balls of Hades?

I think I have good novel ideas, but how would they fair if I cast them out into the book world: which would be like adding a grain of sand to a beach. How does one become a diamond in the rough in the modern book industry?

Lordy.
So many books, so little time, how does one find a niche.