How to Choose the Right Publishing Partner

Publishing has evolved incredibly over the last couple of decades. And while landing a traditional publishing contract is still much coveted by authors, becoming an indie author is an option that is becoming ever more accessible.

But being an indie author doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do it on your own. You can, certainly. This would mean you would undertake the learning curve of self-publishing; you would find your own talent in book design, marketing, etc. But if you aren’t interested in completely undertaking the task by yourself, you want to find a good publishing partner.

Hybrid publishers are cropping up more and more, and the term “publisher” is being tossed around more than ever. But what, exactly, is a “hybrid publisher”? In the truest sense of the term, a hybrid publisher should be someone who contributes to the publication of your book. This contribution can be in the form of a financial contribution to the cost of publishing and marketing your book or it can be a contribution of talent and time that will make the difference in the success of a project. For example, if this hybrid publisher has traditional distribution in bookstores, this is a significant contribution to your book’s publication, since bookstore distribution is one of the biggest advantages that comes with a traditional publishing contract. If this hybrid publisher has a strong marketing network that they will leverage for your book, that’s another attractive feature. Simply put, your hybrid publisher needs to be offering you a clear advantage that would not be at your disposal as an indie author.

If we are talking about a third party that is not a hybrid publisher, then we’re talking about a publishing partner—a fee-for-service party that will assist you in the publication of your book. While a cover designer or ebook formatter could arguably be a publishing partner, for the purposes of this blog post, we’re going to focus on full-service partners like the Aaxel Author Group that offer a range of services for authors, everything from editing to book marketing. 

Why a full-service publishing partner?

Can you find a cover designer on Fiverr who will do your book cover for $35? Absolutely. Can you find an editor who will edit your whole manuscript for $100? Sure. But what’s the drawback? Well, for one, you need to take into account the research that goes into locating suppliers. It can literally take hours of perusing supplier profiles and portfolios, contacting them, and gathering all the necessary information. When you choose to work with a partner like the Aaxel Author Group, you are saving yourself a lot of time. Secondly, when going about it alone, whoever you decide to go with will be a leap of faith. When you partner with a publishing partner like AAS, you’re accessing our network of carefully selected suppliers. We’ve worked with our talent before, we know that they will do an excellent job and, best of all, you don’t have to worry about suppliers not responding to you in a timely manner or downright “ghosting” you. We’ve met plenty of authors who started working with their own cover designer or book formatter only to be abandoned halfway through and left to start over. By choosing a publishing partner like Aaxel, you can be confident that your book publication will be smooth.

What are some things to keep in mind when working with a publishing partner?

The first thing we suggest is to confirm ownership of the publication process. One of the great advantages of being an indie author is the control you have, both over the creative process but also over the actual publication process. So, a simple question like: who will be the publisher on record of my book? If the answer is the publishing partner, then make sure they are giving you something of true value in exchange for you handing them ownership of your book. Do they have a certain level of name recognition in the industry that you will be able to leverage? Are they contributing in any way to the publication of your book? If the answer is no to both of those questions, then you might want to think twice before handing them control. We at the Aaxel Author Group are always very clear with our authors: we do not own the publishing process or any element of your book. ISBNs? Those are yours. Any accounts with publishing platforms that we open? They’re all in your name. Who gets final say on book cover? You do. As an indie author, it’s important that this be clear to you. 

The next critical thing is royalties and who is entitled to them. Unless you have a hybrid (or traditional) publisher, you should be earning all royalties. Unless your publisher is contributing something significant to your publishing project, there’s no reason for them to touch any of your earnings. If you have fully paid this party for editing, cover design, book formatting, and all the other critical elements of a published book, why do you owe them anything more? At the Aaxel Author Group, we don’t touch any of our authors’ royalties. We are paid for the specific services they have solicited of us, and we don’t ask for a penny more.

Finally, take your time looking at the contract from the publishing partner and ensure that each service you’re paying for has merit. For example, certain companies will include your book’s listing in their online bookstore. Unless they can prove that this “bookstore” has a certain number of monthly visitors, that feature is worthless. One popular service that is often touted is “distribution to bookstores”—unless the company is offering traditional bookstore distribution, then all they are offering is the distribution provided by a publishing platform like IngramSpark. There’s certainly nothing wrong with mentioning it, but if you have the impression that you are paying a premium for this distribution, proceed with caution.

At the end of the day, you want to make sure your publishing partner is transparent, professional and authentic. Mistakes are part of the process, but click here to read our blog post on the 5 Self-Publishing Mistakes to Avoid. 

Want to learn more about partnering with the Aaxel Author Group? Click here, and let’s talk!