Should You Use a Vanity Press?
Recently I was asked by another writer if I thought she should use a vanity book publisher. With self-publishing so popular nowadays, I didn’t even realize vanity publishers were still out there, but sure enough she had one in mind. I gave her my thoughts, but you may feel different, and if so, I welcome your reasons.
In my opinion, vanity book publishers will publish almost anything that’s submitted. They exist to make money. They really don’t care if you sell a lot of books (though, of course, that’s a bonus) since they get their money up front.
For years I heard sob stories from writers (usually elderly people) who had a book published by a vanity publisher. Some spent as much as $15,000 to have their book published, now had boxes of books in their basements and hadn’t sold more than a handful. Whether the book was well written or poorly written, the main problem was the publisher either forced the writer to purchase X number of copies as part of the contract or promised the book would be distributed nationally but only put the book’s information on a sales brochure that was nationally distributed.
Amazon, BarnesandNoble, IngramSpark and others allow writers to self-publish at a fraction of the cost a vanity publisher charges, even considering the expense of hiring free-lance editors, cover artists, and publicists. The writer has control over the quality of a self-published book and over the receipt of the money. Yes, some of the self-pub books out there are terrible, but that’s usually because the writer didn’t take the time and spend the money to find a good editor. At least the writer had the opportunity to produce a book with few errors rather than hoping the vanity publisher actually edited the book.
But what if the writer doesn’t want to become a publisher? What if formatting a book, having it edited, finding a cover, and advertising the book is going to be too difficult and traditional publishers, for some reason, don’t want to publish the book. (Or maybe the writer doesn’t even want to go through the process of getting an agent or publisher. Again, for some of those elderly people I talked to in the past, they just wanted the book published.)
My favorite site for checking up on agents and publishers is WRITERS’ BEWARE so I looked at what was said on that site about vanity publishing. If you’re considering using a vanity publisher or a hybrid, check this out.
https://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/vanity/
Also, read what Reedsy has about Vanity Publishers.
https://blog.reedsy.com/scams-and-publishing-companies-to-avoid/
Every writer has to decide what will work best for him or her, just make sure you know your options and the drawbacks before you make that final decision.
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Hi Maris,Speaking only for myself, I would not deal with a vanity press–but I don’t self-publish either. If a traditional publisher won’t publish my work, it will simply remain unpublished. But I understand that other people may feel differently.
Jacqueline, I agree with you at least 75%. There are some books that will have such a small market, self-publishing them, in my opinion, is the only way to go. I self-published the last book in my P.J. Benson series because I didn’t think a traditional publisher would want to pick up a book that wasn’t truly a stand alone yet wouldn’t have other books coming after it. (The one publisher who might have published it is booked for the next two years.)
Thank you, Maris, for explaining some choices that authors have now and some of the differences authors need to consider when making that choice. All the best, Annette
You’re welcome, Annette. You and I are familiar with at lot of the terms and publishing opportunities available, but the writer who recently contacted me about a vanity press had no idea if it was a good deal or not, other than it sounded like a lot of money to her. I’m glad she decided not to sign the contract.
I checked into vanity press and found them too expensive. (Reedsy was also but not as bad) then I found The Wild Rose Press that does it on an a’la carte basis inc. sending it out to all the main sales places. Each item has a fee and you order what you want from them. They walk you through how to submit info to them. The books are printed as ordered so they seem pricy, but that’s what it costs. I love their extras for writers – even indies who work through them. I am under contract with them now and am so glad I did it that way. Regards to all, susan payne
Good information, Susan. Thanks for sharing. I know several writers who use Wild Rose Press and they seem happy with the results. Glad you found them.
I could very well be that writer who asked about vanity publishers and I could have easily gone that route had it not been for Maris and her wisdom. She graciously reached out to me when I contacted her with my questions and concerns and offered alternatives that I had no idea existed. How fortunate we are to have someone with Maris’s experience, and impressive background, who is kind enough to inform, to caution, and to guide us along this path. Her blogs are always timely and oh so helpful. Thank you Maris.
Thank you, Linda, for your kind words. What is so sad is there are many writers who aren’t familiar with what’s available in publishing and Vanity Presses make everything sound wonderful. They’ll publish your book, distribute it, publicize it and they’ll do it all for a small price. Except that price generally turns out to be not so small and what is promised and what is actually provided aren’t quite the same. I’m glad you decided to try a different route, Linda.