As I monitor the Twitterverse throughout the day, I see authors talking about self-publishing companies they are considering. I know that they are really considering a company that is a predatory publisher disguising themselves as a self-publishing company. In an effort to help educate authors about the difference, I have created this post.
I define a predatory publisher as a company that has one or more of the following abusive practices:
1. Charging fees for publishing related services and not paying the author 100% of the profit from their book sales.
2. Charging a fee and then tying up authors rights to their book.
3. Claiming to be a commercial publisher yet never commercially publishing anyone.
4. Publishing anything without warning authors that a book that is not properly edited, designed, distributed, and marketed will not have a chance of doing well.
5. Charging a fee for publishing services and not providing the author with source files for their book upon request at no additional charge.
6. Claiming to be a traditional publisher and providing poor editing, design and then simply setting up a book with Lightning Source.
7. Charging authors more than they can print books direct with Lightning Source or another reputable printer.
A true self-publishing service provider may charge reasonable fees for editing, design, printing set up, distribution set up, marketing, and publicity while allowing the author to retain control and 100% of the profit from the sales of their book.
I would like to add that you should be careful with the following additional companies because they are resellers of Lighting Source.com. You can deal directly with Lightning Source. They will allow you to print a B&W interior book for $.015 per page and $.90 for the cover, or a full color interior book for $.05 per page and $1.00 for the cover, and provide you with distribution through 25,000 bookstores and libraries via their parent company Ingram for a $75 set up fee. You will need to provide LSI with press ready files and have an ISBN. You can follow their guideline, or hire a reputable book design service provider to handle this for you.
Click here for list of Lighting Source Resellers to avoid: http://lightningsource.com/links.aspx#AuthorServicesLinks
There are many legitimate companies out there that will help you with ghostwriting, writing coaching, editing, book design, and book marketing if you want to pursue the self-publishing path.
If you want assistance with properly self-publishing your book, contact me.
So good to know. I know of someone who used PublishAmerica and someone who used Tate. Neither have admitted anything not being above board. Perhaps they do not know any different. Thanks for enlightening us.
ReplyDeleteI know two other very reputable non-vanity self-publishing companies.
ReplyDeleteLulu.com
Createspace.com
They have served me well.
James - In my opinion, Lulu is a vanity publisher because they are a reseller of LSI and they mark up the printing and keep some of the money on the back end and they don't do anything to deserve it.
ReplyDeleteCreateSpace.com is a legitimate company owned by Amazon.com that offers great quality printing, best price, but distribution is limited to Amazon.com. I recommend to my clients that we set their book up with LSI and CreateSpace.
Thanks for this fantastic post...been trying to collect all this info for a friend who is being "pursued" (yuck) by PublishAmerica and trying to explain to her and on my blog the deal with vanity presses. I independently published my book...literally hired my own editors, book designer, warehouse fulfillment service and 4-press printer and haven't looked back. It's been an awesome experience. The vanity presses sound like a nightmare. Thanks again for this VERY helpful info!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! At first I was worried, but whew, I feel better now. We are a small publishing company. We use CreateSpace for our POD services. After the publishing process is complete we return the accounts (Amazon, dtp, Mobipocket) to the author. We do not manage or take royalties. Although, we will answer questions to help our customers with some marketing issues, that is not our expertise. Our focus is publishing a quality product for a reasonable price and taking care of our customers.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to have met you PublishingGuru. Not only are you incredibly helpful, I may need to send some customers to you.
Hello :)
ReplyDeleteOne question I have is about ISBN numbers. I think I'm right that CreateSpace provide an ISBN number for each book that goes through them 'free of charge' - but does that ISBN number then mean that the book is technically speaking published by CreateSpace and not really self published by the author?
I am about to publish with Lightning Source and I am buying my own ISBN numbers and setting up my own publishing company.
What are the ramifications regarding owning your own ISBN numbers and using one provided by a publisher?
I have a 'gut' feeling it is better to own my own ISBN numbers but is that true or not?
Very informative!
ReplyDeleteI will share your link
on Twitter. :~)
This is really helpful, thanks.
ReplyDeleteI will be coming back here.
God Bless :)
To James...
ReplyDeleteLulu has published the absolutely worst book I've ever read. The company has no standards and terrible customer support. The Lulu boss said, “We publish a huge number of really bad books.” If he knows they’re really bad books, he shouldn’t publish them.
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To Michelle...
If a book does not have _your_ ISBN, you are not the publisher, and therefore not a self-publisher.
Just as no one can take a bath for you or eat lunch for you, no one can self-publish for you.
Michael N. Marcus, author of "Become a Real Self-Publisher" -- due in September.
http://BookMakingBlog.blogspot.com
I concur with Michael regarding the ISBN issue. We allow our clients to use one of ours or use their own. If you use one of ours, we can list your name as an "imprint". 100% pure self-publishing would require you to have your own ISBN. We can't self-publish for you, however we can assist you with the process.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Lulu could probably be called a vanity press, they do make the process very easy for an author with a limited budget and limited audience. For example, a former English teacher of mine published her book on Lulu and has made about $500 so far selling it to friends and former students. However, on a fixed income she couldn't afford to pay upfront for the printing, so she was willing to take a smaller cut of the profits. CreateSpace was just getting started then, and I have been very impressed with their offerings, as well.
ReplyDeleteIt appears that Lulu was the best solution that your English teacher was aware of at the time. The problem I have is that if she had known that Lulu is nothing but a shell wrapped over LightningSource.com(LSI), she could have worked directly with LSI and and had all the same benefits with more profit.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post. This is so informative. I have been trying to decide which way to go, even though, I am a long way from ready to publish. However, this certainly gives me great insight and will help with my decision when the time comes.
ReplyDeleteWarm Regards,
Todd said: >> Lulu is nothing but a shell wrapped over LightningSource.com<<
ReplyDeleteIt appears that Lulu may use printers other than Lulu. I had Lulu print one test book for me. The markings on the last page are not like those in LS books, and the packaging and shipping address were different, too.
Strangely, Lulu's photographic reproduction was MUCH better than LS's.
Unfortunately, Lulu printed on wrinkled paper (which I've never seen in LS books), and text disappeared into the wrinkles.
Michael N. Marcus
author of "Become a Real Self-Publisher," due soon
http://BookMakingBlog.blogspot.com'
http://www.SilverSandsBooks.com
Lulu has no upfront costs and allows you to publish immediately. Yes, books are too expensive, but they're a highly-useful service.
ReplyDeleteI published with Lulu for my first book, LSI for my second. Obviously think LSI is superior, but you can't totally knock the convenience Lulu offers, and you pay for that convenience.
Henry,
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, if an author has no money and wants to self-publish their book using an online template system, CreateSpace.com is a better solution than Lulu. All the same benefits but dealing directly with the printer versus a reseller.
I am bothered by the reality of 1000's of ill-informed authors signing up with Lulu in ignorance. If an author is properly educated about their options and still chooses Lulu, then que sera sera.
With book two, Shadow Demon of Oz still on track for a March 21st release date, I have decided to go with CreateSpace.com once more. I am curious now that Lulu.com no longer provides a resource for purchasing your own ISBN #, where can I go to purchase my own ISBN #? I prefer that over using CS ISBN #.
ReplyDeleteJames,
ReplyDeletehttps://www.myidentifiers.com/
Tell me what you think of Print on demand companies?
ReplyDeleteBy the way so far have enjoyed your posts,and agree with you that so many Authors are ignorant of the Vanity company's, indeed they seem so proud to be using Vanity I read of them often on Facebook.
Something else that bothers me is the 'kindle' so called book publishing that Amazon is pushing.
All the best.
nevetskael
Kael,
ReplyDeleteYour definition of a POD company may be different than mine. Many of the Vanity publishers I listed in this post use POD.
Using a printer that has a POD system (LightningSource.com for example)to get started as a self-published author is what I recommend for most clients.
What bothers you about Amazon's self-publishing platform for the Kindle?
It appears that Lulu was the best solution that your English teacher was aware of at the time.I published with Lulu for my first book, LSI for my second.
ReplyDeleteI had a book Angel in the Attic self published through Xulon Press. Typing errors were supposed to be corrected. I was told they were and the book went to press with the errors still in the print. My address is on one of the pages, in the middle of the page. They wanted $199.00 to correct their mistake.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. My partner and I published our book with Xlibris and paid them 6000 for their premium package which was all we could afford. We had our own graphic designer and had really bad time editing our book through Xlibris. My question is: if they supply us with low resolution disk of our book, are we able to go to a different pritner or publisher?
ReplyDeleteYou need high resolution cover and interior PDFs. Contact me about this. I can help you disengage from Xlibris. thepublishingguru(at)gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThe biggest REGRETS of my life is to learn Nutrition and write a book on health. It has been a great waste of time, money and effort.
ReplyDeleteAfter over 2 years, I selfpublished a book with CS and have my book on amazon. Nothing good about that. Although I tried some ways to market my book, CS claim 0 (ZERO) SALES in amazon. So unbelievable. Next UB order my book for library, I mailed them 30 books by USPS and they lost/damage the books. I sent again by UB's Fexex account. Over 3 months, they said it takes time to sell the book before they can pay me the 40%. I sign up for a blog which ask for contribution, so I can market the book, since I got broke already, but so far not a dollar from anyone. I truly regret for my interest in nutrition and health, it has been nothing but regrets.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI empathize with your pain. I have worked with hundreds of authors with similar stories. I encourage you to stick with it. There are many free marketing ideas on this blog. We also offer very reasonable marketing services starting at $99.
Valuable information and excellent design you got here!
ReplyDeleteI used Blurb for my first book. It was very convenient and they allow you mark up the price on your book. I had to purchase the first book before getting listed in their online bookstore. They do not give you your own ISBN. Is Blurb considered a vanity publisher I'm just curious?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't consider Blurb a vanity publisher. In my opinion, there are better options.
ReplyDelete