It’s just possible
that vanity presses — or print-on-demand subsidy publishers,
as most prefer to be called — may be improving their
reputations and, in some cases, even gaining respect
among traditional publishers. Not only is the list of
self-published books that have been picked up by traditional
houses growing, but the vanity presses are trumping
traditional publishers with cutting-edge POD technologies,
which are leading to greater increases in titles, as
well as sales. So, it should come as no surprise that
old-school publishers and booksellers are partnering
with the vanity presses.
In one such allegiance,
Barnes & Noble, which owns a 25% stake in iUniverse,
began reviewing titles from iUniverse’s “Star Program,”
which monitors books with strong initial sales and then
covers some of the marketing expenses, and put the first
six titles on its shelves last August. In a move that
illustrates the company’s efforts to improve quality
and offer more services for authors, publishing veteran
Diane Gedymin has been hired as Editorial Director,
says President Susan Driscoll. Formerly Sr. VP
and Publishing Director of HarperSanFrancisco,
Gedymin will lead a team of in-house editors, which
Driscoll says will “really give authors the chance to
publish a book of traditional publishing quality,” and
eventually, Gedymin will develop genre-specific imprints
for the company. Driscoll explains: “We want to demystify
[editorial]. Right now, we say, ‘This is the work that’s
needed,’ and it’s incumbent on the author to do it.
In the future, we’ll be able to help them.” iUniverse
publishes an average of 350 titles per month, with 15,000
total available titles. Driscoll estimated $10.5 million
in net sales for fiscal year 2004, ending in June. Driscoll
named The Anger Habit by Carl Semmelroth as one
of the past year’s accomplishments; Sourcebooks has
purchased the license and signed the author for two
more books.
If the goings-on
at AuthorHouse are any indication, subsidy publishing
is nothing short of a booming business. The company
has moved three times in the past four years to accommodate
its growth; its staff has more than doubled to 200 since
early 2003; and it just changed its name from 1stBooks
to be more all-inclusive. “Whenever I estimate our growth,
I’m way below reality,” says AuthorHouse President Robert
McCormack, who thinks the company’s current facility
in Bloomington, Ind., should be sufficient for a couple
more years. The company published 7,500 titles in 2003,
a 40% jump over the prior year; and it’s anticipating
10,000 published titles this year. “There’s a huge traditionally
underserved market that we’re just now scratching the
surface of,” McCormack enthuses.
Philadelphia-based
Xlibris is another example of a vanity press
with connections to a traditional publisher — in this
case, Random House Ventures. In an April 26 Wall
Street Journal article, RH Ventures President Richard
Sarnoff was quoted saying his company invested partially
for its “farm-team” of authors and partially to learn
about technology-based efficiencies. “They have economic
reasons for pushing those envelopes harder than we do.
I thought it would be advantageous to understand new
technologies through an investment and board position,”
he says. Xlibris Marketing Manager John Fidler said,
“Business is better than it ever has been,” with 2,100
new titles printed (more than 30% growth from 2002)
and more than 35,000 sold in 2003. Founder of The
Writers’ Collective, Lisa Grant says her
goal is to “level the playing field between self, small
and traditional publishers.” Calling it a “boutique
publisher of self published authors,” she started TWC
in June 2002 and is just now seeing its first published
books hit Amazon.com and elsewhere. Unlike most
vanities, this one does not accept all manuscripts.
Working like a co-op buying group, TWC has agreements
with Baker & Taylor, Fidlar-Doubleday,
Mercury Print and Palace Press.
In other POD self-publishing
news, equipment manufacturer InstaBooks announced
an independent bookseller in Ridgewood, N.J., Bookends,
will offer in-store paperback self-publishing. Prices
will start at $150 for 10 books.
