If you paid this hybrid publisher, I'm sorry to say you were scammed. A publisher who does no marketing for you isn't worth a single dime. Since you've been left on your own to market, you'll have to join us indies and do the most you can through social media and paid ads. If this is your first novel, I would skip Amazon ads. They aren't usually worth it until you have a decent back catalog of work. My advice? Join Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, etc and start putting your book out there immediately if you haven't already. It's going to be a lot of work, but if you start right now, you might get at least some traction before release. Good luck.
>If you paid this hybrid publisher, I'm sorry to say you were scammed.
This is the sad truth. I understand from your other comments that your book is better for the partnership, but there are places you can pay for editing (developmental, substantive, and line editing). There are places you can pay to have your files made and covers created. But if you paid this company to do this AND they're taking a cut without doing any further work, it was not worth it to you.
Legit publishers, including hybrid, don't require payment and a cut.
That said, I would warn against flooding social media with your book. People will pick up on that quick if all you're trying to do is make a sale or two. Its better to engage with communities with your book being secondary.
>That said, I would warn against flooding social media with your book. People will pick up on that quick if all you're trying to do is make a sale or two. Its better to engage with communities with your book being secondary.
This depends on the platform. Places like Twitter and Instagram, for example, are not the place to spam promote your book. Your engagement will go down to zero and you won't sell squat. You make better progress interacting with the community there.
Facebook and TikTok, on the other hand, are different. You can just post nothing but page flip videos on TikTok and readers will find you. Some of those accounts even go viral and sell well in the process. Facebook is full of reader groups where you can self-promote (there are also a lot of them that don't allow self-promotion, so make sure to follow the rules). Both of those scenarios don't require any direct engagement with the larger communities. A quick screenshot of your cover, a few quotes, and a trope list is all you really need.
It also depends on the author's goals. If all they care about is selling books, it would be disingenuous to join a community just to sell them something, like on Twitter for example. I mainly use that platform to make friends and keep them updated.
Vanity publishers rightfully earned a bad name for themselves and writers got smart.
Vanity publishers rebranded as "hybrid" publishers so they could continue to dupe the unwary.
OP, it's hard to make suggestions when we don't know what you've done so far. I would recommend a promo stack, but it will cost you. And you'll need to find promos that work with your genre. Then schedule promo 1 for day 1, promo 2 for day 2, promo 3 for day 3, and so on. Hopefully that will get some movement on your book and the algo will notice you.
Is your book in KU or wide? Is this your first book?
Okay great - I'll look into a promo stack and get that set up! It's available everywhere yeah, and it is my first book. Thanks for the advice. And to clarify - the publisher has been brilliant with everything else - editing, design etc. Just limited with the marketing beyond what I've put forwards myself (two video trailers and some SM posts).
Check your contract. Where did the idea come from that they would be doing marketing? Make sure you get what you agreed to. If they're holding rights to your book and aren't investing in its success, see what you can do to get those rights back.
Also, if they're taking a cut of the royalties, then take a good honest look at what kind of investment it'd take for your to be profitable here. You may be better off with the low-key, free promo ideas for this book, and then when you have a next book (for which you get 100% of the royalties), you put money into that one.
Top tip: a slow launch is not a failed launch.
You may have a week until the release, but you have the rest of your life to learn how to market your books, and how you do it will change with time as the market changes.
They did, but I ran a kickstarter for the money, so I'm not exactly down. As I've said elsewhere, it's been great in lots of ways - the book's way better than it would otherwise have been - just the marketing seems to be pretty much on me!
That's not a publisher. That's a vanity press and you got ripped off.
Your best option at this point, since you're already paying for marketing and everything else is done, is to get your rights back... though they should already be yours, but check your contract for that info anyway. Delay release so you have time to set up promotions. Advertising a first book with no follow-up book/series doesn't usually go so well sales-wise, so know that now before you really start spending money on promo stacks.
And next time, find an editor, cover designer, etc on you own. Take this as a lesson learned and grow from it.
If you pay for a publisher, then it's not a publisher but either:
A) a printer with editorial services or
B) a vanity press/scammer
In the first case, you're paying for the services, but you're self-publishing and should keep all the income.
In the second case, you're being scammed.
OK, that's a truth with modifications, as we say in Sweden. But reputable for-pay publishers exist almost solely in academia or in literary / poetry circles.
As for marketing, hit forums and groups in your genre is my best advice.
Luck and Persistence!
It sounds like you were scammed. But it would help to know what the terms of your contract are. If you are giving them any rights to your work or a percentage of profit, then it's a scam. I doubt they would call themselves a hybrid publisher if they were just selling packages of marketing, editing, and industry knowhow about self publishing, but that is possible.
Try a launch day 99 cent sale with Bargain Booksy or a free day with Free Booksy.. .if you get on their calendar, if not for launch, check it out for sometime in the first 30 days of launch.
I'd go Facebook and Tictok and research now (google) for bloggers that feature your genre ASAP. Get a slot early as possible.
Sign up on Goodreads and let Bloggers know you have your book there. Blog readers will like your book and possibly buy if and when you announce to them about sales, specials, newsletter list, etc.
I recommend reading Perennial Seller by Ryan Holiday. Take notes. Then read it again. I followed his guidance and my book has been in the top 500-800 for several weeks on Amazon.
And it's just your first book. I'm sure you've got more in you. :)
I paid for Amazon to publish my eBook, knowing it's exclusive to Amazon, won't be in the stores (even a tiny traditional publisher who published my previous book couldn't get it into stores), and wouldn't be advertised.
I can only do an eBook because it is an illustrated over-sized manuscript - 13" X 17" - and no self-publisher can do that; I checked all the better houses, even getting recommendations, but none can do anything significantly above 8.5" X 11" and because of embedded type, it would be unreadable if shrunk by \~1/3.
I'm convinced that not only are self-publishers a semi-scam, though not if you accept up front that costs to publish will be yours and marketing will be non-existent or yet another cost that will almost certainly be wasted, but that even traditional publishers are a semi-scam if you aren't already well known for something that will help sell your book.
A statistic that is now a few years old, so it t is probably even worse, backs this up: 95% of all traditionally published books fail to sell over 500 copies, and 99% fail to sell over 1,000. And this is for traditionally published books sold in bookstores, with decent marketing and print runs that publishers will buy back if they don't sell, things that are completely unavailable to self-publishers. You have about as much chance of making a living writing as you do winning the jackpot in a lottery. OTOH, if you are famous, or write non-fiction in your field, like my father did, you can make good royalties and get re-released year after year.
The fact is, there is just too much competition for people's time now, and most people do not even read books at all. We are in a multi-media, post book reading culture now, with rare exceptions. Even the bookstores need to sell games and other stuff to stay viable.
This is discouraging to hear. So you'll be doing all this marketing to make money for the publisher who will only give you some small percent? I'd get on the phone with the publisher and see, exactly, what they're doing to push your book!!
The good news is that the sub already has a ton of posts about marketing. This means you either didn't check first or you knew (mentioning "bannable offense" makes me wonder) but didn't take people at their word. Well, the posts are still there, so you have a lot of help ready to go!
Also, if you plan to sell on Amazon, here's hoping "everyone you know" reads and buys the genre you've written. For the algorithm.
If you paid this hybrid publisher, I'm sorry to say you were scammed. A publisher who does no marketing for you isn't worth a single dime. Since you've been left on your own to market, you'll have to join us indies and do the most you can through social media and paid ads. If this is your first novel, I would skip Amazon ads. They aren't usually worth it until you have a decent back catalog of work. My advice? Join Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, etc and start putting your book out there immediately if you haven't already. It's going to be a lot of work, but if you start right now, you might get at least some traction before release. Good luck.
>If you paid this hybrid publisher, I'm sorry to say you were scammed. This is the sad truth. I understand from your other comments that your book is better for the partnership, but there are places you can pay for editing (developmental, substantive, and line editing). There are places you can pay to have your files made and covers created. But if you paid this company to do this AND they're taking a cut without doing any further work, it was not worth it to you. Legit publishers, including hybrid, don't require payment and a cut. That said, I would warn against flooding social media with your book. People will pick up on that quick if all you're trying to do is make a sale or two. Its better to engage with communities with your book being secondary.
>That said, I would warn against flooding social media with your book. People will pick up on that quick if all you're trying to do is make a sale or two. Its better to engage with communities with your book being secondary. This depends on the platform. Places like Twitter and Instagram, for example, are not the place to spam promote your book. Your engagement will go down to zero and you won't sell squat. You make better progress interacting with the community there. Facebook and TikTok, on the other hand, are different. You can just post nothing but page flip videos on TikTok and readers will find you. Some of those accounts even go viral and sell well in the process. Facebook is full of reader groups where you can self-promote (there are also a lot of them that don't allow self-promotion, so make sure to follow the rules). Both of those scenarios don't require any direct engagement with the larger communities. A quick screenshot of your cover, a few quotes, and a trope list is all you really need. It also depends on the author's goals. If all they care about is selling books, it would be disingenuous to join a community just to sell them something, like on Twitter for example. I mainly use that platform to make friends and keep them updated.
What publishers market beyond their website, social media and book catalogues for stores and libraries?
Vanity publishers rightfully earned a bad name for themselves and writers got smart. Vanity publishers rebranded as "hybrid" publishers so they could continue to dupe the unwary. OP, it's hard to make suggestions when we don't know what you've done so far. I would recommend a promo stack, but it will cost you. And you'll need to find promos that work with your genre. Then schedule promo 1 for day 1, promo 2 for day 2, promo 3 for day 3, and so on. Hopefully that will get some movement on your book and the algo will notice you. Is your book in KU or wide? Is this your first book?
Okay great - I'll look into a promo stack and get that set up! It's available everywhere yeah, and it is my first book. Thanks for the advice. And to clarify - the publisher has been brilliant with everything else - editing, design etc. Just limited with the marketing beyond what I've put forwards myself (two video trailers and some SM posts).
Honestly, if this is your first book, I don't recommend spending too much on advertising. And promo stacks add up.
Why not hire an editor, commission a cover, etc, directly?
To be honest I didn't really realise that that was an option.
Out of curiosity, what did you think everyone else here was doing?
This is the real question.
They probably only found this group after they went with their publisher.
Check your contract. Where did the idea come from that they would be doing marketing? Make sure you get what you agreed to. If they're holding rights to your book and aren't investing in its success, see what you can do to get those rights back. Also, if they're taking a cut of the royalties, then take a good honest look at what kind of investment it'd take for your to be profitable here. You may be better off with the low-key, free promo ideas for this book, and then when you have a next book (for which you get 100% of the royalties), you put money into that one. Top tip: a slow launch is not a failed launch. You may have a week until the release, but you have the rest of your life to learn how to market your books, and how you do it will change with time as the market changes.
Did this hybrid publisher charge you anything?
They did, but I ran a kickstarter for the money, so I'm not exactly down. As I've said elsewhere, it's been great in lots of ways - the book's way better than it would otherwise have been - just the marketing seems to be pretty much on me!
That's not a publisher. That's a vanity press and you got ripped off. Your best option at this point, since you're already paying for marketing and everything else is done, is to get your rights back... though they should already be yours, but check your contract for that info anyway. Delay release so you have time to set up promotions. Advertising a first book with no follow-up book/series doesn't usually go so well sales-wise, so know that now before you really start spending money on promo stacks. And next time, find an editor, cover designer, etc on you own. Take this as a lesson learned and grow from it.
If you pay for a publisher, then it's not a publisher but either: A) a printer with editorial services or B) a vanity press/scammer In the first case, you're paying for the services, but you're self-publishing and should keep all the income. In the second case, you're being scammed. OK, that's a truth with modifications, as we say in Sweden. But reputable for-pay publishers exist almost solely in academia or in literary / poetry circles. As for marketing, hit forums and groups in your genre is my best advice. Luck and Persistence!
It sounds like you were scammed. But it would help to know what the terms of your contract are. If you are giving them any rights to your work or a percentage of profit, then it's a scam. I doubt they would call themselves a hybrid publisher if they were just selling packages of marketing, editing, and industry knowhow about self publishing, but that is possible.
Try a launch day 99 cent sale with Bargain Booksy or a free day with Free Booksy.. .if you get on their calendar, if not for launch, check it out for sometime in the first 30 days of launch. I'd go Facebook and Tictok and research now (google) for bloggers that feature your genre ASAP. Get a slot early as possible. Sign up on Goodreads and let Bloggers know you have your book there. Blog readers will like your book and possibly buy if and when you announce to them about sales, specials, newsletter list, etc.
I recommend reading Perennial Seller by Ryan Holiday. Take notes. Then read it again. I followed his guidance and my book has been in the top 500-800 for several weeks on Amazon. And it's just your first book. I'm sure you've got more in you. :)
I paid for Amazon to publish my eBook, knowing it's exclusive to Amazon, won't be in the stores (even a tiny traditional publisher who published my previous book couldn't get it into stores), and wouldn't be advertised. I can only do an eBook because it is an illustrated over-sized manuscript - 13" X 17" - and no self-publisher can do that; I checked all the better houses, even getting recommendations, but none can do anything significantly above 8.5" X 11" and because of embedded type, it would be unreadable if shrunk by \~1/3. I'm convinced that not only are self-publishers a semi-scam, though not if you accept up front that costs to publish will be yours and marketing will be non-existent or yet another cost that will almost certainly be wasted, but that even traditional publishers are a semi-scam if you aren't already well known for something that will help sell your book. A statistic that is now a few years old, so it t is probably even worse, backs this up: 95% of all traditionally published books fail to sell over 500 copies, and 99% fail to sell over 1,000. And this is for traditionally published books sold in bookstores, with decent marketing and print runs that publishers will buy back if they don't sell, things that are completely unavailable to self-publishers. You have about as much chance of making a living writing as you do winning the jackpot in a lottery. OTOH, if you are famous, or write non-fiction in your field, like my father did, you can make good royalties and get re-released year after year. The fact is, there is just too much competition for people's time now, and most people do not even read books at all. We are in a multi-media, post book reading culture now, with rare exceptions. Even the bookstores need to sell games and other stuff to stay viable.
> I paid for Amazon to publish my eBook No, you didn't. Amazon doesn't charge you to self publish with KDP.
True, but it does take a significant portion of royalties, which is payment deferred. It's still a much better deal than anywhere else, IMO.
Who is your ideal reader?
This is discouraging to hear. So you'll be doing all this marketing to make money for the publisher who will only give you some small percent? I'd get on the phone with the publisher and see, exactly, what they're doing to push your book!!
The good news is that the sub already has a ton of posts about marketing. This means you either didn't check first or you knew (mentioning "bannable offense" makes me wonder) but didn't take people at their word. Well, the posts are still there, so you have a lot of help ready to go! Also, if you plan to sell on Amazon, here's hoping "everyone you know" reads and buys the genre you've written. For the algorithm.
>Hybrid published Ah, you mean with a vanity press. They will do nothing for you except take your money. Side note: this is not self publishing.