PS

On the other hand, this publisher seems much more promising. They have several books in the collection of my local library, books (and writers) that are sometimes also published by mainstream houses and get reviewed by journals like Publisher Weekly. The stories also sound like they have more potential.

I've just requested a handful of them from the library to see if they live up to that potential.

However, this final sentence from a PW review of one of their books (that will remain nameless) does return me to something like my earlier state of agitation:

Although the author, who completed this novel shortly before her 80th birthday, lacks the skills of romance heavies Steele and Krantz, her story will be appreciated for its pastoral atmosphere by readers who yearn for a fiery romantic yarn that accommodates an alternative lifestyle.

"Lacks the skills of romance heavies Steele and Krantz."

I'm just gonna go die now.