What is a Vanity Press and How to Avoid One?

Authors are story tellers and whether for love or for money the want to share their stories with the world. There are many ways to do that. Some attend open mic events and share their stories orally. Others submit stories to magazines which allow them to spread their words to the readers of the publication and others are published online through their own websites or blogs or even in online publications. The possibilities are many and varied.

However, many writers do not feel they are 'published' until their work is printed in a book. That book may be hard back, paper back or even a, ebook, but they want their stories to be in a book. There are many ways for this to happen.

Some authors seek out a literary agent who will fight their corner and try to secure them publication with a large publisher. Many of these traditional publishers only accept submissions from agents so those writers without an author are prevented from even being considered. However, many don't realise that often the larger publishers have imprints which accept submissions from unagented authors.

Alternatively, there are smaller publishers which do no require submission by an agent and writers can query them direct, but they still use the traditional publishing model. As a result of this, these publishers receive more manuscripts than they can possibly ever publish, so being accepted by a small independent publisher is not a given. I recall one such publisher stating that they received about 450 manuscripts each month, but accepted maybe one or two of these for publication.

It is therefore unsurprising that many authors choose to self-publish their stories. This gives them full editorial and physical control and ensures that they can get their work into the world without any gatekeepers in the way.

Of course some, who are not confident enough to have their stories edited, design the covers and oversee their own formatting, and who choose to pay for the support of a hybrid publisher. In this case the author will approach hybrid publisher and will be made fully aware of what their costs will be and the precise duties the company will undertake. Authors will pay a hybrid publisher for specific services, not to have their book published per se, but I recommend you approach hybrid authors with caution, because some may be vanity presses in a different guise.

And then there are the vanity press companies.

These are the companies which prey on writers who are desperate to get their stories into the world. These authors will often be at the beginning of their writing careers. Often they do not have good contacts in the writing community and don't have an agent. If these authors have had their book rejected by imprints of the large publishers, been rejected or ignored by independent publishers they have contacted and do not have the confidence to self-publish they are easy prey for vanity press publishing.

No vanity press will ever describe themselves as such. Neither will it be obvious to the uninitiated that they are falling into the hands of a company like this, but it will be an expensive and disheartening experience to fall into the vanity press trap, so how can you tell?

There are always signs that the company is a vanity press and not a reputable publisher. When you know what they are, these signs are obvious.

A vanity press will contact the author. The company will have noted on social media that the writer has completed a manuscript and is desperately seeking a route to publication.

Alternatively, the vanity press will advertise, pay or use the algorithms in search engines to appear first when you ask about publishers who could publish your work. Instead of stating that the publishing house is open for submissions, they will offer to publish your book and state that you can become a published author.

In many cases the vanity press will not edit your work and the cover assigned to your book will not be of a high standard. Check the publishers you consider, vanity publishers will often have a great deal of negative feedback from disappointed writers.

However, the biggest red flag is that a vanity press will charge the author upfront to publish their book. No reputable publisher will ever ask the author for money to get their story out into the world. They pay the author royalties, the bigger publishers will pay an advance which will be deducted from royalties they pay. Never, ever should an author pay the publisher to get their book published.

I wish all authors well with their writing journeys and hope I have saved even a few from the grip of a vanity press.

Val Penny