When self-publishing started to become popular, people thought of it as a passing phase. At that time, vanity presses produced books for authors at a price. They usually edited an author’s book and proofread it, as well as designed the cover art. Authors usually got complementary copies and they were promised advertising, promotion, and marketing. The vanity presses sent some copies of the books to all media houses for reviewing. The deals offered by vanity presses sounded incredible and authors couldn’t help but visualize becoming rich and famous. Some people only wanted to publish copies of their books for family and friends so they had no illusions. However, either the majority of self-publishers didn’t read the fine print in the deals they were offered by vanity presses or they had little understanding about how vanity publishing worked.

Today, self-publishing is a billion-dollar industry but many authors are advised not to quit their day jobs yet. There are several success stories on the self-publishing scene, but unfortunately, there are thousands of people whose books don’t do well for every few that do well. The few people who succeed have constant media attention and it paints an inaccurate picture of self-publishing sales.

Many self-publishing companies make their money on the extra services such as editing and proofreading that they provide to authors. The authors can also choose to provide their books to online sellers such as Amazon and Nook. At online stores, the competition boils down to price. Many authors are willing to sell their books at rock bottom prices to build readership. Most books, especially popular genres, sell for less than a dollar. It takes a lot of sales for a writer to make any money because of the low prices. Selling books online is a bit like gambling because there are very many bad books and a few good ones. The fact that authors choose to price their good books the same as bad ones also doesn’t help.

Despite the growing popularity of self-publishing, traditional publishers are still very much in business. The main reason is the relationship that develops between authors and editors. Editors work closely with their authors to help shape their stories. They frequently give advice to their authors and make sure the authors stay motivated. They check up on authors when they feel the need to and generally keep authors on track. When a book is ready, editors take it and give it the best possible cover to prepare it for marketing. They use their considerable financial might to help market and publicize the book. Authors like traditional publishers because they don’t have to spend any of their own money for such efforts.

What concerns many people in the publishing world today is the mixture of traditionally published books and self-published ones. Traditional publishers usually have to charge more money because of the advances they pay authors in book deals. However, some traditional publishers are trying to get into the business of eBooks, though it doesn’t seem feasible. The advances they pay to authors are very difficult to recoup in the cut-throat world of eBooks, hence they have to drastically reduce the advances.