Vanity Publishers

If I understand, a vanity publisher is the kind of publisher that is paid by the author to publish the author's book. That doesn't sound quite right. A publisher wouldn't be motivated to sell a story if they've already been paid. I hope new authors can smell this kind of skunk before he comes knocking, but I suppose the excitement to get published can shout louder than the patience we need in order to wait for the real publishers to show any interest. There are probably success stories out there; people who have used vanity publishers and still accomplished their desires. However, I've been paying close attention to what I hear. Experienced authors tend to give a lot of advice and word has it that a vanity publisher is not the way to go. Then, just to completely tip the scale, I went to book club last week. The book received rave reviews from the ladies, and the author has accepted our invitation to come to our next meeting when we review book #2. However, the author hasn't made a penny. In fact, he paid the publisher to publish his book. Paperback, falling away from the binding after one reading. Blah. Poor guy.