Is Llumina a Vanity Press?

There are, in general, two main types of publishers: traditional publishers (who pay you an advance and then proceed to publish and market your book) and vanity publishers (everyone else).  Just for the record, the term "vanity press" was invented by traditional publishers in the early 1900s to prevent wealthy individuals with books from bypassing their services.  It worked: the idea of the "vanity press" stuck and prevented many writers from going into publishing without the stamp of approval from the big NY houses. 

Nowadays, that term is rarely used by traditional publishers.  First, the big NY houses are in trouble, and are not at all interested in the works of unknown writers who do not have a large following.  They want Bill Clinton, but not Joe Clinton (of whom no one has ever heard).  The reason is simple: marketing is expensive.  The less they have to spend on making a name for a writer, the more money goes on the bottom line.

Enter the new publishing.  Although similar to the vanity presses of old, POD printing enables writers to publish without having to spend tens of thousands on printing thousands of books.  Recently, a number of vocal individuals have set themselves up as “experts” in self publishing.  They are attempting to redefine the term “vanity press” to mean any publisher whom you pay for publishing services who also shares in your royalties. This does not really help clarify the real issues, and instead just adds wood to an already smoldering fire. In order to publish a book, it is necessary to have certain jobs done.  The numbers for the book (ISBN, LOC, barcode) have to be acquired, the layout has to be professionally done, cover art has to be designed, distribution has to be set up.  Of course, you can do this work yourself if you have the software and the expertise.  However, most people don’t have these programs or these skills.  Most writers have written a book and need someone to put it into publishable form.  If you can’t do the work yourself, then you will have to either get a friend to do the work or pay a professional. We all know the cost of using friends. The cost of using professionals will vary.

Answering this need for expertise are many POD publishing companies calling themselves, for want of a better word, self-publishers.  Among those who do this kind of publishing, there is some variety.  The biggest self publishing houses (iUniverse, Xlibris, AuthorHouse, Trafford and a few others) are actually now owned by one company, Author Solutions.  This company uses what they call "economies of scale" to lower costs.  However, in English, "economies of scale" means that their projects across the board are outsourced to countries like India, China, and the Philippines, and only their administration and sales force is on this side of the world. Despite these economies, their prices are not any lower, and often are actually higher than those of smaller companies.

Llumina is a mid-sized POD publishing company, and unlike most others, it was founded by a writer, the idea being to help writers get their books into print and into distribution. We can work in two ways:  1) we can do the necessary work for you at a low “package” rate that will get a professionally designed book into the market with a minimum of misery.  This low cost is available because we know we will make something when the book sells.  2) If you are not happy with us sharing in your royalties, we can still do the work, though at a higher price.  This price is more like that found among freelance designers, but we can offer ten years of experience and 2000 books of knowledge. Not only will we do all the necessary work, we will also arrange it so that all royalties will be paid directly to you, and you will be able to order copies direct from the Ingram printer.  This “Keep All Your Royalties” package is more expensive, but some writers think it’s worth it. 

Because Llumina was founded by a writer, editing was, and is a primary concern. Many self published books would otherwise not be edited. That's why we offer a no-obligation, free editing evaluation. It allows us to see what the author is doing and determine what it would take for the book to be ready to compete in the marketplace.

Are we a vanity press?  As you can see, it all depends on the definition.  Please call or write if there's anything we can help you with.

Thanks,

Deborah

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