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When consulting / coaching our clients, helping them with their book marketing, we often have to watch them coming to a screeching hold when they try to organize special sales or free days: authors cannot change prices, text or anything else on their retailers account if they go with a publisher. No matter if it is a traditional big publisher or one of these “vanity” publishers, as only those can go into the retailers account – unless they give their authors the keyword and other details and the permission to do changes on the sales page.
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Every writer, no matter if they author-publish (really self-publish) or if they have sold their manuscript, they have to do their own marketing. But how can you do it, if you are on the mercy of a publisher – real or vanity? If you don’t own the ISBN and if they have no access to they retailers publishing pages?
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This is a huge problem (among many others) that authors face after they have given away their work for pittance – or worse, have paid thousands of dollars to a vanity firm. So, what’s the difference between both, beside the fact that they hinder the authors in their marketing efforts?
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Traditional Publishers
- Accept very few submissions
- Authors receive a small advance and royalties
- They do not use print on demand (single or few books)
- Authors have barely any say to cover image, publishing date etc.
- It takes very long until the book is published
- Publisher pays for printing, editing services and cover image
- Distribution services are covered by the publisher
- Professional marketing services available – but only for celebrity writers
- They own the ISBN for the book
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Vanity Publisher
- Accepts almost all submissions
- Author never receives any advance
- Author pays for printing, editing services
- Quick turnaround and Print on Demand
- Barely any distribution services
- No professional marketing services
- Very few royalties – if any at all
- They own the ISBN for the book
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Why not self-publish?
If an author has all these challenges, waiting times (or costs to cover in the worst scenario) – and cannot even do the necessary marketing without huge problems, what’s the point in having a publisher? Why not author-publish / self-publish in the first place, and be independent when it comes to marketing?
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar
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