A book begins as a story an author wants to share with the world, but it is only after a publisher edits, packages, and places it on a shelf that we can access it. Publishers turn authors’ ideas and stories into books that become parts of our lives. Today, I’m offering an overview of the three types of publishing.

1. Traditional Publishing
2. Self-Publishing
3. Hybrid Publishing

Traditional Publishing

In traditional publishing, a publisher buys your book from you. You get paid an advance at the time of the contract and then, after your book is published, you get periodic royalty payments, which are calculated based on the sales of your book. The publisher takes all responsibility for producing, marketing, and selling your book. That means that you will not be asked to pay for anything, and it also means that you will have little say over how your book is produced and sold.

Books produced by traditional publishing houses usually have the most reach, both in terms of sales and in terms of reviews. What keeps many people from going this route is that it is difficult to get a book accepted for publication.

This category includes the big five,* or the publishing powerhouses who control most of publishing in the US, as well as the educational publishers and smaller independent presses.

Self-Publishing

In self-publishing, you (the author) are the publisher. You are responsible for all of the costs and all of the work of producing a book. If you are not also an editor and designer, this will mean hiring professionals to help you. Likewise, marketing and sales will be your responsibility. All of the profit, however, is yours.

Some authors come to self-publishing after experiencing difficulty publishing traditionally. Others know from the beginning that they want creative control over every part of their book and are willing to embrace the hard work of self-publishing to have it. Yet others are business-minded and embrace the process of publishing just as they embraced writing their book.

Hybrid Publishing

Hybrid publishing is a cross between traditional and self-publishing. Like a traditional publisher, the hybrid publisher has a team of editors, designers, and marketing specialists who will prepare and publish your book. But as in self-publishing, the author will be asked to pay for a significant portion of the book’s production costs.

Because authors assume much of the risk of publishing a book in this model, hybrid publishers are more likely to accept books for publication. But be careful! Your hybrid publisher should have a mission and a vision and should be vetting the books they publish. (See this article for info on publishers to avoid, including vanity publishers.)

Hybrid publishers use a variety of business models, but typically, authors will not receive an advance, but they will receive a higher percentage of royalties than they would at a traditional publisher (50% versus 8–25%).

I hope this overview of publishing has been helpful. Let me know if you have any questions about this topic or anything else related to publishing!

* In case you’re curious, the big five are Penguin/Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan.