How do crappy books get published? Especially the ones that are used to torment generations of college students?

I'm not sure what books you were assigned to read in university, but I read some fantastic novels as a student. Of course, there were a few that I didn't care for, but that was mostly because I didn't like the style in which they were written - it wasn't because I thought that the craftsmanship was so poor as to suggest that the author didn't know what he or she was doing. It's important to keep in mind that taste is subjective. There's no definitive criteria for demonstrating talent just as there is no definitive criteria for pointing out a lack of talent. The fact that you don't like something only means that it doesn't appeal to you - it doesn't mean that everyone else is required to agree with you.

The books that are selected for university reading lists generally meet a certain set of standards. Not every book will tick every box, but by and large, the books that are chosen are chosen because they are well-written... because they provide insight and information regarding a specific time period, event, person or group of people... because they contain some moral lesson or raise some important question or issue that affords the reader the opportunity to form an opinion... or simply because they represent a particular style of composition that deserves to be analysed and enjoyed.

It's the books that many people read in their free time that I find to be terrible. Yes, I'll concede that a great many of the books that can be found on university campuses ought to have been switched out at some point. One needs only to look at the questions posted here to see that students across the English-speaking world are still being assigned the same books as they were 20 years ago:

"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", "All Quiet on the Western Front", "Animal Farm", 'Beowulf', "Brave New World", 'Candide', 'The Canterbury Tales', "The Catcher in the Rye", "Crime and Punishment", 'The Crucible', "Don Quixote", "Fahrenheit 451", "Frankenstein", "The Grapes of Wrath", "The Great Gatsby", 'Hamlet', "Heart of Darkness", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Lord of the Flies", "Night", "1984", "Of Mice and Men", "The Old Man and the Sea", "Pride and Prejudice", "The Scarlet Letter", etc.

It's not that there aren't some great books on that list, but I agree that it's past time to think about putting a new list together. These lists also tend to be weighed in the favour of American writers.

Were I English, I would doubtless like to see more British books on the list. I am puzzled by the omission from the current list of books, and from the suggestions, of Graham Greene who was, I read, one of the outstanding British authors of the 20th century. One of the Le Carre characters says he would like Greene better but for the pot pourri. Is that the problem? I think the Quiet American deserves consideration. Perhaps Robert Graves could also be added, e.g. I, Claudius.

If the college students feel 'tormented' by the books on their reading lists then I would ask what they're doing in college. Once they've been taught to say "D'you want fries with that?" or, in special cases "Have you tried our Beastly Bumper Burger, it's on spesh this week." Just release them into the wild.

They'll be happier.

You are gonna have to be more specific.

I don't know about the second part of your question. And it's hard since you didn't give any titles of "crappy" novels. But there are many people in this world who read for a variation of reasons and are all looking for something different in a book. Some don't care about grammar and punctuation etc they just want to be entertained. They just want to be scared or to feel the romance. The truth is, publishers care about one thing first. MONEY. That how crap like Twilight and fifty shades happen. They see something that will make money and they go gaga.

Some do care about quality, but I think it's mostly about an audience. I know some writers who can write very, very well and yet are constantly rejected because there is just a slim market for what they like to write.

A publishing house enters into a contractual agreement with an author, who is usually represented by an agent.

it's complex but they get agents

Not sure