Have you wondered why the novel you finished yesterday hasn't become a best seller yet? Author Seth Godin thinks he knows why:

The timeframe for the launch of books has gone from silly to unrealistic. When the world moved more slowly, waiting more than a year for a book to come out was not great, but tolerable. Today, even though all other media has accelerated rapidly, books still take a year or more. You need to consider what the shelf life of your idea is.

He has more advice here.

Oh and by the way, Randy Dotinga at the CSM gives you some reasons not to hate on those infant 'prodigy' authors too much. (Although we wouldn't ask you not to hate at all.)