The Rhetoric of Hybrid Publishing (Presentation Slides)

The Rhetoric of Hybrid Publishing: Negotiating Legitimacy and Stigma in the Modern Publishing Landscape Brittany Griffiths, DePaul University

In today’s evolving literary landscape, hybrid publishing has emerged as a disruptive force that challenges traditional notions of legitimacy, authorship, and artistic authority. Defined by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) as an author-subsidized business model, hybrid publishing combines the professional standards of traditional publishing with a financial structure in which authors invest in the process. This presentation offers a rhetorical analysis of how hybrid publishing is framed in public and institutional discourse. Drawing on digital ethnography, interviews, and publishing scholarship, it explores how legitimacy is constructed, contested, and redefined. This session invites critical reflection on access, equity, and creative agency in an evolving publishing ecosystem.

Brittany Griffiths is an undergraduate in DePaul University’s Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse program and the Senior Manager of Operations at Brown Books Publishing Group, a hybrid publisher in Dallas, Texas. With experience across independent, library, and trade publishing, she brings a cross-industry perspective to developing sustainable publishing models and author-centered initiatives. Brittany’s work focuses on the rhetorics of publishing and how emerging technologies can improve accessibility and impact within the literary world. She is also the writer behind From the Stack, a Substack publication featuring cultural criticism and essays on literature, film, travel, and publishing.