| The difference between traditional publishing and | | | | publishing at all. I don’t mean that in a cruel |
| vanity publishing, if you ask me, is pride. A | | | | way, but publishers usually know what will sell. If |
| traditional publisher pays you for your manuscript | | | | they aren’t willing to take a chance on |
| and continues to pay you royalties each time the | | | | your novel, you should probably rewrite it. |
| book is scanned through a bookstore cash | | | | When I write a book for a client, I never |
| register. A vanity publisher, however, makes you | | | | encourage vanity publishing because I know that |
| pay for them to publish your manuscript, and you | | | | my clients can earn a return on their investment |
| only make money if you manage to market the | | | | with me by pursuing traditional publishing, as most |
| book sufficiently to gain public interest. | | | | other ghostwriters feel. When someone spends |
| That almost never happens, by the way. | | | | $5,000 - $20,000 on a manuscript, why should he |
| When I say that the difference between | | | | or she pay another $1,500 - $5,000 to have it |
| traditional publishing and vanity publishing lies with | | | | published by a vanity publisher, who won’t |
| pride, I mean that no self-respecting writer pays | | | | even market the book for them? Bookstores |
| someone else to publish their work. It’s | | | | don’t carry books printed by vanity |
| backwards, and it makes no sense. Here, | | | | publishers, so the only access to these |
| you’ve spent several months to several | | | | manuscripts is through the Internet. |
| years pouring your heart and soul into a | | | | If you have written a book and it is good enough |
| manuscript only to pour several hundred dollars | | | | to be published, pursue traditional publishing |
| into its publication. Something isn’t right | | | | avenues first. If they don’t pan out, and |
| with that scenario. | | | | you have your heart set on a published |
| While there are (very few) exceptions to this | | | | manuscript, you can go for a vanity or print on |
| rule, if your manuscript isn’t picked up by a | | | | demand publisher. |
| traditional publisher, it probably isn’t worth | | | | |