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I think the disagreement over whether a POD outfit is actually a
"vanity" publisher has to do with a nasty connotation of the term
"vanity publishing." Your definition is correct, but for a lot of
people, the term implies that the reason the author must pay to have the
book published is because the book is awful -- awful enough that only a
very vain person would want to see it I print, and this fool themselves
into thinking it was worth publishing
Of course, this CAN be the case, and probably often is. It was the case
in the situation I described before. But it DOES NOT HAVE TO be the
case. The book just might have a very limited audience or deal with a
topic that commercial publishers are afraid to touch.
I would agree that not all POD production houses are vanity publishers;
that is not, however, to say that Trafford is not a vanity publisher. As
I understand it, they truly are.
Vanity publishing is, simply speaking, publishing where the primary
costs are paid by the writer--compared with the traditional publishing
model in which the *publisher* paid the costs (and often the writer in
the form of an advance against royalties).
Thus, by pointing out that the majority of POD publishers *are* vanity
presses is not to disparage them or the methodology...merely to state an
established fact. As in every other business, there are good and bad
firms in all phases of publishing--including the vanity press.
For someone seeking to "do his own thing" and "on his own dime" a vanity
press is often a reasonable avenue. For others, who burn to be published
but who cannot sell their work to a traditional publisher, it may be the
*only* feasible route to physical book output.
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