Self-publishing has become a catch-all term that can be used to describe vanity publishing, subsidy publishing or independent ("indie") publishing.
A vanity publisher will accept any manuscript submitted to it and turn that manuscript into a book via its own editing, packaging and manufacture processes, all of which are offered to the author for a fee. The author must commit to buying a minimum quantity of the resulting book. Usually, the author must sign over some or all of her rights to the work being published for a fixed term as well. The vanity publisher may also offer ebook or audiobook production services, book distribution and marketing services on a fee basis.
Subsidy publishing is virtually identical to vanity publishing, except that subsidy publishers have a manuscript selection process and some subsidy outfits do not require the author to sign over future publication rights.
Indie publishing is used to describe the activities of individual authors or author collectives who essentially act as their own publishers. Editing, cover design, typesetting, printing, distribution and other services are hired by the indie publisher as needed, but the indie publisher himself manages the entire process and retains all rights to his work.
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