What is hybrid publishing?!
I see a lot of hate online about hybrid publishing. People condemn it because they don't understand it, or more likely they're stuck in the past. Bear in mind that this was a past where 'qualifying' as an author meant you received a traditional publishing agreement with a traditional advance and if you 'self-published', well that just meant printing your novel yourself and handing it out to friends to inflate your own ego. Self-publishing didn't make you a real writer back then, or so the traditional companies would have had you believe.
Times have changed! November 2007 saw Amazon revolutionise the publishing industry with the launch of two products: the Kindle reading device and the self-publishing platform known as Kindle Direct Publishing. Power to the authors! No more relinquishing the lion's share of royalties or surrendering your creative control or being repeatedly crushed by seemingly endless rejection letters. In fact, today there are authors who have self-published their work so successfully that when they receive traditional offers and advances from publishers, they turn them down. Now that it's so easy to get published, and market your book on social media, the traditional publishers have had to be more stringent with paying author advances because success is no longer assured. Most new or unknown authors will not receive an advance from a traditional publisher for this very reason.
Hybrid publishing is still relatively new and evolving, so it's okay if you have no idea what the hell it is or whether you should trust it. Fuck, I didn't even know until four years ago when I unknowingly started working for a predatory company which (no kidding) poses as a hybrid publisher and exploits unsuspecting authors -- which is incredibly easy when the publishing industry lacks any firm guidance for authors in this area. But that's another story.
The best way to think of hybrid publishing is as a 'third way' for authors who don't want to do everything on their own by self-publishing, but also don't want to give up their creative control or receive just 10% net royalties (and probably no advance) from a traditional publisher. Hybrid publishing is an umbrella term for numerous alternative publishing models which follow this 'third way'. I've listed some of them below:
Crowdfunded publishing: Pitch your idea to a commissioning editor at a crowdfunded publisher such as Inkshares or Unbound. Subject to their approval, you then start crowdfunding through their platform and collect pledges. Once you have enough pledges, your book is edited, typeset and printed. Copies will be distributed to those who pledged, and copies will be stocked online at major retailers. Stock in major bookshops is possible depending on the success of your crowdfunding.
Assisted self-publishing: You pay to publish using a fee-based service, with no ongoing contractual agreement. You can choose which aspects of publishing you want to pay for, e.g. editing, proofreading, marketing, and you retain all royalties and rights to your work.
Partnership publishing: You will be offered a publishing agreement (which may be called a 'contributory' agreement) which asks you to invest a sum of money, alongside the publisher, to support the publication of your book. Thus, you are sharing the risk. In return, you will receive higher royalties than the industry standard for traditional publishing, but you will also receive all the editorial and marketing support that a traditionally published author would. Unlike traditionally published authors, you will have much more creative control. A partnership agreement will tie you into a publishing contract, which you should read and evaluate carefully.
If the hybrid model you choose involves money passing from you, the author, to the publisher, please be diligent in your research -- especially if the publisher in question claims to be making a financial investment in your work alongside you.
As I mentioned earlier, beware the predators.