I've always been astonished at the illogic of "the publishing houses are all full of corporate bean-counters, so I'm going to go to a vanity press." Yeah, the big houses are indeed full of bean counters, and they do look at the bottom line and make decisions based on that -- but at least they put books in bookstores and libraries. At least they'll pay an advance. At least they edit and copy-edit and line-edit and proofread. At least they'll pay for a professional artist to create an original cover for your book (sometimes paying them more than they paid you...). At least they have some semblance of an editorial filter to get lower the Sturgeon Law percentage.
A vanity press is a true money-grubbing parasite. All they want is your money. Those corporate publishing houses want the readers' money, not yours; a vanity press only wants yours. They take advantage of writers' egos and insecurities and impatience, and deliver very little in return.
XLibris (I won't give their URL...) is the largest vanity press, to my knowledge. They also send out spam e-mail regularly (to me, too), and in it they croon about how they've published over 10,000 books, have sold over a million copies of those books, and paid out over a million dollars in royalties. That sounds wonderful until you do the math: a million copies of 10,000 books is 100 copies and $100 in royalties per title. Considering that the average cost to publish with XLibris seems to be around $500, that doesn't sound like a bargain to me...
The absolute worst selling mass market book published by those money-huungry nasty corporations is going to sell into five figures and make the writer at least a few thousand dollars. And the best-selling ones, well...
I'd wager that most writers write to be read. Yes, some of us also write for money, too, and if you want that, then you have to go with the big publishers. But even if you primarily want an audience, you still have to go with the big houses first, and then perhaps a small press of some variety if you can't sell there. A vanity press will net you few readers past your family and friends, and is a last resort only.
I think my attitude on vanity presses is also clear.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2004-08-04 06:30 pm (UTC)A vanity press is a true money-grubbing parasite. All they want is your money. Those corporate publishing houses want the readers' money, not yours; a vanity press only wants yours. They take advantage of writers' egos and insecurities and impatience, and deliver very little in return.
XLibris (I won't give their URL...) is the largest vanity press, to my knowledge. They also send out spam e-mail regularly (to me, too), and in it they croon about how they've published over 10,000 books, have sold over a million copies of those books, and paid out over a million dollars in royalties. That sounds wonderful until you do the math: a million copies of 10,000 books is 100 copies and $100 in royalties per title. Considering that the average cost to publish with XLibris seems to be around $500, that doesn't sound like a bargain to me...
The absolute worst selling mass market book published by those money-huungry nasty corporations is going to sell into five figures and make the writer at least a few thousand dollars. And the best-selling ones, well...
I'd wager that most writers write to be read. Yes, some of us also write for money, too, and if you want that, then you have to go with the big publishers. But even if you primarily want an audience, you still have to go with the big houses first, and then perhaps a small press of some variety if you can't sell there. A vanity press will net you few readers past your family and friends, and is a last resort only.
I think my attitude on vanity presses is also clear.