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Article: Types of Publishing

Which One Is Right For You?
The Difference Between
Traditional Publishing, Vanity Presses, and Self-Publishing

by Lana Jordan

The publishing landscape has changed a lot in recent years, and some of the terminology can get confusing. Specifically, what's the difference between traditional publishing, vanity presses, and self-publishing? Who pays what, and how much? Who does what? And more importantly, which one is right for you? Only you can answer that last question. I'll tackle the others...

Traditional Publishing
First, let's talk about traditional publishing. This is the good old-fashioned way of getting a book into print. Traditional publishers handle all the details (editing, illustrations, layout and design, printing, etc.) and pay for all publishing expenses. They also pay the author. How much? That varies from house to house and author to author. I've seen publishers' listings with royalties as low as 3% of wholesale and as high as 15% of retail. If a book retails for $10, then 3% of wholesale would be $0.14 and 15% of retail would be $1.50.

Most publishers also pay advances against royalties. That means you (the author) get a specified amount up front, before any books are sold. You don't get any royalty payments until your percentage of sales exceeds the advance. If the publisher doesn't sell enough books to cover the advance, you still keep it. You don't have to pay the difference, but you won't receive any more payments, either.

Some traditional publishers will only work with writers who are represented by an agent. Others will work directly with writers. If you would like to try and find an agent, the Guide to Literary Agentsis a good starting point.

Or, you can submit your manuscript straight to the publishers and negotiate a contract yourself. For a listing of specific publishers and their terms, refer to the Writer's Marketand/or Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market. All of these books are updated each year. I would strongly recommend using the most recent edition(s) since publishers' submission guidelines, payment terms, response time, contact information, and/or areas of interest are subject to change.

Try to submit your manuscript to those agents and/or publishers most suited to its content. Carefully study the individual listings to find the best fit. And whatever you do, don't send in a rough draft! That won't impress anyone. The material you submit to a publisher should be completely clean and polished.

If after all your best efforts, you find that you are slowly becoming a collector of rejection letters, don't give up. There are more writers than ever before trying to get published. Sometimes it takes persistence; sometimes it takes a more "untraditional" approach. Read on...

Vanity Presses
Next, there's the infamous vanity press. If someone wants to charge you hundreds of dollars for ten copies of your book, they might as well be waving a red flag, because that's a sure sign of a vanity press. So-called "subsidy" publishers, "co-publishers," "hybrid" publishers, and print on demand (POD) publishers are most often categorized as vanity presses. Basically, any publisher who charges exorbitant amounts of money for miniscule amounts of book qualifies as a vanity press.

The printing costs associated with vanity presses are generally so high that the books produced by them are not marketable. Consumers don't care how a book was printed, but they do care about the price. Very few people will pay more than market value for any book — even a book written by a best-selling author — much less a book written by an unknown author.

You have to be realistic. Is there room for you and the wholesalers, distributors, and retailers to make a profit without inflating the retail price? If not, then don't do it — unless you aren't planning to sell the book. If you just want small quantities for your own purposes and you can afford the price tag, then go for it. That's why they're called "vanity presses," and there's nothing wrong with a little harmless vanity now and then!

Just make sure you know what you're getting into. Choose according to your purpose. Don't buy vanity when what you really need is marketability.

Self-Publishing
Which leads us to self-publishing. This is a process in which the author not only writes the book, but also publishes it with the intention of marketing it. The author either hires out or personally takes care of the editing, illustrations, layout and design, and printing. Self-publishing is a whole different ball game. And it's my favorite one! Sure, I'd like a nice contract with a reputable publisher just as much as the next person. But in the meantime, I'm content to self-publish ... and it may ultimately be my ticket to the big leagues.

It's happened. Ever hear of The Christmas Box? Richard Paul Evans self-published it. Simon & Schuster later picked it up for a whopping $4.25 million advance. Ever hear of John Grisham? Ever hear of Mark Twain? Ever hear of Edgar Allen Poe? Ever hear of Benjamin Franklin? Self-publishers, all! Ever hear of Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen? Ever hear of Eragon by Christopher Paolini — a home-schooled teenager whose self-published book made it big?

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is twofold: first, self-publishing can be very rewarding … and second, those of us who go this route are in good company. So don’t let anyone make you feel like you’re somehow a lesser life form should you choose to self-publish. There are many people out there who would be self-appointed judges of which books “deserve” to be published. Some of them are pompous; some are jealous; some are power-hungry; and some are actually well-meaning. All of them will drag you down. Don’t let them. Don’t listen to them. None of the authors mentioned above did … and can you imagine if they had? Luckily they chose to follow their dreams instead. You don’t need anyone’s approval to self-publish.

I have self-published two books thus far, and a third is in the works. I believe in my writing, and I’m willing to back it up by self-publishing. I don't view rejection letters as the tramp of doom. Rather, they make me more determined than ever to succeed.

Self-publishing means that the author assumes full responsibility for producing, printing, and marketing his or her own book. Printing costs should be $400-500 for 100 copies of an average-sized soft cover book (no color) or $500-600 for 100 copies with a color cover. Larger quantities result in lower per-book prices. You might pay $4 per book for a print run of 100; $3 per book for a print run of 400; or $2 per book for a print run of 1,000. Also, because a printer's biggest expense is in setting up the files, all subsequent printings of the same book usually cost less than the first. The exception to this rule is digital printing, which requires little or no set-up since the book is printed from prepared PDF files.

Self-publishing involves a lot of work. Writing the book is only the beginning. For more information, see How to Self-Publish Your Book.

About the Author: Lana Jordan is the founder of Jorlan Publishing, for which she does consulting and editing. She has authored and self-published two books: Journey to Motherhood(a guide to pregnancy and childbirth from a mother’s perspective) and The Sleepytime Ponies Trick a Trickster(a read-aloud storybook about magical flying ponies that take children and their parents on a delightful adventure to Thailand).