‘…their income stream derives from selling writers the dream of publication.’ Photo: Matt Artz, Unsplash.
Publishing is a hard and very competitive industry and, upon numerous rejections from traditional commercial publishing houses, wannabe authors who do not feel that they have the time and business acumen to self-publish may turn to another outfit to help them release their books. But beware of vanity presses; they are predatory and take advantage of the vulnerability of writers who are desperate to see their words in print.
Thuy On is the former Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian.
She has three collections of poetry published by the University of Western Australian Press (UWAP): Turbulence (2020), Decadence (2022) and Essence (2025).
Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy
