I believe that the idiom, “Never bite off the hand that feeds you” is the appropriate answer to this question.

A reader from last month’s “Ask Ron” column states, “I don’t believe that it was fair of you, in last month’s article, to talk about the average number of books per author sold by 1st Books (77 per title). The average Amway dealer only makes $69 per month and there are some Amway dealers who are millionaires. ”
I know that this isn’t exactly a question but I couldn’t have dreamed up a better example to illustrate exactly what is wrong with vanity presses like 1st Books.

I am thinking of Self-Publishing my book with 1st Books (Author House). How does their service compare to RJ Communications and www.BooksJustBooks.com?
First off, you can’t “self-publish” with 1st Books. To “self-publish” implies that you, “self” are the “Publisher”. The most universally accepted method of recognizing a publisher is through the ownership of the ISBN…

Until now, I’ve recommended that POD really isn’t ideal for most books. POD (which stands for Print-on-Demand) publishing is the denigrated vanity publishing of yesteryear dressed up in the Emperor’s New Clothes.

RJ Communications introduces Thor Distribution. It’s all about availability. Print on Demand.
This is certainly a phrase that has been bantered around a lot lately. George Orwell would have loved this phrase (along with Subsidy Press). First off, we have had “Print on Demand” since the days of Benjamin Franklin. The customer “demands” and the printer “prints”.

Actually, the answer to both questions is pretty easy. If you submit your manuscript to a “Publisher,” receive an acceptance letter, a royalty contract and a promise of a check as a royalty advance upon signing the contract, you are dealing with a publisher and are, in truth, being published.