Writers shouldn't be barred from monetary gain just because we admit to sometimes loving what we do. Creative writing, if it produces a good story, creates a product with a monetary value in the market place. I'll be the first to agree that the traditional route to book publication is maddening. The process is sluggish and skewed toward celebrity and all of its pesky checks and balances would be a lot easier to defend if they resulted in any kind of consistent quality. But if droves of weekend writers are willing to spend money hard-earned in other endeavors to see their work in print, why should traditional publishers bother paying anyone anymore?
Traditional publishers are willing to take on publication risk because their process identifies books that, in their experienced opinion, might be able to reach target markets. To the extent that their marketing budget allows, they are motivated to sell books because this is how they make their money. For vanity publishers, the commodity is not the book, but the author--specifically, the desperate author. By charging fees, the vanity publisher is motivated to get as many authors through their doors as possible. Selling books would be gravy, because they get a piece of that action as well--but it isn't as crucial.
No matter who publishes your book, you will have to take on the task of promoting it. That's a given. Will you start this process at ground level, with a traditional publisher, or in the hole, after paying for publication?
For obvious reasons, vanity publishers often disguise themselves as traditional publishers at their websites, and unsuspecting authors don't find out until wrapped up in the euphoria of receiving a contract. Don't let that ego-crushing scenario happen to you. Before you submit, check out a publisher's reputation at the following websites:
2 comments:
The idea that for vanity presses, the commodity is the writers, not the books---that's an excellent point!
Good essay on an important topic.
Some of these presses can serve a purpose, but more and more writers are using vanity presses because they lose patience or they think that somehow they'll make more money out of it. It makes them grind their teeth when they find out they're getting only a small portion of the profits compared to the publisher--who, by the way is assuming all the risk. If those writers walked through a publisher's offices and saw exactly how many people and how much effort it actually takes to publish a book, they might not feel so slighted.
Post a Comment