As for the gatekeeper, the acquisition editors and the agents, that model imploded a long time ago when the publishers basically
outsourced the
slush pile to the agents, thus turning them into freelance employees
of the publisher and away from being the advocate for writers and their work.
Publishers, responding to a huge influx
of inappropriate submissions, dumped books into the
slush pile,
outsourced the reading
of said
pile and sent form rejection letters.