Self-Publishing Resources

Posted By Sue Collier on March 10, 2010

I have to speak up again today after reading this blog post: http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/CommentView.aspx?guid=8f273388-29f7-4bcc-9b1f-3efd79f5cf10

The blog wasn’t cooperating with my comment addition, however, so I’m going to put it right here:

“…the industry is now experiencing a “true self-publishing” movement that argues a “real” self-published author is one who eschews the use of services like AuthorSolutions.

“I find the distinction to be nonsensical and elitist. It’s like saying you should never hire an expert or contractor to do your taxes, fix your car, or repair your plumbing.”

There IS a distinction between self-publishing and subsidy publishing, which is what Author Solutions provides. And it’s neither nonsensical nor elitist. True self-published authors work hard to ensure their book is a quality product that is virtually indistinguishable from others on the bookshelf that have been produced by traditional publishers. Subsidy published books tend to be of lower quality–both from an editorial and design standpoint–and sell fewer than 100 copies.

Truly self-published authors–and by that I mean they start up their own publishing imprint and purchase their own ISBNs–frequently DO hire experts to help them through the process. But lumping subsidy publishers such as Author Solutions together with those who provide services to authors who are truly self-publishing misleads authors who do not understand what they are getting into with subsidy publishing.

I don’t believe Author Solutions and the like are evil; but I sure wish they would stop calling themselves “self-publishing companies.” They are pay-to-publish services–ie, vanity presses.

Categories: POD self-publishing, Uncategorized, authors, books, do-it-yourself publishing, self-publishing, subsidy publishing, vanity publishing
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