Three Main Publishing Paths for Authors – Sandy Smith

Smith Publicity President and book marketing industry thought leader Sandy Smith discusses the three main publishing options for authors.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, my name is Sandy Smith and I am the president here at Smith Publicity. What I do here is talk to authors almost every day and a big question I get is the difference between the publishing paths and the pros and cons. So we’ll talk about the three major paths which are traditionally published, hybrid publishing and self publishing.

So starting with self publishing, what’s great about self-publishing for an author is the author has complete control over the content, the title, the cover, and the timing of the book’s launch. So the independently published or self published book, the author has complete control, but they also have to wear many hats because they either have to be experts or hire experts, especially editors and book cover designers to get their book looking as good as possible. But again, the big benefit to self-publishing is the control that the author has.

The second option is hybrid publishing and hybrid is when a author pays a company to help them produce their book. Hybrid publishers, the real good ones, they’re hot, they’re vetted. They vet their books because they have a brand to protect. So these authors come to them and pay for really high-end editors, designers and distribution options. A lot of the authors who choose hybrid have done the publishing route in the past and want a more entrepreneurial side where they want to own the copyright of their book and plan out the timing that suits their path and their professional goals for writing the book.