Vanity Press Versus Self Publishing
by Louise Bohmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved

The face of publishing is changing, and not all changes are good, but neither are they all bad. In the digital age, publishing has become easily accessible. Self publishing and vanity press have become heated topics for debate. What constitutes true vanity press and what doesn’t?

After Createspace’s recent move to expand their distribution potential by signing a deal with Ingram (http://thekindlenationblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/aside-to-authors-and-publishers.html), debates were refueled. With the new deal, small presses using Createspace as a printer may find it easier to get into the brick and mortars.

Createspace and Lulu can, in certain instances, constitute vanity press. And bookstores hold a stigma against vanity press. Others argue this is not the case. But with self publishing and the publishing industry changing so much over the past thirty years, what truly constitutes vanity press versus self publishing? (Victoria Strauss gives some excellent definitions and commentary on the SFWA blog here: http://community.livejournal.com/sfwa/101695.html )

Lulu and Createspace both offer free basic publishing services. Some publishers and authors use these to produce print runs of new and out of print books. They also use it to order proofs, using the ‘upload a pdf’ option to further edit the book and apply changes without being charged an extra fee for a new upload. While LSI (Lightning Source; a printer) charges cheaper printing fees than Lulu, it does charge you a fee each time you have to make corrections and then re-upload the document. Whereas Lulu or Createspace allow you to re-upload a document for free.

My publisher had some problems with resizing the cover of THE BLACK ACT. He had to do multiple uploads to fix it. Had he gone through LSI, this would have cost him a fee with each change. But since he uses Createspace to print our books, he could resubmit the document with the new cover without any extra charge. For small presses who wish to proof a book a few times before sending it over to their printer for final production, using Lulu or Createspace’s layout feature to tweak documents without extra fees charged for re-uploads saves money they can filter back into their company’s budget.

However, Lulu and Createspace offer self publishing packages that claim to provide editorial, distribution, cover art, and other features for a reasonable to hefty fee ( as much as $4500 approx). While they claim to offer things like editorial and cover art in these packages, chances are you won’t get the thorough edit a traditional press would give your book, and your cover art could end up featuring poser people to save costs. Distribution means the book is available to bookstores via a wholesaler and it’s listed on all major online retailers, but no book seller is approaching the brick and mortars to stock it, unless that book seller is the author. And there will be no promotional campaign to make readers aware of the book, unless said promotional campaign is funded by the author. When they provide you with an ISBN they retain ownership of that ISBN, but if you’re publisher just uses them to print they should be buying their own block of ISBNs which they would retain ownership of. If you self publish with the packages offered by Createspace or Lulu, you’d have to buy your own block of ISBNs to retain ownership.

Vanity press operates very similar to these packages offered by Lulu and Createspace. Places like iUniverse and Authorhouse are examples of vanity presses, and some would argue DellArte Press is a vanity publisher rather than a self publishing service, but some would also argue self publishing and vanity are one and the same today. Thirty years ago they weren’t, but thirty years ago we also didn’t have ebooks. From small press to big houses, to self publishing and vanity press, the waters of publishing have grown murkier.

Because of the self publishing packages offered by Createspace and Lulu, they can be defined as a vanity press in some circumstances. Self publishing by traditional definition meant you retained ownership of your ISBN, whereas vanity press meant you did not. But because they also offer you the ability to maintain control over areas of editorial, distribution, ISBN, cover art, and promotion for free or a nominal fee, small presses who contract freelancers to cover these areas sometimes use it as a printer that allows them multiple corrections without extra fees. And some seasoned authors may choose to reissue using this user friendly technology. So this effectively blurs the lines with Createspace and Lulu, allowing them to act as a printer or a self publishing device for the seasoned. But while they can’t strictly be defined as vanity press, Lulu and Createspace do actively encourage the uneducated author to self publish.

In the case of Createspace and Lulu, much like the advent of POD technology, it’s not so much the tool that is flawed, but rather how people use the tool that can be flawed. If you know the publishing industry and what goes into producing a book, you can use Createspace or Lulu effectively, whether it be to print, produce proofs, perfect your manuscript for print, or reissued your back catalog. If you’re a new author throwing your rough draft up for sale in hardcover, hoping to get rich quick, you aren’t really utilizing the tool to your best advantage.

With places like iUniverse and DellArte, presentation is somewhat skewed to make these ventures seem only positive for the new author, and may even blur the lines far enough as to try and present the vanity press as a traditional publishing house. These vanity presses masking as self publishing services tend to prey on the uneducated author just stepping into publishing territory. Offering dreams of best seller success, they don’t always represent themselves as truthfully as possible. The difference between a traditional press and a vanity press can be broken down into some key elements:

Vanity Press: Promises distribution in the form of online retailers and being available to bookstores and libraries via wholesale outlets like Ingram or Baker and Taylor, but there is no book seller trying to get you into brick and mortars.

Traditional Press: Will have a book seller approaching book buyers to get you into stores, libraries, and other possible outlets. For larger houses, they’ll employ someone specifically for distribution. For smaller houses, your distributor may well be your publisher too.

Vanity Press: Offers editorial but might only be a copy edit, with no guarantees your editor is qualified.

Traditional Press: Offers editorial that will most likely include at least two rounds of edits, if not more—probably a content and copy edit, at least. Usually employ editors with a degree, or at least experience in editing.

Vanity Press: Cover art is quite often slapped together by someone who works for the press for a nominal fee or royalty percentage.

Traditional Press: May have their own staff cover artist(s) or hire a freelance artist, but usually of quite higher quality than what you get from a vanity.

Vanity Press: Promotional campaign will be generic if not nil. (A Facebook page, a My Space, a blog—all things an author can do themselves.)

Traditional Press: Will usually have at least some marketing budget, and will get your book reviews. May even work to get you interviews, and quite often will help you with book signings. Depending on size of house, may send you on book tour. Usually provides some promotional packet that will include things like banners, bookmarks, posters, and some ad space in magazines.

When anything becomes easily accessible, quality is watered down. So authors of this digital age have their homework cut out for them, in order to avoid vanity presses touting themselves as traditional publishers, or shoddy micro and small presses. You can’t research this industry enough. Knowing your markets is imperative.

If you choose to self publish, exhaustively research the publishing industry and network to learn firsthand from those who’ve been inside publishing a while. Develop an objective eye – which is hard – when it comes to your work, seek out objective, critical peer review groups, hone your craft. Buy the Elements of Style. If you are a horror writer, buy Mort Castle’s “On Writing Horror” and Michael Knost’s “Writers Workshop of Horror.” Seek out the information and become a sponge. No one is so original and unique that they don’t first need to learn the mechanics of telling a good story. You aren’t born with instinctual abilities to pick up verb tense errors. Trust me on this.

Follow reputable writer resources like the Writer’s Beware Blog created by the SFWA, and check out sites with writers’ forums like Absolute Write, Ralan, and Preditors & Editors. People within these organizations work tirelessly to provide up to date information on what markets have positive feedback from authors, which are vanity presses masking as traditional houses, and which publisher aren’t recommended to work with. Talk to authors who’ve worked with presses you’re interested in. How is the publisher about paying, communications, distribution, and creative rights? As more and more services combine in an easy access digital age, definitions will continue to evolve, and the waters will grow murkier. Your best defense against being scammed by a vanity press or a disreputable publisher is knowledge of how publishing works.

You can read her short fiction in the upcoming Courting Morpheus, Ladies of Horror, and Into the Dreamlands. Her poetry can be read in Death In Common 1 & 2.