Underwriting the costs to pay for the publication of one’s own story is an age-old practice. For the last few centuries, writers seeking to raise money or get their messages out have paid to reproduce their words for distribution. At its essence, publishing for one’s own self is vanity publishing.

An entire industry devoted to publishing anything and everything, regardless of quality, style, or genre, covers both vanity publishing and self-publishing. In fact, the definition of a vanity press squarely hits self-publishing platforms like Kindle Direct Publishing, Lulu, IngramSpark, Draft2Digital, and others.

The key difference between a vanity press and self-publishing is transparency. There are other differences, too.

A vanity publisher will offer a publishing contract to an author agreeing to publish the author’s work in exchange for a fee. That fee may or may not include a battery of services that a traditional publisher would use to produce a professional product: editing, proofreading, page formatting, cover design, copyright registration, ISBN registration. Online publishing platforms offer many of those services, such as templates for cover design and ISBNs. Vanity publishers, however, want to register the copyright to their ownership; the self-published author owns the copyright.

Vanity presses may suggest the fee being charged to the author as the author’s share in the speculative investment that produces a book. What they fail to disclose is that not only do vanity presses make their profits from authors who pay their fees, but they also take the lion’s share of royalties earned through book sales. Self-published authors–at least those who care to produce a professional product–pay editors, proofreaders, graphic artists, etc. to produce their books, but those vendors are open about how they make their living. They provide specified services for fees charged; they do not earn a share of those royalties.

Many vanity publishers promise to market and promote their authors’ books. Those authors frequently report that marketing efforts depend entirely on them: the publishers made little or no effort to garner book sales. This is telling, because it shows that vanity presses don’t make their money primarily from selling books (i.e., from royalties); they make their money from payments made by authors. A self-published author understands that book promotion and marketing is his or her responsibility. Those who have the time and inclination may do it themselves; others hire publicists and book promoters to take on that responsibility. A vanity publisher doesn’t particularly care whether the book sells; they’ve got their money.

Unfortunately, that lack of marketing support has infected traditional publishers, too. They invest their marketing budgets into authors whose books they know will make a profit. That, of course, gives unknown and little known authors short shrift.

So, now that I’ve made the point to distinguish vanity presses from self-publishing, what’s the difference between assisted publishing and vanity presses? After all, the author pays for the services provided for assisted publishing just as he or she would to self-publish or publish through a vanity press.

The difference, once again, is transparency. As a provider of assisted publishing, Hen House Publishing offers a menu of services for fees. The author retains control throughout the publishing process and pays for the services he or she wants. That may or may not include the actual publication process itself during which the book is uploaded to the author’s preferred self-publishing platform. Here’s the catch: the author keeps the copyright.

Why would an author opt for assisted publishing? As stated above, producing a book meeting professional standards entails skills that most authors don’t possess and/or may not understand. Editing isn’t the same as writing; proofreading isn’t the same as editing. Page layout and cover design are similar, but not the same. Navigating the publication process requires a touch of marketing savvy helped by familiarity with the platform. These employ different skill sets that most people don’t acquire, much less combine.

As a provider of assisted publishing, Hen House Publishing brings the needed skills, experience, and knowledge to the project. This shortens or even eliminates the author’s learning curve while assuring a better quality book.

If you’ve written a book and seek to publish it, but don’t know where to start or need help along the publishing process, e-mail Hen House Publishing now. Or call (937) 964-5592. Let’s talk about your project, what the publishing process entails, and what you need to produce that book.

Every word counts.

One of the taglines I use as an author/publisher is “Escape with Us.” Escape is what good fiction accomplishes. We readers immerse ourselves in the problems of fictional characters, accompany them through adventures and angst, and share their triumph when all’s well that ends well.

Sometimes we need an escape from our normal lives in real life, not just within the pages of a good story. That’s why we take vacations. We give ourselves a break and permission either to do something different or do nothing at all. Last week I took such a break. I went to New Orleans, Louisiana.

My deceased son’s birthday is in late October. I didn’t want to be home for what was supposed to have been–and was in previous years–a joyful date. I needed distraction from melancholy and what better place to find distraction than the Big Easy?

The choice of destination was deliberate. I picked a place where Matt once visited and thoroughly enjoyed himself. I picked a location I’d never before experienced. I asked my best friend to accompany me and she agreed.

I’m sure that wasn’t easy for her, as I’m not the easiest person with whom to spend extended time. But we managed to get through the entire week with our friendship intact, so that’s good. We were smart enough to get separate hotel rooms and take breaks from each other.

We explored the French Quarter together. We went on various tours: a city bus tour, a carriage tour, a swamp tour, a ghost tour. We walked pretty much everywhere. We dined at restaurants recommended by locals, not by Yelp or other tourists. We directed our attention to the city’s eclectic storefronts, art, and history. I bought stuff I didn’t need. We tried new foods.

“Escape with Us” recognizes that we all need breaks from daily stress. A good story can deliver that at our convenience; a great story pulls us back into the pages even when we’re supposed to be concentrating on other things. I’m contented with a good story, but thrilled by a great story.

A great story is what I hope to produce. It’s what every fiction author hopes to produce. There’s no better accolade than a review confessing that the story gripped the reader into the wee hours of the night or persuaded the reader to ignore his or her other obligations in favor of reading it, like this review for Russian Lullaby: “Loved this book. Had everything to hold your interest. Author puts magic and life into her words and the story flows and steals your attention. Reading this book becomes a priority. Other things put on hold…like sleep for example.” Or this review for The Falcon of Imenotash: “Holly has done it again. I couldn’t put down the book. Aridis and Edan battle humiliating circumstances brought about by the emperor. Her supposed brother. I just couldn’t wait to see if they would prevail.“

Not all my books garner such praise. A few receive negative reviews because they don’t conform to genre expectations or the reader dislikes something about the character(s). I take comfort in those reviews, because they don’t complain of substandard writing. That just goes to prove that just because something’s written well doesn’t mean that everyone will like it.

A country song by mother-and-daughter duet Naomi and Wynona Judd, “Why Not Me?“, features a woman wanting to know why the man she loves prefers another woman. In other words, what’s wrong with her that makes her unworthy of his attention and affection?

Freelancers can relate.

Going against the false mantra that one must provide a unique service or product to succeed, many freelancers provide the same type of service (career coaching, fitness counseling, retail shops, funeral homes, etc.) to pretty much the same kinds of clients. Some are geographically restricted (e.g., landscaping companies) and others are not (e.g., marketing). There are a lot of businesses out there trying to distinguish themselves from their local and global competition as the best option for the multitudes of potential customers.

Let’s be candid: not every vendor suits every customer for that product or service. Customer service concepts don’t align with every customer’s expectations. If you’ve seen the unreasonable examples of buyer requests for writing and editing gigs, then you know what I mean. Some customers don’t match some vendors.

The match between customer and vendor depends in large part on personality. I’ve taken on projects that seemed great, but which turned into regrets. When one hires a service, there’s an expectation of respect: respect of the client for the vendor hired to do the work and respect of the vendor for what the client wants. Without that mutual respect, the project crumbles, giving rise to resentment and animosity.

The vendor-client relationship also depends upon the management of expectations. The bad advice to under-promise and over-deliver leads to what architects used to call scope creep. Basically, that means the client begins to expect more and more for the same or lower prices, which leads to the vendor losing time and money. I find that the best way to manage expectations is to delivery precisely what I promised. If I deliver “added value” (meaning: free service) then it’s a gift to a favored client and I make sure that client knows it. This is a one-time deal.

To avoid scope creep, I have learned to put limits and/or boundaries in my contractual terms of service. For instance, a fee of 10¢ per word for fiction writing includes a maximum of three rounds of revision. If the client is satisfied with only one round of revision (after that round), then so much the better for me. If the client is not happy with the content after a third round of revision, then there’s a problem, a big problem. Either the client doesn’t know what he wants or has miscommunicated what he wants or I have entirely misunderstood what the client wants. Fortunately, that rarely happens.

The multitude of choices always means that someone loses. Hiring manager who post job vacancies receive myriad applications in response for a single open position. Many apply, several are viable candidates, only one is hired. Each person is different and unique, but as a group they can be classified into categories. Hiring managers will discard those whose qualifications do not match the must-have competencies and/or experience the company needs.

Of course, therein lies a Catch-22 (thanks, Joseph Heller). You can’t get the job without experience, but you can’t get experience without the job. In freelancing, this results in vendors taking on work that pays paltry wages in order to acquire the needed experience. For those learning on the job, so to speak, the service or product delivered is substandard. That leads to another Catch-22: the poor quality of the service or product justifies the client’s low expectations and low fee as well as his disrespect for the service provided.

A successful freelancer is one who manages to connect with a client and deliver what the clients wants to the client’s satisfaction. A lot of freelancers may be matched to the same client who is not obligated to select any of them. Or the client may want to work with a particular freelancers, but not be able to afford that vendor’s service. This is not the freelancer’s fault, but it may result in lost business if the freelancer cannot exercise sufficient flexibility to convince the client that he’s truly a good choice. The factors influencing that decision may boil down to gut feeling or intuition: Can I trust this person?

I’ve yet to see someone who could write an algorithm for trust or intuition. So, why not me? It could be a client doesn’t want to pay me the price I charge for my service. Perhaps there’s a mismatch of expectations: I won’t give a free writing or editing sample of 2,000 words to help the potential client make a decision as to whether to hire me. I won’t promise unlimited revisions. I won’t do some things that I consider untenable risks or costs of doing business. Perhaps I don’t have the exact experience or knowledge the client wants. That’s understandable. Or maybe our personalities clash. There’s no need to be rude, but when civility is a strain, the working relationship will be rough and unpleasant. Why burden oneself with that?

Why not me? Myriad reasons answer that question, and just as many answer the question of “Why me?” I truly want the best and do my best for my clients and that requires shared respect and civility.