That's a good point--it'd be nice to know who to blame for the poorer quality of later books. Unfortunately, it's more often than not the author who lands in hot water with readers because of the writing. Writing is a long process--I'm not sure how any writer (especially those with series) can pop out a book in a year or less based on demand. I'd rather wait longer for a better product, but I don't think publishers (or greedy authors) would see it that way!
I find it so difficult to enjoy books when the writing is bad. It's an integral part of the story for me. I was talking about this with my roommate once--I hated a book that she really enjoyed. I just kept saying, "But the writing was so awful" and she kept saying that the story was so great. It's incredibly difficult for me to separate the two things, no matter how good the story might have seemed to me. I may give My Name is Memory a shot and see how I feel about her writing there, but often popular series (like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pant) are adored for their story--not their groundbreaking writing. :/
