Love your writing and your honesty, JW. The publishing industry really does suck. Even the so-called "hip" ones. I accidentally discovered I was a writer when I was 20, and made a conscious decision never to write for money, b/c I didn't want others telling me what/how to write. Instead, I've followed Emerson's dictum to write for an eternal audience. I have to confess that I allowed one fancy agent and hip publisher to woo me when I was writing my first book, "Climate Sense: Changing the Way We Think & Feel About Our Climate in Crisis," but in the end they dropped me at the altar. "Never agan," I said. Been self-publishing ever since, and reaching the people I need to reach. Don't let the bastards get you down!