Tracy C. Gold

Today I got an email from a writer that made me very angry on her behalf, and on the behalf of all writers just trying to get their books out into the world. She detailed several “offers” from “hybrid” publishers all costing an arm, leg, and the family dog.

Now, there is a lot wrong in the world of traditional publishing, too. It’s extremely hard to break into and I’ve seen many horror stories and broken hearts. I really do think the market is ripe for reimagining; there’s got to be a better way to do this.

But so-called “hybrid” publishing ain’t it. I’m going to tell you why, and share the red flags that should make you run away from these unethical businesses, fast.

Let’s take a moment for some definitions, which I’ve pulled and updated from my post on how to evaluate whether a publisher is traditional or vanity. I’ve used bold to note my updates which particularly pertain to picture books.

Traditional publishing is when a publisher chooses to publish a book and takes charge of the editing, design, distribution and basic marketing. (Marketing mileage varies WIDELY.) The author receives royalties and maybe an advance. The author pays NOTHING to get published. For picture books, the author DOES NOT PAY FOR THE ILLUSTRATIONS. The publisher finds and pays the illustrator, normally with an advance and then half of the royalties.

Self publishing is when an author publishes a book themselves, either by piecing together freelancers/DIYing or working with a company that helps take a book from a manuscript to a final book. The author puts all the money up front and keeps all of the profits from the book. For picture books, authors typically pay illustrators and any other service providers with flat fees because it’s too complicated to keep track of the royalties. Distributors like Amazon do take a percentage of self-published books.

Hybrid publishing or vanity publishing is when a publisher convinces an author they’re chosen/special yet charges them money to publish their book. My original description did not include “hybrid” as “vanity” publishing, but lately, I’m having a hard time seeing how any “hybrid” publishers are NOT “vanity.” I’ve heard of authors spending as much as $40,000. Today I learned about a publisher asking for $15,000 to publish a picture book. Vanity publishing also covers those anthologies/collections that seek out authors but then charge $100 or so for a copy of the book. Traditional anthologies, lit magazines, and collections GIVE contributing authors at least one free copy of the book or magazine.

Confusion and Clarifications

When I talk about hybrid in this post, I am talking about publishers who are hybrid, meaning they charge authors to publish their books. There are also authors who call themselves hybrid, and confusingly, this is not at all the same thing. Hybrid authors are those who use a mix of traditional publishing and self publishing. This is A-OK, totally normal, and increasingly common given the problems with traditional publishing. No ethical issues there!

One of the reasons I was extremely excited about my regional SCBWI conference was because I was going to moderate a panel with Linda Sue Park, Melanie Conklin, and Susan Muaddi Darraj. Sadly, the conference was cancelled due to Covid-19. This was absolutely the right call, but I was bummed not to get to meet these writers and others who were planning to attend.

In happy news, these wonderful authors agreed to hold the panel as a webinar despite new homeschooling responsibilities and Covid-19 chaos.

Join us on Monday, April 13th at 7 pm for a lively conversation about publishing. You’ll have a chance to ask questions if you tune in live, or you can watch the recording later. Susan and I are also offering limited critiques.

Register here: https://mddewv.scbwi.org/events/webinar-building-a-kidlit-career/.