Writers, I have gone down a freakin’ rabbit hole when it comes to Hybrid Publishing. Which is pretty incredible considering that I didn’t even know hybrid publishing existed until a few months ago.
If you’re wondering what hybrid publishing is and if could be right for you, you’ve come to the right spot. Join me for a three-part blog series that delves into the ins and outs of this lesser-known author option that’s gaining ground in the publishing industry.
Why am I talking about Hybrid Publishing?
It’s been one year and three months since I started querying my women’s fiction novel Hyggely Ever After (aka, Novel #3) to literary agents. During that time, I’ve received….
**drum roll, please**
A staggering 22 manuscript requests from literary agents, plus two offers to publish Hyggely Ever After.
Wait, what? You read that correctly. I received offers from two different publishers to send a beautifully and professionally published edition of my book out into the world.
But here’s the kicker: I turned down both offers.
**grasps at heart**
The offers were from two separate hybrid publishing companies. Unfortunately, neither of them fit what I’m looking for with my writing career at this time. But, these offers did open my eyes to a new (to me) option for getting my work published.
If you follow my podcast, you know that Kait and I devoted an entire podcast episode to this topic on Dark Side of the Word. You can watch the hybrid publishing episode on You Tube by clicking the snippet below, or you can listen to the audio-only version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or iHeart Podcasts.
The podcast episode didn’t get into nearly as much detail as I wanted to, so I decided to write a blog post about my experiences as an aspiring author with hybrid publishing. Rather than cram it all into one super-long post, I’ve decided to create three separate blog posts.
My three-part blog series on Hybrid Publishing
Part 1: What is Hybrid Publishing?
This first part (this post!) will cover the basics of what hybrid publishing is, how it differs from other types of publishing opportunities, and why you should consider it as a viable option.
Part 2: Conversations with Hybrid Publishers: My Good and Bad Experiences (thus far)
The second part part will dive into my experiences (thus far) with two popular hybrid publishers, including the publication packages, contracts, and services offered by each, as well as (eeks!) what these services will cost you as the author.
Part 3: How to Find a Reputable Hybrid Publisher that Works for You
The third and final part will talk about what everyone should look for when searching for a reputable, hybrid publisher. And, specifically, what you should look for in your preferred hybrid publisher. It’s going to be a little bit different for everyone.
Anyone with questions can drop them in the comments below on any of the posts. I’ll do my best to answer everyone!
What is hybrid publishing?
First things first: What is hybrid publishing?
I discovered that hybrid publishing is “a thing” when I was asked to review a book published by – you guessed it! — a hybrid publisher. I always research publishing companies I’m not familiar with, and a few Google searches soon revealed this whole “new” layer of the publishing industry.
The best way to describe hybrid publishing is that it’s a compromise between self-publishing and traditional publishing. The author contributes financially to having their book published, and the hybrid publisher handles production, marketing, and distribution duties that a traditional publisher normally would.
Breaking it down: Traditional Publishing vs Self-Publishing vs Hybrid Publishing
Let’s get into the weeds a bit by comparing traditional publishing, self-publishing, and hybrid publishing on a line level.
Traditional Publishing…
- An author signs a contract with a literary agent, who then sells the manuscript to a “big name publisher”. (Think Random House, Simon and Schuster, etc)
- The publisher pays the author an advance and possibly royalties for the published book.
- The publisher handles all aspects of the publishing process, such as editing, formatting, designing, production of, marketing, publicizing, selling, and distributing the book.
- In a nutshell: Traditional Publishing is The Dream for most writers. All the author has to do is write books and get paid.
Self-Publishing…
- An author (usually) doesn’t work with a formal, established publishing company.
- On top of writing books, the author has to act as their own agent, publisher, marketer, publicist, and distributor for the published book.
- The author covers all publishing costs, which can run into the thousands. The author can hire freelancers to do some/all of the work (editing, cover design, publicity, etc), but this is extra money out of the author’s pocket.
- There’s no advance payment from a publisher to offset the author’s publishing costs.
- In a nutshell: Self-Publishing is the Wild West of publishing options. The author is writing the books, navigating the rocky terrain of producing a book, and they’re paying for everything themselves.
Hybrid Publishing…
- An author signs a contract with a hybrid publisher, who will publish the author’s manuscript.
- There’s no advance payment to offset the publishing costs, and the author will have to cover most, if not all of these costs.
- The publisher handles editing, formatting, formatting, designing, production, sales, marketing, distribution, and some publicity for the book.
- In a nutshell: A little bit of both worlds. The author writes the book. The author pays to publish their book, like with Self-Publishing. However, the publishing duties are carried out by the Hybrid Publisher, like with Traditional Publishing.
The more I read about hybrid publishing, the more I loved the idea of it. Eventually, I submitted Hyggely Ever After to a few hybrid publishers for consideration.
Hybrid Publishing vs Vanity Publishing: They’re not the same
Vanity Presses…
Unfortunately, a lot of people hear “pay to publish” and automatically think that hybrid publishers are so-called vanity publishers.
Let’s be clear: hybrid publishing and vanity publishing are extremely different and should not be confused.
Vanity publishing isn’t a scam, per se, but it’s also not what most writers are looking for. Vanity publishers take your money and publish your book with it. End of story. Your book could be the crappiest piece of literature out there, but it doesn’t matter. If you hand them over money, they will hand you over a book. (Usually. I’ve heard horror stories about vanities that just take the money and disappear…)
To my knowledge, vanity publishers don’t do much to edit or clean up your manuscript. They also don’t do much, if anything, to market, sell, or distribute your book once it’s published. They’re not invested in the book or the author since they don’t profit off it once they produce it.
In short: vanity publishers simply print the book and hand it over to the author for everything else.
A good hybrid publisher…
Meanwhile, a good hybrid publisher is invested in the success of an author’s book. This means that good hybrid publishers:
- are selective in what they publish. They have quality standards, submission guidelines, and a vetting process for submissions. They only publish what they believe will do well in the market.
- add value to the book by offering professional-quality editorial services, cover and interior design services, and industry-recognized book distribution platforms, like Ingram.
- offer a solid marketing plan to get the published book in the hands of readers.
- are responsible for distributing and selling the published book on the author’s behalf.
Every industry has its shady underbelly, and publishing is no exception. There are plenty of “traditional” literary agents and publishing houses trying to scam would-be authors. Of course, that means there are also scammer hybrid publishers out there, too.
All that research you are (or, should be) doing to find a reputable literary agent? You should be doing the same thing with hybrid publishers. We’ll talk more about what that research looks like in Part 3.
Why I’m considering hybrid publishing (instead of self-publishing)
Hybrid publishing allows a writer to publish their stories without becoming a one-person publishing house. Editing, producing, designing, marketing, and selling a book takes a lot of work. Sure, there are companies than can help you do it, or can do aspects of it for you. But it’s a lot to learn about an industry that I don’t really care to.
Writers, for the most part, just want to write. We don’t want to become publishers or publicity managers or book designers. The hybrid publishing model lets you do, for a price. That’s why I’m considering hybrid publishing as an alternative to self-publishing.
Self-publishing authors pay to publish their own books. There’s no advance, and you’re not getting anyone else to cover your book production services and costs. Self-published authors take on ALL the costs to publish their book – and all the work.
There’s a stigma about paying to publish your work when it comes to hybrid publishing. But, in my opinion, it’s not too different from what self-publishing authors are doing. The costs for some hybrid publishing models are similar to all the publishing costs that a self-published author would rack up.
At the end of the day, it’s around the same price and much less headache to pay a hybrid publisher to do all this work for me with a pre-screened bunch of professionals. Less work, more writing.
In conclusion
That concludes Part 1 of “How to Decide if Hybrid Publishing is Right for You.” I hope I’ve given you a good understanding of what hybrid publishing entails, and why it’s appealing alternative to self-publishing.
See you soon for Part 2, where I’ll talk about my experiences with two major hybrid publishers.
