Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 11, 1990 TAG: 9006090168
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Tammy Poole
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Along with the honorable mention certificate was an application to enter another poetry contest for a $5 fee.
Now I think the contest may not be legitimate. The application and entry fee for the other contest makes me very suspicious - as this sounds like a racket. What do you think? - G.C., Covington
A: You're right to be suspicious. This type of morale-boosting is typical of contests for poetry and also for recipes, advises Fran Stephanz of the Better Business Bureau in Roanoke.
By awarding you an honorable mention certificate for one contest entry, the chance that you will enter a similar contest (which charges an entry fee this time) seems pretty good. With each award, the entry fee increases, Stephanz said.
Quickline has received similar inquiries from readers who have been offered the chance to have their songs, stories, poems, etc., printed or produced for a fee. Most of these people think that this is their chance to be discovered.
However, if the company you contact charges you to print your work, it is probably what the Council of Better Business Bureaus refers to as a vanity publisher.
Vanity publishing companies cater to unpublished authors who would like to receive recognition or see their volume of poetry or "how-to" guide in print, but may have been rejected by conventional publishers.
If you are considering paying a company to print your poems, short stories, songs, etc., make sure you understand what the company is promising and what it will deliver before you order a press run of hundreds of copies.
Conventional publishing companies accept manuscripts and review them. If the company thinks the book has commercial potential, it will risk its own money to have the book published and promoted.
When their manuscripts are turned down by one (or several) of these companies, many would-be authors look to vanity or subsidy publishers, according to the BBB. Vanity publishers require the author to underwrite either part or all of the cost of publishing and promoting the book. In such cases, the risk to the publisher is very small, thus allowing it to accept manuscripts that the conventional book publisher would reject as a poor investment. Vanity presses generally charge authors from $3,000 to $20,000 or more to edit, print and promote their books.
Writers who are willing to spend so much to see their books in print must also realize that rarely does a vanity book become a commercial success, especially if the manuscript already has been rejected by better-known publishing houses.
Also, vanity press books are recognized for what they are, and may not receive the same treatment by book reviewers as conventionally published books. Authors should expect no more than the self-satisfaction of seeing the book in print. If the author is writing a book as a family keepsake, such as a genealogy, vanity publishing my be an appropriate option.
Quickline helps consumers get service, information and refunds of more than $25. Mail complaints, questions to Quickline, Roanoke Times & World-News, Box 2491, Roanoke name, address, phone number and photocopies of documents such as canceled checks, receipts or credit-card statements. Documents cannot be returned; complaints cannot be taken by phone. Questions not selected for use in the column will not be answered personally.
by CNB