The world of self-publishing has become increasingly complicated as disreputable companies have sprung up to take advantage of credulous authors desperate to see their work in print. Part of the confusion stems from the variety of terms surrounding nontraditional publishing; these terms, though different in meaning, have been used interchangeably, often deliberately, to delude and deceive unsuspecting victims. Before you consider any self publishing scheme, you must understand the differences among self-publishing, vanity presses, and copublishing arrangements.

Self-publishing means you, the author, take on all the responsibilities of writing, designing, printing, marketing, and distributing your book. It's a respectable option, and some authors have even used self-publishing to launch careers with royalty-paying commercial publishers. Self-publishing also can be a good choice if your book is specifically tailored to a very narrow audience, and if you know how to reach that audience. If your book has more general appeal, you should exhaust your traditional publishing options first; a commercial publisher is much better equipped to reach a mass readership.

Self-publishing also is an expensive proposition. Even in the world of e-books and print-on-demand, you can expect to spend several thousand dollars to create, market, and distribute your book. That doesn't include the time and energy you'll spend on those tasks. Weigh all these factors carefully before you decide to take the plunge into self-publishing.

The biggest disadvantage to any form of self-publishing is that these types of books never make it onto traditional bookstore shelves, and they are rarely, if ever, reviewed by the media. A well-designed self-published book might catch the eye of an agent or commercial publisher, especially if you can show that you sold 1,000 or more copies. But for most book projects, your best bet is to keep trying to land a contract by the usual means.

Vanity Publishers

Vanity publishers and their ilk have given self-publishing a bad reputation, because so many people confuse the two. A self-publisher typically already has his market in mind, knows how to reach that market, and is prepared to do the work necessary to get his book out to interested readers. Vanity publishers — also called subsidy publishers — have no interest in a book's potential market, and they don't care whether you know anything about marketing your book. Anybody who comes up with the cash can get a book printed through these outfits.

Dishonest vanity publishers specialize in pushing writers' emotional buttons. They'll appeal to your ego by telling you that they accept very few projects every year. They'll feed your fears by making traditional publishing sound like a hopeless cause. The truth is, these publishers will take anybody's money, no matter how good or bad their work is. Don't be fooled by the flattery or the fear-mongering.

Often, there is no quality control with vanity presses. That means you may end up with a poorly designed book or one riddled with typos and other errors. You might get to see proofs of your book before it goes to press, but as often as not you won't have that opportunity. You'll get stuck with whatever the so-called publisher delivers to you.

Vanity presses have migrated to the Internet, promoting e-books and print-on-demand services. This can raise some legal nightmares for you depending on how the contract is worded, because you may not have the right to sell your work to another publisher if it's considered “in print” by an e-book or print-on-demand service. Before signing with a vanity publisher, make sure you know exactly what the contract entails. If you have any doubts, take the contract to an attorney who specializes in copyright law or who works extensively with writers and artists.

Copublishing

Copublishing is a relatively new wrinkle in the vanity publishing business, designed, perhaps, to sidestep the natural caution of writers who are familiar with the risks of vanity or subsidy publishers. In a copublishing situation, the publishing company draws a picture of author and publisher sharing both the risks and rewards of putting out a book. Unfortunately, many copublishing arrangements have the same drawbacks as more conventional subsidy arrangements. The author ends up paying, with no guarantees of a salable product, and some writers have found themselves without a product at all, after paying thousands of dollars in a copublishing scheme.

There are countless sharks circling the backwaters of publishing. They prey upon a writer's natural anxieties, confirming your fears about the industry and the difficulty of breaking in, then buoying your hopes with outlandish promises and blatant ego-stroking. Your best defense is a combination of realistic expectations, skepticism of offers that seem too good to be true, and faith in your own abilities.