Well, Josh, you must know that your options are limited: either use a publisher, or publish yourself. If you use a publisher, you know what you are
possibly letting yourself in for, and if you self-publish, then you need to invent your own characters. Painting all publishers with the same brush, though, is a mistake--a logical fallacy that doesn't do anything for your credibility. A good publisher invests money, provides time, and lends the company brand, which in turn convinces retailers to stock the product--the publisher, in fact, takes care of the business end so that we, the artists, can dream our dreams, and make our art, and share that art with as many people as possible. If you see the publisher as the enemy, you set up a hostile working relationship that has no way to resolve conflict. I'm not saying you have to use a publisher--I'm not saying that at all--but I am saying that you are savvy enough to realize that you either get over it and stop whining, or you do something about it.
