On Hybrid, Self-published and Traditional Authors

Jaxon Reed's Occasional Newsletter for Sept. 4, 2021

Hi Crew! I hope you get to enjoy a three-day weekend.

I keep an eye on author sites, and it’s good to keep one’s ear to the ground in our little world of publishing. This endeavor has been enhanced recently by a subscription to The Hot Sheet, Jane Friedman’s newsletter covering all things in the industry. She and her team do a great job of sifting through a flood of info and presenting it in an easy to consume email.

I also keep an eye on discussion boards to see what other authors are talking about. As an observer (I mostly lurk), I think that for the most part the great stigma attached to self-published authors has faded in recent years, if comments online are an indicator. This is almost certainly thanks to the fact so many high profile authors have earned lots of money.

Stieg Larson famously sold a million ebooks with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels. But of course, Larson was traditionally published. The first self-published author to publicly claim a million earned in royalties was Amanda Hocking.

Since then (2010-ish), more authors have struck digital gold. Russel Blake jumped into self publishing in 2011 and quickly cranked out 60 titles. He lives in Mexico helping other expatriates wishing to pursue a more idyllic lifestyle south of the border.

But the person perhaps most responsible for gaining a foothold in the public consciousness about self-publishing serving as a viable income stream is author Michael Anderle. After finding success with indie publishing, he started 20 Books to 50K, a Facebook group dedicated to encouraging author success. It expanded to a major conference, 20BooksVegas, along with other networking events. Anderle was also instrumental in forming a scifi and fantasy publishing company, LMBPN.

So, self publishing has lost its stigma in large part thanks to these pioneers who have shown people that writing does not have to go through an established publisher in order to be commercially successful.

Why would an author even wish to be locked into a contract with a publisher? A major reason is prestige. Authors published through the Big Five (soon to be Four) are seen as having “made it.” However, some new authors soon discover they are not raking in the money. They’re published by a “name brand” company, but the royalty checks are paltry.

Some authors might be faced with a choice. Do they want to be famous, their name known across the land (or at least in their chosen literary circle)? Or do they want to be rich?

The obvious answer is, Why not both? Thus the rise of hybrid authors, those holding a contract with a publishing house and producing stuff on their own, too. Many traditional authors have obtained rights to their backlists and self-published older books to great success. Others faced different quandaries and chose to self-publish their future titles.

As for me, I have two books under an Amazon imprint, so in a way I too am a hybrid author. This particular imprint publishes ebooks only. Two titles in The Empathic Detective series were accepted by this publisher under the old Kindle Scout program.

Through this Labor Day weekend, until Tuesday in fact, the imprint has the first Empathic Detective novel on sale for 99 cents. So if you have not downloaded that one yet, now is your chance to grab it at the lowest price you’ll see.

I would like to put all three titles in the series into a box set someday. I would also like to offer this first book for free on KU promo days at some point. You know, the things we indie authors like to do to gin up sales. Alas it is not to be, as the publisher controls pricing. For the foreseeable future, the occasional 99 cent sale will have to do.

So give a thanks to groups like 20Books and those pioneering authors who showed us that self publishing really is viable and not something to be shunned or shamed. Lots of people are producing quality content and enjoying various degrees of success, as hybrid authors or fully independent.