#HybridPublishers: A Viable Option? Here’s Why

 

 

HybridPublishers are on the rise. Why? Here’s Why. Self publishing options including #Createspace, #Bookbaby and #Smashwords promised a lot when they came to be except we’ve had enough time to collect data that suggests otherwise. Unfortunately, this option has appealed to those who believe anyone can craft a book. Consequently, even good books on these sites get buried underneath all that ‘drafty’ slush.
Traditional publishers in #NewYork have closed their doors even tighter as the 21st century publishing realities continue to become the norm. If you don’t have a celeb or public name, if you don’t have a sizable platform in social media and elsewhere, like public speaking and/or a newspaper column (that’s read as evidenced by clicks), and if you don’t have a second income from your spouse, your parents, your lovers, your friends willing to contribute so you can write, publish and market your books, self publishing is a nightmare. I know. I did it once. Once was enough.

My opinion?

  • Be good at what you are good at and find a press that can help you get what you’re good at-#storytelling-to your readers.
  • It takes a village and always has to deliver a book to the world. Some don’t know that every book that gets through the vetting process in #traditional, goes through at least 12-15 people who must ALL say “yay” and once they do, you, the author, have your team in place to do what you don’t know how to do.
  • #HybridPublishers the newest in the evolution of book publishing, is a solution for many good writers and #storytellers.

PublishersWeekly recognized their growing influence in this PW article.

Hybrid Publishers are not all alike, some are purely #vanity presses that take your money and give you the basics.

But some #hybridpublishers are in this business for the long haul.

  • Some want to be viable competitors to traditional publishing.
  • Some want quality authors that #traditional publishing dumped(called #midlist #authors) when they began downsizing in the late 1990s-2000s.

You can take this to the bank: With RARE exception, #traditional publishers want to publish #BRANDS because that’s where the money is and these #institutions need money. Have you seen those office towers that house the big 5 publishers in #Manhattan ? Those rents aren’t cheap…

This author had a small press publishing my latest novel until Covid hit and they went out of business. This novel about a woman who finally coming of age in midlife has been accepted by a few #hybrid #publishers and should I go this route? I want to be published by the best so I continue doing my due diligence.

Stay tuned.