At The Collective Book Studio, we are rethinking publishing culture—we are creating a work environment that is collaborative, transparent, and inclusive. For authors, this means a partnership that goes beyond the transactional. Rather than giving up control of your manuscript, partnership publishing ensures you remain an active decision-maker throughout the process. Our model prioritizes shared investment and long-term support. Authors retain creative control while maximizing royalties, allowing artists to focus on their work without sacrificing the project’s quality and readership base. Writers choose us not only for the books we make but for the culture we cultivate: one rooted in equity, innovation, and authentic relationship-building.

Authors Elisabeth Saake and Jennifer Newens with Angela Engel at an event at SubText Books. 

The traditional publishing model is a one-to-one business transaction: work in exchange for ownership. It is a straightforward, rigid model: acquisition followed by publication, all to the end of hopefully creating revenue. Revenue, or the lack of it, justifies the publishing house’s backing of the author and their monetary risk. The Collective Book Studio’s hybrid publishing model, or partnership publishing, innovates on this equation, combining collaboration and joint emotional and financial investment into the relationship between publisher and author. The books are the fruits of a balanced collaboration. It is innovation modeled on the most successful interpersonal relationships.

Partnership publishing is a model where the author invests money up front to bring a project from concept to finished product. The key to any publishing venture is distribution—getting books into readers’ hands. But what does that really mean for an author? Beyond store shelves and online listings, it also comes down to clear, fair agreements. Authors need to know they’re keeping the rights to their work and entering contracts they understand. That’s where we focus on innovation: building agreements that put creators first. Independent presses have a long history of partnerships (or Hybrid Publishing) where authors benefit from worldwide distribution and a seasoned team of industry experts.

Angela Engel with Associate Publisher Elisabeth Saake and Art Director Rachel Metzger Lopez.

Unlike the one-size-fits-all structure of traditional houses, hybrid publishing allows for nuance. Royalty structures, upfront costs, and services can be tailored to an author’s individual goals for their titles. At the heart of our work is creating the best possible relationship between publisher and author. We bring the rigor of traditional publishing—exacting editorial standards, a fully fleshed-out vision for our list, and a love of reading—all while incorporating the author’s creative autonomy and investment in their own success. The book market has undergone seismic changes with the rise of the internet and other cultural shifts. Partnership publishing ensures that an author’s ability to publish is not determined by sales alone.

The financial model sets the tone for innovation in every detail of The Collective Book Studio’s work culture. In no way an old boys’ club, TCBS is proudly woman-owned and staffed by a majority of women and non-binary employees. Mentorship of young women is baked into the core of the company. At our company, neither youth nor gender is a barrier to participation or growth.

Angela Engel with the Female Founder Collective. 

We embrace new technology, a move other publishing houses are loath to make. We rely on advanced project-management tools like Airtable to streamline workflows across editorial, design, production, and marketing. Our social media presence connects us directly to readers, booksellers, librarians, and educators, using technology as a tool to create authentic relationships. Put simply, we’re not afraid of change. If a new approach helps us create better books, we’re ready to embrace it.

We’re excited to explore how AI can help us stay efficient while giving Collective employees more space to focus on the work they love most. We pride ourselves on creating beautiful, design-forward books: an inherently human craft that, we think, AI cannot replace. We see AI as a tool for handling rote tasks, helping inspire research ideas, and conducting market analysis, freeing our team to channel their creativity, expertise, and passion into the aspects of publishing that are most interesting to them. 

We aren’t headquartered in New York City (the “traditional” center of the publishing industry), and we consequently have the freedom to think outside the box and create processes that match the needs of the organic relationships we have with our authors, rather than the calcified industry standards. Based in the Bay Area, we work out of a coworking space that reflects our interests and goals for the future: the potential power of collaboration and new models of what work can look like. Our office, like our financial model, is a catalyst for new connections. 

Angela Engel with author Micah Siva, Audrey Barbakoff and Michelle Schlinger, editor in chief of Foreword Magazine.