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You’re So Vain — Why Pay For a Cover Story About You?
How to avoid getting scammed in the very profitable corporate awards industry
The pay-for-play of the vanity press industry
When King Solomon said, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,” about 3,000 years ago, he wasn’t referring to vanity publications. But King Solomon’s wisdom about the human condition rings true today.
For example, when it comes to writing, authors are naturally excited about publishing their books. Tucker Max writes that some companies will prey on that excitement, and some first-time authors end up paying thousands of dollars to vanity publishers — and all they get to show for it is a low-quality book and a lot of frustration.
Vanity presses thrive on ripping off self-publishing authors. They promise the world and offer editing, design, and a complete publishing package. In reality, they’re usually no better than print-on-demand services. They’re just a lot more expensive.
It’s easy to be drawn in by these scams because most authors aren’t experts in book publishing. They know much about their expertise but do not know how publishing works. Vanity presses exploit that confusion.
