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Beware vanity publishers posing as something they’re not.

Now that “self publishing” is becoming a more acceptable (and often more lucrative) way for people to get their books in print, unscrupulous vanity publishers are changing their name to take advantage of unwitting authors.

In this exposé we’ll look at the differences between self publishing, vanity publishing and mainstream publishing and help you choose the right approach for you.

Does This Post Make You Angry? Please Don’t Comment Unless You’ve Read This First…

Now, just for the record, I’ve got nothing against publishing service providers charging authors for their services. If you’re a talented editor, cover designer, writing coach, typesetter or ghost writer and somebody needs your help then that’s great! A fair and honest exchange of value has taken place and I totally believe that people should be paid fairly for the value they provide.

Also, I’m sure there are companies operating a paid-for-publishing model who are providing an excellent service and whose authors are delighted to be with them. So if you know of one let me know because I’m always open to being pleasantly surprised!

For lots of fiction, poetry and very niche subjects – including your own life story – paying to get published may be the only way to get your first book in print with minimal knowledge. Just be aware that if you couldn’t get your book published by a proper publisher – there was probably a good reason!

Finally – I know the term “Vanity Publishing” has a lot of stigma attached and if you’re an author who’s paid then I understand why you’d also prefer it if you can say, “I didn’t use a vanity publisher – it was a subsidy/collaborative/cooperative/self publisher!” But I believe in calling a spade a spade – so please don’t take offence or get defensive until you’ve considered all the alternatives!

Sneaky Tactics Employed By Dodgy Vanity Publishers

I do have a problem with vanity publishers who pose as mainstream publishers by calling themselves a collaborative publisher, subsidy publisher, cooperative publisher or self-publisher and then charging authors over-the-odds prices for their often shoddy (or even more often – non-existent) work.

Here are a few real examples of the kind of thing I hear time and again from authors (I’ve not included names here because most of this has been said to me in confidence)…

“We corresponded for about 3 months or more with them asking to see more and more of the book (a novel) in question, just as a conventional publisher would. Finally they said they weren’t prepared to take it on in total due to financial constraints at the moment, but if I were prepared to contribute a “modest sum” they would go ahead. I knew straightaway then that it was a con, but phoned them anyway out of curiosity. Their idea of a “modest sum?” £2,800…..needless to say I told them where they could poke their publishing deal….”

“I was invited to join a publishing programme, where for just $7,000, I’d end up having a chapter in a book amongst some really big names in the self-improvement field while learning all about how to get published. They even said I’d get my name prominently on the front cover alongside these big names. It seemed like a no-brainer to me so I used some of my redundancy money to pay for it. It was only when I got the final book back that I realised what a fool I’d been. It was obvious that, except for the one or two ‘big name’ authors, they’d simply cobbled together a load of mediocre articles from amateur authors – making the book pretty close to useless. What’s worse is – the only way I could make any money from the sales of this book was by buying my own copies to sell direct or using their affiliate link to sell directly from their site. I wouldn’t get a penny from sales on Amazon or in bookstores either. It was little more than an expensive MLM programme and I doubt I’ll ever get my investment back. I feel like such an idiot for falling for this but I’m too embarrassed to warn people that it’s a scam because it will damage my reputation.”

“I sent her my manuscript and she sent me a contract and price list straight back. There’s no way she could have looked at the title – let alone made a judgement on whether my book would be viable or not. She was obviously only interested in taking my money. It’s a wonder people of this ilk manage to stay in business at all.”

“A poem I wrote and submitted to an online competition was chosen to be in an anthology collection of poems. I was so delighted and proud until I read on and realised it would only find its way into the anthology if I agreed to pre-order at least 10 over-priced copies – $49.99 each! – sight unseen – of the book. This is a really cruel and clever ploy to part genuine people (trying to get published) from their money.”

We Don’t Use The V-Word!

Debs met a book coach (who we now know just uses this as a front for her vanity press) at the London Book Fair in 2009 because she said she’d like to discuss working with us.

A little way into the conversation Debs discovered this so-called book coach had been kicked out of the IPG (Independent Publishers Guild) the previous year for trying to sell her “Co-Operative Publishing” deal from the stand!

So Debs, always one to say what she means, said, “So you’re really just a vanity publisher aren’t you?”

This person (who shall remain nameless – because she’s definitely the type to sue) pulled a face and replied, “Eee-ugh – you used the ‘V Word’ – how could you? We don’t like to use the ‘V Word’ in our business!”

Debs persisted and said, “But if you’re expecting authors to pay you to get published then that’s exactly what you are – unless I’ve missed something?”

Seeing she was getting nowhere fast the book coach simply went for what she really wanted and said, “Look – you send authors our way and we’ll pay you 50% – how’s that sound?”

Dirty Money? No Thank You! Debs ended the conversation and relationship with this person right there.

What Vanity Publishers Promise…

• You keep exclusive rights – that’s because they want your money not your book!
• You get complete control over the cover – in most cases that’s because they don’t plan to do any work on making it better. Plus – if the author is not a designer then giving them the freedom with the cover is almost always a bad idea!
• You get to buy your books whenever you need them – yes – but typically at a markup on what you’d get if you went direct to the printer yourself
• They’re better, cheaper, fairer etc than their competitors – I know it’s a vulgar expression but – “you can’t polish a turd” – comes to mind here! They’re still going to be a better version of a bad idea!

What They Typically Do (or Don’t Do)

• Put themselves between you and the same Print On Demand Printer used by almost all of their competitors – so they can make a mark up when selling you your own books.
• Make the process of getting ISBNs sound more difficult than it is so they can sell them to you at a profit even though you’ll never properly own the book’s ISBN number this way.
• Nothing in the way of editing (unless you pay them more than a proper editor would cost for less than a proper editor would do) or proofing before sending your book out to the paying public.
• Nothing in the way of design or proper typesetting – again unless you pay over the odds for them to outsource the work to a third-rate designer in third world country and keep the profit for themselves.
• Put your book in their own bookshop – but everyone knows sales are made on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and the other proper bookshops – so this serves you how?
• Promise to give you “marketing training” – which is usually just rehashed stuff that doesn’t need to be done and doesn’t actually work. They almost certainly don’t care if you sell any books now that they have your money in their pocket.