A vanity press or vanity publisher is a book printer which, while claiming to be a publisher, charges the writer a fee in return for publishing his or her books, or otherwise makes most of its money from the author rather than from the public. Johnathon Clifford claims to have coined the term in 1959.^[1] In its very simplest terms, while a commercial publisher's intended market is the general public, a vanity publisher's intended market is the author himself or herself. Many authorities consider an author mill to be a kind of vanity publisher. A vanity press is distinguished from a small press publisher in that the small press acts as its larger cousins do, performing the traditional roles of editorial selection, binding and review, and marketing at its own expense, rather than at the expense of the author. For other uses, see Book (disambiguation). ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... For other uses, see Book (disambiguation). ... An author mill is a variety of vanity press. ... The Dun Emer Press in 1903 with Elizabeth Yeats working the hand press Small press is a term often used to describe publishers who typically specialize in genre fiction, or limited edition books or magazines. ...

The vanity companies often refer to themselves as joint-venture or subsidy publishers, because the author "subsidizes" (or finances) the publication. A vanity press will generally agree to print and bind any author's work if the author is willing to pay for the service; these fees typically form a vanity press's profits. For other uses, see Print. ... Old book binding and cover Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of folded or unfolded sheets of paper or other material. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Commercial publishers, on the other hand, derive their profit from sales of the book, and must therefore be cautious and deliberate in choosing to publish works that will sell, particularly as they must recoup their investment in the book (such as an advance payment and royalties to the author, editorial guidance, promotion, marketing, or advertising). To better help sell their books, commercial publishers may also be selective in order to cultivate a reputation for high-quality work, or to specialize in a particular genre. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... An advance payment, or simply an advance, is the part of a contractually due sum that is paid in advance, while the balance will only follow after receipt on the counterpart in goods or services. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Editing is the process of preparing language, images, or sound for presentation through correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing Scale model of a Wheaties cereal box at a pep rally Promotion is one of the four key aspects of the marketing mix. ... For the magazine, see Marketing (magazine). ... Advert redirects here. ... A genre [], (French: kind or sort from Greek: γένος (genos)) is a loose set of criteria for a category of literary composition; the term is also used for any other form of art or utterance. ...

Because vanity presses are not as selective, publication by a vanity press is typically not seen as conferring the same recognition or prestige as commercial publication. Vanity presses do offer more independence for the author than does the mainstream publishing industry; however, their fees are often higher than the fees normally charged for similar printing services, and sometimes restrictive contracts are required.

Differences from commercial publishers

The term “vanity press” is considered derogatory, and is often used to imply that an author using such a service is only publishing out of vanity, and that his or her work could not be commercially successful. Some vanity presses are in fact scams, including those identified at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) website. In general, any publisher that expects the author to pay a large fee upfront (while promising or hinting at fame and fortune), is most likely dishonest, and certainly should be approached warily. For other meanings of vanity, see vanity (disambiguation). ... A confidence trick, confidence game, or con for short, (also known as a scam) is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the mark) usually with the goal of financial or other gain. ... Science Fiction Writers of America, or SFWA (pronounced // or //), was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight. ...

Some companies offer printing (and perhaps limited distribution) for a fee. If honest, such companies will explain their fees, what they do and do not offer, and how their service differs from that of a commercial publisher. Such services can be a viable way for an author to self-publish without owning printing equipment. This is particularly attractive to an author of a work with a limited, specialized appeal which may not interest mainstream publishers, or to the author who intends to promote his or her work personally. However, the true distinction between vanity publishing and self-publishing is simple: who owns the books when they come off the printing press? If the answer is the printer, who then pays royalties to the author on the basis of books sold, then the book has been vanity published. If the author owns the books outright, and can thus dispose of them as he or she likes, then that author has self-published. For other uses, see Print. ... Self-publishing is the publishing of books or other media by those who have written them. ...

Scholarly journals often ask authors to pay page charges but use peer review to keep a high scientific standard. This is to be distinguished from the true vanity publisher, who will publish anything within their general market that will be paid for. Nature. ... Peer review (known as refereeing in some academic fields) is a scholarly process used in the publication of manuscripts and in the awarding of funding for research. ...

Poets often self-publish, as their work is generally of extremely specialized appeal, and therefore risky to mainstream publishers. An inexperienced poet, whose manuscript has been repeatedly rejected by major edition companies, makes an easy target for vanity publishers.^[2] Self-publishing is the publishing of books or other media by those who have written them. ...

A mainstream publisher traditionally assumes the risk of publication and production costs, selects the works to be published, edits the author's text, and provides for marketing and distribution, provides the ISBN and satisfies whatever legal deposit and copyright registration formalities are required. Such a publisher normally pays the author a fee, called an advance, for the right to publish the author's work; and further payments, called royalties, based on the sales of the work. This led to James D. Macdonald's famous dictum, "Money should always flow toward the author" (sometimes called Yog's Law). For the magazine, see Marketing (magazine). ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing Distribution is one of the 4 aspects of marketing. ... The International Standard Book Number, or ISBN (sometimes pronounced is-ben), is a unique[1] identifier for books, intended to be used commercially. ... United States Library of Congress, Jefferson building A national library is a library specifically established by the government of a nation to serve as the pre-eminent repository of information for that country. ... In some forms of copyright laws, only a copyright registration makes a creative work eligible for protection. ... An advance payment, or simply an advance, is the part of a contractually due sum that is paid in advance, while the balance will only follow after receipt on the counterpart in goods or services. ... Not to be confused with copywriting. ... James D. Macdonald (1954- ) is an American critic and author working in multiple related genres, including science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. ...

A vanity publisher typically fails to provide any useful editing service, and is not selective, printing works by anyone willing to pay a fee. This lack of selectivity is the main reason for the low esteem in which most of the literary world holds vanity publishers. Many vanity publishers charge excessive fees, which are never likely to be recouped from sales of the books involved. Vanity publishers typically do little or no effective marketing. Formerly, they did little or no distribution. Now vanity publishers may offer web-based sales, or make a book available via online booksellers, but they generally do no marketing. Furthermore, many bookstores -- especially large chain stores -- avoid such books.

Among the many types of books that are unpublishable by major commercial presses, family histories often find their way onto vanity presses, since family histories have an extremely limited market--often fewer than ten copies.

Business model

Vanity publishers typically offer contracts that strongly favor the publisher, charging high fees while providing low-quality books. They often sell worthless add-on services related to editing and marketing, and are frequently charged with outright scams. ^{[citation needed]} A contract is a legally binding exchange of promises or agreement between parties that the law will enforce. ... A confidence trick, confidence game, or con for short, (also known as a scam) is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the mark) usually with the goal of financial or other gain. ...

A self-publisher is an author who also undertakes the functions of a publisher for his or her own book. The classic "self-publisher" writes, edits, markets and promotes the book themselves, relying on a printer only for actual printing and binding. More recently, companies have offered their services to act as a sort of agent between the writer and a small printing operation. In these cases, the distinction between self-publishing and vanity publishing is less obvious than it once was. Self-publishing is the publishing of books or other media by those who have written them. ... The word printer is used to describe a company that provides commercial printing services, involving typesetting, printing and book-binding. ... Binding can mean: Binding (computer science) - a tie (for example) to certain names in programming languages Binding (knot) - A type of knot Binding (linguistics) - a property relating to anaphors (pronouns and R-expressions) and c-command Bookbinding - the protective cover of a book; and the art of constructing this Ski...

The most recent incarnations of vanity presses make use of print on demand technologies based on modern digital printing. These companies are often able to offer their services with little or no upfront cost to the author, but they are still considered vanity presses by many writers advocates. Vanity presses earn their money, not from sales of books to readers like other publishers, but from sales of books to the authors. The author receives the shipment of books and may attempt to resell them through whatever channels are available. Print on demand (POD), sometimes mistakenly referred to as publish on demand, is a printing technology employed by publishers in which new copies of a book (or other document) are not printed until after an order for them has been received. ...

Alternatives to vanity publishing

Writers considering self-publishing often also consider directly hiring a printer. According to self-publisher and poet Peter Finch, vanity presses charge higher premiums and create a risk that an author who has published with a vanity press will have more difficulty working with a respectable publisher in the future. Self-publishing is the publishing of books or other media by those who have written them. ... The word printer is used to describe a company that provides commercial printing services, involving typesetting, printing and book-binding. ... The poor poet A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... Peter Finch is a Welsh poet and author. ...

Some vanity presses using print on demand technology act as printers as well as sellers of support services for authors interested in self-publishing. Reputable firms of this type are typically marked by clear contract terms, lack of excessive fees, retail prices comparable to those from commercial printers, lack of pressure to purchase "extra" services, contracts which do not claim exclusive rights to the work being published (though one would be hard pressed to find a legitimate publisher willing to put out a competing edition, making non-exclusivity meaningless), and honest indications of what services they will and won't provide, and what results the author may reasonably expect. However, the distinction between the worst of these firms and vanity presses is essentially trivial, though a source of great confusion as the low fees have attracted tens of thousands of authors who wish to avoid the stigma of vanity publishing while doing just that. Print on demand (POD), sometimes mistakenly referred to as publish on demand, is a printing technology employed by publishers in which new copies of a book (or other document) are not printed until after an order for them has been received. ...

Libraries

The typical library avoids stocking self-published books, since most vanity publications have not gone through selection, revision, copyediting and other critical steps which are normal for commercial for-profit publishers. Most libraries will not accept such vanity publications, even when they are offered free of charge, since even then there are costs involved: all library books have to be described in a catalogue, and require classification stickers and other elements as well as valuable shelf space. In any case, it is usual for books to be chosen for a library by the application of a collection development policy designed to meet the needs of a particular user community, and vanity publications only rarely meet those needs. For other uses, see Library (disambiguation). ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... The card catalog at Yale Universitys Sterling Memorial Library goes almost completely unused, but adds to the austere atmosphere. ... Library Collection Development is the process of planning and acquiring a balanced collection of library materials of many formats, including books, periodicals, online resources, and other media. ...

On the rare occasions when libraries accept the product of a vanity press, they usually require the donor to sign a form giving to the library the right to do what it pleases with the item. The item is sometimes then disposed of in a yearly book sale or by some other process for the distribution of unwanted items. ^{[citation needed]}

Exceptions include local histories, which are of specialized interest enough to be uninteresting to commercial publishers but which are sought out by libraries.

Many libraries and reviewers do not clearly distinguish between vanity publications and self-publications, and are apt to decline or resist any book that does not come from a commercial press. Indeed in some cases any book produced using POD technology encounters such resistance, even if it is from a small commercial publisher.

History

In the nineteenth and early twentieth century it was common for legitimate authors, if they could afford to, to pay the costs of publishing their books. Such writers could expect more control of their work, greater profits, or both. Self-publishing was not judged negatively as it has been more recently. Among the authors taking this route to publication was Lewis Carroll, who paid the expenses of publishing Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and most of his subsequent work. Such authors as Mark Twain, Zane Grey, Upton Sinclair, Carl Sandburg, Edgar Rice Burroughs, George Bernard Shaw, Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, and Anais Nin also resorted to self-publication for some or all of their works. It is worth noting, however, that despite the well known names on this list, not all of them were successful in their publishing ventures. Mark Twain's, for example, led to bankruptcy.^[3] Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (IPA: ) (January 27, 1832 – January 14, 1898), better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll (), was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer. ... “Alice in Wonderland” redirects here. ... Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer. ... Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and pulp fiction that presented an idealized image of the rugged Old West. ... Upton Sinclair Jr. ... For the passenger train service, see Carl Sandburg (Amtrak). ... Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan, although he also produced works in many genres. ... George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856–2 November 1950) was an Irish dramatist, literary critic, and socialist. ... Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, literary critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... This article is about the British author. ... Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862; born David Henry Thoreau[1]) was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, and philosopher who is best known for Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance... Walter Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. ... Ana s Nin (February 21, 1903 - January 14, 1977) was a French author who became famous for her self-published diaries, which span a period of forty years, beginning when she was twelve years old. ...

Vanity presses in fiction

Umberto Eco's novel Foucault's Pendulum discusses the inside workings of a vanity press operated as a side operation of a more orthodox publisher, to pump out otherwise unpublishable personal musings on the occult. The 'main' publisher is run by a Signor Garamond, named for a renowned sixteenth century printer, while the vanity press is called 'Manutius', the name of another famous sixteenth century printer. Elaine Viets's novel Murder Between the Covers involves a self-published author attempting to set up a bookstore signing. The hero of Jonathan Coe's novel What a Carve-Up is commissioned over a long period to write a book by an otherwise vanity publisher. The company is satirized at some length. One of the substories of David Mitchell's 2004 novel Cloud Atlas is about Timothy Cavendish, a vanity press publisher. In Martin Amis's The Information, unsuccessful novelist Richard Tull works part-time at a vanity press, work he finds soul-destroying but (relatively) lucrative. Umberto Eco (born January 5, 1932) is an Italian medievalist, semiotician, philosopher and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose (Il nome della rosa) and his many essays. ... Cover of Foucaults Pendulum, 1989 Picador edition. ... For other uses, see Occult (disambiguation). ... 1480-1561, Parisian designer and maker of printing types. ... Aldus Manutius (1449/50 - February 6, 1515), the Latin form of Aldo Manuzio (born Teobaldo Mannucci) was the founder of the Aldine Press. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... David Mitchell in Poland, Warsaw, April 7, 2006 David Mitchell (born January, 1969) is an English novelist. ... Cover design Cloud Atlas is a 2004 novel, the third book by British author David Mitchell. ... Photo of Martin Amis by Robert Birnbaum Martin Amis (born August 25, 1949) is an English novelist. ... The Information is a 1995 novel by British writer Martin Amis. ...

Examples

The following businesses have been described as using a vanity press or similar business model by independent sources:

• American Biographical Institute^[4]
• Author Identity (a branch of PublishAmerica) [1]
• Dorrance^[5][6]
• iUniverse^[5][6]
• Ivy House^[5]
• Marquis Who's Who^[7]
• Minerva Press (UK)[2]
• Picture.com, aka The International Library of Photography^[8]
• Poetry.com, aka The International Library of Poetry^[9]
• PublishAmerica^[10][5]
• SterlingHouse Publisher^[11]
• Tate Publishing^[6]
• Vantage Press^[5]
• Watermark Press^[12]
• Xlibris^[5]

The American Biographical Institute is a United States based company based in North Carolina that professes to gather biographical information about people based on their achievements. ... PublishAmerica is a Maryland-based book publisher founded in 1999 by Lawrence Alvin Larry Clopper III and Willem Meiners. ... WRITERSWORLD- The leading book publisher in self-publishing, print on demand books and book reprints in the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands that also issues the ISBN number in the authors name, pays the author 100% of the royalties and supplies the author with copies of their books... Marquis Whos Who is a US publisher of a number of books containing short biographical sketches of celebrated persons. ... Minerva Press was a publishing house, noted for creating a market in sentimental and Gothic fiction in the late 18th century. ... Poetry. ... PublishAmerica is a Maryland-based book publisher founded in 1999 by Lawrence Alvin Larry Clopper III and Willem Meiners. ... Xlibris is a Philadelphia-based self-publishing and on-demand printing services provider. ...

See also

• Print on demand
• Publishing
• Author mill
• Vanity gallery
• Self-publishing

Print on demand (POD), sometimes mistakenly referred to as publish on demand, is a printing technology employed by publishers in which new copies of a book (or other document) are not printed until after an order for them has been received. ... “Publisher” redirects here. ... An author mill is a variety of vanity press. ... A vanity gallery is an art gallery that charges artists fees in order to exhibit their work. ... Self-publishing is the publishing of books or other media by those who have written them. ...

Notes

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 152nd day of the year (153rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington, D.C.. It is also one of the citys oldest papers, having been founded in 1877. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 360th day of the year (361st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 105th day of the year (106th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Writer Beware on Vanity Presses
• Vanity Publishing Information Advice and Warning