| The term vanity publishing is today a misnomer. | | | | church. It might well be a PTA wishing to set |
| The expression is loathed because it offensively | | | | down a history of their school. Sports |
| implies that the writer is so poor at his craft that | | | | organisations too are quick to see the value in not |
| no publisher will touch the work. If the sobriquet | | | | only recording their presence but making money |
| 'vanity' applies to anyone it could be best levelled | | | | from it too. |
| at pretentious mainstream publishers and their | | | | One aspiring poet was famous for his love of his |
| agents. They have a notorious track record of | | | | home town, Liverpool. Indeed he knew his related |
| turning away excellent authors who later | | | | poetry was already popular. Approaching a |
| self-publish bestsellers. One small press publisher | | | | publisher friend he took the plunge and ordered |
| says: "Why on earth beg a publisher to take your | | | | 1,000 copies of his anthology of poems. Upon |
| work and your profits?" | | | | receiving his order he then called in to appropriate |
| An insider recently revealed; "Literary publishers | | | | retailers, including of course, booksellers and |
| are patronising and are all in bed together. They | | | | stores that specialised in the city's maritime |
| think they know what sells, but their sales are | | | | culture. |
| little better than self-published books". Advances in | | | | He took orders on a sale-or-return basis; copies |
| publishing techniques have consigned publishing | | | | were priced at £1.95; one-third of which |
| houses to times gone by. Procedures that once | | | | went to the sellers. He did not get rich but taking |
| called upon the skills of highly paid craftsmen; | | | | into account the copies he sold direct at full price |
| binders, typesetters, compositors; are now | | | | he did make a good profit. He went on to order a |
| carried out automatically. | | | | second anthology and this time had the courage |
| Self Published Are Bestsellers | | | | to have 2,000 copies printed. They quickly sold |
| In fact, because self-published books tend to be | | | | out too. |
| sold in ways unconventional, such as via the | | | | Little Skill Required |
| internet; at markets, and by retailers using the | | | | It is not necessary for the author and publisher to |
| sale or return method, they are sold in far | | | | be a professional writer. After all, one does not |
| greater quantities than those that retail by | | | | have to be a mechanic to drive a car. It is |
| conservative means. | | | | recommended that, unless they are professional |
| It is no longer necessary to print thousands of | | | | writers, they have a co-writer prepare the work |
| small press books. A typical print-run can be as | | | | for the printer. The co-writer, often known as a |
| low as 500 copies, though often they are bought | | | | copy or ghost-writer, will have the expertise to |
| in quantities of 1,000 - 5,000. These can be up to | | | | bring the subject to life. At the same time |
| 100-bound pages but a more sensible size for | | | | misspellings will be corrected and sentence |
| most purposes will be 36 - 60 pages (11,000 - | | | | structure made perfect. |
| 18,000 words plus illustrations). | | | | A common mistake is to think a subject not |
| Those with a 'family value' tend to fall into the | | | | interesting enough. Books on pets, fashion, and |
| lower quantity bracket. These are often locally | | | | know how books each covering hundreds of |
| compiled; 'A History of our Village' or perhaps a | | | | topics often sell by their thousands. The trick is to |
| family history or a 'This is Your Life' account of | | | | find a co-writer who can competently prepare the |
| an important family member. | | | | work and can also place their client's work with |
| Those purchased in lots of 1,000 upwards tend to | | | | the printer. Under one roof is always a money |
| have more of a commercial value. These will be | | | | saver and it speeds things up too. In this way |
| anthologies of poetry, how-to books by which the | | | | costs are reduced and the author's profits are |
| author, an expert in his or her field, imparts their | | | | enhanced. Expect to wait about six weeks for |
| experience to others. In this way they pass on | | | | your boxes of bound copies to be delivered. |
| their skills whilst actually getting paid for it. | | | | When asked why he had not approached a |
| A Profitable Enterprise | | | | specialist publisher of poetry, the Liverpool bard |
| The attraction of self-publishing to make a profit | | | | said he had, but they had rejected his work. He |
| is not lost on charities that may wish to record | | | | self published simply because he had more |
| the history of their organisation. On the other | | | | confidence in his work than they had. "Knowing |
| hand the author could be a clergyman, the sale of | | | | what I know now," he says; "self-publishing was |
| whose written work could raise funds for his | | | | better for me. |