Royalty publishers handle every aspect of publication, distribution, and marketing. There are no costs to the author. A vanity publisher prints and binds a book at the author's sole expense. The completed books are the property of the author, and the author retains all proceeds from sales.
Vanity publishers provide no editing, marketing, warehousing, or promotional services.
In addition, a subsidy publisher may provide other services, including editing, distribution, warehousing, and marketing. As with a royalty publisher, the completed books are the property of the publisher, and remain in the publisher's possession until sold. Income to the writer comes in the form of a royalty. The Pitfalls I'd urge anyone considering vanity or subsidy publishing to think twice. In addition, they rarely have arrangements with book wholesalers and distributors, making it difficult or impossible for bookstores to order and stock their books.