Assmosis

I love learning new words and urban dictionary is a good source. Here's one I encountered lately:

assmosis

According to the urban dictionary it means:
The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss.

And it got me wondering how many people get published not because of their talent or burning ambition but because of assmosis. There is no shortage of people in the business to suck up to: agents, editors, other published authors. Anyone in fact who can put a word in for you.

Networking is generally regarded as a Good Thing, but at what point does it become assmosis? I've seen it on some writers' boards - the double standard that says We the Publishers and Published are better than You the Wannabe and so you better tug your forelock and bend the knee and hope we like you enough to give you a chance. And a lot of wannabes play the game for all it's worth, showering praise and sucking up shamlessly as if their very life depended on it. Yes, plenty of wannabes play the game, but does it get you anywhere in the end?

I'd like to think not. That kind of grovelling really turns my stomach. And surely writers should be more concerned with Truth than demeaning themselves this way?

But people being people, I'm sure there are those who rise to the top by sucking the hardest. So if you lack talent or driving ambition, have you ever considered assmosis?