Hybrid publishing is considered to be an emerging area that all authors need to know about. You should note that hybrid publishing happens to be an area that takes the middle ground between self-publishing and traditional publishing. Therefore, it includes several different publishing models that can be anything but not traditional publishing or self-publishing.
Hybrid publishing is not a common term that most writers and publishers utilize. Other terms that also describe this form of publishing include independent publishing, author-assisted publishing, co-publishing, partnership publishing, and entrepreneurial publishing. Regardless of the term, you prefer to use, you should remember that hybrid publishing has become the popular way of publishing your book. In this post, you will learn about the types of hybrid publishing.
Understanding hybrid publishing
The hybrid publishing space is sometimes controversial because it happens to be new and there is no standard agreement about what it is. Since hybrid publishing models usually involve the writer paying for all or some services so that they receive higher royalty rates, some people believe that hybrid publishing should be the same as vanity publishing.
Many people who believe in black-and-white terms consider the hybrid publishing space, not a good option. These people think that they are just self-publishing and traditional publishing. Ideally, this means you can get paid to publish your book or you should pay to get your book published. This is the reason why the hybrid publishing space is not for such people.
There are various publishing models that you can find out there, but what differentiates them from vanity presses is that they operate like publishing companies. Most of them tend to have a submission process, editorial process, cover design process, and publishers who can call the shots. You can also find traditional publishers that are offering hybrid deals, in which a writer has to pay for some services so that they can receive higher royalties.
Hybrid publishing gives the payoff for the writer and it comes from having a lot of control. The writer can invest their work, or raise their money through other sources to finance their project. In this way, you can have more shares of the profits instead of giving it all away. A writer retains creativity ownership and can be treated more like a partner in the process rather than being at the mercy of their publisher.
Types of hybrid publishing
You can find a traditional publisher that has been brokering hybrid publishing deals for many years. A number of book publishers tend to offer writer deals for what it’s called a distribution deal, hybrid publishing arrangement, or co-publishing arrangement. This means that the writer can pay in advance in some capacity. This may not be part of the cost of production or the print run.
In exchange, the writer often negotiates a higher royalty rate because they invest in their work. The only problem with this type of publishing is that it’s usually not transparent. Many traditional publishers avoid talking about it because the concept of writers paying to publish their books is stigmatized. The truth is the same for writers who pay for any part of their project and can sometimes be barred from sending their writing to some reviewers. Worse still, these writers cannot qualify for membership with some writers’ associations.
You can also find partnership publishing models that can involve the publishing company taking the financial risk of publishing your book in exchange for high royalties. In most cases, these companies provide traditional distribution and some other various benefits.
These partnership publishing models are good because they offer a writer access to review sites, a sales team to sell your book in the marketplace, and a partnership with a book publisher that has a good reputation with booksellers. The only problem is the partnership publishing models tend to have financial risks. A publisher usually doesn’t earn their investment on a book they get. This means you also take the financial risk of access and the chance of a high reward. But, there is a competitive market out there, so you need to be careful before you decide to choose a partnership publishing model.
There is also an agent-assisted publishing model. Most literary agents are now starting their publishing companies so that they can publish the works of writers whose books or novels they cannot sell. These efforts are quite good because most agents believe that the work they see and want can find an outlet where these writers can be published. You can call them hybrid because the writers tend to be published under the imprint of an agent. The problem with this model is that there is no effective distribution method.
You just need to understand the publishing process and offer quality books that the writers can be proud of. If your literary agent represents you and has published the book, there are good chances that they can try to sell to foreign editions of your project. Therefore, you need to ask your agent if there is a possibility that they can do this on your behalf.
You should remember that assisted self-published models differ from the agent-assisted and partnership models when it comes to the person who authored the book. In most cases, assisted self-publishing books are managed by a person who may not fully know about books. In such cases, you need to pay someone to assist you publish your book. In other words, you are not working with people that are going to publish your book under their imprint.
This is why this model should qualify as self-publishing rather than hybrid publishing. But it’s crucial to know these models so that they can be a framework for aspiring writers. Just because you are dealing with a publishing firm doesn’t mean that it’s a great hybrid firm that has services that can help your book succeed.
This is because the book publishing market has grown, so there are several companies that have come into the marketplace to get writers. Their focus is to get your manuscript and publish it, which can be a complicated process. Some of these companies are using the word vanity since they don’t vet and they may not care about the quality of your work.
