Reply #1: LOL....no, most often they're not.

[OneGrassRoot]

IMHO, the publishing industry started to implode in the mid-90s and has largely disintegrated since then. The quality of books published with traditional publishers versus well-written, self-published books is hard to distinguish as far as the writing; the only difference is the money behind the marketing of the book. There used to be several layers of editors working on a book, which greatly improved the quality of output. Nowadays, it seems paying a good proofreader, let alone an editor, is often not part of the budget, even with traditional publishing houses.

It's really a shame.