Book Publishing’s Mike Pence Problem | The New Republic

"Publishers provide venture capital for ideas," the authors wrote. "They advance money to authors, giving them the time and freedom to write their books.... Thousands of times every year, publishers take a chance on unknown authors and advance them money solely on the basis of an idea. By assuming the risk, publishers expect-and receive-a financial return." The letter was signed by a who's who of American writers: Stephen King, Michael Chabon, Donna Tartt, Lee Child, Ron Chernow, Ann Patchett, and Robert Caro, among many others.

This is more or less the story that publishers have told about themselves for decades. Publishers take chances, they nurture talent, they're constantly on the hunt not just for marketable books, but for ideas. The industry is, by extension, one of the most important protectors of speech in the country. It doesn't matter what the idea is or who it comes from, as long as it's bold and original.