Self-publish? Vanity Publish? Print on Demand? There are purists who definitely split hairs over these terms!

For me, I see LULU as self-publishing. In the old days, that meant a writer went to a local print shop and paid them to set up the pages for printing from the manauscript--before the advent of home PC's and desk-top publishing. That usually also included an intital print run, which the author also paid for and then would have all those books to peddle around to local shops and so forth. It seems like LULU performs that same service now, for free and because of the new print on demand technolgy, you don't have to order cartons of books at a time. As an author you can order small batches, see how they sell, etc. In the case of self-publishing, the author is in control of the entire process. Does his/her own editing, selects type and fonts and cover art. But has made a concious choice to go that route, because the marketing is also in the writer's shoulders. This is usually a good choice for niche books--family histories, local histories, poetry, things that have very limited appeal except on a local level. It's usually the kiss of death for a novel.

Now, the vanities! These are places like AuthorHouse, PublishAmerica, etc. In this scenario, you pay them--(I hear ya! In self-publishing, you pay for . . .) To those who don't know about the publishing world, there is no difference. But there is! Often, writers are lured into these companies because they look like a real publishing house. The "publisher" offers all sorts of assurances as to their legitimancy, claiming how selective they are, yada, yada. They take your manuscript and after just a few days they send back an acceptance letter. It's filled with glowing praise for your work. You, the writer, say: "Finally! Someone got it! They read my work and understood the inner meanings of my prose. They peeled away the faults to see how hard I tried. How much I toiled to . . . And my editor will now fix those." You do the happy dance. You see thay want $XXXX to "help" get your novel into print. And then for a few $XXX more, we'll provide a "professional" editor. You think, that's a small price to pay after all this work. And the world really needs to read my work." Again, this is not entirely bad. If the writer knows up front what he/she is getting into--more power to them! In some ways, if it's a niche book, this would be a fine way to go to get the work in print and copies to sell at local outlets. But again, I would not recommend it for novel.

The other side of publishing is when you submit to a house--whether a small indie or one of the big boys. (After all the research of course to make sure they publish what you write and you follow all guidelines to the last period.) They read your submission. IF they decide to publish your work, it's only after a thorough analysis on their part as to the works marketability, how much it will cost them, etc. In that case you get acceptance and an advance check. (In the case of some of the smaller indies, you might not get an advance, but in those cases the royalties are often larger.) But in this scenario, the book goes through a professional editorial process prior to publication. And even though as the writer, you still have a major burden of marketing, the publisher does help some. And the books are available for stone and mortar stores to order and carry without the author having to go directly to each store to beg them to carry your books.

Thanks for reading,

Debra