If you’re a writer, you’ve probably been exposed to the classical mythology of the publishing industry. No, we’re not talking about editors with winged sandals shuttling manuscripts between city skyscrapers, or publishers sitting like Zeus with his thunderbolts in the clouds, looking down on the helpless little writers of the world.

We’re talking about the myths that writers and others in the publishing industry perpetuate about books and literary journals, even though they are mostly inaccurate. Read on as we lead you through the labyrinth of publishing myths, and we take them down like Theseus tackling the Minotaur.