I agree. A middle ground that's at least semi-curated would be great. I've read some self-published stuff that is absolutely, positively hideous. I've also read some from the other extreme that's excellent in all aspects. It's difficult to tell which model works best for unknown authors -traditional publishing with little help for a newbie, or self-publishing where you're competing with six million other books. Guess we just have to know that we're living through publishing history!

Thanks very much for reading and taking the time to respond.