What is Hybrid Publishing?

Hybrid Publishing tends to be a bit of an unknown entity – especially with first time writers - but has recently risen in popularity among authors wishing to publish their work.

Have you heard of Hybrid Publishing?

Most people have heard of the traditional publishing house style of publishing. The writer often has to send their manuscript off to multiple publishers with the dream of landing that glorious multiple thousand pound book contract which will launch them to stardom, movie franchises and never having to work again.

In reality, it’s really hard to get a traditional book deal like this. You basically need to be a celebrity or have a huge following already. Trying to land a deal with one of the top reputable publishing houses is a huge time investment and essentially you can end up having absolutely no control about how your years of hard work will end up. Yes, of course there are advantages of getting your book published traditionally and fair play to you if you want to work your arse off to pursue this dream. But for everyone else, that’s where other forms of publishing come in.

Self Publishing

Self-publishing is becoming more and more popular as it is extremely accessible and in essence, “easy” to do. Amazon has made self-publishing an absolute dream by introducing the Kindle Direct Publishing platform which gives you the biggest marketplace in the world to sell to. If you have the time to dedicate to publishing your own book and doing it well, absolutely do it. I have written a Guide To Self-Publishing which you can access for FREE by subscribing here.

Hybrid Publishing

So, hybrid publishing basically bridges the gap between self-publishing and traditional publishing. Hybrid publishers do the same work that you would by self-publishing, but they do it for you, they have much more experience in the market, they have more contacts and experts working for them and will “self-publish” your book better than you would.

Hybrid publishers are the middle man and they effectively work as an agency to bring you all the services you require in one place. Some hybrid publishers work as a one man band and do all the work themselves whereas other hybrid publishers will have well vetted and experienced free lancers working for them.

If you are looking to publish your book but aren’t interested in doing it yourself, haven’t got the time to sit on Google and teach yourself or aren’t up to speed with the technology required to do it then maybe hybrid publishing is for you.

Pricing & Royalties – How much does publishing cost?

The main differences between the three branches of publishing are the costs. Let me break it down for you:

Traditional publishing: Free. In fact, you get PAID to have your book published. A lot of money. The royalties are then heavily reduced and you will maybe receive 10% of the revenue brought in by your book’s sales. You also don’t have to worry about paying any editors as all the work is included in the book deal.

Self-publishing: Free. However if you want your book to be up to standard and receive good reviews, I would recommend that you, at the very least, get your book proof-read by a professional. A proof-reader can charge anything from £2-10 per 1000 words. On average, that’s about £300 alone. You will, however, receive 100% of the royalties.

Hybrid publishing: The majority of hybrid publishers charge for their services. The prices can vary hugely and can range from £1,000 up to £25,000. You need to be careful of scam companies (or “vanity publishers”) who will charge ludicrous amounts of money and give you very little in return. The advantage of using a hybrid publisher and paying upfront means that everything is included in this price; copy editing, book cover design, marketing etc. You will also receive a higher amount of royalties than if you were to be published by a traditional publisher and on the flip side you don’t have to waste your time learning how to self-publish. Most hybrid publishers tend to pay royalties between 40-70%.

So have a good look into your publishing options when the time has come. Every writer has different goals for their book and each will be suited to a different publishing option. There is no right or wrong answer. Whichever path you choose to showcase your work to the world, good luck!