The publishing industry changes constantly which means that authors
must now decide between self- or traditional publishing and all the hybrid
options between those two. I’ve often said there is no one right path for
publishing but may be only one (or at least one best path) for any given book
or author. Now, there is a book from Dianne Sagan that will help with that
decision and she has graciously given me an excerpt from it for my
SharingwithWriters readers to peruse:
.
Chapter One from The Hybrid Author
Writers choose varied paths to
publication and success in their literary careers, each path unique but all
sharing a common goal: to express our thoughts, tell a story and find readers. Both
of these publishing paths have been around for ages, but only recently has the
industry given those writers who publish both ways a name. We are called
“hybrid writers.”
On February 12, 2013 at the first
Author (R)evolution Day in New York City, the O’Reilly’s Tools of Change 2013 event began. Co-sponsored by
Publishers Weekly, the conference was a full day of breakout sessions and
discussions for authors, agents and independent author (or “indie”) service
providers. The opening keynote speaker, Cory Doctorow, brought up the idea of multiple
publication paths using today’s technology and evolving market, and he first
coined the term hybrid author. Since
then the term has received both increasing attention and greater respect. While
this term originally applied to an author who chooses from both the traditional
publishing path and the self-publishing path, I personally believe that there
is much more to it than that and that there are more options for publishing
written work today than ever before.
Twenty years ago a writer could
seek a traditional publishing house through either personal query or a literary
agent. If he used an agent then the writer worked through that agent to find a publisher
for his book. At that time the only real alternative to a traditional publisher
was for an author to pay a printer to publish his book, usually in small
quantities, store them in his garage and sell them out of his car. These
companies who printed books in exchange for a fee became known as “vanity
presses” because they printed anything that the client paid for, as opposed to
the legitimate publishers who put the writer through an acceptance process and
produced professionally-edited, (usually) high-quality products to the market.
We now live in a vastly different
publishing world, one that is in constant flux – changing the way things work
and the way the industry looks on a month-to-month basis. We live, write,
publish and read in a 24/7 world. I, myself, am a product of this evolution. I’ve
dedicated the past fourteen years to writing professionally and followed the paths
of both traditional publishing and self-publishing successfully. Other authors
may be better-known today, but the books I’ve ghostwritten have sold thousands of
copies, and six of them have achieved “Best Seller” status. I am a hybrid
author.
The Merriman-Webster dictionary
defines hybrid as something or someone “whose background is a blend of two
diverse cultures or traditions; something that is formed by combining two or
more things; something (as a power plant, vehicle, or electronic circuit) that
has two different types of components performing essentially the same
function.” Simply said, a hybrid is considered a cross or combination of two
different things. Since we are only considering the term as it applies to
writers and the publishing industry, I think it’s fair to say that our hybrid
is a an author who combines two or more modes of publication.
The reality is that writers today aren’t
limited to just two paths to publication. Today’s technology has made viable at
least four viable publishing choices, according to many in the publishing
industry. When we add to these publishing choices those authors who are capable
of taking advantage of all four paths, you have what the insurance industry
calls cafeteria options. We can have
one entrée or several, one side dish or many, one dessert or all of them. It
depends on what we want and how much time we are willing to dedicate to other
facets of our craft. I believe that writing professionally is much more than
just following a dream. It is a matter of learning the business side of writing
and making informed business decisions about where, when and how our work is
published.
The first step is knowing what
publishing options exist and what differentiates them from each other.~Dianne
G. Sagan
MORE
ABOUT THE BOOK
The above is an excerpt from The Hybrid Author© by Dianne G. Sagan.
The above is an excerpt from The Hybrid Author© by Dianne G. Sagan.
The newly
released book includes interviews with C. J. Lyons, Joanna Penn, J. A. Konrath,
Hugh C. Howey, Barbara Freethy, Marie Force, Barbara Morgenroth and Jennifer
Archer
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Dianne
G. Sagan, author of 21 books, has been writing professionally for fourteen
years and facilitating groups for 25 years. She’s authored ten nonfiction books
as a ghostwriter, six of which are bestsellers. Her clientele includes writers
from the United States, Canada, the UK, Austria, Oman, and Australia.
Ms.
Sagan has traditionally published Christian fiction and women’s fiction. Her
best known fiction works are her Women of the Bible series (published by Buoy
Up Press, Denton, TX) and includes Rebekah
Redeemed, The Fisherman’s Wife, Miriam’s Room and Mary’s Exile. She self-publishes nonfiction books on writing,
including Tools and Tips for Writers and The Hybrid Author. Sagan’s works in
progress include more Christian fiction with her traditional publisher and a
new mystery series to debut soon. Dianne loves the hybrid author’s path and
enjoys all its options.
Website/blog:
http://diannesagan.wordpress.com
