History Main / VanityPublishing

* ''Another Hope'' is a ''StarWars'' FanFic by Lori Jareo in which all the main characters die in the first episode and the author's MarySue AuthorAvatar takes over. Also, the ''Star Wars'' Galaxy now apparently possess a [[StarTrek Starfleet]]. When Jareo, in a move that must have taken balls of steel, had the story vanity-published and put it up for sale via mainstream channels like Amazon.com (claiming that it was okay do so because only her family knew it was there), GeorgeLucas' lawyers wept tears of burning sulfur.

Occasionally (''very'' occasionally) a vanity published book can break out and end up being published by a legitimate publishing company. This happened with the children's book series ''TheFairyChronicles''. It originally cost a lot and had only 32 pages (due to its small typeface), with no color and no illustrations. Once moved to a new publisher, it had vibrant color, many illustrations, and more pages (with a larger, more appropriately sized font).

* In the play ''CyranoDeBergerac'' by Edmond Rostand, there is an InUniverse example At Act II Scene VII, [[StarvingArtist Cyrano]] [[DiscussedTrope discuss this trope]] with [[TheWatson Le Bret]], claiming that he will [[DefiedTrope defy it]]. Given Rostand was an [[ShownTheirWork expert at]] TheCavalierYears, the time this play occurs, we see that it’s OlderThanSteam [[hottip:*: Because this play is VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, there was a real poet called CyranoDeBergerac and Sercy was his real editor, implying the very thing the fictional Cyrano vehemently denies]].

----
<<|{{Literature}}|>>

* RobertStanek's ''Ruin Mist'' books. They're not just bad, the author also engages in massive [[SockPuppet sockpuppetry]] and [[AstroTurf astroturfing]].

* ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfArchieReynolds'' Horrible dialog, BeigeProse galore, and ''very'' repetitive writing. There's dozens of examples of Archie thinking that he's going to do so something, then saying out loud that he's going to do something, and then actually doing it; all in the exact same words. (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.) There's also a gang of bullies who talk like pirates for no reason, and a scene in which the characters speculate on the purpose of a ladder and come to the conclusion that it is for [[CaptainObvious climbing up or down]]. [[SarcasmMode Gee, who would have guessed]]. The author 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 author of a book titled ''Literature/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.)

<<|{{Literature}}|>>

* ''Another Hope'' is a ''StarWars'' FanFic by Lori Jareo in which all the main characters die in the first episode and the author's MarySue AuthorAvatar takes over. Also, the ''Star Wars'' Galaxy now apparently possess a [[StarTrek Star Fleet]]. When Jareo, in a move that must have taken balls of steel, had the story vanity-published and put it up for sale via mainstream channels like Amazon.com, GeorgeLucas' lawyers wept tears of burning sulfur.

* ''Another Hope'', the infamous ''StarWars'' FanFic novel by Lori Jareo, came out from a vanity press. When the author fearlessly put the book up for sale via mainstream channels like Amazon.com, GeorgeLucas' lawyers wept tears of burning sulfur.

* A book exists called ''How to Good-bye Depression: If you constrict anus 100 times everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?'' by Hiroyuki Nishigaki and can be found on [[http://www.amazon.com/How-Good-bye-Depression-Constrict-Everyday/dp/0595094724/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278976354&sr=8-1 Amazon]]. Once you've finished snickering; it is published by "Writers Club" and [=iUniverse.com=], and is largely made up of the author explaining his theories relating to how depression can be cured on newsgroups in 1999 and 2000, along with people reacting in various ways. The book is perhaps the best example since ''ZeroWing'' of the results of making [[TranslationTrainWreck literal translations of Japanese to English]], with sentences like: "Besides shooting out a big blank from your buttock, you can feel as if your root chakra leaked sweet hot mucus" (we'll give you another five minutes to stop snickering again). At the end of the book, the author thanks the reader for taking the time to read his book in spite of his English being so bad. Well, at least he's honest.

* 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 [[YourMileageMayVary one of the greatest novels ever written.]]

* ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Control-Christian-Marriages-Priesthood-Children/dp/1425992609/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2 BIRTH CONTROL IS SINFUL IN THE CHRISTIAN MARRIAGES AND ALSO ROBBING GOD OF PRIESTHOOD CHILDREN!!]]'' Not only is the title of the book capitalized just as shown, ''[[BeyondTheImpossible but the entire book is!!!!!]]'' The book consists exactly of what the title suggests it does; some insane fundamentalist christian woman under the impression she is God's ChosenOne ranting about birth control and abortion being evil and how she's going to convert all the Jews, Muslims and atheists to Christianity. Did we mention she charges $135 for a copy? Greed is a sin too, you know...

* ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Control-Christian-Marriages-Priesthood-Children/dp/1425992609/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2 BIRTH CONTROL IS SINFUL IN THE CHRISTIAN MARRIAGES AND ALSO ROBBING GOD OF PRIESTHOOD CHILDREN!!]]'' Not only is the title of the book capitalized just as shown, ''[[BeyondTheImpossible but the entire book is!!!!!]]'' The book consists exactly of what the title suggests it does; some insane fundamentalist christian woman under the impression she is God's ChosenOne ranting about birth control and abortion being evil and how she's going to convert all the Jews, Muslims and atheists to Christianity. Did we mention she charges $135 for a copy?

* ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Control-Christian-Marriages-Priesthood-Children/dp/1425992609/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2 BIRTH CONTROL IS SINFUL IN THE CHRISTIAN MARRIAGES AND ALSO ROBBING GOD OF PRIESTHOOD CHILDREN!!]]'' Not only is the title of the book capitalized just as shown, ''[[BeyondTheImpossible but the entire book is!!!!!]]'' The book consists exactly of what the title suggests it does; some insane fundamentalist christian woman under the impression she is God's ChosenOne ranting about birth control and abortion being evil and how she's going to convert all the Jews, Muslims and atheists to Christianity.

* A book exists called ''How to Good-bye Depression: If you constrict anus 100 times everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?'' by Hiroyuki Nishigaki and can be found on [[http://www.amazon.com/How-Good-bye-Depression-Constrict-Everyday/dp/0595094724/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278976354&sr=8-1 Amazon]]. Once you've finished snickering; it is published by "Writers Club" and [=iUniverse.com=], and is largely made up of the author explaining his theories relating to how depression can be cured on newsgroups in 1999 and 2000, along with people reacting in various ways. The book is perhaps the best example since ''ZeroWing'' of the results of making [[TranslationTrainWreck literal translations of Japanese to English]], with sentences like: "Besides shooting out a big blank from your buttock, you can feel as if your root chakra leaked sweet hot mucus" (We'll give you another five minutes to stop snickering again). At the end of the book, the author thanks the reader for taking the time to read his book in spite of his English being so bad. Well, at least he's honest.

* A book exists called ''How to Good-bye Depression'' subtitled ''If you constrict anus 100 times everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?'' by Hiroyuki Nishigaki and can be found on [[http://www.amazon.com/How-Good-bye-Depression-Constrict-Everyday/dp/0595094724/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278976354&sr=8-1 Amazon]]. It is published by "Writers Club" and [=iUniverse.com=], and is largely made up of the author explaining his theories relating to how depression can be cured on newsgroups in 1999 and 2000, along with people reacting in various ways. The chapters are all called things like "Part 5 Erase your bad stickiness and multiply various good feeling".

* [[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 awful, 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.

* ''Literature/{{Maradonia Saga}}'': Once upon a time, a girl named Gloria Tesch wrote a [[ClicheStorm woefully generic]] young adult fantasy novel about a Gary and Mary Sue who discover a magical land adjacent to the US, ''à la'' ''{{Narnia}}'', fulfill a prophecy, turn out to be [[ChosenOne Chosen Ones]], and fight against an "Evil Empire" (yes, [[ObviouslyEvil that is]] [[{{Strawman}} what it is called]]; in spite of the fact that a reading of the first chapter reveals that isn't actually an empire anyway). Random words being italicized or in quotation marks for no fucking reason does not help. Her parents told her it was brilliant, published it, and the girl has since developed an ego the size of a planet, dismissing the most meager negative criticism as the work of "haters", and is under the impression that a Maradonia movie and amusement park are on the way. Amazon.com and other such websites are [[SockPuppet full of reviews written by the girl, her parents and her friends in which they relentlessly praise the series]].

* ''Literature/{{Maradonia Saga}}'': Once upon a time, a girl named Gloria Tesch wrote a [[ClicheStorm woefully generic]] young adult fantasy novel about a Gary and Mary Sue who discover a magical land adjacent to the US, ''à la'' ''{{Narnia}}'', fulfill a prophecy, turn out to be [[ChosenOne Chosen Ones]], and fight against an "Evil Empire" (yes, [[ObviouslyEvil that is]] [[{{Strawman}} what it is called]]). Random words being italicized or in quotation marks for no fucking reason does not help. Her parents told her it was brilliant, published it, and the girl has since developed an ego the size of a planet, dismissing the most meager negative criticism as the work of "haters", and is under the impression that a Maradonia movie and amusement park are on the way. Amazon.com and other such websites are [[SockPuppet full of reviews written by the girl, her parents and her friends in which they relentlessly praise the series]].

* ''Literature/{{Maradonia Saga}}'': Once upon a time, a girl named Gloria Tesch wrote a [[ClicheStorm woefully generic]] young adult fantasy novel about a Gary and Mary Sue who discover a magical land adjacent to the US, ''à la'' ''{{Narnia}}'', fulfill a prophecy, turn out to be [[ChosenOne Chosen Ones]], and fight against an "Evil Empire" (yes, [[ObviouslyEvil that is]] [[{{Strawman}} what it is called]]). Random words being italicized or in quotation marks for no fucking reason does not help. Her parents told her it was brilliant, published it, and the girl has since developed an ego the size of a planet, dismissing the most meager negative criticism as the work of "haters", and is under the impression that a Maradonia movie and amusement park are on the way. Amazon.com and other such websites are [[SockPuppets full of reviews written by the girl, her parents and her friends in which they relentlessly praise the series]].

* ''Literature/{{Maradonia Saga}}'': It's self-published by some kid in Florida, and is possibly the worst book ever written.

* ''Lundon's Bridge and the Three Keys'', published in 2011, is a children's fantasy novel intended as the first in a franchise of five books ''and'' their film adaptations, suggesting vanity ''filmmaking'' as well as publishing. It came to public attention only when Paris Jackson (Michael's daughter) was announced as playing the lead in the movie -- she even appears on the cover -- though so far the book is only available through the website and Amazon.com. The makers claim that 50% of book, film, and merchandising profits will be given to schools (which can also order the book in bulk at a discount through the website), actually saying it's a ''good'' thing that bookstores and toy stores won't be getting a slice of the moneymaking pie because schools are more important.

* ''Lundon's Bridge and the Three Keys'', published in 2011, is a children's fantasy novel intended as the first in a franchise of five books ''and'' their film adaptations, suggesting vanity ''filmmaking'' as well as publishing. It came to public attention only when Paris Jackson (Michael's daughter) was announced as playing the lead in the movie -- she even appears on the cover -- though so far the book is only available through the website (which offers bulk order discounts to schools) and Amazon.com.

* ''Lundon's Bridge and the Three Keys'', published in 2011, is a children's fantasy novel intended as the first in a franchise of five books ''and'' their film adaptations, suggesting vanity ''filmmaking'' as well as publishing. It came to public attention only when Paris Jackson (Michael's daughter) was announced as playing the lead in the movie -- she even appears on the cover -- though so far the book (and a poster!) is only available through the website (which offers bulk order discounts to schools) and Amazon.com.

* ''Lundon's Bridge and the Three Keys'', published in 2011, is a children's fantasy novel intended as the first in a five-book franchise. It came to public attention when a film adaptation with Paris Jackson (Michael's daughter) in the lead role was announced; she even appears on the book's cover. The [[http://www.lundons.com official website]] hypes the whole business as "an entertainment fundraising campaign", promising to donate 50% of book and film profits to schools; it primarily sells copies through the website (offering bulk order discounts to schools) and Amazon.com.