Vanity - big hopes, wrong idea

For the third time in a week, I’ve rejected an author who published with a vanity press with the intent of attracting a trade publisher. This one is literally hot off the press, so the author is in the mode of “get ‘em while they’re hot.” Problem is, it won’t be hot, and may never even reach lukewarm. Authors who use POD and vanity with this intent are a lot like buying a brand new car; the minute you drive it off the lot, it depreciates by thousands of dollars. The longer you drive it around town, the price dips even lower.

If trade publishers are the prospective customer, then it’s safe to say that we want a new car, not the used one advertised as being “just like new” in the newspaper. There is nothing new about them. Since experience tells us savvy authors don’t take the vanity route, this means the vanity books tend to require heavy editing and major rewrites – more than the average “car.” Why waste the time when there are more polished works floating around?

As I’ve said in past posts, previously published books have a literary footprint, and it’s really hard to erase them. I’ve seen cases where three active versions of a single title exist in the online databases because the vanity didn’t notify Bowker of the new out of print status. Needless to say, this creates huge confusion for the customer. Additionally, once a book hits the internet, it feeds out to thousands of sites, and it’s impossible to erase those as well. Why would I want to compete with that? I want a new car.

All authors believe their books are great and will sell, but the vanity author tends to have zero idea about how to promote their works. Most vanity authors want the trade publishers’ superior editing capabilities. Problem is, this isn’t a selling feature that will excite me. Effective selling says, “what can I do for you?” – meaning me. And you do that by sending us a fabulous story that’s polished and strong. We are not the Great Benevolent Society and don’t pick up charity cases in order to help perfect their editing. We need great books that customers will buy. That’s how we stay in business.

Obviously these authors are very new to the industry and have committed the same mistake thousands of others before them have done, and that is thinking a vanity press publication is a stepping stone to bigger success.

I hate this part of my job because I see too much of it. Authors’ dreams sink, and vanity presses bank accounts soar. Damn, damn, damn. Makes me all the more anxious to get The Writer’s Essential Tackle Box out on the shelves. If you really believe your work is good, then honor it by treating it like a new car.