New authors are often confounded by the number of paperback and hardcover publishing options available to them. Too often, they may fall into the trap of a publishing website or company simply by not understanding the terms of use or by not reading them. Often, those who seek vanity publishers are also worn down by multiple rejections from traditional publishers and are ready to settle for someone else taking control. Two words of advice: Never settle.
True Self-Publishing
Self-publishing is difficult for authors who have already spent their valuable time writing their book and do not have the time for or experience in performing all the other tasks involved before going to print. Self-publishing companies like Lulu and BookBaby provide services including cover design, editing, and print-on-demand publishing. The author, in return, is responsible for registering the copyright and ISBN, production management, and marketing.
When authors are their own publishers under this avenue, they also have more control over the final price of the book, which is a major selling point to prospective readers. The self-publishing company will usually help the author determine a price for the book by providing a calculator for printing options and publisher commissions. This allows the author to see plainly what their portion of the profits will be for each book sold.
Vanity Publishing
Vanity publishing, also called subsidy publishing, differs from self-publishing in that the author assumes all the risk and pays the publisher. This is counterproductive to authors trying to make money on their books. While vanity presses do offer services like cover design and editing, there is a major catch. Once a manuscript is published by a subsidy, it becomes their property, right down to the ISBN number. The author forfeits all rights to the book once it appears in the publisher’s catalog.
Traditional Publishers
Different from both of these types of publishing options are traditional publishers. These are companies that actually invest their money and resources (like marketing and printing) into the promise that books will sell. They purchase rights to manuscripts and pay royalties to authors, often offering advances prior to publishing. Traditional publishers are where the money is, but they are also the most difficult to work with, especially for unknown authors who present a greater risk to the publisher.
Knowing the differences between the different publishing avenues available can make or (financially) break an author. By doing research into prospective publishing routes and companies, authors will find more success and fewer headaches in trying to make their works available to their intended audience.
