Thoughts on Being a Hybrid Writer by Elizabeth S. Craig

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A hybrid writer (a term coined by author Bob Mayer) is someone who is both traditionally published and self-published.  Sometimes this is in reference to writers who started out traditionally published and then self-published their expansive backlists. But there are also writers who started out self-published, developed a strong audience, and were picked up by traditional publishing houses. 

Pros for being a hybrid writer: 

I received a solid introduction to my genre’s readers and some name recognition from being traditionally published that helped readers find my self-published books.

I received free editing from (usually) skilled editors as a traditionally-published writer. What we learn from them can help us write better books.

Being traditionally published means distribution to physical bookstores and libraries and the chance to connect with readers who don’t use e-readers (to me, this is becoming less-important as more readers go digital).

Prices for our self-published books look fantastic next to our more-expensive traditionally-published books at online retailers.

Since traditional production can take as long as a year or more, this makes a good opportunity to write a self-published book.

The times I’ve been invited to speak at libraries or conferences or other events, Elizabeth the Trad-Published Writer is usually the one who is invited. It annoys me, but frequently I sell my self-pubbed books alongside the trad-pubbed ones after the event. 

And some cons:

If we’re not yet published, becoming a traditionally published author means a time-consuming process of querying (agents and/or publishers), rejections, contract negotiation, and a long production period usually spanning the length of a year. 

Traditionally-published projects can and do interrupt self-pub projects because deadlines are in the contracts.

Royalties are smaller for traditionally published books. Advances are paid in installments, not all at once. In addition, you may have an agent if you have a traditionally published deal…and the agent will take 15%. I think of the lost income as advertising costs (since those books help with visibility and discoverability).  

We have no control over the finished project for traditionally published books.  We have little input on covers, formatting, whether DRM is on the digital books, print runs, etc. 

Ways to make it work:

If you’re writing series and switching back and forth between series, consider outlining the next book in the series as soon as you’ve finished a book in that series (and while your mind is still in that story world). 

Be somewhat vague about the release dates of your self-published books.  There can be delays from interruptions by the trad-pub production schedule.  Better to say “to release fall 2015” instead of “October 1, 2015.” 

Newsletters inform readers of our traditionally published books that we have other, self-published, books. 

Some of the profit from self-publishing results from getting our books on as many platforms as we possibly can.  It can be tough to juggle two or more series and we need to make sure our content is working as hard for us as it can.  Explore audio (through ACX), print (CreateSpace and Lightning Source are two popular print platforms), and ebook retailers beyond Amazon. 

Be diligent with your trad-published contract.  Search for non-compete terms, which attempt to shut down self-publishing.  If you have an agent, you still need to read your contract to make sure that these phrases aren’t in there. 

A reminder:  If you go the hybrid writer route, you don’t always have to stay a hybrid.  If you feel you’ve gotten all you need from the experience, you could stop pitching publishers and just continue self-publishing.

Are you traditionally published? Self-published?  Both?  How do you make it all come together? 

Elizabeth writes the Southern Quilting mysteries for Penguin/NAL, the Memphis Barbeque mysteries for Penguin/Berkley, and the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink and independently.  She blogs at ElizabethSpannCraig.com/blog.  Elizabeth makes her home in Matthews, North Carolina, with her husband and two teenage children.