m. c. de marco: To invent new life and new civilizations...

On the Survival of Rats in the Slush Pile

Someone on one of my mailing lists mentioned On the Survival of Rats in the Slush Pile by Michael Allen. From the blurb:

In his latest extended essay, Allen uses the ideas of the mathematician-philosopher Nassim Nicholas Taleb to demonstrate that success for writers and publishers is governed by randomness (chance) to a far greater extent than is generally realised.

You can download the free PDF at the link above.