ARTICLE 16
WHAT ARE TP, SP, SMALL, POD PRESSES, VANITY AND SUBSIDY PUBLISHERS? Part 2
But to get the book into the public's hands, an SP author is dependant on the services of a printer to put the book in final form. There are two types of presses available to a self published author. One is using the services of a small offset press -- the same ones that a small publisher uses. Normally, they require a minimum press run of 2,500 to 5,000 books. However, many SP authors can't afford this sort of up-front cost and have nowhere to warehouse the completed volumes.
So, a SP author's second option is a Print On Demand, or POD press. By using digital presses, a POD printer can store the completed manuscript, dimensions, cover art, plus any photos or graphs in a electronic folder and, "on demand" print out 100, 10 or even a single volume of the book. This makes it quite easy for an author to sell their books, because nothing has to be printed until the book is already sold -- making the prospect of recouping the expense guaranteed.
But the POD technology has also led to a whole new type of publisher -- the Vanity Publisher and Subsidy Publisher. What is the difference between them? Well, in reality -- there isn't one. Mind you, there used to be a difference. Before POD technology, a subsidy publisher was one which wasn't quite a small press. They would find obscure novels and give them a chance, but because their finances were tight, they would ask for a small helping hand from the author to pay the printer for the first edition. That is to say, for a full press run of 2,500 copies, they would pay half and the author would pay half, and the subsidy press would then warehouse and sell the book as a traditional publisher does. The author would receive back their money for the print run as books were sold until paid back and then would drop into the more traditional royalty-based pay. Reviewers for newspapers and magazines looked kindly on subsidy presses, for the most part, because they were Small Press wanna-be's that would eventually turn into a solid company.
But all that changed with POD entered the picture. Suddenly, anyone could claim to be a publisher and take on manuscripts to earn money from -- all with no dollars out of pocket!
Now, to be fair, some subsidy publishers state up front that they are a printer. They make no bones about the fact that the AUTHOR bears the full financial responsibility for the production of the book. You will probably never recoup your investment, get a review, or make your fortune. And, the out of pocket investment can be quite large -- thousands of dollars more than a small press would pay to publish a book, because you're only doing it one at a time. But these fee-based subsidy presses DO actually have a niche in the world. They are perfect for family histories, where only a dozen or a hundred people will be interested in the book. They are great for organization cookbook fundraisers and the like. They are being paid to perform a service for people who don't have a publisher in the family. This is terrific, because books that might never have seen the light of day can make it to print. This is the good sort of Vanity Press -- the desire to see a product in print that a large publisher would probably never look at. Perhaps it's vain to want to hold a book in your hands, but sometimes it's enough to make the writer happy. An author is unlikely to ever get a book published by a vanity/subsidy publisher reviewed. The magazines, newspapers and websites don't consider them "published." The publishing industry as a whole actually considers a vanity/subsidy publisher to be LESS than a self-published book. It's not considered a writing credit for any future contract negotiations with a large publisher. Vanity publishers are nothing more than "printers" to the rest of the book industry. The good vanity publishers know this. If they use the term "publisher" at all, it is meant to mean that they assist in formatting the book before it is printed.
Unfortunately, some vanity publishers have taken advantage of the good name that subsidy publishers once had and have ruined it. They have led aspiring authors to believe that they are good and kind small presses which only want to help by-pass the rigmarole that traditional presses "put an author through." But therein resides the lie of dishonest vanity presses -- traditional publishers and small publishers are CONSTANTLY seeking new writers. But they do expect a writer to have mastered his/her craft. Dishonest vanity publishers have no such expectation. They will print EXACTLY what is given to them. If editing is done at all, it is to correct things like punctuation or word choice. Part of the lie is that they are just like traditional publishers, who will edit these things, but they fail to mention that traditional publishers ALSO edit the plot, the characters, timeline and motivation. These are required to make the best book possible. A vanity publisher isn't concerned about the best book, because the author is paying the bill. And if the author is not paying the bill -- a terrific ploy by some vanity publishers -- then the BUYER is footing the bill. While the cost to publish is not out of the author's pocket, it is ALSO not out of the publisher's pocket. They are not willing to take on the financial risk of publishing. A similar trade paperback that will retail for $14.95 from a traditional or small publisher will cost $19.95 to $24.95 from a vanity publisher -- so the end reader is paying the actual expense of printing (plus profit to the publisher, which is how they can maintain their business). Most author contracts state that royalties are based on NET sales, rather than on retail price, so the extra cost of the book does not benefit the author at all.
REMEMBER THE GOLDEN RULE: Gold flows TO the author, not away from the author. If you want to write the one book that's in your head, and never expect to write another; never expect to have a career of writing; and never hope to make enough money to REPLACE your day-job salary, then a subsidy publisher is probably fine. But if you are an aspiring author who hopes to build a career of five, ten or a hundred books, then you should learn your craft, take your time, and stay with the traditional publisher or small press.
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Hope this helps some. The other articles referenced in here are on my website (I didn't feel like editing to find all the references). The link is below. Good luck!
Cathy
