The quick answer is that we, as an author-services company, are dedicated to producing quality product at the level of that produced by traditional publishers, and vanity publishers are not. In fact, vanity book publishers do not have the skilled editorial staff needed to produce a quality product.

Additionally, we don't publish every book that comes to us, we have an evaluation process and will not publish a book that doesn't meet our standards (equal to, or better than, industry standards) for writing and production.

Yes, we charge for our services and to some elitists in our industry that is unacceptable. These elitists are not interested in seeing any books in print that they, or their peers, have not judged to be worthy. With this attitude they ignore two critical facts:

• Some of our best and most successful literature was initially author-funded,
• For most writers' their only chance at publication is to fund the publication, and the vast majority of them, have no idea how to take a manuscript and produce a book worthy of publication.

To suggest that the only reason that an author would pay to publish their own work is because it is not worthy is incorrigible, There are many reasons to do so, reasons beyond the fact that, daily, publishers pass on books that should be read by others, and could become best sellers. Brad explains this in depth in his book, Why Publish.

The world of publishing is changing and whenever you have massive change in an industry, it's often those closest to the action who see it last. This is true now for book publishing; those who have been involved with it the longest can't see the changes, nor do they comprehend the ultimate impact these changes will have.

For the first time in the history of the world it is affordable for the average writer to publish their own books. This means that people will have an opportunity to discover literature that they might never have seen just a few short years ago.

In some ways it is unfair that a few influential people control what it is the public will become aware of, unfair that so many excellent books go unnoticed. It has been unacceptable for those few to also have control over what gets published. With the digital revolution they have lost this control. Now, anyone can be published ... and this concept frightens many who believe that there should be gatekeepers, those who judge the worthiness of the manuscripts that are presented for publication.

We believe that every story needs to be told, every message needs to be shared. And, ultimately, if a book is produced properly and shares a message and/or a story that strikes a chord, it will find its audience, and that audience will judge its value.

If you're interested in learning more about the revolutionary changes in the book publishing industry and the advantages and disadvantages of the self-publishing alternative, check out Brad Fregger's book, Why Publish; Making the Right Choices for Your Book.

Authors serving authors ...

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