Part 3: What Are the Steps to Hybrid Publishing?
- Jackie
- Feb 7
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 13
You've done it! You've finished the first draft of your brand new book! You've decided to try hybrid publishing because you like the creative control and higher royalty rate of self-publishing, but you don't want to deal with finding your own editors, designers, and formatters.
You know the cost can be similar to self-publishing, but having a whole team behind you and your book like a traditionally published author would makes it worth it.
But what actually are the steps to hybrid publishing?
Self-Edits
The first thing you need to do is self edit. This is where you go through your entire manuscript in several stages, looking for any errors you can fix yourself.
The first stage involves high level things like plot holes, slow spots, inconsistent characterization, and any other problems with the story itself. This stage can take multiple drafts to finish as you should only focus on one problem at a time.
The second stage is to look at the actual words, sentences, and paragraphs you're using. Should that paragraph actually be earlier in the chapter? Is that sentence unnecessarily long? Is there a stronger word you could use instead? This can usually be done in a single final draft.
The final stage is to look over spelling, grammar, punctuation, and all the other small, fiddly things that make your book look professional. This can be done on your final draft.
Beta Reader(s)
Once you've edited your manuscript to the best of your ability, the next step is to send your book to beta readers. These are people who are familiar with your genre and can tell you anything you weren't able to see in your self-edits. They can also tell you if your book meets reader and genre expectations.
To learn about the different kinds of beta readers, you can read my blog post Should You Pay for a Beta Reader?
Query Letter and/or Synopsis
Submitting to a hybrid publisher is different from submitting to an agent or a smaller traditional publisher.
To be a true hybrid publisher, there still needs to be some sort of vetting process for your manuscript, but not all of them require a query letter. Some require a synopsis instead or a certain number of pages of your manuscript. Always check their website for submission guidelines.
Query Letter
Your query letter is basically the pitch for your book. It tells the publishing company what your book is about and where it would fit in the current market.
Your query letter should be no longer than one page long and should include: the genre, approximate word count, and title of your book; the plot of your story with specific and unique details but without spoiling the end; and information about you such as your pen name, your education, or anything that is related to your book.
Synopsis
A synopsis is a more detailed explanation of your manuscript than a query letter is. It also spoils the ending of your book, unlike a query letter.
Synopses vary in length from one to five pages, so always check guidelines. Your synopsis should give a chapter-by-chapter explanation of the main plot of your story. Don't include extraneous details like character descriptions (unless plot relevant like a disability) or secondary characters and plot lines.
Your synopsis should also have a similar voice to your manuscript, but it should generally be written in third person, present tense, even if your story is not. Don't include any information about yourself or the metadata of your book (word count, genre, etc.) in your synopsis. It is exclusively for story details.
Research
Even more than traditional or self-publishing, hybrid publishing requires extensive research. There are two main reasons for this.
The first reason is that vanity presses often try to hide behind the term "hybrid publisher" but not actually offer hybrid publishing services. The Independent Book Publisher’s Association has a list of guidelines that you can download to help you separate vanity presses from true hybrid publishing companies.
The second reason there's more research involved is that each hybrid publishing company offers their services in different ways. Each publisher should include editing, cover design, formatting, book distribution, and marketing in their services.
However, some offer tiered service packages, some offer á la carte services, and some offer a personalized cost based on the state of your manuscript. Determining which service structure you prefer will help you narrow down your list of potential publishers.
Submission
Submitting to a hybrid publisher is similar to submitting to a smaller publishing company in that you don't have an agent and you will be in direct contact with the publisher yourself.
Because of this, you won't have anyone to negotiate your contract for you. It is advisable that you hire a contract lawyer to look over any contracts you receive before you sign them.
Also, signing one book with a hybrid publisher does not guarantee that they'll sign another one. Unlike agents, they do not automatically establish an ongoing relationship with an author beyond the book they accepted.
In conclusion, hybrid publishing, if done right, can provide many of the benefits of traditional and self-publishing without many of the drawbacks. You're able to maintain the creative control and higher royalty rate of self-publishing while also gaining the editorial, design, and marketing teams of traditional publishing.
If those benefits outweigh the cost of publishing, the extra research, and the possibility of rejection for you, hybrid publishing is the route for you.
Did this post teach you anything new about hybrid publishing? Let me know in the comments or on social media (Facebook or Instagram)!
Happy writing!
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