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What’s the difference between self-publishing and a vanity press?

Last week we looked at what is a vanity press – so let’s take a look at the differences between a vanity press and self-publishing your book.

Vanity Press publishing isn't self-publishingVanity Press Recap:

  • You pay them to publish your book
  • They use an ISBN number that belongs to them
  • The vanity press takes a percentage of the cover price
  • Strict rules your book must adhere to
  • You’ll probably be charged for changes
  • You will have to buy (and sell) copies of your book
  • They may or may not own the rights to your book

When you self-publish your book, all the rights are yours and so are all the profits. You completely own the work – and have all the business decisions like title, cover design, internal layout, sales price, and marketing.


You don't have to be frustrated by self-publsihing!In an article from Dave Bricker, he says:

Self-publishing is difficult. The writer is tasked with finding qualified editing and design resources, handling administrative chores like ISBN and copyright registration, managing the production of the book, choosing print and distribution partners, and marketing the finished product. However, this path offers control over both creative aspects of the work and business strategy.

Self-publishing is difficult! But it doesn't have to be. Click To Tweet

And if you’re like many of the authors I work with, writing isn’t your only gig. Which means that navigating the murky waters of self-publishing is something you know you need to do but you’re not excited about doing. Especially the marketing and formatting aspects!

But don’t despair!

Just because you’re self-publishing doesn’t mean you have to do everything your self!

I’m currently interviewing potential Virtual Assistants to help me with some aspects of my business that I could do (and am doing currently) but aren’t in my area of genius.

Self-publishing is exactly the same! As a smart, tech-savvy person, you can totally figure out formatting. As a business owner, you already understand marketing and launching. You’ve probably created titles for your programs before.

So you COULD do it all yourself.

But that doesn’t mean you have to!

When you hire a service like what I offer, it’s a Done For You solution to self-publishing. You get all the perks of being self-published but don’t have to actually set it all up! And I’d love to chat with you about your next project!

Kim Galloway
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