I have a question for you.

I’ve heard from some more recently published writers that they feel (perhaps) increased pressure and less support from publishers than once existed. They feel that if their sales numbers don’t increase quickly –and we all know that nowadays authors and illustrators are expected to do a lot of PR on their own, maintain online presence, etc.–that they will be dropped in favor of another new author’s first book. This is good for some eager new author, but he or she will face the same predicament very soon, so in the long run, it’s not so good. And the new writer who shoots to the top of the best seller list with a first book is very rare, though publishers, and certainly writers, too, always hope for such a lightning strike.

In the not so distant past it was expected that midlist authors would grow a career more slowly and steadily, with a reasonable amount of publishing house support. (Midlist means just what it sounds like–anyone not a total beginner but not at the very top of the profession, either.) Most writers and artists spend their careers in midlist, and often earn honors and a well respected name in the process, even if not necessarily known worldwide.

If this attitude of publishers has changed, and if pressure is more intense now, I’m wondering what can be done to help authors. And I’d like to hear from you, and what you’ve heard from your friends or garnered from your own experiences.