I recently did a talk about my experiences as a “hybrid” author, so I decided to include the first part of that talk here. I am traveling down both traditional and indie publishing roads simultaneously. I have a contract for three mysteries with Berkley Prime Crime (Endangered is out now, Bear Bait is coming in October, Undercurrents next year). I also have four self-published books–The Only Witness, Shaken, Call of the Jaguar, and Save Your Money, Your Sanity, and Our Planet. (Click the Books link above to read about those.)

As a hybrid author, I see advantages and disadvantages to each system. I’ll lay those out below. I’m not advocating either system, but I think it’s important for authors to know what they’re getting into.

Traditional Publishing – Advantages

• Your book will be copyedited and formatted for printing and for ebooks.
• The publisher will create cover art for your book.
• Your book will be assigned an ISBN and book information will be entered in the appropriate places (Bowker, etc.).
• The publisher may get cover quotes from well known authors for you.
• The publisher may send advance reading copies out for reviews.
• The publisher may enter your book in major contests.
• Bookstores may be willing to stock your books.
• More reviewers may be willing to review your books.
• You will not have to pay publishing or distribution costs.
• The publisher will keep records of sales and payments to you.
• The publisher may sell translation, audio, and other rights for you.
• Some publicity will be done for you (at least having your books in a catalog and on the shelves).
• You will automatically have more credibility as an author.

Traditional Publishing – Disadvantages

• In the contract, the publisher will most likely try to secure all rights to all your work for an indefinite period, or at least try to prevent you from publishing other books in the same genre or using the same author name.
• Your advance is likely to be minuscule ($1500-$5000 is typical for an unknown author), and your books will need to earn that much money before you receive another cent.
• You will receive sales reports quarterly or more likely, twice a year, typically three to six months after the end of the time period in which sales took place. (In a couple of months, I will learn how many of my Berkley books were reported as sold in December 2011.)
• Payment for everything will come when the publisher feels like sending it to you (always more than six months after you’ve earned it). Publishers may hold up payment in case there are returns from bookstores. If there’s an agent involved, the agent may hold up your checks for even longer and will, of course, deduct the agency fee.
• Your book may not be published for years after you’ve delivered it.
• You will have no clue whether the publisher is cheating you or not.
• You will have little or no control over schedule, editorial process, cover art, book title, etc.
• The publisher may not even try to sell foreign rights or any other subsidiary rights that they now own.
• The publisher may choose not to communicate with you or to fix any mistakes that may occur.
• At any time, the publisher may choose not to publicize (or even publish) your book.

Self-Published Ebooks – Advantages

• Your book can be published as soon as you finish writing and editing it.
• You have control over almost everything.
• You can check your sales nearly every day.
• You get a greater percentage of the book price so you need to sell many fewer books to earn the same amount of money.  Example: For an ebook priced at $2.99 at Amazon Kindle store, you will get $2.09 (70%); for a traditional mass market print book priced at $7.99, you would typically receive $.63 (8%) and 25% of the (sometimes ‘net’) ebook price.
• You will be paid by direct deposit in a reasonable time frame (usually 60-70 days after a month’s end, so payments for May would be made in August).
• Your book belongs solely to you.

Self-Published Ebooks – Disadvantages

• You must do everything yourself, or hire someone else to do it. This includes: copyediting, proofreading, and formatting your ebook; securing an ISBN for print or premium distribution; getting cover quotes and reviews; creating cover art (yes, you need a great cover even for an ebook); uploading your book to all ebook stores and setting rules for distribution; formatting for print, and arranging for printing and distribution; selling foreign, audio, and other rights; ALL promotion and advertising.
• You will have no clue whether your distributor is cheating you.
• Bookstores will most likely not carry your print books unless you make them “returnable,” and the bookstores that do agree to carry them may charge you a consignment fee.
• Major contests will not take your book (some, like the MWA Edgar contest, won’t take it if it’s ever been self-pubbed, even if it’s later purchased by a major publisher).
• Most well-known reviewers will not consider reviewing your book.
• Some traditional publishers will have nothing to do with you (although this is changing fast).
• Many people will still believe that self-publishing means your book wasn’t good enough for ‘real’ publication.

No matter which publishing route you choose to follow, please be supportive of all authors. We are all “putting it out there” in a risky and ever-changing business.