Vanity Press - Differences From Mainstream Publishers

Differences From Mainstream Publishers

The term "vanity press" is sometimes considered pejorative, and is often used to imply that an author who self-publishes using such a service is only publishing out of vanity, and that his or her work could not be commercially successful. In other words, a work published by a vanity press is typically assumed to be unpublishable elsewhere or not publishable on a timely basis.

Some companies offer printing (and, very rarely, limited distribution) for a fee. Such services can be a viable way for an author to self-publish without owning printing equipment. This is particularly attractive to an author of a work with a limited, specialized appeal which may not interest mainstream publishers, or to the author who intends to promote his or her work personally. Self-publishing is similar to vanity publishing because the author pays the costs of printing the work and takes charge of promoting and selling it.

A mainstream publisher traditionally assumes the risk of publication and production costs, selects the works to be published, edits the author's text, and provides for marketing and distribution, provides the ISBN and satisfies whatever legal deposit and copyright registration formalities are required. Such a publisher normally pays the author a fee, called an advance, for the right to publish the author's work; and further payments, called royalties, based on the sales of the work. This led to James D. Macdonald's famous dictum, "Money should always flow toward the author" (sometimes called Yog's Law).

Scholarly journals often ask authors to pay page charges but use peer review to keep a high scientific standard. A vanity publisher will publish almost any book if the author is willing to pay.

Presses that cater to self-publishers typically do little or no marketing. Formerly, they did little or no distribution. Today, vanity publishers may offer web-based sales, or make a book available via online booksellers, but they generally provide no marketing.

Poets often self-publish as their work is generally of extremely specialized appeal and therefore risky to mainstream publishers.

Among the many types of books that are unpublishable by major commercial presses, family histories often find their way onto vanity presses, since family histories have an extremely limited market.