Traditional Publishing, Self-publishing, and Subsidy Publishing: What's the Difference?

If you're a new and yet-to-be-published writers,				something about advertising and salesmanship.
chances are you've been tempted by magazine				Subsidy Publishing
ads promising "Get Published Now!" or "We'll help				Authors who balk at the high monetary
you self-publish!" Maybe you've submitted material				investment involved in self-publishing may turn to
to traditional publishers and received rejection				subsidy publishing which is sometimes (but not
letters, and in frustration you've thought, "Maybe I				always) less expensive. The author still makes a
should just self-publish."				monetary investment and bears all the risks, but
But where do you begin? A quick search on the				instead of keeping the profits, the author receives
web reveals a bewildering array of self-publishing				royalties from the company. The company prints
options. How many are legitimate? How many are				the book, often on a POD basis, may file for
rip-offs? And how can you tell?				copyright in the author's name (sometimes for a
Let's look at what publishing, self-publishing, and				fee), and may supply the ISBN number (also for a
subsidy publishing actually mean.				fee). The ISBN number belongs to the subsidy
Traditional Publishing				publisher, not to the author. The book also bears
It its broadest sense, the verb "to publish" means				the imprint of the subsidy publisher, not the
"to make public." By this definition, "publishing" can				author's own publishing company. This is the
be anything from a printed book between two				distinction between self-publishing and subsidy
covers to a notice pinned up on a supermarket				publishing: a self-published book is published by the
bulletin board. Blogs, web pages, newsletters, and				author's own publishing company and bears an
self-printed pamphlets are all forms of publishing.				ISBN number belonging to the author, while a
When we speak of "traditional" publishing, we				book published by a subsidy press bears the
refer to companies that buy the rights to make				name of the subsidy press, and the ISBN number
selected works public. A traditional publisher,				belongs to that company.
whether small or large, will select the best work				Subsidy publishers often advertise in the backs of
out of many submissions, draw up a contract				writers' magazines, often with glowing terms of
with the author, take out a copyright in the				what they will do for the author. The services
author's name, and pay the author for various				they offer vary from company to company.
rights, including first publication rights. The publisher				Some will provide editing and layout services.
makes the entire monetary investment, as well				Some are selective about the books they accept.
as taking all the monetary risk, and recoups that				Most, however, accept any and all manuscripts
investment from book sales. The author may be				that come their way. Some do so with the belief
paid an "advance," which is an "advance against				that they are helping the author. But are they
royalties." Once the advance is earned back, the				really?
author receives any additional royalties from				Some books are simply unsellable. They may be
further book sales.				poorly written. They may have spelling and
In order to succeed in the competitive world of				grammatical errors. In the case of fiction, perhaps
book sales, the publisher must be highly selective				the plot is weak, or the characters wooden. In
about the books it choses to publish. No one can				the case of nonfiction, perhaps there are
predict actual book sales, and the industry is				inaccuracies, or the topic is of little interest to the
sometimes taken by surprise by a book that				general public. In both types of books, it may be
suddenly soars to the top of the best-seller list				that the writing is simply too dull to hold a reader's
(or that plunges far below expectations).				interest.
Nevertheless, a publishing company cannot afford				"But," some will ask, "isn't all that up to the author
to take risks on books that it believes are unlikely				to decide?"
to sell.				No. That is up to the reader to decide. Writers do
This is why so few of the manuscripts that are				write from their own hearts, but just because
submitted to a traditional publisher are accepted.				someone has written something does not oblige
Each publisher receives thousands of manuscripts				anyone else to buy and read it. The author who
per year. A large number of these are				wishes to be published writes for an audience, and
unpublishable in some way: poorly written,				must consider that audience before deciding
inappropriate for that publisher, even illegible. A				whether or not to publish a particular piece of
small number are publishable, and only some of				work.
these can be accepted, since the publisher has				This is why it is so important to understand the
only so many slots in the year's publishing				market. And a company that promises to "publish"
schedule. In order to be accepted, the manuscript				anything with little regard to its quality is not giving
must have good sales appeal, must fill a need for				the author all the information necessary for
the publisher, must be well-written, and should be				success. This is why subsidy presses are
presented professionally.				sometimes called "vanity" presses: the worst ones
Self-publishing				will publish anything, offer glowing praise, take an
Authors who self-publish bypass traditional				author's money, and offer almost nothing in the
publishers by creating their own small publishing				way of marketing. A vanity press exists to offer
company. The author makes all the monetary				ego-stroking in exchange for money.
investments and takes all the monetary risks, but				Some, the lowest of all, offer nothing in exchange
keeps all the profits.				for money. The owner of one of the worst of
In order to self-publish a book, an author must				these, Press-Tige Publishing Company, was
find a good printing service that produces				indicted in federal court recently for bilking
high-quality books. In these days of Publish On				hundreds of people out of their money and giving
Demand (POD), finding a good, affordable service				nothing in return.
that produces a quality product is becoming				Subsidy publishers also tend to put a high cover
increasingly difficult, as more service use POD				price on their books, which makes the books
equipment that may or may not produce quality				more difficult to sell. With marketing possibilities
books. Before investing in a POD service, it's				already reduced by bookstores' reluctance to deal
always wise to obtain a sample copy.				with subsidy and vanity publishers, a high cover
The self-published author files for copyright,				price can put a further sharp crimp in sales.
obtains a Library of Congress number, and pays				Subsidy publishers may be a reasonable option for
for an ISBN number and bar code. While the latter				people who don't expect high sales, who have a
is not absolutely necessary if one plans to sell				readily-accessible market available, or who have
locally, it is necessary if the author wishes to sell				family and friends ready and willing to buy the
books through online bookstores and through				book as soon as it is available. For people who
book distributors.				want more control over their work, who are
Copyright is obtained through the U.S. Copyright				ready and willing to do the marketing, who are
Office. You do not need to obtain a copyright if				prepared to take the financial risk, and who want
submitting to traditional publishers.				brisk sales, including sales to bricks-and-mortar
ISBN numbers are purchased through the U.S.				bookstores, self-publishing may be a better option.
ISBN office, and bar codes are obtained through				In Summary
Bowker's. ISBN numbers are purchased in				In short, the three main types of publishing and
multiples, under the expectation that a publisher,				their pros and cons are:
large or small, will be publishing more than one				Traditional publishing: In which the publisher takes
book. They are not cheap; however, owning your				all financial risks, pays the author a royalty, and
own ISBN number rather than letting a subsidy				does most of the marketing. Pros: Higher potential
publisher supply one for you is advantageous				for sales, especially with a big company, higher
when trying to sell books through distributors.				prestige, and professional marketing. Cons: Difficult
Distributors and bookstores are often leery of				to break into, reluctance to accept a book that
buying books from subsidy publishers, especially				won't sell thousands of copies, sometimes a
the notorious "vanity" publishers, and these				reluctance to take chances.
publishers are easily identified in a database by				Self-publishing: In which the author takes all
their ISBN numbers.				financial risks, publishes under his or her own
The self-published author must be willing to do all				imprint, does all of the marketing, and keeps all of
the marketing. Getting the book listed on or				the profits. Pros: More control over the book
Barnes & Noble Online is rarely enough. Only				itself, able to publish books that traditional
a small percentage of books sold in the U.S. are				publishers may view as risky, potential for good
sold through online bookstores, and only a tiny				profits if the book sells well. Cons: Author risks
fraction of these are self-published books. Most				losing money if the book does not sell, author
books are sold through bricks-and-mortar				must be adept at marketing and standard
bookstores, which buy their books through				business practices, lower prestige.
distributors. Getting one's books listed with a				Subsidized ("vanity") publishing: In which the author
distributor can be expensive; however, some				takes most or all of the financial risks, publishes
book printing services can help with this. Authors				under the publisher's imprint, does most of the
can also increase their sales by hand-selling their				marketing, and is paid a royalty on the books that
books through book signings, author tables at local				are sold. Pros: May be less expensive than
fairs and events, their own website, and by word				self-publishing, often very easy to do. Cons:
of mouth through their network of friends and				Author risks losing money if the book does not
acquaintances. Self-publishers must understand the				sell, author must still do most of the marketing,
market, do their marketing research, and know				lowest prestige of all.

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Traditional Publishing, Self-publishing, and Subsidy Publishing: What's the Difference?