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It's an exciting but also admittedly confusing time to be publishing a book these days. No longer are your options just between traditional publishing and self-publishing. More and more new publishers have been popping up into the book publishing landscape with new models of selling books and paying authors for their work.

Many of these publishers are labeling themselves as “hybrid publishers,” where presumably they are merging some elements of the traditional and the self-publishing processes. However, there isn't a clear definition on what a hybrid publisher is and what their specific standards are.

So, in this current publishing landscape, it is more perplexing than ever to figure out what your ideal publishing path looks like and which publishers you should pursue. How are you going to find the right publishing team that is going to truly champion your project and help you with designing, editing, marketing, and sales? You want a publisher who is going to support you through the entire process and help you create a book that you can feel proud of.

To best prepare you, in this article, I'm going to talk through a report that was recently published about the hybrid publishing landscape. I want to bring some awareness to some potential hybrid publishing dangers and scams, and this report has a lot of insightful statistics and takeaways to keep in mind. Unfortunately, there are a lot of potential pitfalls to watch out for specifically within the hybrid publishing space because it is newer and there aren’t any specific industry standards that hybrid publishers need to follow.

What Is Hybrid Publishing?

In April 2022, two UK authors’ associations—The Society of Writers and The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain—published a report titled: “Is It A Steal? An Investigation Into Hybrid/Paid For Publishing Services.” This report is the first of its kind, since, as I mentioned before, there aren't any real standards or definitions operating in the hybrid publishing space. Basically anyone can start a publishing company and label it as a hybrid publishing company if they want to.

These two author organizations felt there was a need to provide more of a framework, gathering statistics on authors who have taken the hybrid publishing path, so that that knowledge can become more widespread throughout the author community and everyone can go into a potential hybrid publishing deal with more knowledge.

First, it's important to discuss how the organizations define a hybrid publisher. For this report, they only covered service providers who charged the author for publishing and took either a percentage of the profits or the author's rights to the work. A hybrid publisher had to meet those two criteria in order for the report to consider them as a hybrid publisher. So, the survey gathered intel from 240 authors who used 91 different hybrid publishing companies.

What Are the Dangers of Hybrid Publishing?

Having read through the 20 page report, I now want to distill the key takeaways any author who is potentially considering a hybrid publishing deal should know. As you're going to see, the information in this report definitely skewed toward highlighting the potential dangers and issues with hybrid publishing companies rather than presenting it as a good publishing option.

That said, if you are considering a hybrid publisher or if you have published through a hybrid publisher, this is not meant to shame you in any way. This is especially so if you have already vetted the publisher and feel confident in your decision. All I'm trying to do in sharing the information from this report is give you more intel on this option so that you can ultimately choose the right publishing path for you.

Hybrid Authors are Preying on Author Eagerness

The first point the report makes is that hybrid publishers are preying on authors' eagerness to publish and their naivety on the industry. The report states explicitly that hybrid publishing is “the worst option a writer can take.” This means that the authors’ organizations presumably favor either taking the traditional or the self-publishing path instead of hybrid. They also say they “invariably advise against it,” so they are taking a very hard stance against hybrid publishing.

Why are they making this strong, sweeping statement about this publishing option that has become increasingly popular among writers? Remember the specific definition that they are using for hybrid publishers: a publisher that charges an upfront fee to authors for publishing and then takes either a percentage of the profits or the author's rights to the work.

Historically, publishers that use this model have been called vanity publishers because they are appealing to the author's desire to get published and see their work out in the world. The idea is that they are not actually supporting you in your financial success or your writing career; they are merely appealing to the writer's ego and desire to see their book published.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the report that speaks to the first point about hybrid publishers being predatory:

At the point of submitting a work for publication, writers are vulnerable. They have invested a great deal of time, work, energy and creativity in their manuscript. Now they want to be read, and for their work to be legitimised.
‘Hybrid’ / paid-for publishing services often exploit this desire, sending excessive praise about manuscripts and telling writers what they want to hear. They might claim their approach is better than traditional publishing or self-publishing, without ever explaining what that means. They will stress how excited they are to be working with the writer. Of course, at the point of hearing a ‘publisher’ express interest in their work like this, it can be difficult for a writer to step back and see it for what it is: a sales approach, designed to take advantage of writers’ hopes, their passion for their work and their desire for validation – not to mention their lack of knowledge about the complexities of the publishing industry.

There's a lot to unpack here, but it boils down to: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If a publisher is coming to you saying it will take only a thousand dollars to make your book into a published bestseller, that is definitely too good to be true. As we know, the publishing industry is a gamble. No publisher can ultimately predict what sales are going to look like and remember, a traditional publisher is never going to ask you for any payment to publish your work. They will pay you to publish your work. In self-publishing, while you might pay for editing and design services as well as the platform you publish through, you are going to keep all of the profits on every book sale you make.

Most Authors Lose Thousands of Dollars

The next point from the report is that most authors who were surveyed reported losing thousands of dollars when hybrid publishing their books. The report found that authors on average paid more to go through the hybrid publishing model than they would have paid for all of those services individually for self-publishing on their own.

On average, writers lost about £1,800, which equates to about $2,200. Some losses were as high as £9,900 pounds or £12,300, so as you can see, writers are putting a lot of money into these hybrid publishing companies. This money is then what allows the companies to continue marketing to find new authors to take money from and continue growing–but the authors are not making that money back. In fact, only 6% of the authors surveyed reported making a profit on their book sales through their hybrid publishing deal, compared to 94% reporting a loss.

Now, I'm going to make an assumption here that when those 94% of authors signed that hybrid publishing contract, they did not anticipate losing the thousands of dollars they were handing over to the hybrid publishing company. This means their expectations likely did not match the reality of their experience.

Hybrid Publishers Don’t Offer Quality Services

The next point that the report raises is that hybrid publishers do not offer high quality services or distribution methods. Building off of what I was just going over, the report found that authors who went through the hybrid publishing process could not justify the quality of services they received with the price they had to pay for them. This could encompass the editing services, the design services, or the marketing or sales services being offered.

One of the big reasons why hybrid publishing might appeal to an author is the idea that the hybrid publisher could potentially find a stronger readership and generate more sales for their book. However, in this survey, 59% of authors who went the hybrid path reported that their books were not available to buy in bookstores, supermarkets, or other retail outlets. They were only available as an ebook or print-on-demand, which you can also set up via a self-publishing service without the use of a hybrid publisher.

Additionally, 52% of writers in the survey were dissatisfied with the hybrid publishers’ efforts to generate sales or interest in their work. That means a little over half the writers who are entering these contracts are not satisfied with the service they are receiving.

Here’s another brief excerpt from the report covering the different services the authors reported having issues with:

The detailed responses we received from writers confirmed our concerns. These included:

aggressive marketing of these services to writers and manipulative sales approaches
ineffective book marketing package upgrades and other unnecessary upselling
unclear contracts and publishing processes
unnecessary and excessive acquisition of rights
services that fell far short of expectations
disappointment about the quality of the books produced
lack of availability of published books in bookshops, supermarkets and other retailers

In many cases, respondents reported that the deals did not represent overall value for money, and that many companies provided disappointing services. Writers would have been better advised to self-publish and buy in any services they needed.

There is a robust marketplace for book publishing services for authors who decide to self-publish, including freelance editors, designers, and marketing and publicity professionals. What the report is saying here is that for the majority of authors who went the hybrid path, they would have been better off financially if they purchased those services on their own and then put their book on a self-publishing platform, retaining their rights and profits.

Hybrid Publishing Book Sales Are Low

The last issue is something that is not going to come as a surprise, based on everything we've already talked about: a hybrid-published book’s sales are typically quite low. In the survey, a median of only 67 books were sold per publishing deal, and those sales equated to a median royalty of £68 or approximately $85. That does not come anywhere close to the median cost the authors are paying these publishers.

The bottom line here is, if you are seeking a hybrid publisher because you want support in achieving a higher quality book, sales, and distribution, it is ultimately not your best avenue. This path can potentially cost you more than any other option would have.

I hope these insights from the report help you better understand the hybrid publishing landscape and avoid some of the dangers of hybrid publishing. If it is a path you are considering, I hope you have some more insight now on how to find a legitimate publisher for your book and help you find service providers who are truly going to support you throughout the publishing process.

Thank you for reading and happy writing!