[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer

Oh good, we've finally arrived at the stage in a Mobile Reads discussion where the thread descends into an argument over analogies.

Definitions, mostly.
And talking past each other.

Maybe we can get back on track...

Sticking to the definitions alone, there is a clear difference between self-publishing (a *process*) and Vanity Press (a *business model*).

Its really simple: self publishers are their own publishers of record.
Vanity Press companies present *themselves* as the book's publisher.

Engaging in the process of self-publishing may or not take you to a Vanity Press company but that does not mean that all self-publishers are Vanity Press victims.

Look at the companies instead of the writers:

- Vanity press companies make their money off the writer, not the books; whether the book sells or not is no concern of theirs. (C.F. Author Solutions, the new Penguin wholly-owned subsidiary)

- Publishing services companies make their money off the books, not the writer; the more the book sells, the more money they make. (Smashwords, PubIt, Kindle Select, among others.)

Grafton's Damage Control statement makes it clear that she is so out of touch with recent industry changes she didn't know there were any honest Publishing Services companies. Fair enough. She's rich, famous, 72, and has people who take care of those things for her, just as she has people to take care of her lawn and take out the trash, etc.

People around *here* should know better.
With all the debates over terms of service at KDP, Smashwords blog posts about optimal ebook pricing, Pub-it, Apple's iAuthor...
Publishing services are front and center around here pretty much every week. And we know they are honest businesses providing real value that deserve better than to be tarred with the brush of Vanity Press. They are not scam artists or, to use Grafton's words: "...the charlatans lurking out there. I warn about the risk of being taken in by those who promise more than they actually deliver and do so at a writers expense. "

Vanity Press is a very specific Term referring to a very specific kind of unsavory business.

Try this, from the SFWA's Writer Beware web site:
http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writ...nity/#Pitfalls

For another, it’s very difficult for authors to recoup this investment, since vanity/subsidy publishers rarely offer meaningful distribution or marketing. They have no economic incentive to do so–their principal source of income isn’t the sale of books to the public, but the sale of services to authors, and they have little desire to cut into that. If you vanity/subsidy-publish, it’s likely that you’ll lose money.

In contrast:

True self-publishing, like vanity publishing, requires the author to bear the entire cost of publication, and also leaves marketing and promotion to the author. However, rather than paying for a pre-set package of services, the author puts those services together himself. Because every aspect of the process can be out to bid, self-publishing can be much more cost effective than vanity publishing; it can also result in a higher-quality product. All rights, and all profits, remain with the author.

See the difference, folks?

In self-publishing, the writer does the work personally.
They manage the project, top to bottom.
In Vanity Press, they just write checks. (And maybe go to court once they realize they've been scammed.)

Big difference.

Much more here:
http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/vanity/

Writer Beware is a great resource where established SF writers actually help aspiring writers avoid the traps of the publishing business instead of throwing out hollow platitudes about the universe taking care of you.

It is a very educational place.
Highly reccomended.