Many good, thoughtful comments . . . oh, wait . . . that may have been the point. My experience with commercial publishing leads me to believe that 'comforting reading' offers guaranteed sales (and from a publisher's POV justifies promotion). There are a limited number of acceptable plots. Arts and (for now) education pushes back against the commercial industry. Submit a story about a paedophile who falls in love with a 13-year-old and the two die in a suicide pact and they'll send you packing before you can cough, "Romeo and Juliet!" The modern market applauds avenging heroes. Shakespeare would have none of it: those seeking vengeance will have vengeance revisited on themselves. Shakespeare was agreeing with God who said, "Vengeance is mine." Back to my personal experiences: my typo-filled prose was never an issue. They loved my voice. However, they insisted the content be changed. In a generational story, a battle between nature and nurture . . . think Cane and Able vs Groundhog Day. They wanted me to reduce the number of sibling murders and take out my best bit. . . Knowing the history, the pregnant mother plans to have her unborn twins adopted to different families so as they will never meet. Within hours of the mother's decision, one twin strangles the other with the umbilical chord - how cool? IMO Literature should be educational, informative, and educational before it is comforting and entertaining. Currently, the majority of the readership is like having kids being able to choose their own diet - they're going to choose candy everyday. They're teeth are going to drop out, they'll develop diabetes, become obese, and they'll die.
I may not have much moral high ground with umbilical cord deaths but that doesn’t sound like something I would want to read. Infanticide isn’t going to be super well received unless it’s a story about grief, redemption, recovery, etc. as just another example of one twin killing the other, I think most readers will feel revolted maybe that makes me a diabetic.
I believe the magic in writing - and in the greater sense, art - is to provide your message through a medium that appeals to the desired audience of your message. That is, to pack the message of your caesar salad into the shape and taste of a chocolate bar.
