…3. Commit to truth and transparency in business practices.
In the beginning, I went with a small publisher with first book. They’d send me these emails that said, “Hey, your book has entered our level 4 marketing process.” But they wouldn’t say what that was. And to be honest, I only had about 15 reviews. So I’m sure that hurt getting sales. But they never talked to me about any of that. Which is one of the reasons that I left them.
4. Provide a negotiable, easy-to-understand contract for each book published.
If it’s a fifty page contract, definitely not a hybrid publisher. It’s one page. At any time the publisher or author can end the contract.
5. Publish under its own imprint(s) and ISBNs.
If the publisher is asking you to buy an ISBN, then that’s really a self publishing company masking themselves as a hybrid.
6. Publish to industry standards.
Title page, copyright page, cover, About author, More from this author,, etc.
I am surprised that the IBPA doesn’t list pricing. Because often a vanity publisher will price book redicoulsy high.
7. Ensure editorial, design, and production quality.
A professional looking cover, page numbering, editing. So when you’re holding your book it should look just as good as something from a shelf in Barnes and Noble.
8. Pursue and manage a range of publishing rights.
9. Provide distribution services.
10. Pay authors a higher-than-standard royalty.
11. Demonstrate respectable sales. I’ve left this one for last because I think a little more needs to be said about this.
Not only do I run a small publishing company, but I also work to run amazon ads for another small publishing company. It’s been really useful and education. Just like my company, they’re trying hard to sell books. But what it really comes down to, especially in the beginning is the author getting reviews on their book.
I think that the best thing that a publisher can do for an author is help them build an ARC list, that a list of the early readers. Because, until you have around 40 reviews, even you Amazon ads aren’t going to help.
Now I can tell you that I’ll be putting books in my publishing company up for free for a short time and paying to put them into reputable newsletters, like Hello Books. That’s how I got more reviews on my first novel, was by putting it up for free and trying a bunch of different newsletters that readers receive. And how it’s now getting sales and the ads are working.
So, if you’re going with a publisher, have a heart to heart talk about sales. What are they doing to make sales. But also as an author come up with your own plan to get reviews.
Show Notes:
IBPA Hybrid Publisher Details: https://www.ibpa-online.org/news/615418/IBPA-Unveils-Updates-to-its-Hybrid-Publisher-Criteria.htm
Plot Duckies: https://plotduckies.com/