Our blog is constantly warning of the dangers of vanity presses, yet all too often we meet yet another new writer who has been swallowed by a shark.
Recently another book was given to me with a publisher name that I was sure was a vanity press. It took me only moments to google “X company reviews” and to see that it had an average over nearly 700 reviews with an average of 1.3 stars! Remembering that the lowest rating you can give is 1-star (not a negative or ‘0’ rating), this is a horrendously low average company.
As I read the book I alternated between anger and sadness. Any reputable company would have told the author that writing was not their gifting and suggested that they print a few copies for their family and leave it that. Instead, the company gladly took this woman’s money and launched a poorly written and unedited book onto the world.
Of course, no vanity press is going to call themselves any such thing. Instead they constantly re-market themselves. Current terms include hybrid press, or co-publishing, self-publishing service providers …
How to recognise vanity publishers
- They flatter you. No traditional publisher will do this. In fact, when I had a manuscript accepted for a traditional publisher in 2012, they sent me the article “10 Awful Truths” to try and keep my expectations grounded in reality!
- Do a google search using the words “[X company name] reviews.”
- Ask yourself – are they asking for me to pay them for a package deal? Package deals nearly always include things that are actually free to pad out the offer and make it seem like they’re doing a lot for you. When you pay for a package, they are making money off you. There is no real reason for them to market your book because they’ve already made their profit. i.e. the make money from authors and not from readers.
- They ask you to order a certain number of your own book (usually at least 500 copies) because that is another way they make money off you. I am a fairly good bookseller but I don’t order more than 400 copies at a time now. You do not want to be left with hundreds of books sitting in your garage.
- Keep tracing the money. A vanity publisher is earning its money off the author. It is not really worth their while to earn a percentage of the royalties because they’ve already got their money.
- An earlier post I wrote on this topic.
Don’t go it alone!
Another thing that these scam artists will do is ask you not to tell others. BUT please ask trusted authors/author groups. So much money and stress will be saved if you ask in the correct places. Our online groups – Australasian Christian Writers or Christian Writers Downunder are really helpful. You might feel a fool for needing to ask, but you’ll feel worse if you’re tricked.
People often say to me, “I don’t get it. These “hybrid publishers” (or whatever they’re calling themselves this year) don’t feel any different to self-publishing and they seem an easier route.”
I must admit that I’ve often struggled to explain the difference.
Here are some differences:
- Self-publishing is more like project managing. You are in charge of outsourcing the various tasks that need doing – editing, cover design … There are no package deals where you’re paying for things you don’t need or want.
- In terms of pricing, it should be cheaper because you only pay for what you need.
Hi Christine, Thank you for sharing your helpful post that defines the characteristics and attributes of vanity publishing.
For legal reasons we can’t name and shame these vanity businesses. Sadly, they’re like mushrooms and new vanity presses keeping popping up because it is a lucrative way to rip off vulnerable writers who “don’t know what they don’t know.”
There are writers who are conned/tricked into vanity publishing—which I define as paying too much money to publish a book when compared to the market rates indie authors pay to publish their books.
Please note that authors don’t pay to traditionally publish. In traditional publishing, the publisher wears 100% of the financial risk in publishing the book by paying all the costs to publish the book.
Vanity marketing scams are another problem. Then we have the Nigerian Prince style scammers and con artists who pepper our inboxes and DM’s on a daily basis with “fake book flattery” written by AI.
Vanity publishing/marketing is a business model that’s sadly thriving. Authors are the “customers” who are being targeted. Christians authors are known for being susceptible to con artists who claim to be a Christian publishing business. There are too many wolves in sheep’s clothing out there looking to rip us off.
Please be aware that some vanity businesses will pay generous “referral fees” to industry people (and authors who have been conned by them) to recruit new author victims. It’s effectively a multi-level marketing set up where they’ll pay $400 or $500 referral fees, for example, which is a drop in the ocean when the author is paying $5k or $10k or more to publish their books.
Please be wary of their “wolves in sheep’s clothing” sales people who will pretend to be your friend as they rip you off and con you into buying an expensive publishing package. They will flatter you and your book, and that’s why it’s called vanity publishing.
Please do your research and do background checks so you don’t accidentally confuse a vanity publisher with a traditional publisher. As Christine has mentioned, vanity publishing businesses try to hide their real identities and claim they’re similar to traditional publishers.
Please, please, please ask questions and do your research before publishing your book. Join the Facebook groups Christine mentioned and ask questions. Search “vanity publishing or vanity press” on our blog and you’ll find many posts on this topic that will help you avoid getting ripped off.
Be wary of a writing organisation that platforms any vanity publishing activities. Writers organisations are supposed to have the best interests of their members at heart. Vanity publishing is never a good financial option for writers. An organisation that’s platforming any kind of vanity publishing/marketing is a big red flag. Don’t ignore the publishing shark alarm.
Christine asked:
“Has anyone you know been tricked by a vanity publisher (under whatever name)? How did you feel/respond?”
Sadly, the answer is yes. Sometimes I question if they’ve actually been tricked and if their decision to vanity publish is a calculated attempt to buy access to something eg. book store distribution that’s not easy to obtain as an independent author. Book store distribution is only worthwhile if customers are actually visiting the store and buying the book. A listing in a bookseller catalogue is meaningless without customer demand for the book.
I suspect vanity is a bigger driver than most of us realise or are prepared to admit. I also wonder if some authors who choose the vanity publishing path are delusional and live in fantasyland and mistakenly believe their book is the next guaranteed bestseller.
The quality of many vanity published books (and lack of editing) suggests the “look-at-me-I’m-so-awesome” vanity published author doesn’t recognise the importance of quality writing or chooses to ignore editorial feedback. It’s a statement of arrogance that can’t be hidden or whitewashed or spun via word salad marketing sales pitches because the book quality will speak for itself.
Bestselling book status can usually only be achieved when a large enough marketing budget sits behind the book and the book is widely promoted to the book’s target audience. The large traditional publishers will “pick their winners” and promote the 1% of titles that make 99% of their profit.
I’ve been in the writing world for a few decades and I’m yet to see an author who has embarked on a vanity publishing path build a long term and sustainable author career.
The authors I know with large catalogues are either indie publishing or are doing a combination of indie publishing with traditional publishing. You can’t build a loyal readership if your book quality is consistently poor. You can spend money on advertising and acquiring new readers for your book but you’ll have a leaking bucket and lose those new readers if your book quality is poor.