What is a hybrid author?

If you’ve ever come across the term “hybrid author”, you might be wondering what it means. There can be some confusion here, because being a hybrid author is very different to a hybrid publishing house, another term you might have heard in writing circles or online.

Hybrid authors defined

A hybrid author means that the author has published work both traditionally (with traditional publishing houses) and independently (self-publishing). It’s as simple as that! They may have started out self-publishing before landing a traditional book deal, or done it the other way round.

I’m a good example of this! I have a series of romantic fairytales that I publish myself, and I’m also traditionally publishing contemporary romances. For me, the reason is that this allows me to explore different genres – both fantasy and contemporary romances.

Many authors choose to do both so they can write in different genres – or so they can publish projects traditional publishing houses wouldn’t be interested in.

Hybrid publishing houses

A hybrid publishing house is a publishing company that mixes traditional services with self-publishing services. In traditional publishing, money flows to the author, so authors are given a contract and are paid for their book. They don’t foot the bill for anything. But there is also more of a strict vetting and submissions process, and it’s more challenging for authors to break in. In self-publishing, authors have much more control and can choose to publish whatever they like, but are also responsible for everything, including costs.

Hybrid publishers offer some elements of both. They are sometimes called assisted self-publishing companies. Authors don’t need an agent, although these publishers may still have a submissions process. The process may be similar to a traditional publisher when it comes to producing the book, but at a cost to the author.

It’s very important to be cautious of scams and do your research if you’re interested in hybrid publishers. There are reputable ones who are up front about what they do in terms of offering a service. But there are also many nefarious publishers out there who masquerade as “traditional” when they are not, and offer authors “book deals” under this guise, but go on to charge the author hefty fees.

Check out the Writer Beware page for more information on avoiding these scams.

The perks and drawbacks of being a hybrid author

So, back to being a hybrid author! If you choose to both traditionally publish and self-publish, there are lots of benefits:

Control: You’ll have control over a big chunk of your creative work, so if you want to write something outside the box, you have the freedom to do so.
Finances: You can make money from both your traditionally published work and your self-published work.
More opportunities: If you publish via both methods, you can potentially benefit from more opportunities such as foreign rights, film/TV rights, and placement in bookstores.
Flexibility: If you enjoy writing in more than one genre or age category, you have room to play around, and you can even have multiple pen names.
Readership: You can reach readers in more than one way, both with the resources a publishing house can offer, and via you own marketing.
Enjoyment: If you end up feeling stifled by your contracted writing work, you can write and publish something else on the side.
Wider community: You’ll be part of both the indie author community and a community of traditionally published authors.

As with anything, there are also drawbacks to being a hybrid author:

Finances: Yes, this is a drawback, too, as you’ll have to pay your own way to self-publish, including hiring your own professionals for things like editing and cover design.
Time constraints: It may be tricky to juggle two “sets” of writing work unless you can come up with a solid schedule and plan – especially as you’ll have deadlines and contracts!
Marketing challenges: You might find it challenging to market all of your work if you’re writing across too many pen names or different genres.
Burnout: It’s easy to burn out when juggling traditional and self-publishing – this may be something to consider as you likely have a day job too.
Lack of support: What I mean here is that your publisher is unlikely to help you promote your self-published books, too. They’ll be focused on the books they’ve contracted you for. (That is, unless your self-published works sell so well they want to buy them!)
Pitfalls and scams: When self-publishing, there is far more potential to be hit by scammers or “professionals” who aren’t legitimate. (Although, if you have a good agent, you may have someone in your corner who can give you advice on this.)

In spite of the drawbacks, I think there are so many good reasons for authors to go hybrid and explore both sides of publishing. Lots of writers are doing this now, including people like Brandon Sanderson, Elisa Kova, and Sylvia Day. The publishing industry can be hard, and becoming a hybrid author gives you the freedom to explore other projects, and to make money in different ways.