In Lewis Carroll’s famous Through
the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, Humpty Dumpty told Alice, “When I use a
word, it means just what I choose it
to mean.” For better or for worse, word meanings and implications do change. Radio Shack stores aren’t shacks and they sell much more than radios. “Don we
now our gay apparel” gets a different reaction now than when the words were
written years ago.
In the late 20th century, the terms “vanity
publisher” and “subsidy publisher” were applied to the companies that provided
pay-to-publish services. Those companies and their writer-customers were
derided by other publishers and writers. Writers identified as “self-publishers” were ignored or sneered at.
In the
21st century, self-publishing has gained increasing respectability,
and the term is now so much in vogue that companies love to call themselves “self-publishing companies” to attract
business.
I
consider myself to be an “independent” self-publisher. I own a small publishing
company. I hire editors and artists, buy photography, get copyrights, pick
printers, and promote my books. I could call my company, Silver Sands Books, a
self-publishing company—but that would make my situation even more confusing.
On the
other hand, companies such as AuthorHouse and Mill City Press that I would like
to call “author services companies,” call themselves “self-publishing
companies.
Below
are some of the words and phrases used by some pay-to-publish businesses to
describe themselves and to attract customers. Most of these companies provide
pretty much the same services. PublishAmerica is a special case.
·
Aachanon
Publishing: self-publishing service provider
·
Arbor
Books: self-publishing, subsidy publishing
·
Archway Publishing: the best that self-publishing
can offer
·
Authors Online: Pioneers in Self Publishing
·
AuthorHouse: the leading
self publishing company in the world
·
Author
Solutions: alternative publishing, self-publishing,
indie book publishing, cooperative publishing, on-demand publishing service,
independent publishing, indie, do-it-yourself-publishing, supported
self-publishing
·
Aventine
Press: the best print on demand publisher you never heard of, quiet professionalism
·
Balboa
Press: self-publishing
·
Beckham
Publications Group: joint venture publishing, self-publishing
·
BookPal:
the
widest and largest book distribution channel in the world
·
BookPros:
subsidy publishing, traditional publishing—redefined
·
BookSurge:
do-it-yourself-publishing, publish-on-demand
·
Canmore
Press: assisted self-publishing
· Covenant Signature Publishing: independent book publishing
·
CreateSpace: do-it-yourself-publishing,
print-on-demand publishing, self-publishing, subsidy publishing
·
Crossway:
blends the best of self-publishing and traditional publishing
·
DellArte
Press: assisted self-publishing, self-publishing
·
Dog
Ear Publishing: co-publishing
·
eBookTime:
the book publisher
who can turn your dream of becoming a published author into a reality!
·
Eloquent
Books: joint venture publishing
·
Fertile
Ground Press: assisted self-publishing
·
GM
Books: co-publishing
·
Infinity
Publishing: author originated book publishing, print-on-demand publishing, an independent (indie) book
publisher that has blended aspects of traditional and self-publishing to create
a new kind of publishing.
·
Innovo
Publishing: full-service family-owned
publishing company serving the Christian and wholesome self-publishing markets
·
Isaac
Publishing: subsidy publishing
·
iUniverse:
print-on-demand publishing, self-publishing
·
Light
Messages: partnership publishing
·
Llumina
Press: publish-on-demand, self-publishing, print-on-demand
·
Lulu: free self-publishing, print-on-demand publishing,
self-publishing, publish-on-demand
·
Mill
City Press: self-publishing
·
Morris
Publishing: self-publishing, short-run book printing for self-published authors
That covers examples from just the first half of the alphabet—but I think you get
the idea. If you’d like one more term, author Theresa M. Moore calls these
companies “self-help publishers.”
Even if there are not as many varieties of
publishing as Baskin-Robbins has flavors of ice cream, the number must be
getting close.
Uh-oh.
Apparently I’ve neglected HYBRID PUBLISHING.
Google
shows nearly 40,000 links for the term (up from 13,000 a few years ago), so
apparently I’ve ignored something important.
Google’s first link goes to Windy City Publishing. The company's website tells us: “As
a hybrid publisher we provide authors the control, flexibility and speed of
do-it-yourself publishing. But more than that, we also provide support with a
team of experts that help guide our authors through the entire process.”
Gee. That sounds like AuthorHouse, CreateSpace,
Outskirts and many others. Windy’s publishing packages cost as much as
$$13,999. OUCH.
RevMedia
Publishing says
Hybrid-Publishing [the company hyphenates the term] “is publishing your book
with a minimal investment and getting paid royalties for bookstore sales and
other retail revenues from a publisher. It’s getting your book in the wholesale
market without warehousing thousands of copies costing you huge money that
could be used in marketing. It’s getting your name on retailers book lists and
providing access to major book retailers to order your book with out [sic]
paying big dollars to publish your book.”
Gee. That sounds like AuthorHouse, CreateSpace,
Outskirts and many other self-publishing companies.
BQB Publishing wants us to know that “Hybrid publishing is typically a combination of
the high-quality processes for acceptance, editing, and book design that are
indigenous to the traditional houses, combined with the author’s financial
participation that is a part of self-publishing.”
Gee. That sounds like Vantage Press, Beckham
Publications and others.
The new She
Writes Press says: “We are a hybrid because we are, in fact, a publishing
company. What we’re offering is fee-based publishing, but we are also offering
a partnership. With SWP, you own your content, but you publish under our
imprint and our ISBN. You can have your rights reverted at any time, but we are
bringing you under our umbrella when we offer you a contract.”
Gee. That sounds like lots of other
self-publishing companies.
----
From my just-published How to not get Screwed by a Self-Publishing Company.
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