Hybrid Authors: The Best of both worlds

[MichaelSullivan]

As some of you may already know, I've pretty much done it all:

• Exclusive with a small press
• Exclusive self-published
• Exclusive big-six traditionally published

But with the release of Hollow World (in January) I'm going to be going "Hybrid." These are authors who are simultaneously publishing through self-and traditional. And I think it is a good model for authors to strive for.

Today my article in Amazing Stories about Hybrid authors went live. You can check it out here.

 

[DMHamilton]

It's getting hard to keep up with all the developments and changes in publishing these days. Interesting times, and as always, an interesting article! Thanks for posting!

 

[MichaelSullivan]

It's getting hard to keep up with all the developments and changes in publishing these days. Interesting times, and as always, an interesting article! Thanks for posting!

Aye, it's constantly changing. Need to keep on your toes. I'm glad you found the article interesting.

 

[Philip Overby]

It's interesting to read from someone who has gone different routes. If you could pick just one though, which one do you prefer the most and why? I hope to eventually go the same route as you if possible, so I'm curious which route you find the most beneficial to you as an author.

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

I could not read the title here without picturing Michael in a blonde wig.

(Hey, I have twin girls; they LOVED "Hannah Montana"! )

FWIW, I completely agree that a hybrid approach is an excellent one. Be exceptionally cautious about non-compete clauses in the publishing contracts you sign, however!

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

It's interesting to read from someone who has gone different routes. If you could pick just one though, which one do you prefer the most and why? I hope to eventually go the same route as you if possible, so I'm curious which route you find the most beneficial to you as an author.

I've done both.

I am not bothering to submit to publishers at this time; I am self publishing everything.

That doesn't mean I won't at some point in the future work with a publisher again, and I've been entertaining offers from some smaller publishers already, but so far I haven't seen a match that would work. As for the major publishers, I haven't yet had offers from them, and don't feel any need to wait on their submission process.

 

[Philip Overby]

Another question:

@Kevin: If you prefer self-publishing, is it because it's just easier and quicker for you to do? Do you make more money doing so? Did an experience with a publisher sour you on the idea of going that route for now? I'm just curious why you've chosen to solely self-publish now after having gone the other way before.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

It's interesting to read from someone who has gone different routes. If you could pick just one though, which one do you prefer the most and why? I hope to eventually go the same route as you if possible, so I'm curious which route you find the most beneficial to you as an author.

It's completely impossible to say, and even if I could pick for myself, it would be meaningless as it could be the exact opposite choice for another writer with different goals.

If I could wave a magic wand and make what I think WOULD be the perfect fit for me it would be to have what Hugh Howey has...a major traditional publisher doing the print rights and keeping the electronic rights and self-publishing it.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

FWIW, I completely agree that a hybrid approach is an excellent one. Be exceptionally cautious about non-compete clauses in the publishing contracts you sign, however!

Without question. My contracts took a long time to negotiate, primarily because I had to get the language written in such a way that I "could" also produce self-published works. Publishers aren't used to authors who do this - so their contracts are built for it.

 

[Philip Overby]

It's completely impossible to say, and even if I could pick for myself, it would be meaningless as it could be the exact opposite choice for another writer with different goals.

If I could wave a magic wand and make what I think WOULD be the perfect fit for me it would be to have what Hugh Howey has...a major traditional publisher doing the print rights and keeping the electronic rights and self-publishing it.

I guess that's true about each writer having different goals. I'm not really clued in on how rights work. What would be the benefit of a Hugh Howey type contract (the publisher doing the print rights and the author keeping electronic rights)?

For a hybrid author, do any of your ventures ever conflict with each other? For instance a traditional publisher doesn't like what you're self-publishing for whatever reason?

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

What would be the benefit of a Hugh Howey type contract (the publisher doing the print rights and the author keeping electronic rights)?

Essentially this:

Indie writers make very low print sales, because they're only selling print books online. You'll make some sales via Amazon and B&N.com - but not a ton. Traditional publishers get the books into B&N, smaller stores, and if your name is big enough into Walmarts and other big chains as well. These are markets of readers indies cannot get to by themselves. Those markets are shrinking fast, so in five years it's unlikely they will still be as big a deal as they are today. But at this moment, a writer can still gain significant new audience by reaching those other sales venues.

And the main way to do that is via a major publisher.

But why keep ebook rights? Honestly, for the money. Indie writers earn significantly more per sale than trad pub writers do. if an indie sells an ebook for $4.99 they make about $3.50. A trad pub writer whose ebook costs twice as much earns about $1.49. And it's a LOT easier to sell ebooks at five bucks than it is at ten bucks, so the indie writer has the price advantage as well.

If traditional publishers slashed their prices to match indies (i.e. both at $5), then the indie would make about $3.50 and the trad writer would make about 75 cents. When you're talking sales of a million or more copies over the life of the ebook, as some of these bigger writers are, it's a VERY big deal.

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

Another question:

@Kevin: If you prefer self-publishing, is it because it's just easier and quicker for you to do? Do you make more money doing so? Did an experience with a publisher sour you on the idea of going that route for now? I'm just curious why you've chosen to solely self-publish now after having gone the other way before.

Good questions.

It IS quicker and easier. It's also a lot of fun to manage my work in that manner. Am I making more money that way...? Depends on what I'd be making the trad pub route, and on whether my sales stay where they are at, shrink, or continue to grow at the present rate (and for how long they continue to grow). For example, my March sales are on track to be double my February sales, which doubled from January. Part of that was a flurry of new releases (the Starship episodes). Some of it is also probably luck.

With average advances for a SF or fantasy novel being in the high four or very low five digit range, I could probably expect somewhat less than that. And that's likely ALL I would earn on that book, at least for many years. I'm betting that I can earn at least that much under my own power - and can potentially earn more.

I'm not so much soured on the idea of a major publishing deal as I am soured on the activities of many major publishers right now. It started with those nasty non-compete clauses mentioned above, which most publishers refuse to remove for most writers, but are potentially devastating to a writer's career. And now Harlequin is being sued by their writers in a class action suit for allegedly playing a shell game to pay their writers 1/4 of the royalties owed. If the writers win the suit, we might see the RWA delist Harlequin as a legitimate romance publisher, which would be all sorts of funny and probably spell the end of the company as any sort of force in the romance genre. Penguin bought out one of the best known "scam the writer" companies in the world (Author Solutions) and made the president of that company a member of their board of directors. Simon & Shuster followed that up by "partnering" with Author Solutions to generate the most excremental vanity press yet devised by that company - using the S&S name and reputation to charge enormous prices for their services, even though no S&S staff is actually involved. Then Random House launches a new line of ebook imprints which broke new ground in writer-abuse-by-horrific-contract. So much so that SFWA threatened RH with removal of ALL their imprints from SFWA preferred/recommended lists.

I am seeing a steady pattern of abusive, scammy, unethical, and just plain rotten behavior from almost all major publishers right now.

So no, I am not interested in jumping through their hoops in the hopes that maybe, a year or two from now, one will deign to publish my book, pay me a pittance, attempt to lock up as much of my future work as possible, and give me almost nothing for the privilege anyway.

When I was traditionally published before (1997), it was still a hard world, but publishers were not so active in their attempts to rip writers off, nor so blatant in their disdain for writers. Now...? Now, when things have changed so that writers need publishers less with each passing month, when publishers ought to be fighting to see which one can treat writers BEST so that they can perhaps keep a few, they're treating writers the worst that I've seen in my lifetime. It's a recipe for suicide.

While I'd still partner with one, if they came to me asking for a book and offering enough money to make it worth my while - no, right now I feel no need to try to push my work through the slushpile. I'm doing just as well without them.

 

[Philip Overby]

Interesting answers. I was aware of some of the issues with traditional publishers, but not aware of some of those you mentioned. I've read about a lot of backlash against traditional publishers as of late, but I guess they're like anything else: some may be good and some bad. I've heard nothing but good about Tor and Del Rey over the years and there are other ones like Gollancz and Hachette that seem to have good reputations as well. I follow lots of their authors on Twitter and such and they always seem to have pretty good relationships with their publishers.

Would the happy medium be to go with a small press? I'm not sure how small presses necessarily work as far as contracts go, but with the small press authors I've talked to, they seem glad with how things are set up.

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

The problem with small presses is most of them don't market their books very well. SOME do, and those are golden. But almost all do not.

If a small press is taking 50% of the income on sales, then that small press needs to be marketing those books well enough to get twice as many sales as I'd be getting on my own, or it doesn't make much sense.

 

[Philip Overby]

I see. Thanks for all the feedback, Kevin.

I guess with small presses (at least people I know that work with them) the author and publisher share a lot of the marketing burden. Small presses typically don't have the kind of resources available to promote as much as a traditional publisher does, so I guess it falls on the author a lot of times to promote their own work.

I'm hoping for my first novel to work with a small press or a traditional publisher. I do want to try self-publishing at some point, but I'd have to really understand all the work that goes into it before I even attempt it.

I like this idea of a hybrid author, and I have the feeling that is what a lot of writers will become--or try to become-- in the future.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

I guess that's true about each writer having different goals. I'm not really clued in on how rights work. What would be the benefit of a Hugh Howey type contract (the publisher doing the print rights and the author keeping electronic rights)?

The issues here is that as a self-published author you really can't get sold through the bookstores and as such you live off only ebooks (for the the most part). In some months I earned as much as $45,000 but only $600 - $2,400 of that was print so you are losing a huge potential portion of the market.

Publishers are REALLY good getting books into stores - they are setup for it, there is a huge infrastructure in place they can move a lot of books through that venue and since it's not a venue that the self-publishers have access to - it makes sense to have them do it.

But ebooks...are a much different matter. The distribution is pretty much the same for self or traditional. ebooks sold by a publisher provide an author 17.5% of list price, but when they publish them direct they get 70%. So on Hugh's book he gets $4.20 per ebook sold but if that right went to a publisher they would raise the price (as they don't want to compete canibalize their print sales). This could decrease the sales...but let's say tye price it at $9.99 67% more than the present price. Hugh would only get $1.75.

For a hybrid author, do any of your ventures ever conflict with each other? For instance a traditional publisher doesn't like what you're self-publishing for whatever reason?

I have a provision in my contract that I can't publish any book (self or through another publisher) within 4 months of either side of their releases. This is why the Hollow World Kickstarter ends April 4th and the book isn't on sale officially until January 2014. It allows people to pre-order now and get the books in June/July once I get the editing done.

As for them "not liking" me self-publishing - to be honest - I have no idea. They have not said anything to me...and I didn't go to them for "permission." They should know that I would self-publish - after all they picked me up from self-publishing and I made many changes to my contract so that I could self-publish in the future - so it should be no surprise. It's quite possible that my editor/publisher has had some discussions with my agent and I just don't know about it. But even if they were really, really pissed - it wouldn't change my decision. I have to do what is best to ensure I have an income - that going hybrid provides that for me.

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

I guess with small presses (at least people I know that work with them) the author and publisher share a lot of the marketing burden. Small presses typically don't have the kind of resources available to promote as much as a traditional publisher does, so I guess it falls on the author a lot of times to promote their own work.

You're ALWAYS sharing the marketing when working with a publisher, whether you use a small press or large press. Most books produced by large publishers get very little marketing - just enough to get onto some bookstore shelves, and all of that is directed at booksellers, NOT at consumers.

If I were to work with a small press, I wouldn't expect them to do everything, any more than I'd expect a large NYC publisher to do everything. That's not how it works, although it's a popular myth.

I would expect a small press to be skilled enough at marketing that they made up for the percentage of profits they took. That's just...common sense, right? Why would you use a publisher, if working with one meant you earned LESS on the book?

 

[Philip Overby]

I was aware that a big six publisher doesn't pick up all the marketing for you, but I assumed that they did the lion's share of helping organize things for you such as readings, book signings, conventions, etc. I mean as far as helping get your foot in the door. I assume that's not necessarily the case. Is there usually some contractual obligation on the part of the author to do a certain number of promotions for their own book? I would imagine an author would be happy to do these things (maybe I'm wrong?) as it gets more exposure for his or her book.

Also, with small presses, I'm under the impression that a lot of them (again just my impression) don't have the resources to promote as much, so they usually give most of the responsibility to the author. They help promote it, of course (I'd hope?), but don't have the available connections a big publisher wold.

Something I've thought about recently: are there any support networks for self-published authors? I assume there are, but you'd think there would be a big network of authors who help each other promote books. Like if they're in the same "camp" they could serve the same function as a regular publisher would be spreading the word about each other's books and volunteering to help each other out.

For instance: "The Mythic Scribes Network" has seven members. Each member has a self-published book out. They help each other by blogging, reviewing, promoting one another's books. It could serve the same function as a small press would, I'd think, and would just put the cost of putting the book out there on the individual writer.

There must be something like that out there. A guild or group or something?

 

[MichaelSullivan]

I was aware that a big six publisher doesn't pick up all the marketing for you, but I assumed that they did the lion's share of helping organize things for you such as readings, book signings, conventions, etc. I mean as far as helping get your foot in the door. I assume that's not necessarily the case. Is there usually some contractual obligation on the part of the author to do a certain number of promotions for their own book? I would imagine an author would be happy to do these things (maybe I'm wrong?) as it gets more exposure for his or her book.

The language in my contract regarding promotions was basically this: "We decide what will be done, at our own discretion, if we decide to send you on tour - you will go." I objected to the "we say jump, and I say yes sir" language. It took me many months to add four words , "and the author agrees" My agent didn't think they would add them, and I wouldn't sign until they were put in. In the grand scheme of things it means nothing...as I'm not big enough for them to send on tour. But had I "broken out large" I wanted a say in what my time was spent on - touring or writing.

Also, with small presses, I'm under the impression that a lot of them (again just my impression) don't have the resources to promote as much, so they usually give most of the responsibility to the author. They help promote it, of course (I'd hope?), but don't have the available connections a big publisher wold.

If you look at most titles from small presses the don't sell well. Basically you are trading a good chunk of your self-publishing income to them for editing, cover design, formatting, and for saying that you aren't self. (Also some aren't doing editing these days). To be honest, only those that are 1000% against self should consider a small press, because quite frankly what you give up does not make up for what you get.

Something I've thought about recently: are there any support networks for self-published authors? I assume there are, but you'd think there would be a big network of authors who help each other promote books. Like if they're in the same "camp" they could serve the same function as a regular publisher would be spreading the word about each other's books and volunteering to help each other out.

There are a lot of places where authors support each other (through advice and encouragement) but not really in the way you mean - as in I'll recommend your book if you recommend mine. That type of "trading" doesn't help. But...if you do find an author that you really like - then by all means tell others about them and hopefully others will do similarly for you. I was at an event last night and there was a panel of fantasy and science fiction authors. When asked to say something about their book - each one stood and gave a brief description. When Hugy Howey, "author of Wool" was asked he said, "I'm terrible at self-promoting - but over there" (and he pointed at me" is Michael J. Sullivan, a fabulous fantasy author that everyone in this room should be reading."

For instance: "The Mythic Scribes Network" has seven members. Each member has a self-published book out. They help each other by blogging, reviewing, promoting one another's books. It could serve the same function as a small press would, I'd think, and would just put the cost of putting the book out there on the individual writer. There must be something like that out there. A guild or group or something?

"Sincere enthusiasm for a book translates well...and may convince someone to buy. Blatant "promotion" is more likely to turn someone off rather than invoke a purchase.

 

[Chilari]

Sincere enthusiasm for a book translates well...and may convince someone to buy. Blatant "promotion" is more likely to turn someone off rather than invoke a purchase.

I agree; and I find integrity more important than sales (though perhaps I'll change my tune in the future when I rely on sales for my income). I'd rather not have the obligation to promote a book I don't believe in so that someone else will promote my book even though they might not believe in it; then when I chose to promote a book, it's because I genuinely feel it's worth promoting and hopefully my audience will recognise that and respond accordingly. I feel I can do a better job promoting fewer books that I truly believe in than a wider range that just happen to have been written by online friends, because my audience will respond better to genuineness and integrity than promotion for reciprocation. I'd rather promote one book well than two badly.