What is vanity publishing?
A. Vanity publishers, for a fee, will print and bind a book, register its copyright, provide an ISBN number, and offer a “package” of services including “promotion” and “marketing.” Despite their claims, these publishers will NOT get your book into bookstores, nor will the books be reviewed. They do, however, put your book on their web site and in their “catalog.” (When was the last time you shopped for a book in a vanity press catalog?) Although it would seem that vanity publishing is easier than self-publishing, you will be overcharged and the tasks will not be done any better (and usually worse!). Keep in mind that vanity publishers will publish anyone, regardless of the quality, and thus a stigma is attached to their products. To avoid this stigma, many vanity publishers call themselves “subsidy” publishers, which they are not. True subsidy publishing is a hybrid of traditional and self-publishing: the author pays a fee to the publisher but the publisher also contributes a portion
The Vanity Press is in essence a publisher, but without any scruples, they will publish anything; as long as the content is not illegal, and for a price, which it has to be said, is usually extremely high. We know some people regard ANY independent publisher who charges a fee as a ‘vanity publisher’ we however prefer to reserve the latter description to differentiate between the less scrupulous side of publishing and the more ethical side of the industry. Our ONLY interest is in offering a GENUINE service with GENUINE publicity (if required) whereby your manuscript is converted into a book which you will be incredibly proud to show people and which will HELP you in achieving literary success, even in a small way. A few years ago it wasn’t uncommon to be quoted up to 10,000 to use this method and there was no publicity or marketing support offered. Well let me elaborate there – they generally can offer publicity – to give a false impression that you are receiving terrific value, things
