top of page

Is Using a Vanity Press for the Vain or Naive?

Writer's picture: Self Publishing USSelf Publishing US

Updated: Apr 13, 2022


By Michael Heath / selfpublishingUS.com

Is Using a Vanity Press for the Vain or Naive?

We are sometimes asked if selfpublishingUS.com is a vanity press. It isnā€™t. SelfpublishingUS.com is a book printer with publishing services. Yes, people pay us to get their books published but there is a distinction between our business model and what most other self-publishing companies do.


The term ā€œvanity pressā€ is pejorative. It refers to a company that publishes books for an author who, for vanityā€™s sake, will pay to have his/her rejected book project published. Before the age of home computers spawned desktop publishing, authors had two choices for publication. Either their manuscripts were accepted by a traditional publisher or they went to a ā€œvanity publisher.ā€ Today, the internet is replete with companies offering authors self-publishing services.


Certainly, no company would advertise itself as a vanity publisher. Some may identify as full-service publishers, full-solutions publishers, self-publishing companies, or some other term. Ron Pramschufer, the owner of the old SelfPublishing.com, used to call them ā€œpaid to be publishedā€ publishers. Whatever descriptions they use, they are all publishers. That is an important distinction. It means that, even though the author pays the company to edit, design, print and distribute his/her work, the vanity press company holds the publishing rights. Does that seem fair? We do not think so. Why should authors be talked into signing a contract relinquishing their publishing rights when they wrote the manuscripts and pay for the services?


There is an incentive for self-publishing companies to tie their authors to such a contract, even if the arrangement may be limited to two years. It's all about free money. The self-publisher will likely say that they ā€œonlyā€ take a dollar of every sale which on the surface may sound innocent. But think about it. What happens if the book is successful? Letā€™s say 10,000 copies are sold. The self-publisher will get an extra $10,000 for doing nothing more than getting the author to sign a contract. I ask the question again: Does that seem fair?


Three big reasons why authors should use SelfpublishingUS.com:


Ā· Author owns the copyright

Ā· Author retains the publishing rights

Ā· Author owns the print files


SelfpublishingUS.com is not a publisher. We are never the publisher. There is no contract, but we do have an interest in the authorā€™s success. Not because we share in the authorā€™s royalties or profits. We donā€™t! Instead, we hope the author sells out of their books so that they come back to print with us again. Now that is a business arrangement we can all agree is fair.


To learn more about SelfpublishingUS.com go to: https://www.selfpublishingus.com/services





83 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page