VANITY PUBLISHERS - BE AWARE!

Vanity Publishers!

Traditional? Hybrid? or Vanity Publishers?, confused?

There is every reason to be its an absolute minefield, I hope I can clear some of the differences to help make a better choice. Authors can spend hours worrying whether or not to sign a contract with a publisher that has been very complimentary about their book, however, they are asking for a 'contribution towards the cost of publishing the book'. This sometimes could cost thousands.

This blog is aimed at Vanity press and not traditional or hybrid offers

The very first point to make is that  - traditional publishers Will not request a contribution. Traditional publishers only take on work they believe is worth investing their own money in, confident it will give them a return on their investment, they are prepared to put their money where their mouth is! Unfortunately, this is a leading reason why new authors find it difficult to get their work published. The publisher has to be sure that the book will sell, and they like to follow the guarantees of established authors, it makes sense really from their viewpoint.

 Vanity publishers are totally at the other end of the spectrum. There are mainly two ways Vanity Publishers can gain authors, by ensuring they are near the top of the google search list when an author is looking for potential publishers, or just downright sending emails out of the blue at the first sniff of a book that’s been written! They know authors take rejection personally. They know the adrenalin rush the offer of a contract gives authors, and what better feeling is there than a glowing report about your manuscript.

So they make you sweat for a while, you send in your application for them to consider, they may even say in their introduction that they offer two levels of service, traditional and hybrid.

 A good hybrid contract is where the author will put an amount of agreed money into the project, but the publisher will then take the usual steps of a traditional publisher and usually allow the author to retain the rights and they will usually pay a higher royalty on sales. – This can be a good offer and a genuinely good way forward for authors.

Whilst the hybrid solution is a good halfway house, vanity publishers jump on the bandwagon and make you believe you are entering a hybrid contract. THEY ARE NOT!

HOW DO YOU RECOGNISE A VANITY PUBLISHER?

Vanity will ask authors to: Pay to have their book printed, Pay to have it edited, Pay to have it proofread, Pay to make it available in shops. In fact, they ask for everything a traditional or good hybrid publisher will not ask for!

So that’s it nothing else to pay for?

When you think you have paid all your dues, it continues - once the book has been printed. Even when you have a physical book in your hands the requests for more money will keep rolling in: For promotion, For corrections, For “reviewing copies” For enhanced distribution.

Yes, but that’s it isn’t it, there is no more?

Vanity publishers won’t stop chasing you for money until you have none left, and sometimes not even then!

Vanity publishers promise to sell books, and that is true, only not the way you imagined. They do not sell to the general public, and definitely not to bookstores, why should they do promotions when they have a ready-made income stream called the author!

For authors who fall into the trap, the nightmare continues. Eventually, the penny drops and the author realises they are being taken for a ride, and an expensive ride at that! So what do you do? You write to the publisher and ask to be released from your contract. Unfortunately, vanity publishers will often refuse to give up the rights to a particular title without the payment of a large fee – effectively blackmailing you for your own efforts and labour!. The author cannot simply take their manuscript to another publisher and try again, but equally can’t get their vanity publisher to actually do any work, or even provide copies of the book. Publish with the wrong company and not only might you be out of pocket to the tune of thousands, but all the hard work you put into crafting your book might well be down the drain.