I, my friends, am about to go Hybrid.

I’m not talking this:

Or this:

Or even this:

Nope. When The Nothing comes out at the end of this month I’m going to be a bona fide Hybrid Author, with one foot in the traditional publishing world and one crossing the line into Indie.

Funny thing. I once said, aloud and in public (during an interview, in fact) that I had never even considered self publishing. Which was true. There are all sorts of reasons for that, one of them being that I liked the idea of somebody else taking care of things so I could just write. Plus, I’m not much of a business person, and Indie publishing is a business.

So, I thought it would be lovely to just sit back and let my publisher write book blurbs, design covers, take care of editing and marketing and all of the things. And some of that really was lovely, I’ll admit. It was good to know that as long as I hit my deadlines, somebody else would put all of those words together into a package that would eventually be book shaped.

There’s a lot to think about when you’re publishing a book yourself. ISBN numbers. Cover art. Editing. Formatting. Blurbs. Cover copy.

But I have control over these things. I like that. Want a Goodreads giveaway? No need to email your PR person and wait to hear back – just set it up yourself. Need back cover copy? Write it. Wondering what your publication date is going to be? Pick one.

I’ve been extraordinarily lucky with the team I’ve hired to help me, as well. And maybe that’s the thing I’m liking the most about the whole Indie Adventure – they are MY team. Right or wrong, when I was working with a big publishing house I felt small and humble, like I was always begging for favors when I reached out to my editor or PR people. It’s not like that with an Indie team. I’m in the driver’s seat. I rely heavily on the advice and expertise of the people I’m paying to help me, but in the end, I have the power of veto.

Which makes sense, considering that nobody cares more about the book than me.

That said, I’m also moving into new territory with a small publishing house. And I’m liking that experience too. There’s a marketing plan shaping up before the release date for Dead Before Dying has even been set. My input appears to be valued. And when I asked what they needed to approve the next book in the series, figuring they’d want a synopsis and sample chapters, I was told to just go ahead and create.

The beauty of Hybrid is that you can take the best of both worlds. Some books fit better in the traditional model, some do better Indie. I’ve never liked boxes. All of my books blur the genre lines. And it seems to me like the lines between Indie and Traditional are much less solid than they used to be.