Author Solutions is NOT indie publishing, folks.
Posted By Sue Collier on December 8, 2010
This post showed up in my Google alerts. It’s all about the inaugural “indie publishing contest” held in partnership by Author Solutions, Inc., the San Francisco Writers Conference, and San Francisco Writers University. <sigh> Here we go again.
To start, we have “ indie book publishing leader Author Solutions.” Say what? Authors Solutions is NOT — I repeat, NOT — an indie book publishing anything, let alone “leader.” Authors Solutions is a vanity press (aka subsidy press). It is a pay-to-publish service wherein authors pay to publish their book under the Author Solutions name, then must purchase their books back from the publisher. Yes, the publisher, which is Author Solutions. There is nothing “self” about this type of publishing. It’s not self-publishing. I assume the generous use of the term “indie publishing” is a thinly veiled attempt to get around this little fact. In most people’s minds, indie publishing equals self-publishing, so it seems they are being deliberately misleading.
I have spoken to many dissastisfied authors who were misled into publishing via Author Solutions as well as others. With the Author Solutions — and other companies like them — imprint on their books, they soon learned that many doors were closed to them in terms of traditional book marketing and promotion options. They also quickly realized their books were poorly edited and poorly designed, further stacking the deck against them actually selling any of their books.
The article goes on to say “while the Holy Grail remains a contract with one of the big six publishers in New York….” This is another untruth. These days, many independent thinkers are becoming independent publishers by choice. Although the traditional publishers believe they are the “holy grail,” savvy self-publishers realize they can maintain control over their project and retain all of the profits by publishing their own books. Even Seth Godin has decided to break ties with the trads.
Companies like Author Solutions certainly have their place on the publishing scene — for those who want their book in print but don’t care about making a profit and for those who go into this arrangement with their eyes open and their expectations realistic. But touting themselves as “indie” is just confusing on an already muddied playing field. I want authors to know that self-publishing (aka indie publishing) means obtaining your own ISBN, starting your own imprint, and publishing your own book — independent of a publisher for hire.
Still confused about vanity versus independent publishing? Read more here.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by SelfPublishingAdvice, Sue Collier. Sue Collier said: Here we go again–vanity publishing is not indie publishing, regardless of how they try to spin it. http://bit.ly/hX7zB4 #selfpublishing [...]
Thanks, Sue. Great information.
McLean’s comment on the SFWC site holds water, “In this new era of digital publishing with eBooks, Print on Demand (POD) books and more, there are now many paths to publication.” Although I think some would contest the statement that publishing with the Big 6 is the holy grail. Your reference to Seth Godin is a perfect example. His Domino Project, announced today, sounds extraordinary. But Seth has been at this for nearly 2 decades.
For those who are just getting started or concerned about content rights, full-service self-publishing can be a great option. I worked with a former Yankee pitcher for over a year as he consider that option, with traditional publishers offering 6 figures. He ended up choosing Outskirts Press, was featured in the NYT, and is rumored to have a movie contract in the works reuniting Damon and Affleck.
Lots of submissions does = lots of email addresses. That is how Author Solutions operates. That model isn’t necessarily ‘bad,’ but in this case, perhaps a bit misleading considering what they are promoting and the language they are using.
I agree the model isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but what I strongly disagree with is the misleading way in which they present it. Subsidy publishing is not the same as self-publishing. Period. And as far as athe Yankees pitcher — I would suspect his name and story are the reasons for a possible deal with Hollywood and not the book itself. The Tattered Cover (our big indie book store in Denver) has a book on its shelves by one of the Broncos. I think it too was done by Outskirts Press — and it looks it. Poorly designed and badly edited. It’s a mystery novel — and not very compelling at that. I suspect any copies sold are because of his name and not the book itself.
I think all of us in publishing (indie or otherwise) are looking forward to seeing how The Domino Project plays out!
Thanks so much for reading and commenting! Hope to see you back. =)
[...] Sue Collier of Self-Publishing Resources emphatically calls out the ASI wіtһ [...]
Hi, I’ve searched long and hard for a self publisher, and they all seem to offer the same thing as Author Solutions….Is AuthorAgency.com a true self publisher??? on their site they claim to be a full service publishing agency, and not a publisher, but I know these things are tricky from what I have read on various blogs. Please help
Author Solutions is NOT indie publishing, folks. | Self-Publishing ……
Here at World Spinner we are debating the same thing……
Hi Ginger–I’m not familiar with AuthorAgency.com, so I’m not sure whether they are a vanity press or not. I will tell you, though, that Self-Publishing Resources offers services for self-publishers. The author is the publisher not us, and we guide authors through each and every step. We can either provide turnkey service — or we can work as consultants, helping you through the process. If you’d like to chat about it, just let me know and we can set up a free consult! Thanks so much for stopping by!
[...] Author Solutions is NOT indie publishing, folks. | Self-Publishing … [...]
[...] Author Solutions is NOT indie publishing, folks. | Self-Publishing Resources [...]
[...] Author Solutions is NOT indie publishing, folks. | Self-Publishing … [...]
Thanks, Sue. Great information. McLean’s comment on the SFWC site holds water, “In this new era of digital publishing with eBooks, Print on Demand (POD) books and more, there are now many paths to publication.” Although I think some would contest the statement that publishing with the Big 6 is the holy grail. Your reference to Seth Godin is a perfect example. His Domino Project, announced today, sounds extraordinary. But Seth has been at this for nearly 2 decades. For those who are just getting started or concerned about content rights, full-service self-publishing can be a great option. I worked with a former Yankee pitcher for over a year as he consider that option, with traditional publishers offering 6 figures. He ended up choosing Outskirts Press, was featured in the NYT, and is rumored to have a movie contract in the works reuniting Damon and Affleck. Lots of submissions does = lots of email addresses. That is how Author Solutions operates. That model isn’t necessarily ‘bad,’ but in this case, perhaps a bit misleading considering what they are promoting and the language they are using.
I agree the model isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but what I strongly disagree with is the misleading way in which they present it. Subsidy publishing is not the same as self-publishing. Period. And as far as athe Yankees pitcher — I would suspect his name and story are the reasons for a possible deal with Hollywood and not the book itself. The Tattered Cover (our big indie book store in Denver) has a book on its shelves by one of the Broncos. I think it too was done by Outskirts Press — and it looks it. Poorly designed and badly edited. It’s a mystery novel — and not very compelling at that. I suspect any copies sold are because of his name and not the book itself. I think all of us in publishing (indie or otherwise) are looking forward to seeing how The Domino Project plays out! Thanks so much for reading and commenting! Hope to see you back. =)
[...] Author Solutions is NOT indie publishing, folks. | Self-Publishing … [...]
I can’t seem to fully load this page from my droid!!!!
[...] the boom of digital self-publishing, use of the term grew. By 2010 there were tons of instances where “indie publishing” was used to refer to self-published books, and by 2011, even outside [...]