Some confuse self-publishing with the services offered by vanity publishing. In reality, these two are very different practices. One puts all of the work on the author while the other aims to empty your bank account. Which is better for your situation?
In all fairness, there are some vanity publishers out there who genuinely want to help new authors. However, their name is marred in various writing communities because of the dirty practices of others.
Still, they managed to find a place in the publishing world. But vanity publishing is not the same as self-publishing.
Self-Publishing and Vanity Publishing Differences
A vanity publisher’s only goal is to make money off of its authors. They provide a variety of paid services to help you get your book in print. However, none of the financial risk is on the vanity publisher.
On the contrary, they’re getting paid whether you sell a single book or not.
This means you have to pay your way to have a book published, which can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000, depending on the services. Some will go even further, costing more than a brand-new car in many cases.
If you’re curious just how bad vanity publishers can be, my sister used Tate Publishing. It was a widespread scandal to bilk authors out of a lot of money. To this day, my sister has yet to see her royalties.
Pros and Cons of Vanity Publishing
PROS
- You’ll publish sooner than trad publishing
CONS
- Usually costs thousands of dollars upfront
- You don’t own the ISBN, the publisher does
- Lower standards of publishing
- Usually no marketing assistance
- Lower distribution capability
- Minimum sales before payouts
- Negative community stigma
- Losing ownership rights
The only real advantage of using a vanity publisher is to get your book out sooner than if you query agents, get picked up by a publisher, revamp your book, and schedule a release date.
According to the Greenleaf Book Group, it can take up to three years to see your book published. Alternatively, vanity publishers can help you get it out in a matter of months if not weeks. It depends on how much editing you’ll need to do for your book.
Even that is dependent on the vanity publisher as some of them have incredibly low standards. These low standards can help you get the book out, but it won’t have the fine-tuning to make for a good read. The end result is lower ratings and fewer sales, not to mention damaging your reputation as an author.
Ok, but what about distribution channels? Many vanity publishers will use the same systems we use for self-publishing, which can include IngramSpark and Draft2Digital. Vanity publishing companies rarely have access to bookstores or major distribution channels, not to the extent of traditional publishing houses, anyway.
Depending on the contract, you could also lose some of the rights to your manuscript, have to meet a minimum payment threshold, and have to handle the majority of the marketing yourself. Also, the ISBN of the book usually belongs to the vanity press.
The practices of vanity publishing companies stoke the fires of being a scam. You’re paying a lot of money for very little return in the grand scheme of things. Sure, there may be a few vanity presses out there that might be helpful. But most are going to take your money and leave you in the lurch.
They may list your book for you on Amazon or post it on their website. But for many vanity publishers, that is the extent of their marketing prowess.
How Self-Publishing Differs from Vanity Publishing
Publishing the book yourself is much different from using a vanity press. The only common element is that you have to buy your own services. However, self-publishing is often cheaper as you’re cutting out the middleman.
For instance, both a self-publishing author and a vanity press author will have to pay for a graphic designer to make a book cover. If you find the graphic designer yourself, you don’t have to worry about extra fees a vanity publisher might tack on. Or, perhaps it’s all rolled into a $10,000 package, but you can hire a great designer for less than $300.
That’s even if you decide to hire anyone. There’s nothing wrong with designing the cover yourself if you have a knack for graphics.
My point is that self-publishing is often cheaper than a vanity press because you are paying the fees directly to the professional in question, in this example, the graphic designer.
The hardest part is finding affordable professionals for the services you might need, such as editing or book art. At least, finding affordable professionals who are trustworthy. However, if you join various writing and author communities on social media, a lot of successful self-published authors can point you in the right direction.
The entire process of publishing your book rests solely on your shoulders. The good thing about it, though, is that you are also the sole owner of all the rights to your book. The only rights you share are those imposed by Amazon or any other distributor you want to use. Nonetheless, these companies can’t do anything major to your novel without your say-so.
The IP (intellectual property) is still under your absolute control. That is unless you sign over your rights using some nefarious distribution platform or sign a contract to the contrary.
Being a successful self-published author is an incredible amount of work, especially when it comes to marketing. However, there are a lot of self-published authors out there who have hit the #1 selling points of Amazon and other platforms. So, it is possible to gain a great deal of success publishing the book yourself.
What is Hybrid Publishing?
Hybrid publishing is when an author and the publisher essentially share the financial risks of producing a good book. Although you’ll still have various fees involved, the best hybrid publishers will do everything they can to help make your book a success.
A hybrid publisher usually handles things like production, marketing, distribution, and editing of the manuscript. Of course, this is after a set fee is agreed upon by the author and hybrid publisher. The trade-off is that the author may earn a higher percentage of the royalties as opposed to traditional publishing.
At the end of the day, you’re still paying some upfront costs to a hybrid publisher, but they do far more work to get your book successful than a vanity publisher.
Unfortunately, a lot of vanity publishers will use “hybrid” as a term to entice new authors to use their services. That’s mostly because of the negative stigma that centers around vanity publishing.
In a nutshell, hybrid publishers are not as anal about the manuscript as a traditional publishing house but will do far more work for you than vanity publishers. Keep in mind, though, that a lot of hybrids will stroke your ego to get you to pony up the dough. They’re still in it to make money, after all.
What Style of Publishing Is the Best?
The best method of publishing really depends on the author. Some would rather query agents until the end of time rather than use self-publishing methods, and others are OK with forking money over to vanity presses or hybrids.
It comes down to your wants and needs. If you don’t mind waiting years for anyone to read your book, if an agent or publishing house actually signs you, then going the traditional route is best.
If you don’t mind doing all of the work yourself and paying various expenses out of pocket to produce the best book you can in a matter of months, self-publishing is the better path. Not to mention that you’ll make more royalties with self-publishing than any other method.
But I would suggest staying away from vanity publishing companies. Most don’t care what your book looks like as long as you fork over the upfront fees. And if you decide to try a hybrid publisher, make sure you thoroughly research the company online.
One of the reasons I’ve built this website is to help with self-publishing. It’s my goal to show the services I’ve used and how well things do and don’t work. My hope is to save you some time while helping you make the decision on what services you need and want.
Creating Your Own Publishing House
A lot of authors will create their own publishing house when self-publishing, which is a far cry from vanity presses. In this instance, they’ll set up a company and run everything through the house while potentially taking on other authors.
Creating a publishing house of your own is nothing difficult. However, it will be extremely time-consuming, especially if you’re doing all of the legwork yourself.
Essentially, you start a business complete with a license, EIN, and trademark – of which I’ve helped create many. It’s not hard, just takes a lot of time.
In the case of a publisher, though, it’s best that you create a KDP account as the publishing company on Amazon, understand copyright law, and consider legal advice. This is in addition to the normal processes of any business such as marketing strategies, funding for services, tax liabilities, and creating business goals.
It’s a lot of work to properly set up a publishing house business.
Always Be Wary of Paying Anything to Anyone
Before you spend money on a vanity publisher or self-publishing services, always do your research. You want the money you spend to be an investment with returns, not a money pit that burns your bank account.
Considering how some services cost thousands of dollars, you want to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth.
One of the best things you can do is network with credible authors and writers on social media. There are a lot of folks out there who want nothing more than to see you succeed. And a lot of them might turn you on to services they’ve used with stunning results.
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