Agent Assisted Publishing v. Hybrid Publishing

I just read an article entitled "What is Hybrid Publishing" on the BookDaily.com email newsletter.  I'm scratching my head as to how they could be so free and easy in distributing misinformation to those seeking their wisdom. In the article, the author's agent couldn't sell her book, so the agent charged the author to "self publish" it for her, calling it Hybrid Publishing. No. I have seen so many agents entering the market lately, I just have to speak!

What IS Hybrid Publishing? 

The term "Hybrid Publishing" has been around for a long, long time. Hybrid publishing is not DIY in your basement with a program you've never even heard of. It's not vanity. It's not subsidy. It's not POD. It's not just uploading it to Amazon. It's not having someone that worked in one area of traditional publishing helping you self publish. Hybrid publishing takes the best techniques and materials available for the given objective to build a better product and stronger platform. It requires professional publishing navigation, book shepherding, coaching, author services. Hybrid, just like in horticulture, is a selection process used for greater growth, a better yield, faster production, and protection from pests.  I think the correlation fits darn well.

My first exposure to it was in 1993 at Publishers Marketing Association (now called Independent Book Publishers Association and I highly recommend it - www.ibpa-online.org) Publishing University -- and it seems that it was gaining respect and exposure even then. I didn't make it up, but that is what I call our publishing model here, and what should be done for every book -- that is publishing it in whatever manner is BEST for that book and that author.

Agent-Assisted Publishing is Dangerous

The traditional publishing model is no longer the norm, and underutilized (or unemployed) Agents are jumping on the bandwagon to assist authors who wish to publish their own work. Agent-assisted publishing is a scary thing and I keep seeing it pop up calling it Hybrid Publishing. I see lots of problems with this -- not the least of which agents don't usually know the sheer volume of tasks required because they have never done any of them. Just because they sold a title to Publisher A doesn't mean they have a clue how to actually publish a book. Just like when you buy a dress from a department store, the sales clerk has no idea how it was put together or what all went into it. Their job is sales. The agent's job is sales. They sell your intellectual property to a publisher, ideally. The agent doesn't do the editing, designing, setting up the publishing accounts, hiring an illustrator, finding an indexer, signing you up for distribution -- let alone setting up a book signing or publicizing. That's just not their job. Their job is to sell you to a publishing house domestically or beyond, or to a movie studio, or to some other type of entity.

Word of Wisdom:
Ask a lot of questions before entering into any agreement to publish with an Agent -- starting with have they done the process from A to Z more than that one time for their Grandma Edna's cookbook.  And to the sales clerks out there -- don't try to sell yourself as Diane Von Furstenberg just because you sold a wrap dress at Nordstroms.

End of Rant.  :)

Critical Questions to Ask Yourself -- And Answer Before Publishing

CRITICAL QUESTIONS

• Who cares?
• Who will READ this book?
• What commitment am I making to those readers?
• Who will BUY this book? (Are my reader and buyer the same person?)
• Can I reach them directly? 
• What commitment am I making to those buyers? 
• What special features can (must) I add that might help me sell better?
• What are my CRITICAL KEY WORDS in my message (the ones that are non-negotiable) 
• Are there significant dates and marketing opportunities that might affect my book's success? 
• How long and to what extent am I willing to support my book with my time and money? 
• What are my potential game changers? 

Have a good weekend.

You are NOT saving the economy by buying that...

If something is not right for you, learn how to say "No thank you." and mean it.

I dislike salespeople that sell, sell, sell, sell, sell.  How about solving a problem I might have.  I've learned that there are few things in life that a salesperson cannot overstate. Everything is always "The Best", "The Strongest", "Most User-Friendly".

In college marketing classes, they call that "Puffery"; in my office, I call it "Blah, Blah, Blah."

Personally, the more superlatives, adjectives and other fancy language a salesperson uses on me, the less I believe him. I'm cynical and skeptical, it's true; but it's only because I've been bitten here (and there) in my career. So how do I make sure I'm not being duped or oversold? I question. I object. I suspect... But more actively and objectively, I test.

Salespeople beware.  There is a new consumer out there that cares what they buy, from whom they buy it, and what "its" impact is on the world.  Make sure you are solving a problem, rather than just trying to make a buck.

Don't Let the Ship Hit the Fan...

Shipping materials need love too...

When we are doing ANY shipping on ANY book, we test the packaging that we want to use with that book. 

Is it... (Not what the manufacturer says, but what it actually is.)

Durable?  We'll throw it off a couple of buildings and drive over it ourselves, thank you.  Lightweight?  We'll weigh that out ourselves with all the parts.  Ecofriendly?  Specifications please!

Bottom line...

Yes, it does impact your bottom line.  Make sure your books arrive to your customer's doorstep in good shape and looking professional.  And make sure your shipping materials aren't adding more to the cost of your shipping than you are collecting for shipping.  Remember, you may have to pay for an extra pound of shipping for even a fraction of an ounce. 

It matters.

Dating (in Publishing, that is)

Clients often wonder why we want to wait to release their book. It's sitting there all ready to go, and yet we insist on waiting.  "UGH!" they say -- "But people are already in line outside the bookstores waiting for it to go on sale!" 

Self publishers and independent authors are often caught in the trap of their own false impressions of how a book is published. Take the time to publicize your book properly.  You'll need a minimum of four months to get a review from a professional reviewer, or a possible feature in a magazine or any other type of publicity. 

There are several dates you need to know

• Advance Review Deadline:  4 months ahead of your Publication Date
• Street Date:  When you have actual books in hand and you can sell them privately
• Pub Date/Publication Date/Release Date: The date when the industry can start selling you book

Another important date
Copyright Date:  The date when you officially send your book to the Library of Congress.  Make sure you are not sending it ahead of having your book published.  Libraries and other buyers look at that date to determine the book's age.  So if you finished writing your book in December of 2011, finished your editing and layout in June, and set your publication date for November 2012 -- you would set your copyright year as 2013 and NOT 2011.  Why?  Buyers look at the book's copyright year when deciding one title over another.  In January of 2013 with a copyright year of 2011, your book would appear two years old if you set your copyright as the date you finished writing.

It's Saturday. Practice Saying YES to Yourself

It's the weekend, but if you're like most authors, you won't stop thinking about your book, your dreams, your interview with Oprah, or that one sentence that haunts you. But the work of publishing? Why ruin a good Saturday with all that reality? Publishing and marketing your book successfully, against all odds and against the mega publishing world, is possible -- I see it every day. I found this quote yesterday and was pondering it all evening:

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." ~Mark Twain

The concept must be in the air. Just like every morning, I opened my email and went straight to Seth Godin's blog. If you don't read it, you should. He's the guru of building the modern "Tribe", and so many other thought-leading principles of our culture. (click here for Seth Godin's blog). His posts are what I call "consumable". He provides one nugget to digest all day. In his post today he said:

"There will always be someone telling you that you're not hip enough, famous enough, edgy enough or whatever enough. That's their agenda. What's yours?" ~Seth Godin

Two great thought leaders a century apart; one important message pushing its way into today's consciousness. Today, think about what "success" in publishing actually means to you in both dollars and "sense". Then start making a realistic plan -- set a goal, plan a strategy, develop a list of tactics, put together a team that understands your goals. Above all, don't let people who are not experts discourage you and put their own agendas in the way of yours.

When it comes to publishing, do it yourself (or at least keep control of your project).

Why do it yourself? I’ll let one of my colleagues make this point: “I should have remembered the horrible experience with John Wiley publishers 20 years earlier, long before self-publishing was even an acceptable option. I ghost wrote a business and health book. We fought with the editors about the title (they won). We fought with the designers about the cover design (it’s still ugly). And we were disappointed when the book didn’t sell. Nobody told us the publisher does so very little to promote it. We were our own best customers. It was ridiculous. We were paying for our books, and the publisher was returning a small share of that back to us in royalties. Dumb me. I was a ‘with’ author on another book 20 years later and ended up on the same path with that publisher.”

In the past decade, the DIY (do it yourself) publishing industry has added Print on Demand (POD) or "Self Publishing" houses to the model of self publishing. You add your book to their listings, you pay them to publish it, and they bring it into their distribution set up. This publishing method is not addressed at length here, but please understand what these companies are and how they work before getting into a deal with them. This type of publishing is a good deal for poetry, memoirs, and fiction, but NOT the best model for nonfiction with authors who have a “platform” on which to speak outside of book signings and other events related to the book alone.

Do it yourself, but hire qualified professionals to help you along the way.