Consumer Tips

Vanity Publications

'Dear Business Executive' begins the letter. 'We would like to include your name and accomplishments in our next edition of 'Who's Who in the Business World.'

Frequently, pitches for 'Who's Who' type publications, biographies, or nominations for awards or special memberships have a catch to them. In some cases, honorees who receive such letters and calls are not chosen by a select committee, as they are often told, but plucked off of a mailing list. Their names might never appear in the well-known biography directory as promised.

The executive who is flattered into providing the details of his or her career may be stuck with a subscription fee, a membership fee, a charge for the listing, an inflated price for buying the publication, or a solicitation to purchase one or more copies of the publication.

There is no guarantee that the advertised publication will be distributed beyond those persons purchasing copies for themselves or even that it will be published at all. The appeal may be based strictly on personal vanity.

TO DISTINGUISH A REPUTABLE BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY FROM THOSE OF LITTLE VALUE OR NO VALUE, THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU SUGGESTS THE FOLLOWING TIPS:

1. Before agreeing to anything, check with your local library. The public library will stock well-known and useful general biographical directories and can advise you about its knowledge of the volume in question. Also, the reputation of professional and business directories may be checked with relevant trade associations.

2. Ask questions. A reputable publisher will be willing to tell you who subscribes to its publication and the number of volumes published in past years.

3. If the subscribers to the directory are mainly limited to those whose names appear in it, you can logically infer that it is, in fact, a 'vanity publication' for the self-aggrandizement of those listed.

4. Contact your Better Business Bureau for a reliability report on the company.