Editing Vanity press (section)

{{short description|Publishing house in which authors pay to have their books published}}

A '''vanity press''' or '''vanity publisher''', sometimes also '''subsidy publisher''',<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bernstein|first=Leonard S.|url=http://archive.org/details/gettingpublished00bern|title=Getting published : the writer in the combat zone|date=1986|publisher=New York : W. Morrow|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-688-06423-5}}</ref> is a [[book printer]] that is paid by authors to [[Self-published|self-publish]] their books.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-08-28 |title=Self-publishing, Hybrid & Vanity Presses: A Simple Guide |url=https://janeyburton.com/self-publishing-hybrid-vanity-a-simple-guide/ |access-date=2023-10-31 |language=en-GB}}</ref>  A vanity press charges fees in advance and does not contribute to the development of the book.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Biel |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MxrtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT22 |title=People's Guide to Publishing: Building a Successful, Sustainable, Meaningful Book Business From the Ground Up |date=2018-12-05 |publisher=Microcosm Publishing |isbn=978-1-62106-313-1 |pages=21–23 |language=en}}</ref>  It has been described as a [[scam]],<ref name=":0" /> though, as the book does get printed, it does not necessarily rise to the level of [[fraud]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walsh |first=Pat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WNcvKKOqaAoC&pg=PA38-IA1 |title=78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might |date=2005-06-07 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-12683-7 |language=en |quote=Is a vanity press a scam?  Kind of.  But it is not necessarily fraud.  Clients generally get what they pay for, but what you are paying for is not much despite how it is packaged.  You pay to produce copies of your book and share any profits with the printer.}}</ref>  The term ''vanity press'' is derogatory, so it is not used by the printers.<ref name=":0" />  Some self-publishing businesses prefer to market themselves as an [[independent press]], and some authors who are self-publishing through [[CreateSpace]] and [[Amazon Kindle]] prefer to market themselves as [[Indie literature|indie authors]] instead of as self-publishing authors.<ref name=":1" />

It is not to be confused with [[hybrid publishing]], where the publisher and author collaborate and ''share'' costs and risks, or with assisted self-publishing, where the authors, sometimes styling themselves as ''authorpreneurs'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Biel |first=Joe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MxrtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT22 |title=People's Guide to Publishing: Building a Successful, Sustainable, Meaningful Book Business From the Ground Up |date=2018-12-05 |publisher=Microcosm Publishing |isbn=978-1-62106-313-1 |pages=21–22 |language=en}}</ref> pay various contractors and publishing services to assist them with self-publishing their own book, and retain all rights.