Subsidy Publishing Versus Self-publishing: a Clarification

Subsidy Publishing

There is a lot of confusion lately regarding the definition of “self-publishing.” Many authors think they have self-published, when in fact they have not.

Subsidy Publishers often refer to themselves and “self-publishing” companies, and offer “self-publishing” services for authors. They intentionally obfuscate the definition of the word, because they are running from the term “vanity press.”

Subsidy Publishers take money to publish your book for you. They act in many ways as a traditional publisher might, however, they do not put their own money on the line and their primary customer is the author, not the book buyer.

When you publish via a Subsidy Press, they are technically the Publisher of Record because they own the ISBN number. They cannot (and will not) sell you the number, give you the number, or assign ownership of the number to you. As long as they own the ISBN, they are the publisher. You did not self-publish. You paid someone to publish you. The only way for you to own the ISBN is for you to buy it from the only ISBN broker in the US; Bowkers.

One major disadvantage of Subsidy publishing is the Price Per Unit of the final product. Subsidy Publishing is not efficient, and the cost per individual book printed that you will pay will be so high so as to price it out of your market. You must have the flexibility to price your book based on a competitive market, not based on production cost.

Another disadvantage is the negative effect a Subsidy Publisher owned ISBN will have on your chances of getting reviewed by the major pre-publication reviewers. It is very difficult to get a book reviewed by the major reviews. If your book is subsidy published, your chances become zero. They will not consider it.

This is not to say that there are not situations where subsidy publishing would not be a suitable choice. If you have a book of local, or family interest and you know you will be able to sell a certain number to a group of people regardless of the cost, then it may be the way to go. Also, if you are just looking to see your book in print and aren’t worried about selling them to large numbers of people, then you might also select a subsidy publishing (this is, by definition, vanity publishing. If that is your interest, it’s probably best to accept it and publish accordingly).

However, if your intentions are in any way to market your book and make money as a publisher, I urge you to consider “true self-publishing.”

Some subsidy presses include: PublishAmerica, AuthorHouse, Lulu, Xlibris, and many others.

Self-Publishing

A self-published book is one that has truly been published by its author. There is a long tradition of very successful authors who have gotten their start by forming their own imprint and publishing their own books.

Self-publishing entails more work, but in the end the results will be much more satisfactory. You will have had control over the creative process, as well as all budgetary concerns.

You will have purchased your own ISBN, and will thus be the Publisher of Record. You will have sought out a cover and layout designer whose work you like and respect. You will have hired a printer that is able to offer a Per Unit Cost that will allow you to set a cover price that matches your market. You will make an actual, reasonable profit on the sale of your book. You will own your own imprint, and will be considered a “small press,” or and “independent publisher,” and so will have a chance of getting reviewed in by the major publications.

Self-publishing is not to be taken on lightly. It is, in essence, starting a new business. This can seem like a daunting task, when done concurrently with the release of a new book. However, as compared to subsidy publishing, it is the only way to publish your book in a way that will give it a chance of success in the extremely volatile publishing world.

There are many really great books on self-publishing. You should select a few and study them before making any decision as to how you are planning on publishing.

POD, or, Print On Demand

There is also some confusion as to the term POD, or Print On Demand. Many authors refer to subsidy publishers as “PODs.” This is entirely inaccurate, and will cause you some embarrassment when talking to the indie publishing community.

Print on Demand is a printing technology used by many publishers of all stripes. Indy presses, small publishers, subsidy presses, church cookbooks, even some of the traditional publisher’s backlogs, all utilize Print On Demand technology.