There seems to be some confusion between Subsidy Publishers and Partnership Publishers. Sometimes the lines are quite blurred however for the most part Subsidy Publishers will take anything as long as you are willing to pay. What makes the Subsidy Publisher different from a Vanity Publisher is that they are usually upfront from the start about what they are offering.
They normally have a headline price to get you interested, usually including design, production, print, final proof and submission to online booksellers. Anything more is an additional paid add-on. Once you make an enquiry you will be emailed about ‘must have extra services’ which will help your book sell. Their contracts, editing, quality of production, promotion, marketing, and other author services can vary widely.
I contacted a couple initially after I had decided that persisting with agents and conventional publishers was not for me. A couple of companies who shall remain nameless then started the hard sell with persistent emails and offers. They all promised the earth but when I looked carefully things were not as good as they made out. The one common denominator was the final cover price of the completed book. It was at least 20% more expensive than an equivalent conventionally published book.
A good resource I found was The Fine Print Of Self-Publishing by Mark Levine. The two publishers I mention above are listed as ‘Publishers to Avoid’ (I’m not surprised). It was a good thing I read his book before I made my decision!
The thing to remember is, be very cautious and research as much as possible before you decide to part with your money. As with everything there are good ones mediocre ones and downright bad ones.
They normally have a headline price to get you interested, usually including design, production, print, final proof and submission to online booksellers. Anything more is an additional paid add-on. Once you make an enquiry you will be emailed about ‘must have extra services’ which will help your book sell. Their contracts, editing, quality of production, promotion, marketing, and other author services can vary widely.
I contacted a couple initially after I had decided that persisting with agents and conventional publishers was not for me. A couple of companies who shall remain nameless then started the hard sell with persistent emails and offers. They all promised the earth but when I looked carefully things were not as good as they made out. The one common denominator was the final cover price of the completed book. It was at least 20% more expensive than an equivalent conventionally published book.
A good resource I found was The Fine Print Of Self-Publishing by Mark Levine. The two publishers I mention above are listed as ‘Publishers to Avoid’ (I’m not surprised). It was a good thing I read his book before I made my decision!
The thing to remember is, be very cautious and research as much as possible before you decide to part with your money. As with everything there are good ones mediocre ones and downright bad ones.