Professional writer John Scalzi blogs about vanity presses, asking whether they offer a worthwhile service to writers. They are, after all, traditionally scorned by the established press as preying on the all-too-ample egos of publishing wannabes.

Interestingly, Scalzi publishes both traditional books and print-on-demand, and he feels there is room in the world for both types of texts:

I don't personally have an issue with vanity publishing, online or otherwise -- I mean, I do it -- but I think the main point... is that putting out your own book is not the same as having it professionally published. As I continually note, Agent has brought in a nice tidy sum for being published online (and for relying on people's good will to pay), but it is a mere fraction of what I've made in advances for the books published by professional publishers. Agent pays for pizza now and then. My actual books contribute significantly to my mortgage.