Why I chose hybrid publishing for my book
As a first time author, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
I was lucky to find a literary agent who wanted to represent me, guide me through the publishing experience and help get my book published. But, she shared with me that I would need to get my subscriber and follower numbers up in order to be more attractive to publishers.
I was nothing close to a marketing wizard, having zero skills with marketing anything, let alone myself. For the next 9 months I took classes and workshops, and used everything I learned to increase my numbers – hello social media campaigns, online store, talks, giveaways, masterclasses, oh my…
I quickly learned that it would take YEARS of time and effort (aka time-cost and money) to meet the threshold of followers publishers wanted to see – with no guarantees.
I kept thinking to myself, “This is not where I want to be spending my time. I want to write, coach and do the work, not become a social media and marketing specialist.” By the time the book would be published, Kyle and I could be empty-nesters – No thanks!
Chaos to Calm is a book about how parents can harness calm during chaotic times. And now more than ever before, we can all use a little more calm. So with the timeliness factor in mind, I wanted to gauge publishers’ current interest levels. Thankfully my agent was open to testing the waters. We submitted my book proposal to select editors at a few of the big publishing houses to see what they would say.
Guess what… All were interested, but wanted my social and subscriber numbers to be substantially higher before offering me a book deal. My agent knew what was up. She warned me this could happen. This was the best and worst news possible. They want my book – yay! But not right now – ugh..
What Now?
There are many ways to get a book into the world. The most commonly known routes are traditional publishing and self-publishing.
Traditional Publishing
Working through a literary agent, an author can sell a manuscript or proposal to a traditional publisher, who will edit, produce, and manage its sales and distribution. In exchange for this, they keep a significant portion of royalties to pay for those efforts, and traditional publishers retain the rights to that author’s work.
Self-Publishing
Authors who self-publish take care of the time and costs in editing, design, marketing, production, sales and distribution all on their own, or by paying someone to do these things. They keep the rights to their book, and keep all the proceeds.
I had a choice to make — do I continue working on increasing my subscriber list for the unforeseeable future with the hope that publishers will still be interested in my book at that time? Do I spend an enormous amount of time handling every aspect of the process myself, in an industry I had no experience in?
Or do I find a new path?
Surprise surprise … I paved a new path.
Hello Hybrid Publishing
Auspiciously, a friend of mine introduced me to a publisher named Angela and her new venture called The Collective Book Studio (CBS). Based on a new business model called hybrid publishing, they operate with a different revenue model than traditional publishing houses, while still providing all of the same resources and practices an author needs on their publishing journey.
This is what I was looking for! A reputable and selective publisher who could partner with me to create and distribute a high-quality, meaningful and visually beautiful product, and not take years to do so.
I am thrilled to have found Angela and be publishing my book with CBS. There is a lot of work to do, and I can’t wait to share the journey with you and for you to have a copy of my book in your hands in May 2023.
