Vanity publishers. The reality.

 

It was 2019, I was working as a Business Manager for a cosmetic brand in London, UK. I have always worked my way through since I was 15 years old. At the age of 17, I ran away from my home to follow my heart and passion. Some of you would ask why you had to run away to pursue those things, and yes it can sound weird, but whilst I was living in that house, I couldn’t follow either of those things.

One day whilst I was working, something unexpected happened. All of a sudden, a strong pain on the left side of my body froze me, and then a sense of numbness started from my left big toe up to my neck. I thought it was just something stress related because I was working 12 hours per day. Instead, four months later, filled with pain and fear, my doctor told me that it was a tumour and we had to operate immediately.

I was terrified, I felt as if my life did not have any meaning, so from that day on I laser-focused my days on writing. If I had to leave this world to get to the beyond, I wanted to be remembered. So, I recollected the book that I had to leave behind and continue writing. In the meantime, I was querying publishers and agents to make my book more visible to a larger audience. You all can imagine how many rejections I had in those months, but I did not give up.

The day of the surgery arrived, and I still remember the fear and the pain in my bones, I was not alone though, I had my fiancé with me, and I was less scared. I can recall the moment the anaesthetist came into my hospital room.  Once they placed me on the stretcher, I clearly remember me praying. I do not have a great relationship with religion or deities, but I do believe in the power of the Universe. So, I looked up to the ceiling and asked, “If you want to take me with you, it is okay, but if this is not my time, please help me to give more meaning to my life and help me to make it happen.”

Scientists say that once you are under the effect of anaesthesia, your brain is asleep, however, mine was not, I saw my father who passed away 10 years earlier. We did not have the greatest relationship; he was one of those people who abused me when I was a child. I had an out-of-body experience and he told me to hang on and keep going no matter what people say.

Nine hours later I woke up. The surgeon had some complications, and they figured that the 6mm mass was way bigger, so they had to implement two titanium discs on my cervical spine, on C5 and C6. I was in pain, but I was alive. I got back home and on the following day the postman rang the intercom. I slowly walked to the door, and he had a huge envelope in his hands. After signing the form, I rapidly opened it, and it was a contract from Austin Macauley Publishers. I could not believe it. I cried and I thought I was dreaming. But from a beautiful dream, it turned into the worst nightmare I ever had. I take responsibility for not doing some prior research, I was inexperienced and in a vulnerable moment. So, I signed the contract and started the publishing process.

Vanity publishers are smart because they make you believe that they will help with your dreams as long as you pay a lot of money, which was the case. Two years had passed since I signed and 3 thousand pounds less in my bank account, I finally received 25 copies of my so beloved book. I found out that the book, my story, and my baby were not proofread properly, and I noticed typos and mistakes. I immediately contacted them and told them about it. They told me that there was nothing to do anymore and if I wanted to correct those mistakes, I had to pay an extra 1 thousand pounds. It was in the middle of the pandemic, I had no job, no money and I was with many bills knocking at my door. I called them once again and they told me that many books have grammar errors, and they could not help anymore. The frustration kicked in. So, I had to accept the fate of my book. They promised that they would help with marketing the book, but only if I paid more. My book has been removed from their website because I did call them out and made sure that people know the way they operate. And I am aware that who had the same issues with them have been prosecuted. A few months ago, I received an email from Amazon which blocked my first novel because Austin Macauley has claimed the rights to the cover of my book, which I have designed.

This is my experience with vanity publishers. My goal with this article is not to point fingers, because I am aware that I had to do my research and that many other writers, using the same vanity publishers are happy with their job. My goal is to encourage those who want to pursue this path, to make the proper research and do what is best for them.

I am a self-published author with KDP now, which changed the game for me. I can oversee the publishing process and I can market my book the best way it suits me.  These types of publishers are eating, travelling, attending conventions, and having parties thanks to writers' sweat and money.

My last suggestion to those who are considering publishing with vanity publishers is to run, run as far as possible.

If you are looking for platforms to upload and publish your books there are plenty of websites, and free like IngramSpark or Draft2Digital.

Best of luck to everyone who wants to follow their dreams. Keep pushing and keep going.