Should I Traditionally Publish, Hybrid Publish, or Self-Publish?

I hear this question a lot. So let’s just tackle it, alright?

The infuriating answer is “It depends.”

In today’s content creation world, there’s a ton of competition. But there’s also a ton of options for getting your words into the world. So before we go any further, let’s get one thing clear:

Before you go after any of these publishing options, you need to be executing on some method for building an audience and publishing your content. It could be a blog (like this one), a podcast you produce, regularly posting on a Medium account, creating an ebook or other freebie for building an email list, or all of the above. The main thing is to find a method you enjoy and meshes well with what you’re already doing. Which of these is consistent with your personal brand and writing efforts?

With that out of the way, we’re going to talk about traditional publishing first. Elephant in the room: Have I been traditionally published? Not yet. But I did have a novel considered by a sizable traditional publisher in the past, so I have some working knowledge and experience in the space.

“When should I trad publish?”

Traditional publishing is the dream for most writers, of course, but it’s a long road which requires a lot of perseverance, a lot of endurance for hearing “No,” and willingness to give up the rights to your work.

The best thing you can do if you’re adamant about only pursuing traditional publishing is focus on building up an audience through the means I’ve mentioned above: build an email list/newsletter focused on your genre/topic. You could also submit short stories to literary journals/websites, enter contests, and anything to start getting your work read in the real world. It’s a big plus for agents and traditional publishers if your work has been selected for these platforms.

After you’ve been doing this for a while, start querying agents (who will likely ask you about your audience size/following/accomplishments). Unless you have a massive existing audience or you’re Stephen King, you’re still going to be responsible for a lot of the marketing work even though you’ll have support from your publisher.

This is a HUGE misunderstanding for newer writers. They assume the strength of their story and writing is all that matters. Unfortunately, it’s not. You still need to engage with an audience and get out there. If you don’t believe in your book, who will?

Also, I’ve learned there’s a difference in marketing support depending on if you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. Fiction authors appear to get a better deal in terms of the publisher helping them build their brand and getting publicity, especially when it’s a debut. But they still start out running their own social media accounts and engaging with fans vs. having a dedicated person to do this all for them.

Nonfiction authors, on the other hand, may end up with some publicity and review support from their publisher, but in terms of brand-building, it seems like it’s assumed this should already be established. New nonfiction authors with little to no following are seen as much higher risk for publishing, obviously, compared to a new fiction author.

There’s also a huge misunderstanding that if you trad publish, then you’ve made it. Yet there are plenty of writers out there who have been traditionally published—and even hit bestseller lists like USA Today—who still end up having other jobs. They are ghostwriters, teachers, inventors, and so on. Very few book writers can get by with only writing books for a living.

I promise I’m not trying to dissuade you from trying to publish traditionally. I have a book I’m working on right now that I would love to see traditionally published. But having been down this road before, I’ve also got my backup plan ready to go.

“When should I consider hybrid publishing?”

Hybrid publishing can be a great option for a lot of people. But first, keep in mind not all hybrid publishers are created equal. Some are little more than a couple of people with a dressed up Amazon KDP account. But there are also some fantastic ones who offer a lot of author support, including some help with marketing, which is a huge plus.

Many (reputable) hybrid publishers let you retain your rights. This is great because it gives you the freedom to traditionally publish later on if your book ends up becoming attractive to the major publishers. And going through a hybrid publisher can lend more legitimacy to your book than self-publishing.

Depending on how the hybrid publisher, they might also take a portion of the royalties for sales, but it’s typically far less than what a traditional publisher would demand. The author support will vary, but some of the common perks include access to professional editing/proofreading, cover design, and getting your book listed with major retailers beyond Amazon.

Some even provide additional opportunities for industry connections, reviews, and other methods to position yourself as an authority. One of the hybrid publishers I contract with offers their authors the opportunity to publish a blog on their partner site, which receives massive traffic from target readers.

Now, all this being said….hybrid publishing often requires a substantial financial investment on your part. So if you’ve got the cash to spend, it might be a great fit. There’s no guaranteed return, but with the right publishing partner, you’ll have a top-notch product and possibly some marketing help.

I can’t say it enough: do a lot of vetting. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. More than likely, you’ll get what you pay for.

“When should I self-publish?”

I hear this a lot because burgeoning writers feel like they’re “giving up” if they self-publish their book. After the traditional publisher passed on my novel, I was so discouraged, I just gave up on the book for awhile. The main reason I self-published it was because I wanted the experience so I could teach other people how to do the same.

Because here’s the downside of self-publishing: Since anyone and their dog can do it, everyone and their dog has done it. There are a lot of crappy self-published books out there. Honestly, I could say the same for the other two, but self-publishing is definitely a magnet for crappy books with crappy covers and crappy sales.

With the negative out of the way, though, here’s what I love about self-publishing…

For starters, it gives you the opportunity to get your work out on your own timing, your own terms, and without giving up rights. There’s no reason you can’t still publish traditionally later on as a successful self-published author.

Also, self-publishing allows you to start building an audience. You can’t have readers if you don’t have anything for people to read, right? Since traditional publishers WILL ask about your potential readership before they take a risk on you, might as well go ahead and build a readership.

Self-publishing also gives you experience in how the publishing process works so you can be better prepped for a traditional publisher. So maybe don’t self-publish the book you feel like is your magnum opus. But why not start off with something else? Something you can use as a learning opportunity?

Self-publishing is also great if speed is important to you for accomplishing your goals. You’re not having to wait on a lot. Not to mention it’s a very affordable route to take.

This said, time for a caveat: I’d still STRONGLY advise you to invest in having a great editor, proofreader, cover designer, and marketing help. Otherwise, you’ll be written off. Pun intended.

Even if you just buy a book marketing course so you can figure out how you want to market your book, it would be money well spent so you’re not spinning your wheels and frustrated by why none of your social media friends are buying your book. And believe me, it’s better when you have readers outside of your friend group.

All this to say, no matter which method of publishing you pursue, you can go ahead and take some actions now. Start doing some research on your market. Who are the readers you’re trying to reach? What platforms and channels are they using to discover other books in your genre or niche? What are your long-term writing goals? What are you willing to spend money on? How much?

For example, I’ve met people who only want to write one book. So a lot of times they have an “all or nothing” approach and go with spending the money on hybrid publishing. If they’re going to do it, they’re willing to pay to make sure it gets done rather than deal with the circus of traditional publishers.

When writers only consider traditional publishing, it means being okay with never being published. But me? I’d rather get eyes on my words. Assess your priorities, make a backup plan, and get to work!