selfpublishingadvisor

The Value of Hybrid Publishing to Self-Publishing Authors

Despite the name, hybrid publishing can be a valuable service for writers looking to self-publish their books.

As I covered in a previous article, hybrid publishing is when you pay a company upfront to help you prepare and publish your book.

While the term “hybrid” is used in various contexts, I’ll assume for the sake of this article that you’re working with a freestanding hybrid press that upholds high standards while allowing you to retain control over your book.

If you’re looking to make self-publishing books a career, you may wonder why it may be worth hiring a hybrid. After all, it can cost considerable money for a service you could handle by yourself for considerably less.

In this article, I’ll explain how hybrids justify their service prices and why hybrid publishing can work for you.

Hybrid publishing works with you to hold and maintain your book to professional standards

It’s always worth repeating: for a self-published book to succeed, it has to be of high quality.

“High quality” means your book needs thorough editing, an eye-catching book cover, solid book production, enticing book copy, far-reaching marketing, and numerous other factors that set apart a professional self-published title from the amateurs.

If you’re a first-time author opting out of traditional publishing, it can be daunting to abide by those high standards. To do so, you’d have to learn your share of the publishing process and assemble a team of collaborators to help you with everything else you can’t handle by yourself.

An alternative is to hire a hybrid publisher. When you meet with a hybrid, their coordinator will work with you to vet your book to ensure it’s a good fit for their services. Then the hybrid will educate you about all the necessary services so you can cover all of your bases and craft a publishing package that works best for you.

Hybrid publishing can also help you save time—and often money

When you self-publish solo, you must put in a lot of time. A lot of time requires directly handling aspects of the publishing process. It also involves spending countless hours finding and managing collaborators.

With a hybrid, you instead pay a company to do all the delegation. Of course, you’ll still need to discuss your expectations and needs for a project. However, a hybrid press will then draw from their pool of talent and employ their organizational expertise to secure services in days or weeks for what could take weeks or months for a novice self-publisher.

You may even save money. For example, when hiring contractors yourself, you may end up paying more than what’s reasonable or taking on unexpected costs to replace someone who doesn’t work out. Meanwhile, hybrids are trained to handle those hitches, passing those savings to you.

Hybrid publishing allows you to keep control over how your book is published

Other publishing models require authors to yield considerable control over their books. Traditional publishers will often make choices for their authors, even against the authors’ wishes. Meanwhile, vanity presses don’t do the collaboration and education hybrids do, which may lead to a final product that the author isn’t satisfied with.

Most hybrids make author ownership a core value. This starts with the package, where many hybrid presses will allow authors to opt in and out of various services. Even after the package is agreed upon, hybrids work with authors throughout the publication, keeping regular communication and even allowing authors to veto decisions.

Do keep in mind that sometimes a hybrid publisher might say no in cases where they need to maintain high standards or a request would go above budget. But assuming your requests are reasonable, few other models outside pure self-publishing allow you as much control as hybrid publishing.

Hybrid publishing can be combined with other publishing models, including “pure” self-publishing

When you use a hybrid publisher, you’re under no obligation to publish your future books through that same service. Not only do you retain control over your book during hybrid publication, but you also keep the rights to your book and any subsequent titles in its series.

This arrangement gives you choices throughout your publishing career. For example, you could start traditionally or self-publishing your first book, then switch to a hybrid press. Conversely, you can switch hybrid publishers between projects or go the hybrid route for one project but opt for self-publishing for future publications.

You can even bring a previously self-published book to a hybrid press for a fresher print run or vice versa.

When it comes down to it, the value of hybrid publishing to a self-publisher comes down to quality and control. Of course, whether you work with a hybrid publisher will widely depend on your needs, but their existence as an option enriches the pathways you can take in your career as a professional author.

Over to you: If you have experience with hybrid publishing, what value have you gotten from the process? If not, what type of services are you hoping to find while self-publishing?

ABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 20 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Director of Sales and Marketing for Outskirts Press. The Sales and Marketing departments are composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.

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Libraries in the Time of Coronavirus—How You Can Help Libraries

Library closed during covid — Image by Queven from Pixabay

Like many physical locations, public libraries were massively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the pandemic’s first year alone (2020), the American Library Association (ALA) reported significant impacts on libraries by the coronavirus.

While the ALA has yet to release a report on year 2 (2021), they’re likely to report many continuations of trends started by the pandemic’s beginning: a mass pivot from in-person services to virtual, a significant increase in library use because of those virtual services, lots of concerns about reopening and reclosing between virus waves, and the turmoil of book banning.

In the face of much strife, supporting libraries is more important than ever. On top of book lending, libraries assist communities by providing education, tech access, literacy, meals for kids, community building, and even vaccine clinics.

If you’re a self-publishing author, you may wonder how you can help libraries. Here are several ways you can do so, whether as an author or a patron of your local library.

Offer copies of your book to libraries, both physical and electronic.

Libraries have varying policies for acquiring books, so do your research to maximize your chances of getting your book into collections. Greenhorn authors will have the best luck reaching out to local libraries due to being regional writers.

If you do submit your physical editions for consideration, make sure your titles are available by a wholesaler. Libraries usually acquire their copies through wholesalers rather than retailers, so they can expand their collections with the least amount of money while still supporting authors and publishers.

Even if you have no luck with a physical copy, digital lending is another trend influenced by the pandemic. If you use an eBook distributor to publish your book to multiple sites, then you likely have the capability to submit your book to eBook lending services such as Overdrive. In addition, with digital books, libraries don’t have to worry about shelf space, so they’re more likely to agree to acquire.

By making your book available to libraries, you can reach more readers who may otherwise not be able to read your book, all while expanding your library’s collection.

Offer to host book events. Libraries love featuring local authors. By offering to do an event, you give the library’s patrons another reason to visit. This is especially doable if you can demonstrate that you can bring in your readers.

A book signing is the most obvious event, but other options exist. For example, if you’re a children’s author, you can host a story time for the library’s youngest patrons. If your book is nonfiction, you can host a class based on your book’s subject. Your novel could become a candidate for a book club. And if you collaborate with other local authors, you could cohost a panel together.

And because of increased tech services, it doesn’t have to be an in-person event: libraries may be willing to host you for a virtual seminar, which allows the possibility to reach even more people.

Support public libraries politically.

Public libraries rely primarily on funding from their local and county governments. Vote in municipal elections to support propositions and referendums that raise library revenue.

Pay attention to your local government’s budgetary proposals and give your feedback so that they opt for funding increases, not budget cuts on libraries. If your local libraries are underfunded, consider even campaigning for increased funding.

Also, stand up for libraries when they’re threatened with book bans and censorship.

Visit libraries and use their services.

Librarians want you to use the library! So, borrow books, attend on-site and online events, take classes, volunteer your time and efforts, buy old copies from book drives, and more.

Libraries are made to be pillars of their communities. By benefiting from a library’s services, you’re fulfilling its purpose. You also demonstrate the library’s benefits in the process, which only contribute to libraries as a lasting institution.

Remember, no matter your status as a writer, the best way to support libraries is through your role as a member of its community.

elizabeth speaks

What Is Hybrid Publishing, and How Hybrid Presses Differ from Other Publishers

While researching how to publish your book, you might’ve stumbled upon a relatively new term: hybrid publishing.

In summary, hybrid publishing is when an author pays a publishing service to edit, produce, and distribute a book. A company dedicated to hybrid publishing is often called a hybrid press.

But how does hybrid publishing differ from other models? Any confusion is understandable. After all similar terms are used for similar services.

I’ll run through the similarities and differences between each one, so you’re better equipped to understand which pathway is right for you.

So how does hybrid publishing differ from traditional publishing?

In traditional publishing, a publisher acquires a small number of books, pays an advance to the author, and handles the editing, production, and selling of the book in collaboration with the author while still retaining control of the publication process.

Hybrid presses are similar in that they vet projects to ensure they can work in good faith with the author; yet, it’s much easier to get published with a hybrid press than in traditional publishing.

In this respect, hybrid publishing is good for authors who have looked into traditional publishing and either haven’t had luck or are uninterested.

And yes, an author does have to pay a hybrid press for its service, and hybrid presses do not pay out advances. But at the same time, an author retains book rights and can pick and choose individual services.

On top of that, authors receive royalties right away, while traditionally published authors must earn the full amount of their advance before receiving royalties. That makes an advance a double-edged sword—especially since traditional publishers often drop authors who don’t make back their advance.

In short, an author with a hybrid press assumes a share of a book’s financial risk (via paying upfront fees) in exchange for more freedom and flexibility over publication.

How hybrid publishing differs from self-publishing

With these differences in mind, you may wonder why one would pay a hybrid press when self-publishing is free.

Technically, a writer can self-publish a book for zero money. However, in practice, self-publishers must invest their own money into their books if they are going to make a profit.

Bestselling books require a range of services that practically most authors can’t manage by themselves: editing, proofreading, book design, page layout, production, distribution, marketing, publicity, sales . . .

An author can’t do it all, which is why traditionally, they work with a publisher. Successful self-publishers instead hire out these services, such as getting a freelance editor or working with specialty companies.

But what if you don’t want to coordinate these services yourself? That’s where hybrid publishing comes in. With a hybrid publisher, you can work with a single point-of-contact who collaborates with you to decide on which services you want to pay to delegate and compile it into a single publishing package.

Isn’t a hybrid press just a vanity press?

Many horror stories are floating out there about vanity presses. The term vanity press describes companies that lure in writers with big promises, charge exorbitant upfront fees for basic services, and seize unreasonable control over authors’ book rights.

But don’t be confused: hybrid presses are not vanity presses. Several factors distinguish the hybrid model from vanity publishing.

First, most hybrid presses are more selective, as many will turn down prospective authors that wouldn’t work for their model. Meanwhile, vanity presses will accept almost everyone. Yet, vanities do not assume their share of the risk that other publishers typically assume.

Vanity presses also attempt to profit off authors by gradually ramping up add-ons for services, charging severely more than the industry standard and for less quality.

However, hybrid presses are flexible and reasonable with their service prices and are happy to negotiate with writers to agree-upon packages that fit within the writer’s budget and needs.

The largest red flag for vanity presses is that they seize control of an author’s rights and will refuse to release them even if the author finds the press’s work unsatisfactory—at least not without a severe kill fee. Even traditional publishers are more willing to revert rights to the author if they agree they can’t work things out with an author.

A great advantage of hybrid publishers is that authors retain full rights over their work. An author can choose to walk away at any time and publish a book through another route.

How hybrid publishing is like indie publishing

Because hybrid publishing is such a new concept, some sources consider the hybrid approach to be synonymous with indie publishing. Some hybrid presses do consider themselves indie or independent.

Yet, not all indie presses are hybrid. Instead, many indie presses operate identically to traditional publishers. The main difference is that indies are either self-owned—not belonging to a conglomerate—or are much smaller than the Big Five publishers.

In other cases, an indie press may be the self-fashioned company of a single self-publisher or a small group of authors, perhaps the owners having incorporated.

Finally, not all hybrid publishing is independent. Some teams provide hybrid publishing as a service while being a subsidiary or department of a larger organization.

With this in mind, some hybrid presses consider themselves indie publishing to the extent they embody the independent spirit of creating and releasing books outside the domain of the largest corporations.

Is hybrid publishing right for you?

Now that you know what hybrid publishing is, you may be wondering if you’ll want to put out your next book using one.

I’ll explain more about the prospective benefits of hybrid publishing in the next post in this series. For now, do take the time to consider your options, as the book industry is always bustling with new ways to publish.

Over to you: What’s your experience with hybrid publishing? What other questions do you have about releasing books through a hybrid publisher?

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How COVID Has Changed the Publishing Industry—Including Self-Publishing

charming-woman-reading-book-on-lawn-in-square

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected the workplace culture of book publishers, as discussed at the U.S. Book Show and one of their panels, “The Pandemic and Publishing: How Has COVID Changed the Industry for Good?”

In “Pandemic and Publishing,” the panelists discussed how social distancing measures forced publishers to work fully remote and reconfigure workplaces for a virtual setting, such as flocking to online chat applications. They also touched upon how publishing companies have strived to preserve mentorship and workplace collaboration while sharing more profits with employees.

Hosted last May, the panel featured the conversations of four industry professionals: literary agent Monica Odom and founder of Odom Media Management, publisher Julia Sommerfeld (Amazon), company president Jennifer Enderlin (St. Martin’s Publishing Group), and literary agent Anjali Singh (Ayesha Pande Literary). Paul Bogaards of Bogaards Public Relations moderated the panel.

This panel was held at the 2nd annual U.S. Book Show. Launched by Publishers Weekly in 2021, this conference’s virtual setting self-demonstrates the impact of the pandemic on the publishing industry.

What this means for self-publishing authors

It’s tempting to dismiss the viewpoints of traditional publishing professionals. Yet, their worries and insights still relate to writers striving to make a career out of self-publishing books.

In a sense, the move to work at home is validation for self-publishers. For many large publishers, 2020 was the first time these companies worked fully remote, even though they’ve existed for decades—if not for more than a century. Meanwhile, full remote has been the reality for self-publishers for years, not to mention many smaller presses.

Even with the rough transition, traditional publishing could operate remotely and take advantage of a high-tide year for book sales. This showcases how there’s nothing special about the traditional publishing model that a self-published author cannot follow. Singh recognized this as such, stating, “one of the good things to come out of the pandemic was this recognition that people can be at home and actually be very productive.”

Singh also commented on how prepandemic corporations were stigmatizing certain groups of employees, especially parents who wanted the flexibility of working at home while caring for their children.

The equalizing potential of remote work is another issue the pandemic has thrown in relief. Beside from meeting parental needs, work from home also makes publishing accessible across geography, ability, and social and economic classes. This is especially relevant to widening the publishing field beyond New York City, the central hub for the top trade book publishers.

Remote work also opens more opportunities for collaboration. Self-publishers and other remote workers are more empowered to work with others worldwide. For example, you could hire an editor on the East Coast, a proofreader on the West Coast, and even a book cover designer overseas.

It’s also noteworthy how Enderlin’s St. Martin’s gave out bonuses to employees at all levels of the company without even posting a press release. Publishers are more generous to their workers in light of more employees leaving their jobs in “the Great Resignation,” in tandem with months of new hires.

The pandemic has energized workers in all industries to be bolder about taking on new jobs, but it’s an especially salient call to action for self-publishers. If publishing books is your dream, you can feel more emboldened to change careers and spend more time writing and self-publishing, all while feeling assured that you can reacquire a full-time job if necessary.

However, the panelists pointed out the artifice of remote work. On online communication, Sommerfeld remarked that “the team is always pinging each other and trying to capture that casual conversation. We’re missing the kind of osmosis that happens when we’re all together.”

Self-publishers aren’t immune to this want for “osmosis.” Even for authors, editors, and other professionals who’ve never worked in the office, it’s normal to desire more in-person connections.

To compensate for the distancing effects of online relationships, look for opportunities to meet fellow writers and publishers in real life. Look up local author and publisher groups in your area, and make space on your calendar to attend events.

If necessary, coordinate these meetups and events yourself. Take advantage of the summer by prioritizing outdoor locations, such as parks and plazas, so you can enjoy the weather while reducing the risks of coronavirus’s volatility.

And above all, publishers in all parts of the industry should keep reminding themselves that the only constant is change. It may well be that the pandemic will be a uniquely seismic event for publishing, yet publishers will remain nimble by practicing how to adapt to future industry changes.

elizabeth speaks

Why You Should Differentiate Your Personal and Professional Social Media Accounts

Person Using Laptop Computer during Daytime

Previously, I wrote about how you must accept that marketing is essential if you want your writing to become a career. Today, I’ll focus on one facet of marketing: your social media profiles.

Part of being a career writer in the internet age is keeping your personal and professional presence separate. To this end, set up separate social media profiles on the platforms you intend to use to market your books.

If you use a platform exclusively for personal uses or solely for your career, then one profile is adequate. For example, most people don’t post their vacation and party photos on LinkedIn. But if you intend to work and play on the same website, create a second profile.

So, why is it so important? I do understand it’s extra work juggling multiple accounts. However, there are several reasons for doing so.

I’ll start with the reason that may sound corny: it’s about mind-set. When you post as a published author, you communicate with a different voice than you do with your closed ones.

You’re putting up a brand even if your online persona is warm and friendly. When branding, you’re guiding prospective and current readers to perceive you a certain way and have certain expectations. With an author brand, you sell books, deal with publishers and other writers as a business, and set boundaries so that work doesn’t bleed into play.

This differentiation is more difficult if you use the same profile for personal and professional use. When you make a new profile, you can tailor your brand without worrying about what you post personally.

Another reason is that social media platforms offer different features based on the type of profile or account.

One website that makes a stark difference is Facebook. On Facebook, “Profiles” are reserved for personal use. Meanwhile, professionals and organizations have “Pages.” They look different even on the surface, with Profiles having a Friend button and Pages having the Like button.

But once you set up a Page, you’ll have access to tools that Profiles can’t have. For example, with a Page, you can set Page Roles and provide other people limited access to posting on your Page without giving them your password. You also get access to analytics and advertising options, tools that can elevate your Facebook usage from casual use to a web marketing machine.

Most other major social platforms have profiles that don’t look as drastically different. For example, a personal Twitter profile and a business look similar at a glance. However, even other platforms—like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok—have options for you to opt in to a “professional” profile, which grants you more behind-the-scenes tools to augment your social media marketing.

However, even if these technical differences didn’t exist, keeping separate profiles would still be a good idea.

Another major reason is respecting your audience. While some readers may be interested in your life outside writing, not all of them want to see you post pictures of your family. Some posts you make for friends and family may alienate readers who wish to follow you to keep up with your upcoming releases and events. If you mix the two, you may irritate your followers and drive them to unfollow.

Conversely, some of your friends and family may be interested in your books and may nod politely when you mention your novel to them. But many of them don’t want to see you post all day about your books, as they’re more interested in whether you’ll come over at Thanksgiving this year. To prevent them from muting your posts, give them an out and keep two different streams. If they’re genuinely interested, they’ll follow your author profile and boost your follower count!

One reason may be scary to think about, but it’s crucial: as an author, you want to protect your privacy and safety.

Early on, you’ll have so few readers that you might wish some of them showed more interest. However, a growing career comes with a greater risk of danger. You may attract haters who may send you harassing messages. Tragically, some authors even end up with stalkers—not just cyber stalkers, but real-life stalkers who may attempt to find your whereabouts.

To make sure no one finds out your personal details, such as your address or location, I recommend you keep your information contained to your personal profiles, if at all.

Additionally, I recommend you set your personal profile’s privacy settings, so they are only visible to friends. While privacy settings may feel constraining, they reduce the risks of unsavory prowlers finding your information. If you do insist on keeping your personal profiles publicly visible, separate accounts will allow you to set individual posts, pieces of information, and the entire profile to private at any time without shutting down your professional profiles.

All in all, it’s essential to set up separate author profiles because of the technical, marketing, and social benefits that come with that separation, along with the protection for your virtual and personal safety.

As you set up this divide on social media platforms, pat yourself on the back: you’re taking one more step to becoming a successful author!

Over to you: Which social media platforms do YOU use? Do you currently keep a separate author profile on them? How do you post differently between your accounts?

Hybrid publishing works with you to hold and maintain your book to professional standards

Hybrid publishing can also help you save time—and often money

Hybrid publishing allows you to keep control over how your book is published

Hybrid publishing can be combined with other publishing models, including “pure” self-publishing

Share this:

Offer copies of your book to libraries, both physical and electronic.

Support public libraries politically.

Visit libraries and use their services.

Share this:

While researching how to publish your book, you might’ve stumbled upon a relatively new term: hybrid publishing.

So how does hybrid publishing differ from traditional publishing?

How hybrid publishing differs from self-publishing

Isn’t a hybrid press just a vanity press?

How hybrid publishing is like indie publishing

Is hybrid publishing right for you?

Share this:

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected the workplace culture of book publishers, as discussed at the U.S. Book Show and one of their panels, “The Pandemic and Publishing: How Has COVID Changed the Industry for Good?”

What this means for self-publishing authors

Share this:

Share this: