If you want to earn a higher royalty than the industry standard then hybrid publishing might be for you. Unlike in the traditional publishing model where the publisher bears all the financial risk, in the hybrid model the author shares the risk by paying an upfront fee in the expectation of earning higher royalties when the book sells. Obviously if a book sells well, the hybrid author will benefit tremendously and the hybrid publisher will earn less than in the traditional model (but the hybrid publisher is happy to accept this as its risk is significantly reduced). If a book is slower to sell through then it will take a longer time for the hybrid author to recoup the initial investment and if a book fails to sell then the author may not recoup their initial outlay. There is no guarantee a book will sell in sufficient quantities for either party – author and publisher – to break even or make a profit.