{"id":3037,"date":"2022-05-18T06:44:16","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T06:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/?p=3037"},"modified":"2022-05-19T00:59:22","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T00:59:22","slug":"uk-investigation-into-hybrid-publishing-finds-widespread-dissatisfaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/articles\/2022\/05\/18\/3037\/uk-investigation-into-hybrid-publishing-finds-widespread-dissatisfaction\/","title":{"rendered":"UK investigation into hybrid publishing finds widespread dissatisfaction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, two UK writers\u2019 organisations\u2014the Society of Authors (SoA) and the Writers\u2019 Guild of Great Britain (WGGB)\u2014published <\/span>Is It a Steal?<\/span><\/i><\/a>, an investigation into what it calls hybrid publishing services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is hybrid publishing?<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The SoA and WGGB define hybrid publishing as a situation where \u2018a writer pays money for publication, and grants the company a licence of rights or the company takes a share of any profits\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This type of agreement is often called \u2018contributory\u2019, \u2018subsidy\u2019 or \u2018partnership\u2019 by its practitioners. Previously, this hybrid approach was often called \u2018vanity\u2019 publishing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hybrid publishing is different from a traditional or conventional trade publishing contract, where a publisher provides everything from editing and printing to marketing and distribution. Under a traditional publishing contract, an author is paid a fee or an advance and royalties in exchange for a licence of rights to a work. The publisher funds its operation through book sales and does not ask for payments from a writer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hybrid publishing is also differentiated from self-publishing, where an author retains the rights to their self-published work even if they pay a self-publishing service provider to edit, design, produce or market their book. Under a self-publishing model, the writer receives all profits after the sales platform or distributor has taken their cut, and can extract themselves from the agreement at any time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the report warns, at first glance, hybrid publishing deals can look a lot like traditional publishing agreements; however, they are very different in that there\u2019s rarely any sign of expenditure from the publisher other than the author\u2019s contribution. There is usually no intention by the hybrid publisher to publish the work other than in ebook or print on demand formats, or as a very short print run.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the SoA and WGGB, \u2018a \u201chybrid\u201d\/paid-for deal is the worst option a writer can take.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018In our direct experience of working with SoA and WGGB members, and as our research bears out, \u201chybrid\u201d\/paid-for publishing deals do not result in enough sales or exposure to justify the payment by the author,\u2019 they write.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018For many years, even before researching for this report, we have seen how such services fall short of expectations, with writers unnecessarily handing over rights and control over their manuscripts, along with large sums of money. We have seen the impact this has on writers\u2019 careers and confidence in their work, and on their finances. We have seen too many cases where the \u201chybrid\u201d\/paid-for model amounts to a counterfeit approach to publishing. We invariably advise writers against it. \u2018<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Survey findings<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The SoA and WGGB surveyed 240 writers with experiences of hybrid publishing deals between February\u2013April 2021. The survey findings were stark, including:<\/span><\/p>\n