The term vanity publishing is loathed because it offensively and wrongly implies that the writer is so poor at their craft that no publisher will touch their work. If the ‘vanity’ sobriquet applies to anyone it is best levelled at pretentious mainstream publishers and their agents. Conventional publishers are notorious for turning their noses up at authors who later self-publish bestsellers.
A publishing insider revealed; “Literary publishers are patronising and are all in bed together. They think they know what sells but their sales are little better than self-published books”. Advances in publishing techniques have consigned publishing houses to history. Procedures that once called upon the skills of highly paid craftsmen; binders, typesetters, compositors; are now carried out automatically.
Because self-published books tend to be sold in unconventional ways such as the internet; at markets, and by retailers using the sale or return method, they are sold in far greater quantities than books sold by bookshops. These now account for only 1% of book sales.
It is no longer necessary to print thousands of self published books. A typical print-run can be as low as 500 copies though orders of 1,000 are more cost effective. These can be up to 100-bound pages but a more sensible size will be 36 – 60 pages (11,000 – 18,000 words plus illustrations).
Those purchased in lots of 1,000 upwards tend to have more of a commercial value. These will be anthologies of poetry, how-to books by which the author, an expert in his or her field, imparts their experience to others. In this way they pass on their skills whilst actually getting paid for it.
The attraction of profiting by self-publishing is not lost on charities that may wish to record the history of their organisation. An author could be a clergyman, the sale of whose written work could raise funds for his church. It might well be a Parent Teachers Association (PTA) wishing to set down a history of their school.
It is not necessary for the author as publisher to be a professional writer. After all, one does not need to be a mechanic to drive a car. It is recommended however that, unless they are professional writers, they have a co-writer prepare the work for the book printer.
The co-writer or ghost-writer will have the expertise to bring the subject to life. At the same time misspellings will be corrected and sentence structure perfected; flair added.
A common mistake is to think a subject not interesting enough. Books on pets, fashion, and know how books covering hundreds of topics often sell by their thousands. The trick is to find a co-writer who can competently prepare the content and make the book available online so buyers can purchase it; thereby making the author a good profit. Under one roof is always a money saver and speeds things up. Costs are reduced and the profits enhanced. If hard copy (conventional) published expect to wait about six weeks for your boxes of bound copies to be delivered.