A decade or so ago, the publishing industry—and by extension authors—were viewed through a very black-and-white lens: traditional publishing = the stamp of excellence; self-publishing = “plan B” for writers whose work wasn’t worthy of a traditional publisher. Thanks to the writers who’ve busted the myth of that binary, we now have plenty of proof that the method of publication is not necessarily an indicator of merit.
Authors also have access to more than just two diametrically opposed publication channels: enter the hybrid publisher. In hybrid publishing, the author helps to finance some or all of the publishing costs in exchange for higher royalties than a traditional publisher would offer, and in return, the hybrid publisher provides access to things like publicity and networking opportunities and a wider distribution network. There’s also the understanding that, unlike vanity publishing, a hybrid publisher has a specific publishing program and quality expectations (like a traditional publisher) and does not accept every manuscript that comes its way.
One hybrid publisher that’s enjoying success in terms of growing industry respect, a robust author list, and the creation of a supportive author community is She Writes Press. Here, publisher Brooke Warner explains the press’s mission and looks toward the future of hybrid publishing.
Can you tell us about the mission and business model of She Writes?
She Writes Press’s mission is to elevate women’s voices. We are a platform for women writers in the literal sense and in that we give women writers a platform for their words and stories. We are a hybrid publishing model, which means that the authors subsidize their own projects, but we meet the nine criteria as laid out in the [Independent Book Publishers Association’s] Hybrid Publishing Criteria. Most important to us in these criteria, what we believe sets us apart, is the quality of our books, which are vetted, as well as traditional distribution, which means that our books are getting out into the marketplace in a meaningful way—to retailers, libraries, wholesalers, and specialty stores. Authors pay to publish with us, and in return they keep a very high percentage of their royalties (compared to traditional publishing), which is why a lot of people consider this model to be entrepreneurial.
How has She Writes grown since its founding?
We’ve come into our own in many ways. I feel like we no longer have to prove ourselves, because the books speak for themselves. And with that have come more legitimacy and more readers and more sales. I think we’re recognized by booksellers and librarians, which makes a difference because we’re a known quantity, and our quality is consistently good. We’ve also grown in volume. We’re consistently publishing around 80 books a year, and this (or at least as close to it as we can manage) is also our cap. We want to grow in visibility and sales rather than in the volume of books we publish each year, so the fact that that’s happening is a boon. We’re right where we want to be.
What are you hoping to see in your submission queue?
We have clear guidelines on our site for what we are looking for. We want a cover letter, a synopsis, a biographical statement, and the first 20 pages of the manuscript. We are evaluating the work based on the writing alone, unlike the traditional industry, which is more focused on who the author is and what her author platform is. We love it when a writer tells us about herself and her journey to get to us. We want to know the author’s story, but at the end of the day we are assessing the work and putting it on one of our tracks—publish-ready, needs copy editing, needs developmental editing or coaching, or doesn’t qualify to publish with us.
What are some upcoming titles you’re excited about?
One of the most rewarding things for me is authors coming back to us to publish their second or third books, so I’m excited about The Nine, by Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg. Her first book, Eden, had an amazing performance, and this second novel is about a boy who’s in the position to expose an authority figure at the center of a sex scandal. We also publish a lot of memoirs, and one of the ones I’m particularly intrigued by is The Expedition: Two Sleds, the Risk of a Lifetime, and an Extraordinary Quest to the South Pole, by Chris Fagan, about a trip she took with her husband to ski 570 miles from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole—with no guide or resupply. Pretty incredible story. And this fall I’m also publishing my own book, Write On, Sisters!: Voice, Courage, and Claiming Your Place at the Table, which is an important book for me because it’s honoring all of the women who are published with us and will be published with us down the road. I’m always seeking to support women to harness their courage—to write, to publish, to promote, to get their voices out into the world. This is central to the mission of the press and to the message of my new book.
What is unique about your corner of the industry?
What’s unique is that we are publishing work based exclusively on writing and not on author platform. What that means is that we are publishing voices that might not otherwise find a place, or most certainly would not be amplified in the way we’re able to amplify them. We are also publishing women only, so there’s a true sisterhood in our community of authors, which cannot be underestimated in terms of its value to our authors. The authors support and champion one another, buy each other’s books, attend each other’s events. It’s an incredible network of smart and talented women, and I’m always so inspired by how they show up for each other.
What would you like to change about publishing?
The work I’ve been doing over the past six years since She Writes Press was founded is about leveling the playing field. I’ve argued that we need different measures by which we qualify a book’s worth. The industry is pretty insular, and it’s operated in a certain way for a really long time and is therefore resistant to change. The advent of self-publishing has resulted in growing pains, and we have an industry that has tried to accommodate self-published authors by making money off of them without any regard for the notion that they’re on par with traditionally published books. Because I’ve worked with every kind of author—traditionally published, hybrid published, and self-published—I know that the industry is deluding itself if it thinks that just because a book is traditionally published it’s a better or more deserving book. The publishing industry is made up of people who love books and words, and so we owe it to ourselves, to authors everywhere, and to readers to judge books based on their merit and not based on how they get published. This notion that books are inherently less-than when an author pays to publish is so antiquated, and we’re not seeing this playing out in film or music. I’d love to see the publishing industry value indie authors in the same way indie filmmakers and musicians are valued—and even celebrated.
Brooke Warner is publisher of She Writes Press and SparkPress, president of Warner Coaching, and author of the forthcoming Write On, Sisters!: Voice, Courage, and Claiming Your Place at the Table, as well as five other books on publishing and memoir. Brooke is a TEDx speaker, weekly podcaster (Write-minded with co-host Grant Faulkner of NaNoWriMo), and the former executive editor of Seal Press. She’s the board chair of the Independent Book Publishers Association and writes a monthly column for Publishers Weekly.
