Xenagia: Third Person Perspective #2: Vanity Vs. Self

Third Person Perspective #2: Vanity Vs. Self

Are you a writer looking to get your book published? How, when, and by whom? Are you a reader wondering whether books that aren't backed by known publishers are worth buying? These days there are hundreds of companies all catering to the dream of getting books printed, sold and read RIGHT NOW. The negative stigma associated with self-publishing is fading with the sheer number of genuinely good books appearing all over the internet, while the number and quality of books released by major publishing houses seems to be dropping every year.

For new writers trying to get their books out on the market as soon as possible, the various options available online can be pretty alluring. Websites like Lulu.com and Amazon's CreateSpace promise to get your novel available for sale within minutes, with no fees or hassle. Infamous outfits like PublishAmerica masquerade as real publishers while charging the author to publish their own book. Words like POD (Print On Demand), vanity publishing, self-publishing, e-publishing and small press are bandied about as if they're interchangeable or related to each other.

So, in between all the marketing blitz and criticism from professionals, the question remains: What can these companies actually do for you?

Let's start with vanity press. The accepted definition of a vanity press, quoted here from Wikipedia, is "a publishing house that publishes books at the author's expense." In a nutshell, a vanity press takes payment from the author for services such as editing, proofing, layout, publishing and advertising.

Vanity press can seem like an easy way to get the help you need to publish a book and get your foot in the door. However, there is a great deal of stigma attached to it; most professional editors don't consider a vanity book to be "published" at all. If anything they'll look on it as a black mark on a writer's record, because spending money on a vanity publishing deal is a lot like buying a medal at sports. The buyer didn't achieve anything in order to get it. They weren't given it as a recognition of skill. Showing it off would just make them look as if they could only ever get the honor by buying it.

There's also the fact that the whole vanity set-up violates the golden rule of publishing: "Money should always flow to the author." By their very nature they make their money from the author and not from sales of the book. They have no stake in how well the book does, no reason to push it or otherwise care that it does well. Their wages have been paid (by the author!) and any extra money they make from sales is just gravy. And this is all presuming that they're not simply unscrupulous scam artists, which are a disturbingly common thing in the vanity trade.

It's not outside the realm of possibility to create a vanity-published success story, but to do that you need to be either a genius at advertising or already have a legion of pre-existing buyers for your material. For the vast majority of writers it will never, ever happen that way.

So, if you have any aspirations of being a professional writer someday, vanity publishing is more likely to hold you back than anything else.

On the other end of the do-it-yourself market are "self-publishing" outfits like CreateSpace and Lulu. The term "self-publishing" itself is a landmine, commonly associated with vanity presses, and some people in the industry consider these places to be the same as a vanity press. It's slightly safer to refer to them as POD printers but even that term has negative connotations due to early POD companies requiring payment to list books. That's still true to an extent, although most POD printers will now offer their basic listing service for free, allowing you to "publish" a book and start selling it right away without having to go through any kind of approval process.

In order to differentiate these sites from dedicated POD printing houses and small publishers who print their titles through POD, I'll be referring to them as "self-PODders" for the rest of this article.

Current-generation self-PODders operate slightly differently from vanity presses in that they don't charge anything for basic-level publishing, and in that scenario their money does indeed come from sales. However, per-unit prices are invariably higher than a full print run because books will only be printed "on demand", i.e. when an order is placed through the relevant website. With POD, the full production costs are included in the list price.

These sites don't generally provide anything beyond the basic printing and listing unless you pay extra. You create the book, doing all the legwork yourself, then upload it and watch it come up for sale via their site. That's usually where it stops, too—one listing, one site, and nothing else. A few sales from friends and passersby, then the tumbleweeds roll in. At this point most writers realize that there is a big, big gulf between publishing a book and getting people to buy that book.

The main challenge with this set-up is that you can only buy the books through your chosen self-PODding company. The book will not have an ISBN number to allow ordering it from bookshops and libraries because ISBNs are quite expensive, around $40 apiece, and therefore not included in the package, no matter what the site might tell you. CreateSpace will list on Amazon but nowhere else. Lulu will list on Amazon for free but charges a fee to make books available through other channels. Under no circumstances will the book appear in physical bookstores or libraries (remember the lack of a real ISBN) and due to the pricing structure of these sites the book will always be priced well above the competitive range. You're left having to constantly hawk a book on your own which can only be purchased via the one site, has no advertising or backing, and above all is vastly overpriced compared to the mass-market books with which you're competing.

With that in mind, we can say that self-PODding has its own bunch of pitfalls, but at least you're not spending any of your own money! Some pro editors still scoff at it, but if you can demonstrate decent sales, independent reviews and reader engagement then you may have an easier time attracting attention from publishers in the future. Just make sure you do your research first!

An important site by writers who are actually choosing to self-publish is Publetariat.com which offers a good overview of how and why. Competing viewpoints are of course available too.

In some specific cases self-PODding may be the only way to get a book published. However, regardless of prejudice or professional concerns, it's not an ideal solution even when it's the only solution, unless you actually like doing it all yourself.

Before you start thinking self-publishing is your only option, it pays to have a look at the literally hundreds of "micropress" publishers on the internet putting out new titles every year. Many of them also use print-on-demand, but at more competitive rates direct from a professional printer such as Lightning Source. Most have access to people who can provide professional cover art, layout, editing and more, and will register your books for you with a full ISBN.

If you can find one that will take you on, even the smallest publisher can provide services and support beyond what you'll get from either self-PODding or vanity press.

Obviously none of these options live up to a big-budget publishing deal. Unfortunately they're getting scarce on the ground, and it's being left up to writers to make their own futures. It is possible to do it, now more than ever, as the self-publishing stigma is diluted by a rising tide of quality titles. My advice, though—try the small presses first, who will often consider simultaneous submissions unlike the big ones, and you may be pleasantly surprised by the results.

If you are looking for a publisher, there are people and resources out there that can help. Never, ever get involved with anyone before checking them out in the Preditors & Editors listing. P&E is an important resource for any writer and can give you vital information about companies before you submit to them.

Ryan A. Span is a UK-based SFF author, game designer and professional grump. Amongst other things he writes the STREET series of cyberpunk novels and treks out to exotic places across the world just to taste the wildlife.

If you have a question for Ryan or an idea for a TPP article, please e-mail them to cs -at- streetofeyes -dot- com, subject THIRD PERSON PERSPECTIVE