The traditional publishing model is what we all are generally familiar with. But in this day and age, the hybrid model is growing in popularity with smaller publishing houses entering the market.
Let’s chat about the key differences:
Cost and Investment:
In traditional publishing, the publisher bears all costs of production and may pay the author an advance.This comes at a cost of lower royalties and a higher cap of how many books you would need to sell in order to earn your royalty payout based on the investment the company has put into the book.
In hybrid publishing, the author puts up an investment in their publishing costs to cover the labor that goes into making their book great such as editing and design.
This ensures you earn higher royalties in the front end without waiting on a certain number of book sales to start earning your money back. The better your book does, the better your return on investment as the author.
Editorial Control:
Traditional houses have full editorial control over the manuscript and choices in design. This means you most likely lose access to your own intellectual property as you have sold it to a company to put your name on it.
With the hybrid model, authors are more in collaboration with the publishing of their book just as they would be with self publishing. This means working with your editors, your designers, and the company as a whole to produce the book you want out in the world.
Rights & Royalties:
Traditional publishing’s biggest downfall for authors are the low royalties and potentially lost access to your intellectual property by signing on the dotted line. Royalties can typically be less than 20% with a book sale threshold in order to start collecting your royalties.
Timeline:
Traditional publishing typically has a longer timeline from manuscript acceptance to publication. Waiting for a print run can take a long time and waiting in the queue may push your publication date by a good amount of time.
Hybrid publishing often can offer a faster route to market, similar to self publishing. This is due to the flexibility of hybrid publishing and access to multiple contractors to queue your book into getting your publication date closer than with traditional publishing.
Author's Involvement:
Traditional publishing requires less direct involvement from authors in the publication process. An author typically drops off their manuscript and the company takes it from there, only collaborating when necessary. It also is important to note, if you’ve given them your intellectual property in the contract, they may make changes you didn’t intend for your book.
Hybrid publishing is an incredibly collaborative process between the author, the company, and its contractors. This means an author is able to participate in various aspects like editing, design, and publication date choosing.
As we offer a hybrid model, we are excited to bring you collaboration, ownership of your intellectual property, and higher royalties without requiring a 5,000 book sale minimum. Choosing GGV Publishing will ensure you are making the jump from writer to published author with a quality book you can be proud of.
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