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the difference between publishing service providers and publishers

A recent upswing in misguided queries impels me to provide a clarification to prospective authors.  Nimble Books is not a service provider like PublishAmerica or XLibris and other “subsidy” or “vanity publishers.”  There are two key things to understand about subsidy publishers:

  1. The  money flows from you to them; and
  2. They will publish anything that anyone pays them to publish.

Conversely,

  1.  I never charge fees to authors, at all, ever.
  2.  I only publish those books that I select, usually because they are interesting to me.

Those are the two of the three key signs of a real publishing house.  (The third? IMHO: profitability.) There are a few minor exceptions: some legitimate publishing houses do charge fees to authors for things such as indexing, late revisions, and publicity services.  But those are generally signs of a house that is not very friendly to authors.

A good independent article on understanding subsidy and vanity publishers  is found at the website of the Science Fiction Writers of America.

Good luck, and don’t pay anyone anything specifically to publish your book.  (Editorial services such as copy editing and proofreading are another matter, and may be a good investment in some circumstances.)  If you  want to get your material into print immediately, the best bet is probably Amazon’s CreateSpace, which is free and gets you on Amazon.  If you are more ambitious, check out Aaron Shepard’s excellent AIMING AT AMAZON.

Buzz Me  

Related posts:

  1. AOL: the subscription service for stupid people
  2. Lit Agents Back Google Lawsuits – 10/21/2005 – Publishers Weekly
  3. #Google Editions has it in for science and academic publishers
  4. #Kindle Publishing for Blogs #Amazon
  5. Publishers, Google Battle over Books – 11/18/2005 – Publishers Weekly

2 comments to the difference between publishing service providers and publishers

  • Angie Wrenn

    I have a short novel that is the first of a series called “The Sense of Sight”, It is a thriller with a supernatural touch to it. It’s about a girl who lives with her grandparents, because her parents passed away shortly after she was born. When she turns 16 some weird dreams have been haunting her. Megan’s grandmother has the answers but dies two days after her BD. Her grandmother gives her a heirloom necklace as a gift. Now she is left to discover on her own what is happening. Filled with excitement and thrills, Megan will be through gauntlet of trouble and turmoil, leading up to a final realization that may lead to her unraveling.

  • Fred Wooldridge

    I’ve been reading your impressive web site. It looks as if you don’t publish fiction but maybe you should start.

    I have a mystry’thriller that can beome a national best seller if promoted properly. My hunt for a reputable publisher has just begun. My first book, “I’m Moving Back to Mars,” a book of satire, was self published and, of course, a disaster as it wasn’t promoted properly.

    I’m a retired Miami Beach Police Major with 28 years of active police work under my belt. While the book is fiction, it contains actual events that only a policeman could write.

    The 63,000 word untitled book is curently in “second read” for grammar and sentence structure and will be ready soon.

    We can both make a lot of money with this book

    Let me know.

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