Some time ago, I wrote a piece about Calumet Editions as a vanity press, warning folks away from losing money to a vanity press. Today, I got a comment on that thread that I wanted to address, so I decided to make a post out of it. The guy said:
Calumet published my first book, a memoir about trying to “make it” as a rock musician. I found no purchase in the world of traditional publishers, in spite of dozens of quiries. One of the Calumet principals saw something I wrote online and asked me to contact them. I did not know the term “vanity press” at the time, but here was a chance to get my book bound and in print and I forked over the $$ and got published. It was a publishing credit on my resume.
I did not delude myself that they were 100% on the up-and-up, but I didn’t have enough confidence in my product to wait it out and see if I could land with a legit publisher (of whom there are now very few). I met with the two guys that ran the operation, forked over the dough, and signed a contract. Out of that, I did get three things of value: 1) One of the co-owners gave me a meticulous edit — the best I’ve ever gotten and it improved the book immensely. 2) The other co-owner did an excellent cover. 4) I got access to their Twitter account and they got me 20,000 followers at one point. This has shrunk to 10,000 over the years, but still, not too shabby, seeing as I never had a clue as to how to get followers on Twitter — nor was I inclined to spend time trying to.
I am now signed to a small traditional publisher with two novels to my credit. Sure, they ask you to share in the marketing costs — and offer an array of discounted opportunities to boost the sales of your book, none of which are compulsory. If you’re in it to make money, you’re in the wrong racket.
Lepplady, the pipe dream you portray of “the writer has one job: to write the book” has long faded in the rear view mirror. That is simply no longer true. I don’t know about the Big Five, or the Big Three, or whatever it is this week, but most indie publishers expect the author to share the burden of promotion. The company I’m signed to now is one such. I have criticisms aplenty, but it’s just one more step up toward the big leagues. No matter how talented you are, you need an agent to get to the big guys. And an agent is the hardest thing to get.
Be well,
Ted
There’s a lot to address, here.
First, it’s my train of thought that it’s your only job to write IF YOU PUBLISH THROUGH A TRADITIONAL PRESS. It’s the publishing company’s job to edit your book, create/purchase a cover for your book, publish your book and market it for you. You are not supposed to have to do a single thing except write your next book.
And you’re certainly not supposed to pay for it. I’m sorry, but the definition is non-negotiable. If you’re dealing with ANY press that charges you money, they’re a vanity press. Money flows toward the author, not away from him or her. Yog’s law is still as valid now as it was when it was first written. Even for small presses.
So, to clarify: The pipe dream of just writing is for traditional presses only.
If you read more of my posts, you’d also see that I have strong opinions not just about vanity presses, but also about self-publishing. While my opinions about vanity presses are largely negative, I have nothing but support for Indie authors.
If you’re going to pay for it anyway, hire your own editor. There are excellent ones out there. Hell, for the price, even Kirkus offers reasonable rates on editing.
If you’re going to pay for it anyway, hire your own cover artist. They’re out there. Find a good one and get a wonderful custom cover for your book.
If you’re going to pay for it anyway, buy your own ISBNs on Bowker and publish your book yourself. You can do that on Kindle direct publishing for free like thousands (millions?) of other authors. Or you can take that next step and publish on Ingram Spark. It’s entirely up to you.
Point being, you can do for yourself EVERYTHING you’re paying someone else to do. And, if you do it yourself, YOU KEEP ALL THE ROYALTIES. You keep every penny the book earns. And, if you’re an Indie author, that’s how it should be.
If you can do everything yourself, what do you need them for? To keep up to 80% of your royalties? Screw that.
Naturally, any author should maintain an online presence and try to engage their public. They should keep the masses informed of what’s going on with the book, with the author, and try to interest new folks in wanting to read their books. That’s just good business. That’s important, but it’s very different than having the job of marketing their books heaped upon the author’s shoulders.
I mean, if you’re the one doing everything, what to you need some vanity press for? Think about it. You’re PAYING THEM to keep your money. How does that make sense? It doesn’t, of course.
Sure, Indie authors have a long row to hoe. It’s a lot of work to write a book, hire an editor, hire a cover artist, publish and promote a book. But it’s worth it to do it yourself rather than have some vanity press keep your money. Any author that takes on that task has my utmost respect and support.
And yes. Agents are hard to find. But they’re out there, too. Find them. If an agent is what you want, query them. If you query a hundred that turn you down, query another hundred. The right fit for you is out there, but it’s not just going to fall into your lap. You’ve got to do the work. Find out about the agent you want to query and begin a conversation with them. Don’t just drop a generic query on them and expect to stand out in the crowd. They get a thousand of those a day. But if you start your query with “I read your blog…” and engage them on some point they made there, they’ll know that you took the time to get to know them, and just might give you a second glance.
And make sure you’ve got a good, catchy query. Many agencies will tell you exactly what they want. If you research their sites, they usually tell you what they want to see from you, and how they want you to send it. All you have to do is a little research. One agent will want to hear about you while another will only want to hear about your book. A third might want a clever mix of the two. Pay attention to what they want, and give it to them.
And yes. I do take my own advice. My most recent publications have been self-published. Right now, I’m working with an editor on my upcoming novel, and I’m in the market for a decent cover, if I don’t create one myself. I may even nose around and see if there’s an agent I want to submit it to. Maybe. I’m not sure yet.
See, I can do everything myself and get my book in front of a global audience. I may not be ready to deal with an agent at this point
So keep your wits about you, dude, and don’t fool yourself. A real traditional publisher doesn’t take your money. If they do take your money, and make you do some or all of the marketing work, they’re still a vanity press. They’ve just got a slicker presentation.
If you don’t believe me, check your publisher out on Absolute Write Water Cooler. They’ve got the scoop on who’s who and what’s what.
I wish you the best with your work. Keep us posted.
Lepplady 