The main benefit I receive from publishers is filtering. Even the worst publisher printing unbelievable shlock is light years ahead of the garbage in the publishing anteroom, the slush pile.<p>With that, the greatest blog post on publishing of all time, "Slushkiller":<p><a href="http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004641.html" rel="nofollow">http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004641.html</a>