A number of studies show that a bottle of wine priced at $100 will taste better than a bottle priced at $5, even if the contents are identical. Similarly, a painting by an acknowledged master will get tens of millions of dollars, but the same work by anonymous might warrant $1 at a garage sale.
Well, the same principle applies in writing since a novel by J. K. Rowling will sell tens of millions of copies, yet (as the Times points out) the same book by unknown author Robert Gailbraith sells only a few thousand copies.
Of course, Rowling had to start out as an unknown, too, so it’s not impossible to rise, but it has to feel discouraging for beginning novelists.
