Self-publishing is more popular now more so than ever before. While this newfound freedom for authors looking to embrace their independence may be empowering, self-publishing also presents may unforeseen issues.
Are you exploring the idea of sharing your expertise publicly but not necessarily considering making a full-time career out of authorship? The market is flush with possibility! Amazon has an excellent platform for new authors whose primary desire is to have their hobbies or passion projects shared with eager readers from all around the world. However, this sort of project is unlikely to create the path to making a career out of self-publishing. As the market become more and more saturated, it becomes difficult to gain a substantial following in order to maintain enough sales to manage a good profit margin.
There are three main modes of self-publishing for budding authors looking toward making a career from their efforts. The first two have their own merits, for the purpose of this article, let’s focus our attention on the final option.
Senior editor at The Billfold and freelance writer, Nicole Dieker, weighs the pros and cons of self-publishing in her article “How to Self-Publish a Book”. Dieker covers the decision making process and basics on self-publishing while aiming to shed some more light on the subject of hybrid publishing and its benefits.
The three main methods of self-publishing are according to Dieker:
- DIY: when you do nearly everything yourself from marketing, copy editing, all the way to the formatting. There may be outside persons to handle cover art of the novel, but this novel is primarily a solo job.
- Assisted: This approach is still greatly independent but instead of handling all the parts of the project you have a team to delegate certain aspects to. For example you can hire a team of editors/designers/publicists/etc. to ensure that any skill set you may be lacking is made up for. You can build this team on your own, or use a service that provides a team for you.
- Hybrid: this method entails that one hire a publishing company to fulfill the “publisher” role.
Hybrid publishers like She Writes Press (SWP) are the dominant force currently in self-publishing, and you can view a summary of their services HERE.
Unlike traditional publishing houses, partnership publishing houses like SWP do not buy the majority stake in an author’s book although the author will still receive the same benefits of a traditional publishing house experience. This opens the author up to ownership and royalties greater than that of a typical publishing deal, but, the risk is also significantly higher as the author has primary financial responsibility in the venture.
While hybrid publishing following the partnership publishing house model may appeal most to you now, being accepted into one of the houses is not an easy task. Dieter mentions the two main reasons for the selectiveness in method are “first, because it helps both you and the publisher ensure the project is a good fit, and second because it allows hybrid publishers to maintain a certain level of quality in the books they publish and promote”. While the selection process may be daunting, the rigor in selection of materials accepted is what gives legitimacy to the hybrid publisher, and what can assure you your book is worth it’s stock when selected.
For those currently working the traditional route with a publishing house or agent, the option of hybrid publishing is also viable. Agent-assisted publishing is another for of hybrid publishing that generally takes place following the creation of a novel when both the author and agent are passionate about but their traditional publishing company has not yet accepted.
Oftentimes agents themselves create publishing companies in an effort push novels they themselves had felt strongly about but could not sell. This venture is risky because the basis of distribution is not as straightforward as a traditional publishing house. However, the quality of the work is always upstanding as agents have great eyes for what makes a remarkable novel; also, they usually maintain strong foreign market bonds. Each method has its own benefits and risks but both are viable paths for the aspiring author to venture into a publishing career.
Overall, the possibilities for self-publishing are endless! Are you an independent author, publishing house or distributor? Tell us about your experience below in the comment section below.
