/lit/ - Literature

How the fuck do half of these horrible science fiction / fantasy stories get published? I've flipped through enough as a sort of standards test in the industry so that I could be sure that my book was of a publishable quality.

And you know what? My piece is objectively better than half the garbage in the "New Releases" section of my bookstore. I don't mean that I'm a good writer or anything CLOSE to one. What I mean is that the industry is glutted with horrendous works.

How do these people get published, /lit/?

How does /lit/ feel about self-publishing?

>submitted my manuscript to five literary agents and a publisher
>know that pic related is going to happen, but still have to wait weeks on end for a response

I know some of you have felt the same feels. What sort of untold agonies should I expect?

>science fiction and fantasy
I have one place.