Hybrid publishing

A hybrid press is a publishing house which can be broadly defined by its source of revenue. The revenue source of a traditional publisher is through the sale of books (and other related materials) that they publish, while the revenue of hybrid publishers comes from both book sales and fees charged to the author for the execution of their publishing services.

Hybrid publishing is a term that has emerged since the advent of the internet, to describe a type of publishing which occupies the middle ground between traditional and self-publishing. As the term is relatively new, different interpretations are used by different companies and bodies within the publishing industry, and the exact definition is still evolving.^[1] This confusion concerns many writers. In 2018, the Independent Book Publishers Association laid out nine criteria that publishers should meet to be called hybrid publishers.^[2] However this code is entirely voluntary. In 2022, the Society of Authors and the Writers Guild of Great Britain produced a report highlighting its concerns and calling for review and reform.^[3]