Self Publishers -Are they getting a Bad Rap?
Back in the 1980’s Vanity publishing came on the scene. The title denoted a service provided to authors who weren’t good enough to get a contract with a traditional publisher.
In those days, authors were charged large sums to get their manuscripts published. Authors were looked down on for using these publishers. Still, some authors chose that venue to get their work into the hands of readers. Some Vanity Press companies acted unscrupulously and took money without giving the author value for that price. It made the authors angry. Some authors expected the same service that traditional publishers and became angry when the reality didn’t match their expectations; they screamed foul. I’m not saying these Vanity Press Publishers of the early days didn’t take advantage of uninformed authors.
Fast forward thirty years. More authors want to put their book in a reader’s hand without waiting and sending out hundreds of query letters. They want immediate gratification. That is the keyword: Vanity or instant gratification.
As Amazon came on to the scene, they saw the benefit of providing a medium for the author who either couldn’t write well enough to get a nod from traditional publishers or didn’t want to wait to be discovered. There have been authors who self-published first then found a traditional published home. That doesn’t often happen, so don’t hang your hat on that hope.
Along with the self-publishing craze, the vanity publishers escaped from the woods and spent money on advertising. You’ve seen them on TV, in writing magazines, internet pop-ups, and your favorite publication. They have the answer to publishing that novel you’ve hidden away in a folder for a price. That price usually is about $5,000. It includes editing, cover, formatting, and getting an ISBN. They promised to put your book in front of thousands of readers. All that was true, but you can’t make people buy a book. That is what readers do they review books.
They prey on the gullible and the uninformed. Those who believe people are truthful. They also have expectations of a traditional publisher. When those expectations aren’t met, they become disappointed.
As Amazon grew in popularity, they saw the self-publishing author as an easy mark. They could afford to set up a medium where those authors didn’t have to wait for traditional publishers and made pennies on every sale. While it’s not much, you add the number of books authors are publishing, and it adds up. Amazon has provided another way to help or hinder the author and still make money at it. Kindle Unlimited. The reader pays a monthly fee and can read as many books as they want. KDP only has to pay by the number of pages read. If the author isn’t good and the reader stops reading, the author doesn’t get paid.
This gauge is a good indication of whether your story, writing, or craft engages the reader to continue the end.
Let’s get back to Vanity Publishers. I bristle when I hear the term used today. I associate the word with scammers, shysters, and con artists. Self-publishing has come a long way from those early days. Yes, there are scammers out there, but many publishers charge for their one-stop-shop services yet provide an honest service for a price.
Do we still label these services Vanity Publisher? I’ve seen Hybrid, and now Indi publishers used nowadays, and I like that better than VP. The stigma the title conveys seems off-putting to hard-working authors who do their best to get their manuscripts ready for publication.
I’ve read if you self-publish, you’re a Vanity author. You can’t get a traditional publishing contract, so you must resort to paying someone to publish your book. While some people look down on self-publishing, it hasn’t stopped those of us who overlook that stigma and continue to write and publish.
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