How to Tell The Difference Between Self Publishing, and a Vanity Press

People talk about making money with their publishing, but others, far too many other, will talk about how much money they spent on publishing their book.  There are a lot of choices out there and often when there is a time frame to publish, and you have no publisher this can be incredibly hard to way around.  This is where self-publishing comes into play.

Now, most writers know that there is such as thing as a vanity press, but there is also such a thing as a self-publishing company.  This is a huge difference between a vanity press and a elf-publishing company.  Below is a list of a few things that you should have proper answers to when you set out on the journey of publishing your book.

1) Marketing:  No, you need some marketing, but the thing is that you can go overboard on too much marketing.  A vanity press is a place where all their package promote one thing: marketing.  You should ask questions:  Can you get edits instead of a certain marketing package?  If the answer is no, then do not go with a company where your edits are not the most important thing.

2) Cost: This is the money issue.  It is big.  For the most part you can pay very little to self-publish a book.  Often some companies will not charge you much to publish your work.  Others can cost you thousands of dollars, and a loss of reputation if you want to build your work as a writer.  A Vanity Press is over-priced and often, it is the customer service help that will “upgrade” you to a large package. 

3) Your time:  It takes more time to work with a true self-publishing company since you are often the editor, marketer, designer, and writer all in one.  You choose a lot of the things that you want to have happen with your work, and what you like to see in your books.  With a vanity press, unless you have a high priced package everything is in templates.  You often do not even have much choice as to what style you can have for you work.

These are three of the main difference you need to be aware of when you intend to go the self-publishing route.