HYBRID
AUTHORS – WHY THE INCREASING TREND?
You’ve all heard of a ‘hybrid author’,
right? Authors who publish via both the traditional and indie routes? After months
of debating whether it would be the right decision for me, I have jumped on the
bandwagon of the ever increasing number of hybrid authors.
Let me tell you why…
My debut series, Vengeful Love, was published
by Harlequin’s Carina Press earlier this year. I loved the experience. From
getting the deal and starting up a relationship with my editor, to seeing the finished
product. But, as a debut author, I didn’t have my next deal lined up before the
series was released. I found myself in a dilemma—readers were calling for my
next book and, though I had a complete manuscript, the traditional process
meant it would likely be 12 to 18 months before my next novel would be released
(although some digital only imprints will publish on shorter timescales).
Therein lies the main motivation behind me becoming a hybrid author. TIMING.
If I put out an indie title, I can choose my own timeline. I can give readers
what they are asking for, and keep momentum between traditional deals. Timing
is a huge positive associated with indie (or self-published) releases. But it
was not the only thing I had to think about.
My greatest reservation was that I would
not be handed a readymade TEAM of
editors, designers and marketeers. I would have to find my own team and how
would I know if they were any good? Actually, it was not as difficult as I
thought. I asked my indie author friends for recommendations. Most editors will
provide a free sample of work and designers have a catalogue of covers you can
use to help you make the right decision. It is actually great to be able to FREELY MAKE DECISIONS about your book.
Perhaps my biggest concern, is that responsibility for marketing
now rests solely with me. Whereas traditional publishing houses have a loyal
following of readers willing to take a chance on their books, indie authors
must work very hard to build their own BRAND. (That said, even with traditional publishing, authors these days are required to
market themselves heavily through social media and other channels.)
PRICING and ROYALTIES. I am grouping
these two together because I consider them related. In terms of pricing FLEXIBILITY, the traditional route
leaves an author with little or no influence over the retail price of a book.
The reverse is true of self-publishing. Indie authors can set their own prices
and utilise mechanisms such a price PROMOTIONS
and Kindle Unlimited (i.e. free to subscribers of Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited
library in return for royalties). Royalty percentages are also significantly
higher for self-published authors. However, indie books are commonly priced
lower than traditional books. This, together with more regular price promotions, tends to mean
the average retail price of a book is less for indie authors.
Related to pricing and important to
remember, is that an author choosing to self-publish will have initial EXPENDITURE for covers, editors etc.
whereas a traditional publishing house would generally assume these costs.
Another consideration is access to PLATFORMS. While most platforms (e.g.
Barnes and Noble, Amazon) and formats (ebook, print, audio) are available to
indie authors just as they are to traditional publishers, there is significantly
more work for one author to spread him/herself across multiple platforms,
whereas traditional publishing houses are already set up to do this. Also,
while physical stores may sometimes pick up self-published
authors, they are much more likely to acquire traditionally published paperback
books.
Finally, let us consider READERSHIP. While traditional
publishing has loyal followers, these days there is a huge indie-supportive
readership out there, a community traditional authors may not find themselves
part of.
Let us put all this together in a visual and see which route scores best.
Category
|
Traditional
Publishing
|
Indie
Publishing
|
Time from
writing to publishing
|
X
|
|
Building a team
|
X
|
|
Choice of
covers, artwork and marketing strategy
|
X
|
|
Ease of
establishing a brand following
|
X
|
|
Ability to set
prices and flexibility to utilise price promotions
|
X
|
|
Royalties
|
X
|
|
Initial expenditure
|
X
|
|
Ease of access
to multiple platforms
|
X
|
|
Readership – brand loyalty / indie-supportive community
|
X
|
X
|
In summary, you can see both the traditional
and ‘new-age’ routes have positives and negatives. Looking at this table, it may
not be difficult to see why many authors are choosing to combine the benefits
of both routes and become hybrid. Perhaps the greatest benefit is that
there are two tranches of readers, those loyal to traditional publishers and
those supportive of indie authors. Even acknowledging some crossover, being
hybrid affords authors access to a much greater readership by combining both.
My first indie title and standalone novel,
Scarred by You, releases on 24 October 2016. For more details, follow me here:
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