October 2006 Meeting Highlights ...

Sunbelt Editor Contrasts Self-Publishing, Vanity Publishing

All we wanted to know about self-publishing

Sunbelt Books Publications editor-in-chief Jennifer Redmond used her own powerful zoom lens to give us a closeup of the self-publishing world, along with a peek into the book-distribution realm.

About 40 members and guests heard her insight on the hows, whys, realities and risks of self-publishing, the important distinctions between self-publishing and vanity publishing, and Sunbelt distributing procedures. Sunbelt Books is a leading specialty book and map publisher and distributor in the U.S. southwest.

Mrs. Redmond detailed reasons for self-publishing or print-on-demand publishing, with an emphasis on "knowing your personal mission and your audience. If your audience is 25 family members, you should self-publish. Or if it's 250 persons including friends, family and business contacts — self-publish. Or even 2,500 from professional or social networking groups, you should self-publish. Your motivation might be revenue you hope to draw, or perpetuating family memories, or as a public relations venture for personal exposure."

She pointed out reasons for co-publishing with a reputable "standard" publisher, along with differences between the vanity publishers (or packagers) and using a reputable publisher. For instance, she explained that the term vanity press originally indicated that an author using the service was publishing strictly out of vanity or ego and the work could not be considered commercially viable or successful. She recommended that anyone contemplating self-publishing should read "The Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book" by Dan Poynter.

"The easy way to distinguish vanity publishing from self-publishing," she said, "is to ask, who owns the book?" If the author owns the book outright and can dispose of it as he or she likes, then that author is self-published. A vanity publisher owns and controls the book, not the author. Some vanity presses are scams, and any publisher who expects the author to pay a large fee upfront may be a scam artist, so ask for references.

"Remember, every self-published book needs an editor," she cautioned, reminding potential authors to take professional, meticulous care of such style accoutrements as book covers and spines, along with basic grammar.