By comparison, my debut erotic romance came out a year ago from Loose Id, and sold 125 copies the first month - from LI's site. Sales have risen and fallen since, but the overall sales have made me really happy. LI sent out review copies. They have a big web community, strong advertising presence in genre and industry magazines, they've been around long enough to appear stable, and (at least for me) haven't been overly dramatic in the editorial or accounting departments. Just being in the LI catalog gave me some legitimacy. I have done minor giveaways, weekly online promotion on a 12K-member romance reader group, and a few blog hops.
LI was one of seven e-pubs that I queried. Mainstream publishers were out, because of graphic content. Two pubs made an offer, and LI's offer came first and sounded better.
(For honesty's sake, Musa rejected on content).
Would Musa be a good small press for authors with specific expectations, and the savvy to do their own promo? Possibly. They have some good editors and cover artists. Some of their authors seem to sell really well. But if my debut had sold under 50 copies in a year, I would not send another mms.
LI was one of seven e-pubs that I queried. Mainstream publishers were out, because of graphic content. Two pubs made an offer, and LI's offer came first and sounded better.
(For honesty's sake, Musa rejected on content).
Would Musa be a good small press for authors with specific expectations, and the savvy to do their own promo? Possibly. They have some good editors and cover artists. Some of their authors seem to sell really well. But if my debut had sold under 50 copies in a year, I would not send another mms.