The Differences in Publishing

Do you really understand the differences between self-publishing, vanity publishing, pay-to-publish and traditional publishing? It’s all rather confusing. The lines have become blurred, partly because more authors are self-publishing or paying vanity publishers to do some of the work, but not all, and partly because some vanity publishers are promoting themselves as self-publishers and various pay-to-publish companies offer so many different options and prices.

Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware discusses the different options and how the lines have become entangled or deliberately blurred. She takes you through the history of self-publishing and vanity presses, and asks some important questions, like:

Is self-publishing keeping 100% of the profit from sales? Is it owning your ISBN number? If the company that produces your book takes a cut, or if you use its ISBN, are you by definition vanity published, even if you didn’t pay an upfront fee? Is any print-on-demand publishing service vanity publishing, or are there meaningful differences between them?

She does more than ask questions, though. She gives you her definitions of Self-Publishing, Assisted Self-Publishing, Vanity Publishing, and Deceptive Vanity Publishing. She not only defines the categories, she names companies that fall under each.

Her article is definitely one to read and save.