Self Publishing Success | Not Just Vanity

Self Publishing Success Trumps Vanity Press

Self Publishing Success Replaces the Old Book Model

Self-Publishing Replaces Old Publishing Model

Recent reports of self publishing success ia proving the idea of vanity publishing to be a thing of the past. Remember the term vanity publishing? Vanity publishing has given self-publishing a bad reputation. Let’s face it. Vanity publishing says ego-publishing. Vanity publishing says you aren’t good enough for a real publishing company. It says you are not a good enough writer. To use a vanity press company to print your book was borderline public embarrassment. This is no longer the case, if it ever really was.

This image developed when traditional book publishing companies were married to academia. People with Ph.D’s or highly educated with a high measure of honor, knowledge, and reputation were published. In modern times, media personalities, celebrities, and politicians qualified for this set. Anyone who wasn’t scholarly, yet published anyway, was considered vain. After all, they did not earn the credentials to educate the masses with writing and publishing a book. This was an honor reserved for a privileged few. Certainly, the main publishing houses perpetuated this idea to counter their competition. With verified facts and reports of self publishing success that has all changed!

Enter Digital Publishing

The New Look of Book Publishing

With the invention of the digital printing press, a large investment to cover the expenses of inventory of books is no longer necessary. With digital publishing, the main thing required is to set up a digital file. Using print on demand, books are printed as ordered, as few as one at a time. Self publishing success is just a digital file away!

“Self-publishing is now supported by a sophisticated and highly accessible support structure,” said Beat Barblan, Director of Identifier Services for Bowker. Bowker Books is practically the Bible in the book publishing industry. They produce a yearly directory of books, entitled Books in Print which is a book catalogue with ISBN numbers, to help identify books for ordering. Creators of products and services that make books easier for people to discover, evaluate, order, and experience, Bowker also conducts research and resources for publishers.

Beat Barblan goes on to remark positively on today’s self publishing success: “It’s provided everyone who has a story to tell with a method for sharing it and leveled the playing field to an unprecedented degree. This is no longer just vanity presses at work – self-publishing is out of the dark corners and making its way into the mainstream. Notable success stories include a number of self-published authors landing their titles onto the prestigious New York Times bestseller list for e-book fiction.” Bowker has done extensive research on the state of self-publishing. To see the rest of their research, you may read their article entitled, “Self-Publishing Sees Triple-Digit Growth in Just Five Years, Says Bowker.”