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Publishing; Traditional Publishing, Vanity Publishing, Self Publishing? Which is Which?
Commercial (Traditional) Publisher;
A commercial publisher generally purchases the rights to publish your book (yes, they own your book) and
pay the author a royalty on sales. Typical royalties are 5-15%. Most also pay an advance on the royalties. For a new
author, this is likely to be between $1200 - $1500 although it may be more if your book is in a hot market. Nine
out of ten authors do not earn much beyond the advance.
Traditional publishers are highly selective and publish a tiny percentage of manuscripts submitted. They seldom
work directly with an author and prefer to work with an agent. Today, about 1 in 14,000 books submitted to traditional
publishers are accepted.
There is a trend toward publishing books by "big names" to help ensure sales. Many small, new and mid-line
authors get very little promotion and need to promote their own books to help sales along.
Independent Publishing;
An indie (independent) publisher is a grass roots version of the traditional publisher. Most will work directly
with authors and do not require an author to have an agent. Most will also work with new authors.
Indie publishers pay the author royalties on sales, but the amount differs. Some may use the traditional
5-15% model, while others offer royalties as high as 40%-50%. Some pay advances, while others do not, depending
on the royalty structure.
Indie publishers today publish close to 50% of the books stocked and sold in bookstores and are a very viable
option to a traditional publisher.
Vanity Publishing;
A vanity publisher publishes books at the author's sole expense. Vanity publishers do not select authors based
on quality - they publish anyone who can pay.
While "pay to publish" may seem like an attractive option for an aspiring author, the drawback to vanity publishing
is that most book reviewers, book distributors and book sellers won't touch vanity published books because they
know that there are no quality assurances. Anything can (and is) published if the author can pay.
To add to the confusion, many vanity presses call themselves subsidy publishers or co-op publishers to try avoid
the stigma that the term "vanity published" carries. If you want your book to sell to anyone besides your family and friends,
we don't recommend using a vanity press.
Subsidy Publishing;
A subsidy publisher also requires payment from the author, but most claim that they are selective in choosing
quality authors and that they contribute toward the cost of publishing, thus "subsidizing" the cost of getting
published. The books remain in the possession of the publisher and the author is paid royalties.
While subsidy publishing is a good theory, the lines between vanity publishing and subsidy publishing have
become blurred. Many vanity presses call themselves subsidy presses to avoid the stigma of vanity books,
and many subsidy published books carry the same stigma as vanity published books. Unless you know that the
subsidy press has a good reputation in the industry, we don't recommend subsidy publishing.
Book Packaging;
Book packaging is different than vanity, subsidy or co-op publishing. A book packager acts as an independent contractor,
to help publish your book. Book packagers work for a pre-set fee for services as needed, such as cover art, editing,
printing, etc. All the books are yours and all the profit is yours. If you use a reputable book packager, this is
an alternative to self publishing, with a shorter learning curve.
A note of caution. Choose a book packager very, very carefully. If the book packager has the reputation for printing
for anyone that can pay, your books can carry the stigma of the vanity published book. If the book packager has
a good reputation in the industry, this is a viable option for the author that is willing to do the work to promote
their own book and keep all the profit, but wants a little help to bring it to life.
P.O.D. Publishers;
There is a great deal of confusion about P.O.D. (print on demand). P.O.D. is not really a publishing method, it's
a printing method. However, many companies have set themselves up as POD publishers. They'll set your manuscript
to be printed one book at a time using Docu-tech. You pay
a set fee of $350 and $1,500 to have the book set up. Then, each time a book sells, it's printed. You get paid
royalties as set by the P.O.D. publisher.
Print on demand is a great theory. However, it is quickly gaining the same reputation among book reviewers and
sellers that vanity published books have. Many P.O.D. (print on demand) publishers have no quality assurances
and will publish any book that can pay the setup fee. Some of them even advertise this as a benefit.
(ie; "your book, your way)
For reviewers and sellers, finding a good, well written book among P.O.D. is like finding a needle in a haystack.
Self Publishing
Many people "think" they are self published when they are not. To make it clear, you are "self" published
if you registered a publishing company and the ISBN number for your book was issued in your publishing company's name.
Self publishing requires the author to undertake all aspects of the publishing process. That's why
it's called "self" publishing. You will assume the role of the publisher, obtaining your ISBN numbers,
and taking on all costs of printing, editing, cover art, marketing, etc.
Self publishing can result in a very high quality product, or a very low quality one, depending on the
author's diligence in selecting services and contractors. The completed books belong to the writer and all
profits belong to the author.
With the availablity of print on demand and short run printing, self published authors are experiencing more
difficulty putting their books into the hands of book reviewers and book buyers/sellers. There is an increased
number of authors that turn out poor quality books, thus making it harder for the author that
has taken the time, care and diligence to turn out a quality book.
Article by Linda Caroll. Please feel welcome to reprint this article (in full)
as long as you
include a link back to this page
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