As the term is relatively new, different interpretations are used by different companies and bodies within the publishing industry, and the exact definition is still evolving.
In 2022, the Society of Authors and the Writers Guild of Great Britain produced a report highlighting its concerns and calling for review and reform.
The publisher is then responsible for producing and distributing the book; however, the author pays a fee to cover the cost of some of the component services.
The essential differentiating factor between a hybrid press and a vanity press is that a true hybrid publisher undertakes editorial evaluation, setting standards in what work it accepts for publication based on quality and its merit as a sellable product, in the same way that a traditional publisher does.
An author whose work is accepted by a true hybrid publisher can therefore have more confidence that the project is worth implementing.
As they then have a vested interest in the success of the novel, they will typically offer more marketing support than a vanity publisher.
A growing number of companies offer a one-stop shop where an author can source all the services required to publish a book (sometimes called "Assisted Self-publishing").
[11] These hybrid academic publishers let authors who have been acquired choose whether to go with the reader-funded or author-funded model.