Never Confuse Vanity Book Publishing And Self-Publishing

Vanity book publishing has a bad reputation, and it is no surprise why this is so.

If you are a new author, beware of publishers who offer to publish your book. Also be just as wary of publishers you discover that say a lot about publishing your book, but almost nothing about how much it will cost or how they will help you market your book.

There is a very big difference between vanity book publishing and self-publishing.

It is easy to self-publish today, and it is basically free. Sure, there are preparation costs involved in book cover design, editing and proofreading and print on demand proof copies, but the actual cost of publishing and distribution is absolutely free.

Importantly, for Indie authors you retain all the rights to your book and you are paid directly and usually monthly by the retailers you choose to use.

Despite this fact, many authors are still lured to seemingly attractive offers made by vanity publishing companies to do everything for them. But, at what cost, and to what benefit?

What usually follows after an initial contact with a vanity publisher is high-pressure selling that can last for weeks or months.

A view from the inside of vanity publishing

I was prompted to write this article after I was contacted by an ex-employee of Author Solutions. While the person wants to remain anonymous due to pending legal action, I have permission to quote some passages.

If you would like to repeat this email, then please feel free

Many employees, current and former, are filing a law suit (sic) against Author Solutions. The attorney’s (sic) are collecting the narratives now, This is all we can release at this time, but we wish to bring the global community on board. We are currently working on press releases. Author Solutions (currently owned by Najafi Companies, a hedge fund) is not only a toxic place for writers, scamming many out of thousands of dollars, it is just as toxic on its employees.

We wish to provide the global writing community with transparency as well as return our own integrity.

I am sure you would be aware, but we cannot divulge our names at this time as our attorney’s (sic) have warned against it.  The purpose for all of us contacting the publishing world (we know this world and many of us have been in it for over 20 years), we want the world and the authors to know what really is going on. Not only to the authors, but the debauchery that employees have to put up with is unfathomable.

AuthorHouse is, according to the (BBB) Better Business Bureau just one of the alternative names for Author Solutions, LLC. Other alternative names include:

Xlibris, LLC
Westbow Press
Trafford Publishing, LLC
Responder Media
Partridge Singapore
Partridge India
Abbott Press
Partridge Africa
Palibrio
Author Learning Center
Archway Publishing
Booktango
Balboa Press
Content Distributors, LLC
iUniverse, LLC
Inspiring Voices
LifeRich Publishing

It only takes a quick Google search to discover that Authorhouse and Author Solutions have both attracted many complaints over the years about their business practices.

There are many other publishers that you should avoid, or be very wary about. You can check the lists of Thumbs Down Publishers and Alerts for Writers for more information.

When should you be suspicious about a vanity publisher?

Vanity or subsidiary publishing is not always what it seems. If a publishing house is honest and open about what it does and how much it charges for its services, then it could be of value for some authors. Vanity publishing in itself is not bad, but there are some bad actors who prey on unsuspecting new authors.

There are four telltale signs of a vanity press publisher that might cause you some concern.

1. It only talks about publishing your book and says nothing at all about how you or they plan to sell books. There is rarely a mention of historical sales, readers or book buyers.

2. It offers lots of expertise and experts in publishing your book but there are no names, bios or qualifications.

3. It offers you an absolutely free publishing guide as a way to get not only your email address but most importantly, your telephone number. This a classic vanity press ploy.

4. There is no mention of pricing packages, or if there is, it is extremely vague.

I have received numerous emails and messages asking about one new publisher in particular. On top of that, one of our earlier articles warning about scam publishers has been attracting a lot of search traffic regarding this publisher.

Because of this, here are my initial thoughts about Newman Springs Publishing.

This is not a review. It is only a summary of my first impressions of what this publisher is offering.

Newman Springs Publishing is a new company that seems to have been operating since April 2017. There is one troubling entry in the screen grab below of its site details. The owner’s name is hidden. There is also no mention of owners, directors, managers or even contact staff on its website.

Also, when you visit the website, nothing happens when you click the About Page so there are no faces, names, qualifications or details about the company.

Then there is the Free Publishers Packet. But before you can get it, the publisher wants your telephone number. This is the oldest and most commonly used approach of many vanity presses to get your personal details before have had a chance to investigate what the company is really offering.

My last stop on this website was published books. There are not many books. I could only find four. The button ‘Featured Books’ did not work, so I can only presume that these are the only four books that have been published.

 What are my thoughts about Newman Springs Publishing?

I would advise caution as the information on the website is lacking many details. There are all of the four telltale signs I mentioned above that should make any author be wary of this publishing offer. In particular, there is no mention at all of price or pricing packages.

However, it does state:

If your manuscript is acceptable and meets our publishing criteria, we will publish it and bring it to the retail market for
a relatively inexpensive initial investment.

How can we do this? Because our publishing arrangement establishes a sort of “partnership” between us and the author, whereby we receive only a 6% commission of each book’s net sale proceeds, and you receive the remaining 94% of net sale proceeds.

So how much is the inexpensive initial investment? What exactly are net sale proceeds? When are royalties paid? Monthly, or annually? What is a sort of partnership? There are no terms and conditions on the site, so it is impossible to answer these questions.

As for marketing your book, it offers to do a press release, give you a webpage and post your book on Twitter and Facebook. That is not a lot of book marketing. It is worth considering its following on social media. It must be low, as there is neither a Facebook or Twitter link on the site.

I managed to find the Facebook Page, with 899 Likes, but I couldn’t find a Twitter account. The offer of a press release is not that impressive as free press releases are very easy to do but highly ineffective unless you are a celebrity. Newspapers don’t get too excited about a new book press release from a little-known publisher and an unknown author.

With regards to distribution, there are the usual channels including Amazon, Apple and Barnes and Noble. However, there is this:

Hard copy books are distributed through the Ingram Content Network, the largest and most well-respected wholesaler of books in North America. Ingram has distribution agreements in place with nearly all retail stores in North America.

This sounds very good, but it does not mean that bookstores will stock a book. It only means that bookstores can order a book if a customer requests it. It is the same as Createspace expanded distribution. Therefore, all the distribution channels mentioned are the same as what any self-publisher can access themselves.

There is very little specific information supplied on the site, so it is difficult to say if this publisher is offering anything more than vanity publishing wrapped in what could be perceived as assisted self-publishing. It doesn’t seem to offer much more than what any self-publisher could do themselves.

Due to all the very vague information that is supplied by the publisher, my advice would be to proceed with caution and ask for a lot more specific information before even considering its publishing services.

Conclusion

Unlike traditional publishing houses who pay authors to publish book, vanity presses want authors to pay to publish a book.

The difference between vanity publishing and self-publishing is almost always about deciding which is better value for your money.

Do you really want to spend four, five or even six thousand dollars or more to publish a book with a publisher that can’t promise you any sales?

If so, what value will it bring to you that you can’t get by self-publishing and a little hard work, and be paying perhaps only hundreds of dollars for the selected professional services you need?

Before you decide on which publishing route you are going to take to publish your book, do your homework and research very carefully. But beware, there are a lot of honest publishers and small press, but there also are many sharks.