Actually, you're wrong. The publishers often don't even have to listen to what the author wants. And here is an example of an author's opinion being shut down in the most heinous of ways.

How do you know that living authors have "a great amount of leeway"? there was a really good essay by author Deborah Copaken Kogan on Jezebel a few weeks back. She tried, in vain, to get serious titles and covers for her books but was overridden by the publisher every time. I used to work in publishing and although…

The only author I personally know (a woman who writes urban fantasy) did not have any choice in cover art. They asked her to describe her main character's appearance (pretty much just hair color, preferred clothing, any tattoos, weapons, etc) and then she got the standard "half naked woman holding a sword" cover. She…

Oh, I don't know about that. Plenty of living authors get very little say in what their covers look like. Certain genres are worse than others but your average author might have veto power, that's it.

Never complaining about my apartment again. Ever.

I saw everyone eating ice cream dogs in the Philippines. Now it all makes delicious sense!

Oh Ellen! Equality-based puns!

Like this shit:

It really does depend on where you live, though. My husband and I made a combined $100K straight out of undergrad and are nowhere near rich because we live in an expensive area. All the basics covered? Sure. But not rich.

Now a few years have passed and he's finished grad school and landed a crazy job halfway…

Its okay, you can hang out in your mansions, rich folks, we will meet you there.

I actually had a weird opposite experience to a lot of this. When I was single, I was all, "I really want to be with someone who's had some life experience." What happened? Wound up with someone who (at the time) was a virgin who'd only been in one relationship. I mean, don't get me wrong - it totally worked out. …

Out of all the horror and drama about this case, and everyone is piling on this dispatcher? Come on, people!

If they had just waited for it to evolve, they would have had the perfect mascot.

This is how it works: