Self Publishing, Mainstream Publishing, Vanity Publishing

There are only really 3 publishing models but lots of different names for vanity publishing…

1. Paid For Publishing aka “Vanity Publishing”: If you pay someone else to publish your book it could be called collaborative publishing, cooperative publishing, subsidy publishing or (most misleadingly of all) self publishing but it’s really just vanity publishing with a more acceptable title. Some big-sounding New York and London publishers are offering “deals” to new authors with a high cost attached. These “deals” are really nothing more than an attempt to cash in on their name and sell an overpriced vanity package.
2. Self Publishing: No matter what the vanity press says – it’s not self publishing unless you’re doing it all yourself. Obviously you may employ people to provide certain skills but you are still the publisher and the buck (or should that be book) stops with the author and only the author. This is further split into two main approaches:
   1. Print-On-Demand Self Publishing – Low Risk with Good Distribution Built In (providers include LightningSource, Lulu, CreateSpace and BookSurge)
   2. Print-Then-Sell Self Publishing – High Risk with No Distribution Built In (there’s no longer a good reason to publish this way unless you only plan to sell books direct)
3. Mainstream Publishing: These organisations pay you for your book. There’s a lot of competition from authors here so fewer and fewer publishers are offering big (or any) advances anymore and many still insist you apply via an agent. However – they won’t expect you to pay them a penny for your book and they will expect to be sending you royalties. Mainstream publishers really fall into 3 main categories:
   1. Big Publishing Houses – New York Publishers, London Publishers etc. – most aspiring authors dream of getting a huge advance from these companies. First timers should expect tiny royalties and dwindling advances.
   2. Independent Publishers – usually smaller publishers that only publish a few titles per year. These companies are often specialist in nature and can provide a good start for many authors. However, they’re still crippled by the old print-then-sell rules and aggressive terms from bookshops so don’t expect to earn a big royalty,
   3. Publishing 2.0 Publishers – again, usually smaller publishers that have embraced new technology for both production, distribution and sales. Good publishers embracing the new rules of the publishing game are able to pay much higher royalties because they no longer rely on bricks-and-mortar bookstores for their sales.

Read the rest of this entry »