There are many alternatives to traditional publishing that are available and, depending upon your goals, adequate. For example, if you are publishing a book about butterflies targeted at about fifty people that you know, then self publish it, by all means. If you've got a name and don't need help with marketing...do it yourself! If you just want a book with your name on it for posterity or for the coffee table...self publish.

But most of us here want something else. Personally, I want to become a recognized and respected spec fiction author. I want my books on shelves in bookstores as well as amazon.com. I want a company with a stake in my work helping me to sell it by getting it in those stores and by setting up book signings etc.

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Shortly thereafter, Matthew earned himself degrees in both Arts and Law. During this time, he repeatedly tried to have Contest noticed by one of the major publishing houses in Sydney, but every one rejected his manuscript. In late 1996, Matthew decided to publish the book himself - creating 1000 copies at $8.00AUD each. By cutting out the middle man, Matthew effectively created his own glossy, big-budget novel, and proceeded to sell it to the bookstores in metropolitan Sydney by hand - one store at a time. He has said: "I was told 'You need a brass neck to do what you're doing', but I did it anyway. I knew Contest had the goods, and I just wanted to get it noticed."

Not too long after that, in January of 1997, Cate Paterson, Commissioning Editor for Pan Macmillan Australia's Mass Market Fiction Division, walked into Angus and Robertson's Pitt Street Bookstore. Seeing an unfamiliar cover on the shelves at the front of the shop, she was intrigued, purchasing the book, Contest, and proceeding to enjoy reading it immensely.

Upon tracking Matthew down through his very own publishing name, Karanadon Entertainment (named after the Karanadon in Contest), Cate Paterson was thrilled to find Matthew working on his next Novel, Ice Station. Based on the first few chapters, she signed Matthew up on a two-book deal with Pan Macmillan.

On December 31st, 1997, Matthew Reilly, only 23 years of age and having completed the manuscript during the final year of his Law degree, submitted the finished Ice Station to Pan Macmillan. It had taken 11 months to write, was 140,000 words long and 540 pages thick. He also graduated 31st out of 252 students.

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It could have been a different vanity publisher, though. There are so many of them.

My rule of thumb: the site is on the internet to make money. If you look at the frontpage and it's geared towards readers, then the site is possibly making its living from readers; however, if the frontpage is geared towards attracting writers, then the site is making its money off writers. This one flunks the litmus test by a mile.