On Monday, I talked a little about the stigma attached to vanity presses.
We all seemed to be in agreement that self-published books are not viewed with the same level of respect as traditionally published books, even if the writing is of the same or better caliber. Writer’s Digest has pulled together a guide to self-publishing that can answer any questions you might have about that method of getting into print.
I mentioned in my comment that I believe many vanity presses are predatory, taking advantage of authors who have met the sting of rejection. These authors are not willing to look at their book and objectively assess why it was rejected. If you get a rejection, especially if the rejection includes specific feedback, please take the time to look at your work again and see if there is any further work that needs to be done to help you get that all-important acceptance.
Many of you pointed out that decision of whether to publish a book is a business decision, based on the quality of the writing, the depth of the story, and the current and projected market conditions. For some writers, that means their book may be rejected even if the writer has done everything right–polishing their prose to a diamond-like sheen, developing rich and believable characters and plots, targeting the right agents and publishing houses, and building a solid platform.
Yes, this is another way of saying that rejection isn’t always about you. We writers are a lot like actors–we may do our absolute best work ever, yet it doesn’t quite fit for some other reason completely out of our control.
All we can do is begin work on the next project, which may be the one that gets us published.
