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!
The term “indy publishing” adds to the confusion, because it sometimes means self-publishing, sometimes means working with a small traditional press that’s independent of the larger publishing conglomerates, and…sometimes means working with a hybrid/vanity publisher. Many vanity publishers call themselves indy publishers. I mean, I guess they’re independent. But a press that charges you money will very likely not have a good reputation amongst distributors, booksellers, and other industry gatekeepers.
A Note About Money in Publishing
Many, many writers have told me about their hopes that a book is going to be the salve to some financial distress or the answer to realizing some financial dream. I really hate to be a downer, but this is important: there just is not that much money for most people in the book world (unless you get really really lucky and are the next Stephen King, and even he financially struggled for a very long time before becoming successful). Personally, I have four traditionally published picture books, and I make about 1-2k/year in royalties. That’s $1,000, not $10,000, and not $100,000. Yes, I leverage those books into school visits, classes, and my work as an editor, but I’m still not making six figures.
The chances that a book will be some financial panacea, even if it’s a great book, are just so vanishingly small, whether it’s a picture book, novel, or memoir. Even the biggest traditional publishers have a hard time getting the word out about the great books they publish. With the downfall of independent bookstores as large chains and Amazon take over, it’s harder for readers to discover new books, and they end up buying the same few famous juggernauts.
Frankly, writers who pin all their financial hopes on their book are easier for vanity publishers to take advantage of. “Pay us $15,000 and all your dreams will come true” is often the hidden or not-so-hidden messaging from these publishers.
So with that, let’s get into red flags to look out for to make sure you’re not sucked into working with an unethical “publisher.”
When It’s Too Good To Be True
A “publisher” calls or emails you saying they’ve seen your manuscript in their submissions and they can’t wait to make your book the next New York Times bestseller. Look, unless you are already a celebrity or have tens of thousands of fans online, it is extremely rare for a legitimate traditional publisher to reach out to a writer instead of the other way around. Even receiving a phone call and not an email with an offer of publication is highly unusual–normally a traditional publisher would email to set up a call. There are also a rash of book “publicists” who go around calling trying to get money from authors or “invite” them to a conference for the low low cost of several thousand dollars. Look out for the dollar signs flashing in these folks’ eyes. Read the fine print and know that traditional publishers do not charge money.
Not Quite Penguin
There is a special circle of hell reserved for vanity presses who have names that are extremely close but not quite the same as traditional publishers. Penguin Authors’ House is NOT Penguin Random House. Pegasus Publishers is NOT Pegasus Books. Amazon Self Book Publishers is NOT Amazon Publishing and neither is Amazon Book Publishings. WORSE: some of these companies take out Google Ads so they’re at the top of the search results, above the companies they’re trying to seem like. (I’m not linking to them so they don’t get any more SEO juice.) Thoroughly Google the exact name of a publisher before assuming it’s a major publisher (or even a service offered directly by Amazon). If you’re not sure, ask five friends who are tech savvy. If you know of other companies with misleading names like this, please put them in the comments.
Advertising for Authors
Most traditional publishing companies are swamped with author submissions and do not need to advertise to get author submissions. If you see a paid ad asking for author submissions, raise your eyebrows and don’t submit without investigating.
Asking for Money Because You’re a “Risk”
I recently heard about a company who offered to publish a book but asked for a large sum of money because an author was a “risk.” This is NOT a traditional publishing company. Traditional publishing companies take on that risk without being paid by the author and structure advances and royalties accordingly.
Saying They’re Traditional But Charging Money
If a company says they’re traditional but wants to charge an author money for illustrations, marketing, or sundry other expenses, they are NOT TRADITIONAL. The only time a traditional publishing company charges authors money is if those authors want to buy copies of their own books above and beyond the free author copies they get. And those copies should be available at a wholesale discount. Yes, many traditionally published authors pay for things like instagram book tours, making swag, and social ads. But they are directly paying the service providers for those things and not the publishing company. And I’d always recommend asking for the publisher to pay for those kinds of things before shelling out on your own. They can always say no.
Those are the main red flags that would make me think a company is unethical/vanity. Please add more in the comments if you think of them!
Protect Yourself
Diligently search for controversy around any company that offers to publish your book. You can literally just search for “company name controversy.” There’s bad stuff out there about some traditional publishers, too. If a company has a reputation for, say, not paying royalties that they owe, then you probably don’t want to submit to them even if they’re “traditional.” You can also ask authors (like me), freelance editors, and other writers submitting work out there for details about certain publishers. Look out for Facebook groups dedicated to the type of book you are writing, as that’s where a lot of warnings get posted. If an author is active on social media, they will likely be ok with you running the name of a publishing company by them. You can send a public message/comment to ask if you can DM. (Though don’t ask them for too much time; we’re busy! Just a quick note is ok!)
Pay Flat Fees if You Self Pub
If you do decide to self-publish, don’t get caught up by a company who will take rights and royalties. Pay service providers with flat or hourly fees. There are many wonderful service providers out there, like my friend’s company Elite Authors. Note how their website doesn’t say they’re a publisher; rather, they offer publishing services. Reedsy is a marketplace where you can find highly vetted, experienced service providers (I’m on there as an editor!).
A Happy Note
This blog post is a lot of anger and doom and gloom, so I wanted to end on a happy note. For the most part, I’ve found that authors are a really wonderful group of people. We’ve all been there with that desperate and frankly unreasonable desire to get our words out into the world. We know how much rejection hurts. We want to help lift new writers up. We can’t stand people who take advantage of new writers. Get out there on Writer Threads or Author Threads. Follow your favorite authors on Instagram. See who posts a lot about the publishing world. You’ll learn how to protect yourself, and hopefully one day, you’ll be out there helping to protect others.
(If you want a place to start, I talk about publishing and retweet other publishing folks a good bit on Threads at tracycgold!)
Please feel free to weigh in on this post and add red flags of your own!
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