History Main / VanityPublishing

* Rebecca Black's song, "{{Music/Friday}}," was the product of a Vanity ''Production Company'', the Ark Music Factory. (Un?)fortunately, her video [[MemeticMutation didn't exactly fall into obscurity.]]

* Rebecca Black's {{Music/Friday}} was the product of a Vanity ''Production Company'', the Ark Music Factory. (Un?)fortunately, her video [[MemeticMutation didn't exactly fall into obscurity.]]

* "The Great American Parade", a novel which attempts at political satire by retired English professor Robert Burrows, was vanity published in 2002. Since then it's been called "the worst novel ever published in the English language" by a Washington post review. The story deals with George W. Bush organizing a huge parade to thank all the evil corporate robber barons who helped him get into office; somehow hardly anyone in America notices, except for a plucky band of college students who set out to single-handedly stop the parade, end the war in Iraq, and undo the Bush tax cuts. It features such brilliant dialog as this gem (spoken by a character immediately after witnessing the events of 9/11): "What an almost unimaginable tragedy! It will take a great deal of unity and hard work to recover from this crippling blow!"

* "MaradoniaSaga" It's self-published by some kid in Florida, and is possibly the worst book ever written.

* [[http://www.wikipedia.org/Kenneth_Eng Kenneth Eng]] is proof-positive that white supremacists aren't the only insane racist bunch around. A self-proclaimed Asian supremacist who claimed credit for inciting the Virginia Tech massacre, Kenneth Eng published obvious FlameBait articles in the California newspaper ''Asian Week'' titled "Why I Hate Black People" and "Why I Hate White People." Once word of this got out to the mainstream media, he used the exposure to '''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK4fjMhGn-I plug his vanity-published science-fiction book!]]''' Said book, ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Triumvirate-Kenneth-Che-Tew-Eng/dp/097487650X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252608288&sr=8-1 Dragons:]] [[WordSaladTitle Lexicon Triumvirate]]'', is pretty much SoBadItsHorrible, but he's written glowing five-star reviews of it on Amazon, while [[SockPuppet pretending to be someone else]]. He even writes reviews of other books just to mention it. His review of ''WarOfTheWorlds'' amounted to: "This book is good, go read ''Dragons: Lexicon Triumvirate.''" He's also stooped to sock-puppet antics on various literary fora, bringing up a topic and then using it to plug his book.

Interestingly, many vanity presses support Amazon.com's "Search Inside the Book" feature and other book searching sites. While this can help readers find the rare gem in the rough, it also allows them to easily see [[SturgeonsLaw why so many vanity published books]] [[SoBadItsHorrible just plain suck]].

* ''SamanthaStoneAndTheMermaidsQuest'' is among the few good vanity published books out there. It has surprisingly good characterization, a fast-moving plot that doesn't waste time getting interesting, and even has [[ChekhovsGun plot devices]] that are hinted at early on that show up later and play an important role. On the other hand, it shows all the hallmarks of vanity publishing. The cover art is a simple Google Images-esque underwater background with a small, low quality bitmap of a mermaid pasted overtop, sitting on the title. Chapter headings occur mid-page. And any smart publisher would have changed the generic title into something that wouldn't scare away boys, when you consider how weird the story is: it has a surprising amount of violence, including the execution of a child (bear in mind the protagonist is 10 years old, as is the murdered child), and has sci-fi-ish elements, some of which are described in a fair amount of detail.

So, to be clear: self-publishing is when you spend $500 you ''know'' you'll never recover just to get your book out there. Vanity publishing is when you're cheated out of $50,000 by evil conmen who promise to make you the next J.K. Rowling. See the difference?

* The author of a book titled ''TheAdventuresOfArchieReynolds'' attempted to promote his book by [[SockPuppet using multiple accounts on Amazon.com]] to [[TheShill write nearly identical glowing reviews]]. It was obvious from clicking each screenname that the accounts were created just to praise that book. He'd even tried the same stunt in other places as well. The book itself? Horrible dialog, BeigeProse galore, and very repetitive writing. There's many more examples of that, with Archie thinking things before he says them, then does them (e.g. Archie wants to get back at a girl who cracked an egg over his head. He sees her swimming pool and thinks to throw her in there. He then says out loud that he should throw her in the pool. He then throws her in the pool.) The actual story itself is quite dumb. Bullies who pack snowballs for use outside of winter and talk like pirates, girls who cracks eggs over boys' heads while they're busy reading the newspaper, "celebrations" after minor victories that seem to last forever, and tons and tons of IdiotBall passing between every character. The author appears to have been trying to combine a SliceOfLife story with a riveting adventure, which would have been cool, but failed at both.

* The author of a book titled ''TheAdventuresOfArchieReynolds'' attempted to promote his book by [[SockPuppet using multiple accounts on Amazon.com]] to [[TheShill write nearly identical glowing reviews]]. It was obvious from clicking each screenname that the accounts were created just to praise that book. He'd even tried the same stunt in other places as well. The book itself? Horrible dialog and [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment VERY repetitive writing]]. ("Darn, what's keeping this crate closed?" Archie looked and noticed the duct tape keeping it closed. "The tape! So that's what's keeping it closed!") There's many more examples of that, with Archie thinking things before he says them, then does them (e.g. Archie wants to get back at a girl who cracked an egg over his head. He sees her swimming pool and thinks to throw her in there. He then says out loud that he should throw her in the pool. He then throws her in the pool.) The actual story itself is quite dumb. Bullies who pack snowballs for use outside of winter and talk like pirates, a girl who cracks eggs over a boy's head and calls him an "egghead", before later being kidnapped by criminals and [[FetishFuel surprisingly viciously bound and gagged in a crate]], and tons of IdiotBall passing. The author appears to have been trying to combine a SliceOfLife story with a riveting adventure, which would have been cool, but failed at both.

** For the curious, you can find a list of other well known books which were self-published and became prominent [[http://www.llumina.com/self_publishing.htm here]].
*** The Grisham entry is false. See [[http://www.jimchines.com/2009/09/self-publishing-myths/ here]]. Also common to 'prominent self-publisher' lists is a lack of regard for specifics. (L. Frank Baum self published? You don't say! [[http://scrivenerserror.blogspot.com/2004/08/autobibliophilia.html ...About chicken farming, not Oz? You don't say...)]]

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1bWYQ9teis "I'll go see he now!"]]
* UmbertoEco's novel ''[[FoucaultsPendulum Foucault's Pendulum]]'' describes in detail how VanityPublishing works, because the main characters work for a vanity publisher.

* ''LatawnyaTheNaughtyHorseLearnsToSayNoToDrugs'' is a hilarious SoBadItsGood piece of vanity-published gold. It's the only children's book in which a horse OD's from marijuana, with an illustration of his family (of horses) crying over him. The surreal illustrations and repetitive, {{Anvilicious}} writing seal the deal.
** According to the ASPCA, marijuana ''is'' toxic to horses. So yes, a horse can die from it. But to apply this to people - see FantasticAesop.
* One of the most notorious examples of vanity publishing is ''[[http://www.eternalnight.co.uk/books/r/rosslaverne/nighttravelsoftheelvenvampire.html Night Travels of the Elven Vampire]]'' by [=LaVern=] Ross; orginally thought to have been a parody of vanity publishing, a la ''AtlantaNights''. Once discovered to have been a serious attempt at writing; it became the subject of multiple scathing reviews, some of them [[http://crevette.livejournal.com/113659.html brilliantly hilarious]]. Notorious for its over-the-top MarySue lead, laughably bad language, and bizarre graphic sex scenes; it generated at least two Internet memes. Eventually dropped by Amazon.com, A nearly identical "re-imagined" version, ''Eternity of Blood'', was subsequently vanity-published; written by Ross under the pen name Valena Graham.

* John Harrigan's ''The Professor and the Dominatrix'', published by [=PublishAmerica=], was apparently sent out by the author to some atheist groups at its release. It was a murder mystery featuring sex and violence, which was hoped to draw the reader in and then lead them to question their religious beliefs more closely. One member of a receiving group decided to review it and [[http://www.blaghag.com/2009/04/book-review-professor-and-dominatrix.html put her review online]]. Unfortunately, she did [[{{Understatement}} not particularly care for the book]]. According to the review, much of it was basically a long AuthorTract, and the main character was a blatant Mary Sue, to the point that he wasn't just an outspoken atheist like the author, but even had the ''exact same'' day job too (professor of psychology), and a [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking mustache]]. The author [[http://www.blaghag.com/2009/05/professor-responds.html responded to the criticisms by]], among other things, pointing out the favorable review the writer of the foreword gave it, similar to what the one non-deleted [[http://www.amazon.com/Professor-Dominatrix-John-Harrigan/dp/1605633682 amazon review did]] (the remaining review mentions other, critical reviews that were presumably deleted; it is implied they were sock puppets). It left many readers on the Pharyngula blog [[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/04/oh_noan_atheist_can_write_a_ba.php thinking or hoping the book was an elaborate joke]]. (Note, I don't want to make it sound as if the remaining Amazon review is from a sock puppet, as it obviously isn't; it is a "real name" account for someone other than the author or foreword writer. It was the reviewer's only review though, so it seems to be purpose built).

* [[http://www.wikipedia.org/Kenneth_Eng Kenneth Eng]] is proof-positive that white supremacists aren't the only insane racist bunch around. A self-proclaimed Asian supremacist who claimed credit for inciting the Virginia Tech massacre, Kenneth Eng published obvious FlameBait articles in the California newspaper ''Asian Week'' titled "Why I Hate Black People" and "Why I Hate White People." Once word of this got out to the mainstream media, he used the exposure to '''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK4fjMhGn-I plug his vanity-published science-fiction book!]]''' Said book, ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Triumvirate-Kenneth-Che-Tew-Eng/dp/097487650X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252608288&sr=8-1 Dragons]]: [[WordSaladTitle Lexicon Triumvirate]]'', is pretty much SoBadItsHorrible, but he's written glowing five-star reviews of it on Amazon, while [[SockPuppet pretending to be someone else]]. He even writes reviews of other books just to mention it. His review of ''WarOfTheWorlds'' amounted to: "This book is good, go read ''Dragons: Lexicon Triumvirate.''" He's also stooped to sock-puppet antics on various literary fora, bringing up a topic and then using it to plug his book.

* ''SamanthaStoneAndTheMermaidsQuest'' might be the only good vanity published book ever seen. It has surprisingly good characterization, a fast-moving plot that doesn't waste time getting interesting, and even has [[ChekhovsGun plot devices]] that are hinted at early on that show up later and play an important role. On the other hand, it shows all the hallmarks of vanity publishing. The cover art is a simple Google Images-esque underwater background with a small, low quality bitmap of a mermaid pasted overtop, sitting on the title. Chapter headings occur mid-page. And any smart publisher would have changed the generic title into something that wouldn't scare away boys, when you consider how weird the story is: it has a surprising amount of violence, including the execution of a child (bear in mind the protagonist is 10 years old, as is the murdered child), and has sci-fi-ish elements, some of which are described in a fair amount of detail.

* [[http://www.wikipedia.org/Kenneth_Eng Kenneth Eng]] is proof-positive that white supremacists aren't the only insane racist bunch around. A self-proclaimed Asian supremacist who claimed credit for inciting the Virginia Tech massacre, Kenneth Eng published obvious FlameBait articles in the California newspaper ''Asian Week'' titled "Why I Hate Black People" and "Why I Hate White People." Once word of this got out to the mainstream media, he used the exposure to '''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK4fjMhGn-I plug his vanity-published science-fiction book!]]''' Said book, [[http://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Triumvirate-Kenneth-Che-Tew-Eng/dp/097487650X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252608288&sr=8-1 Dragons]] [[WordSaladTitle Lexicon Triumvirate]] is pretty much SoBadItsHorrible, but he's written glowing five-star reviews of it on Amazon, while [[SockPuppet pretending to be someone else]]. He even writes reviews of other books just to mention it. His review of ''WarOfTheWorlds'' amounted to: "This book is good, go read ''Dragons: Lexicon Triumvirate.''" He's also stooped to sock-puppet antics on various literary fora, bringing up a topic and then using it to plug his book.

* ''{{Eragon}}'', the first book in ''TheInheritanceTrilogy'', started out vanity published. Instead of a normal print-on-demand company, it was printed by... the author's parents, who owned a printing company! It wasn't until a normal publisher found the book and [[WingdingEyes saw dollar signs in their eyes]] that they printed it, playing up the whole "it was written by a teenager" angle in their marketing.

* UmbertoEco describes in detail in his ''[[FoucaultsPendulum Foucault's Pendulum]]'' book how VanityPublishing works.

* The aforementioned [=PublishAmerica=] claims to be a "traditional publisher". In response to a comment on the company's website denigrating science fiction and fantasy authors, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Nights a group of these authors put together]] ''AtlantaNights'', an [[StylisticSuck intentionally low-quality]] manuscript under the name [[StevenUlyssesPerhero Travis Tea]]. The "novel" was accepted by [=PublishAmerica=] (which purports to have high standards and to reject the majority of submissions), despite the fact that it contained numerous deliberate plot holes and inconsistencies, a missing chapter, a chapter written by a [[ArtificialStupidity computer text-generating program]], and other flaws that should have rendered it unpublishable on its face (at least, by any "traditional publisher"). After the hoax was revealed, the acceptance was swiftly withdrawn.

* RobertStanek's ''Ruin Mist'' books. It's not just that they're bad, but when you factor in his massive [[SockPuppet sockpuppetry]]...

* Warren James Palmer took this concept UpToEleven. Unable to find anyone willing to publish his sci-fi/fantasy/God knows what teenage fiction series, he decided to ''found his own publishing company''. This is a fact he proudly declares in the foreword to its first volume. BetterThanItSounds, but not much.

* The Mexican writer Carlos Cuauhtémoc Sánchez is a borderline example. As an author of [[WallBanger Wall Banging]], {{Anvilicious}} {{Author Tract}}s, Sánchez is widely derided as an ''awesomely terrible'' writer appealing to the LowestCommonDenominator. No self-respectable publisher would pick up his books, yet he manages to sell them by the hundred thousands. How? Simple: ''by creating his own publishing company, and using it to sell his books himself!''

* ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potters-muggles-guide-magic/dp/1929771053/ref=cm_cr-mr-title Harry Potter's muggle's guide to magic]]'' must fall under this category. There's no other way to describe this 'dictionary' of the HarryPotter books that was published well before the series concluded. It's rife with misspellings (wizardu books?) and inaccuracies -- apparently Draco Malfoy's father is named Dracus, Dumbledore's first name is Albert, and the Weasleys' car was a Flying Ford Angelica. The art is just as bad; while Hermione wearing glasses is a mild oversight, making Hagrid into a four-foot-tall lumberjack and giving Mad-Eye Moody green skin is much less forgivable. The writing is also incomprehensible and manages to confuse the plots of the second and third books in the series. The first review to call out the author and artist as just trying to cash in was responded to with considerable backlash, and the author called the reviewer (this very troper) a "nobody in literature." He seems to have given up, however, since the second review, which concurs with the first and provides even more examples of the poor quality, has no responses to it at all.

* On a positive note, Marcel Proust had to pay for the publication of the first book of ''In Search of Lost Time'' - which is now considered one of the greatest novels ever written.

* Robert Stanek's ''Ruin Mist'' books. It's not just that they're bad, but when you factor in his massive [[SockPuppet sockpuppetry]]...

* The author of a book titled ''TheAdventuresOfArchieReynolds'' attempted to promote his book by [[SockPuppet using multiple accounts on Amazon.com]] to [[TheShill write nearly identical glowing reviews]]. It was obvious from clicking each screenname that the accounts were created just to praise that book. He'd even tried the same stunt in other places as well. The book itself? Horrible dialog and [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment VERY repetitive writing]]. ("Darn, what's keeping this crate closed?" Archie looked and noticed the duct tape keeping it closed. "The tape! So that's what's keeping it closed!") There's many more examples of that, with Archie thinking things before he says them, then does them (e.g. Archie wants to get back at a girl who cracked an egg over his head. He sees her swimming pool and thinks to throw her in there. He then says out loud that he should throw her in the pool. He then throws her in the pool.) The actual story itself is quite dumb. Bullies who dress as Native Americans, a girl who cracks eggs over a boy's head and calls him an "egghead", before later being kidnapped by criminals and [[FetishFuel surprisingly viciously bound and gagged in a crate]], and a number of forgotten or underused plot elements. The author appears to have been trying to combine a "slice of life" story with a riveting adventure, which would have been cool, but failed at both.

** Incidentally, [=PublishAmerica=] is an "author mill" rather than an old-school vanity publisher. They don't charge outright for their services (and even pay a token advance); they make money by pressuring authors to buy and resell their own books.

* "The Great American Parade", a novel which attempts at political satire by retired English professor Robert Burrows, was vanity published in 2002. Since then it's been called "the worst novel ever published in the English language" by a Washington post review. The story deals with George W. Bush organizing a huge parade to thank all the evil corporate robber barons who helped him get into office; somehow hardly anyone in America notices, except for a plucky band of college students who set out to single-handedly stop the parade, end the war in Iraq, and undo the Bush tax cuts (Yes, the "heroes" are the only people in existence who want their taxes to go up). It features such brilliant dialog as this gem (spoken by a character immediately after witnessing the events of 9/11): "What an almost unimaginable tragedy! It will take a great deal of unity and hard work to recover from this crippling blow!"
** Not doubting the intrinsic qualities of this artwork of literature for a second, but there's a lot of people out there who think that higher taxes (even applying to oneself) could be beneficial to society if, of course, there will be continuation or implementation of important services in return, or if they would be able to reduce (real or perceived) unfairness. In 2010, a number of Germen uber rich millionaires made headlines in asking for higher taxes for the very rich to pay for an increasement in ''Hartz IV'', the money handed out to the long term unemployed.
*** Given the fact that the Bush tax cuts disproportionately benefited the wealthy, they're ''exactly'' the sort of taxes these sorts of people want to see go up.