177 - From Indy to Trad to Hybrid

Episode 177 - From Indy to Trad to Hybrid with Leslye Penelope

March 14, 2023

Author Leslye Penelope talks about FROM INDY TO TRAD TO HYBRID, including being an indy author approached by a traditional publisher (and how that’s the exception, not the rule); what changed with her traditionally published release and what stayed the same; publisher and author rights; partnering with one's traditional publisher; backlist books and traditional publishing; the idea that trad publishers' customers are bookstores, not readers; assessing fit for indy or traditional per book; and choosing your publishing path.

Leslye Penelope has been writing since she could hold a pen and loves getting lost in the worlds in her head. She is an award-winning fantasy and paranormal romance author. Her novel SONG OF BLOOD & STONE was chosen as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time. Equally left- and right-brained, she studied filmmaking and computer science in college and sometimes dreams in HTML. She hosts the My Imaginary Friends podcast and lives in Maryland with her husband and furry dependents.

"Are you interested in marketing? Are you interested in managing editors and cover designers and learning how to do ads? Does that fascinate you or does that make you run and hide with fear? So maybe let someone else do that. If you go the traditional route and someone chooses you, other people do handle that. Now, how well they handle it, you're not going to know that either. They both have their own heartaches and benefits." —Leslye Penelope

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Links

Leslye's Links:
Author Website: http://www.lpenelope.com
Podcast & Courses: https://myimaginaryfriends.net
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leslyepenelope

Companion Episodes:
Episode 161 - Choosing Your Publishing Path with Isabella Maldonado
Episode 151 - Setting Your Creative Horizons with Patricia McLinn
Episode 097 - Taking the Long View for Publishing Success with JK Ellem
Episode 075 - Key Book Publishing Paths with Jane Friedman
Episode 066 - From Indy to Traditional with Jason Kasper
Episode 032 - Hybrid Publishing with Julie Mulhern

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I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Leslye! Had you ever thought in terms of the customers of the traditional publishers being the bookstores rather than the readers? What information did Leslye share that either confirmed your beliefs about the pros and cons of different publishing approaches, or that made you think of them in a different way?

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