Have you heard of the book Soundings by Hamilton Gibbs? No? According to Publishers Weekly, it was the best selling book of 1925. But F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby didn't even crack the top 10. In 1960, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird didn't reach the top tier either, although two of John O'Hara's steamy novels did climb that lofty pinnacle of consumer choice. In 2011, nearly 350,000 new book titles were published. How many of them will still be read in 2061? In 2099?

If magnificent books by authors like Fitzgerald and Lee had a hard time competing in the ‘20s and ‘60s, what are writers to do today to get their books to readers? What if they have something valuable to share but they're not quite of the caliber of those esteemed writers? How many good – or great – books are being overlooked in today's market?

There are tectonic shifts occurring in the publishing industry. The major houses that remain are money-driven in order to survive. It is challenging even for established authors to get publishing deals unless their last book was a best seller. Emerging authors face an even more daunting task to get their untested work accepted by the established players.

Meanwhile, the smaller, more independent publishers are also competing for readership, using tightly stretched budgets to market their authors' works. E-books are turning the industry on its ear as reading – and buying – habits are changing. Self-publishing is possibly the fastest growing segment, benefitting from both technological advances in publishing and a traditional industry that is less willing to groom new talent. Regardless of how a book gets published today, more responsibility for marketing is falling on writers' shoulders.

People are still hungry for good books. “Good” is subjective, of course. But people will buy only what they see promoted – and that's where literary art and marketing art diverge. We read about best sellers every day. I am glad for the authors – brilliant or pallid – that climb the pinnacles of best-sellerdom. But I can't help the sad feeling that we are not doing enough to help elevate the new great books by unsung authors that should be read and kept alive for future generations.