Writing a novel was the goal, in and of itself, so it wasn't a priority for me to know anything about the publishing industry before I started. I wrote my fiction novel in a vacuum, but three years, and many revisions later it occurred to me to take a look to see what my options might be should I ever try to publish. So much information! It was pretty overwhelming, but I found out what I needed to know.
Traditional publishing is pretty clear cut. The path is as old as time, well established, and there isn't much variation on what it takes to get in or how it works. Once you dig deeper into other publishing options is when it gets a little bit confusing. Words like small press, indie publishing, hybrid publishing, partnership publishing, self publishing, pay to publish, and vanity publishing get thrown around and they often mean different things depending on who's talking about it.