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.
