vanity press
1
8.2
- noun
- /ˈvænɪti prɛs/
- Jargon
:
editorial de vanidad
- Stop using the power of citizen blogging as a vanity press.
Examples
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Kind of like Kos and his new vanity press project.
Blog text (30) -
She rejected an offer from a vanity press.
Academic text (2007) -
A small vanity press ultimately publishes it.
Academic text (2002) -
The book was a self-published vanity press release.
Blog text (31) -
I had one author who used a vanity press and bought 30,000 copies of her book.
Blog text (5) -
Either they're doing it through a vanity press, or it died on the vine.
Blog text (7) -
For writers my age (and Sue's), those vanity press books were seen as second rate, if not third or fourth.
Blog text (21) -
I remember the "old days" when the argument against calling writers professionals, if they published only through a vanity press or semiprozines, was that the definition of a professional included making money.
Blog text (23) -
Many authors choose to publish with a vanity press when traditional publishers reject their work.
-
She decided to print her novel through a vanity press because she wanted complete creative control.
How Reputable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'vanity' (exaggerated pride) + 'press' (publishing/printing) give a clear clue that this is a publishing operation related to authors' vanity, so a B1 learner could infer it is a publisher that publishes works motivated by authors' pride. However, the crucial details — that authors pay for publication and there is little editorial selection — are specialized industry knowledge not directly derivable from the parts, so full meaning is not entirely predictable.
Etymology
The term vanity press comes from the idea of vanity—wanting praise and to see your name in print—and a press, a printing machine that will print a book for money. So a vanity press means a publisher that prints books when the author pays ('paying to publish'), often without careful editing or much marketing.