http://isbw.murlafferty.com/2009/11/on-vanity-presses-and-money-flow/ The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:36:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=6495 http://isbw.murlafferty.com/2009/11/on-vanity-presses-and-money-flow/comment-page-1/#comment-3943 What is Yog's Law and Why Does It Matter For Authors? | The Creative Penn Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:30:05 +0000 http://isbw.murlafferty.com/?p=960#comment-3943 [...] Joanna Penn on January 13, 2010 I first heard of Yog’s Law from author and podcaster Mur Lafferty, and thought it would be good to share an explanation here. Originally from author James D. [...] [...] Joanna Penn on January 13, 2010 I first heard of Yog’s Law from author and podcaster Mur Lafferty, and thought it would be good to share an explanation here. Originally from author James D. [...]

]]> http://isbw.murlafferty.com/2009/11/on-vanity-presses-and-money-flow/comment-page-1/#comment-3822 Phil/Haelo@nano Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:05:59 +0000 http://isbw.murlafferty.com/?p=960#comment-3822 Interesting distinction between PoD and vanity presses - I hadn't thought of it like that, but it's a good distinction to make. Jason Calacanis made a similar distinction on the tech venture capital circuit, where some companies were charging startups thousands to have a small slot of time to present to "angel investors". The reality is that these companies didn't make money off the investors, they made it off the unlucky startups, who found themselves presenting to people who were largely just looking to take more of their money (patent lawyers, marketing reps, etc.). Meanwhile, as Calacanis states, real VCs like him are more than happy to hear people's ideas for no charge, because they want to invest, they want to find the next google or youtube before it is big. Similarly, real publishers won't charge you to print your story - they want the next King, Pratchett, Brown, Rowling to be published by them. They are not always as accessible as writers would like, but turning to merchants who want to charge you is not going to be the best alternative. Calacanis fought back against the tech scams by starting his own free show (with Michael Arrington I think) to compete, and stomped them largely out of business quickly. I don't see publishers doing the same, since manuscripts take a lot longer to protest than a 15 minute concept pitch and there is such a huge glut of wannabe writers. But there are alternatives to the vanity presses, and any of those is likely to be a cheaper and better way to try to get out there (competitions, DIY podcast, podcast submissions, online zines, e-publishing, PoD, I'm sure there are more). Interesting distinction between PoD and vanity presses – I hadn’t thought of it like that, but it’s a good distinction to make. Jason Calacanis made a similar distinction on the tech venture capital circuit, where some companies were charging startups thousands to have a small slot of time to present to “angel investors”. The reality is that these companies didn’t make money off the investors, they made it off the unlucky startups, who found themselves presenting to people who were largely just looking to take more of their money (patent lawyers, marketing reps, etc.). Meanwhile, as Calacanis states, real VCs like him are more than happy to hear people’s ideas for no charge, because they want to invest, they want to find the next google or youtube before it is big. Similarly, real publishers won’t charge you to print your story – they want the next King, Pratchett, Brown, Rowling to be published by them. They are not always as accessible as writers would like, but turning to merchants who want to charge you is not going to be the best alternative. Calacanis fought back against the tech scams by starting his own free show (with Michael Arrington I think) to compete, and stomped them largely out of business quickly. I don’t see publishers doing the same, since manuscripts take a lot longer to protest than a 15 minute concept pitch and there is such a huge glut of wannabe writers. But there are alternatives to the vanity presses, and any of those is likely to be a cheaper and better way to try to get out there (competitions, DIY podcast, podcast submissions, online zines, e-publishing, PoD, I’m sure there are more).

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