Paid-for Publishing Members  

Paid-for publishing is where an author (or illustrator) pays for a publishing service, and this resource gives guidance on the area

Introduction

Has an author who has written a children?s story, for example, contacted you to see if you will illustrate it for them? Are they in touch with a publisher who they are paying to have the book produced? 

This resource covers what are known as hybrid/contributory/partnership/subsidised publishers, also known in the past as ?vanity? publishers. In this resource, we will refer to them as paid-for publishers. 

The resource is for illustrators who have been approached by an author who is having their own book published by a paid-for publisher. It also covers illustrators who may be considering having their own book printed and published by a paid-for publisher. 

What is Paid-for publishing?

Paid-for publishing is also sometimes defined as hybrid / contributory / partnership or subsidised publishing.

A standard publishing arrangement is where a publisher offers an author a fee for the right to produce a book, and they will invest in editing, marketing and distribution of the book. So the author is paid to licence certain rights in their work to the publisher. Examples of standard publishers include Penguin Random House, HarperCollins or Hachette. 

A paid-for publisher generally quotes a fee for providing a book production service. This may include printing a limited num