Do Not Fall for Vanity Press Scams

I should mention – before anything else – the origin of the name “vanity press”.

Traditional publishers used to get deluged (still do, but not as much) by book submissions. They used to have scores of editors who would read manuscripts and write the rejection letters. When the publishing agents would ask the editors what happened with so and so, the answer would be, “They’re not ready.”

Instead of fixing their manuscripts, many would look for a publisher who would gladly publish the book. “After all, the editor told me my manuscript had problems and I can’t be wrong, so…”

And so, some print houses became “publishers”. For $695, they would take your book, set it, print it, give it a generic cover, and ship you a box of 150 of your novels. That’s the 70’s price, of course.

And the editor would tell the publisher, “They went to a vanity press.”

Why is it called a vanity press? Because the author wanted to see their name in print. A real writer would fix the problems, was (and is) their thinking. The desire to see your name in print at the expense of presenting a good book was considered vanity.

I learned this information from a literary agent who was honestly intending to teach a writer’s group how to get their books published. His work was met with some resistance. I won’t say anything else except I listened and learned.

Anyway.

Let me give you his definitions.

Publisher. They are a publisher. They reject 99% of the books that make it to them. They deliver finished product into brick and mortar establishments. They try to print most of their books in products you can hold in your hands. Usually request anywhere from 3 to 50 rewrites.

Vanity press – a print house. They reject nothing.

Self publishing – an exercise in futility.

Those are his definitions. I expect an email from him correcting my badly summarization of his lengthy definitions. He could go on and on about self publishing being nothing more than the internet version of a vanity press.

Your manuscript is ready. You send it to three literary agents. They tell you it needs work, and politely decline for now.

What do you do?

Work on it! Get it ready!

DO NOT try looking for “publishers” that accept unrepresented works. There are a remarkably short list of publishers that from time to time accept unrepresented works. Penguin books sometimes does.

Most of the time this is a red flag if they do. I guarantee two things will happen:

They will accept your book
They will ask you for money

Carefully read their websites before submitting. Does it cater only to authors? “Here’s our services for AUTHORS!” Red flag. Submit nothing to them.

Does it say anywhere on it about their authors? Kind of a yellow alert. Not a red flag yet.

Does it talk more about the reputation of the firm, and have a page about upcoming BOOKS (not client authors, but their BOOKS)? You’re getting towards green.

Does it also say, “we do not accept unrepresented manuscript submissions”? Bingo! Green light! Go fix your novel, find an agent, and stop worrying about publishers.

Read CAREFULLY any agreement you sign. I really recommend an attorney being present.

Many people have sued vanity press businesses and lost, simply because they did EVERYTHING on their website they promised to do.

They will print your book. Yes, indeed.

They will deliver the actual books to you for a typeset fee, printing fee, materials fee, shipping and handling fee, and of course, postage.

They will get you an ISBN you could have gotten yourself.

They will submit your book info to a service that lists all novels on earth that are available for stores to carry. You can do that yourself, too.

They’ll put a blurb about you and your book on their website, if they’re one of the more reputable publishing companies. You can do this too, and probably more effectively.

And that’s it. For a grand total of $4,500. You’ll have a million seller. That is, a million unsold books sitting in your cellar. That’s if you’re really lucky. Some people pay this money out, then are told it’ll be another $6,500 to get the boxes of your books. Then, after a long delay, your attorney will want $10,000 to pursue the matter. Like most authors who pursue this route, you’ll be out $21,000 and nothing to show for it.

In the time it took you to earn the $4,500 you’ll pay out, you could have learned how to edit and done a rewrite of your book.

Trust me when I tell you, traditional publishing is the only way to go.

If you’re in a hurry to see your name in print on your bookshelf, take heart. I’ve found several print houses that will set, bind and print one to five copies of your book. No contracts. I’m going to start contacting them and compile a complete list here. Contact them, pay the $45 to get your book and then…

…start rewriting and getting the edit done. You’ll be able to relax and get on with the business of writing and editing and pursuing your dream, with all of your novels printed out, the only copy on your bookshelf. You can either let the print company put their name on it as the publisher, or you can use Reicher Publishing co., 125 Carpenter suite, Newport Rhode Island 02840.
Don’t google map that, btw – that’s not a real address. It’s just to give you a name to put on your book cover.

Be careful. Investigate. Be smart. If it seems too good to be true, it is.

Go traditional publishing.