By Nicky Hackett

The pay-to-publish world (also called subsidy or vanity publishing) includes publishers who sell their expertise to help launch unrecognized authors, unscrupulous pseudo-experts making as much as they can off inexperienced authors, and many others in between. Going with a subsidy publisher can be cheaper and seem easier than paying for quality editors, designers, and project managers, but it’s not uncommon to end up with a shoddy product. Here are five important things to know about paying to publish…