(NEWS)

In a March 28th article published in Publishers Weekly, IBPA incoming board member Brooke Warner sheds light on hybrid publishing

By Brooke Warner, She Writes Press

It’s an interesting fact that in today’s publishing world, it’s both harder and easier to get published than it’s ever been before. The barriers to traditional publishing are so high that an author without a national platform has scarce hope of getting a book contract, while the rise of self-publishing has made it possible for aspiring authors to bet on themselves, assuming the financial risk but also reaping the profits when a book works.

The mind-twisting part for people who care about books and good writing is this: an author’s platform says nothing about writing ability. Beautifully written books that might have had a fighting chance in the traditional publishing world five or six years ago are now routinely rejected, while the Duck Dynasty crew, the Cake Boss, and Lauren Conrad sign multiple-book deals based on amazing platforms alone. Plenty of writers are fed up with traditional publishing, and they’re sometimes happily, sometimes halfheartedly, self-publishing their books. But self-publishing presents its own set of problems—the primary one being that there’s no easy way for the reader, at first glance anyway, to separate the junk from the gems. Because I work with writers who want to get published, I also know that many harbor the belief that they’re somehow not worthy of being published unless they get that stamp of approval from the traditional world. Mix what traditional publishing can’t offer and what writers are craving, and you have a perfect storm that’s ushering in the rise of hybrid publishing…

Read the full article on PublishersWeekly.com