Musa Publishing

VanessaNorth said:

In my experience with 6 books at Musa

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Vanessa, can I ask if you noticed any difference in terms of marketing and editing over the course of those six books being published?

Captcha said:

Based on the Amazon Look Inside, there's a typo on the first page of chapter one (missing period). Not an auspicious start. And if they can't even get their highly hyped books proofread, what hopes do the rest of them have?

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I just wanted to jump in. When I subbed to Musa, the acquisitions editor went over my MS not once but three separate times. And that was before I was offered any kind of a contract. I assume there are multiple editors, but the person I worked with was very thorough and extremely professional.

thethinker42 said:

What seun said.

A publisher is not doing an author a favor or "giving them a chance" or any of that when they accept a book. They're entering into a business arrangement to produce a commercially viable product, and it is in their best interest to produce a solid product and market it accordingly. Simply putting it out there is not enough by any means. If an author is unknown, then the publisher needs to make them known. That is their job.

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I was wondering about this. When one enters into a business arrangement it's generally with the intent of making a profit. How is this accomplished if sales are as poor as so many claim? (not saying that anyone is not being truthful, it just seems like a conundrum to me!)

Brigid Barry said:

I was wondering about this. When one enters into a business arrangement it's generally with the intent of making a profit. How is this accomplished if sales are as poor as so many claim? (not saying that anyone is not being truthful, it just seems like a conundrum to me!)

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Hypothetcally speaking, if overheads are mostly fixed and editors etc are on a share of royalties--it makes little difference to a press if they earn by having a few books sell many copies, or many books sell a few copies.

veinglory said:

Hypothetcally speaking, if overheads are mostly fixed and editors etc are on a share of royalties--it makes little difference to a press if they earn by having a few books sell many copies, or many books sell a few copies.

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Other than your relationship with authors and editors being a LOT more pleasant under your first hypothetical scenario than the second, since in the first, everyone's making money, and in the second, very few are.

This whole discussion board has been a fascinating read. I submitted a short story to Musa in June and was accepted. The genre is m/m romance and its heat level gets spicy so I know that it fits a niche that sells well. I'm curious to hear what the general experience with short story publication has been at Musa.

Well, I've managed to get above the magical number 14. As of latest results, I've sold 50 e-copies and 50 of my hard copies.

It's still not fantastic results, but I've had lots more lunch money recently. LOL.

How long has your work been out, Hip-Hop-A-Potamus? PS Great name!

Hip-Hop-a-potamus said:

Well, I've managed to get above the magical number 14. As of latest results, I've sold 50 e-copies and 50 of my hard copies.

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I thought Musa was ebook only?

Brigid Barry said:

I thought Musa was ebook only?

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No, you have the option for occasional print runs. It's not something that's ever interested me, so I haven't paid attention to what is involved, but they do it a few times a year by author request.

SamanthaLehane said:

How long has your work been out, Hip-Hop-A-Potamus? PS Great name!

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My one book has been out since April. Things only picked up AFTER I was able to order my promotional copies, since I've been able to do appearances at local literary events with multiple authors, etc. And the minute co-workers found out about it, they all wanted signed copies. I work with a wonderful group of supportive folks.

The problem with these print copies is that you can't take them to local bookstores and try to do any business that way. It violates your contract. But I'm doing my best in other ways.

PLUS, my book is finally available on Overdrive for libraries to order. So I'm contacting them to try to get it added.

Hi

Me checking in again. Got a second royalty check from Musa. This one was for $30.56. They paid early this month and I thought that was really cool. This is still just for Undercover Lover that came out in September and the memo on the check said it's for Musa1113, Amz/BN/RNBW 0913, ARE/OD3Q13. I've got to say, I really appreciate the on time payments. I hate chasing down my royalties.

So while I'm not blowing any doors in with sales, it was really nice to get a check. Total sales though are $34.55 for a 47K novel. (Which is a little more than 17 sales, but not by much. I have the dumbs when it comes to math. Not taking in account Amazon's percentage doing the math it comes out to 17 books. But since Amazon takes a cut it's probably a few more sales.) Musa's Delphi site said I sold 29 units since September, so I'll most likely see another small check in January as well. I'm wondering if their Black Monday 1/2 off sale got me more sales.

They said my promotional print run will be in my hands by Christmas and I had a local jewelry store offer to host me for a book signing. I don't think I'll do anything but break even on the books I sell at the book signing. The books are priced as $9.99, but no one is going to pay that for a book smaller than those Harlequin Intrigues (which go for $4.99 in the grocery). I'm going to try and get $7.00 for them.

The print run was a big decision on my part. It was $316 for 50 books. I originally wasn't going to do it, but then I decided I wanted to enter the RITA awards. So it allowed me to enter my romantic suspense in the RITA and give my friends and family paperback books as presents. And if I sell the rest by hand, I figured I'll break even so I made the investment.

I didn't receive any royalties from Musa this month. So I'm guessing that means there were no November sales?

It might still be coming. I just got the check today, KimJo. Good luck! Did you look on Delphi to see if your numbers changed from last month?

KimJo said:

I didn't receive any royalties from Musa this month. So I'm guessing that means there were no November sales?

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I got jack for about four months. Over the last three, I've made about five quid.

seun said:

I got jack for about four months. Over the last three, I've made about five quid.

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And it's a bloody shame, Seun. Both of your Musa books are very good.

Anninyn said:

And it's a bloody shame, Seun. Both of your Musa books are very good.

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Thanks. For the most part, the reviews I had were decent. Musa did a 50% off thing a few weeks ago which didn't do much for my sales, sadly. I'd be interested if anyone else noticed an increase in theirs.

Jamiekswriter said:

It might still be coming. I just got the check today, KimJo. Good luck! Did you look on Delphi to see if your numbers changed from last month?

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I checked Delphi the day the email went out on the loop that payments had gone out early. There were no November numbers, only October. (I sold 8 copies in October across ALL vendors including Musa, according to Delphi. October was the release month for my book.)

seun said:

Vanessa, can I ask if you noticed any difference in terms of marketing and editing over the course of those six books being published?

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Sure.

I worked with three different editors, two in the Calliope imprint, one in Wiccan Haus. My Erato book was edited by Jeanne, who also worked on Amazon with me. I've had, for the most part, a really good experience working with my Musa editors. I did have a bad experience with a line editor and it was dealt with.

Marketing in the Wiccan Haus is different because it's a shared world series, so there is a lot of cross marketing between the Wiccan Haus authors. There are WH specific marketing materials and swag that was made by Musa, etc. My sales on my WH books trend higher every time a new WH book comes out.

Outside of the Wiccan Haus, my marketing has been mostly driven by me, but Musa has been very helpful and cooperative with trying different things, letting me know about opportunities to do interviews, running sales on my books if I ask them to, etc. Again, a lot of that is driven by me, but Musa is always on board when I have specific marketing goals.

I'm really scouring my mind to recall, but I am quite certain I haven't had any experience with Musa marketing my five novels, at least not to my knowledge, other than the cover(s) appearing on the web site. My immediate response to a most recent call on the yahoo group from one of the higher-ups for interviews went unanswered, although I know the communication is working fine when it relates to money. After my last in-house sub was ignored, I am getting the sense that I've been, how do you say? "Blacklisted" within the house. Not sure whether that relates to my vast patience for the editing problems I've experienced, or for my posts here on AW. Communication is cursory at best.

Maddie, I've had communication issues as well. Especially after my editing issues with Over the River.

Haunted_October said:

Maddie, I've had communication issues as well. Especially after my editing issues with Over the River.

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That's disheartening, Haunted October. I would be curious if any other Musa authors have experienced the cold shoulder after posts here, or questioning "authority."

As a self-employed individual, I know better than to "bite the hand that feeds me," e.g., I don't screw myself over by being confrontational with clients, no matter how nasty they decide to be. This follows a good 35+ years working customer-service based jobs, and culminating in an educational partnership that often deals with inflated egos.

That said, remaining on point is important, and no matter what issues I've experienced [with Musa], I feel I've been professional, and discreet, and have considered that most of the conflicts and resolutions were handled by Musa in a professional manner.

However, I can't shake the impression that I am being penalized somehow. Aside from the dismal sales of all my books, including Road Apples--which did garner a Staff Top Pick with ARe--it's just a matter of my intuition. I would certainly appreciate being proven wrong about my gut feeling, but your short statement only seems to reinforce it.

I don't hear back from Celina anymore, but I haven't been ignored by the rest of the Musa staff, despite everything I posted here and my posts on the loop (though I do seem to have been blocked from the loop). I've been in contact with Kelly and Kerry about odd financial stuff that popped up (smashwords paid me instead of Musa, but that's all been straightened out), sales (Persephone went on sale the first two weeks of November), promotion (I replied to the interview post and had one scheduled), and editing (My christmas short story was in galleys.)

About the Christmas freebies, I was a bit surprised to see my name on the list. I sent in my short story to Celina in June, but never heard back (well, I did get an email asking what the file was for because the text in my message didn't send, but once I resent the entirety of the message, I never heard a word about the short story again). Enough time passed to where I could submit it to other places if I wanted to (which I didn't, but still) and then all the sudden at the end of November we got the information for the Christmas releases and the short story was in galleys. I don't recall getting a contract or anything. I didn't mind because I submitted it to be used for exactly what it was being used for so why would I be? Plus if I had any objections, say if I had submitted it elsewhere and it was picked up, I'm sure I could have emailed them at the end of November and had it removed, and I'm really glad Musa does the Christmas freebie promotion, but I was a bit surprised November was the first I heard it had been chosen, and I'm wondering if anyone else with Christmas freebies had a similar experience?

I submitted a short story for another free short story promotion back in June as well and haven't heard anything on it except that it wouldn't be released with my new release in July, and I'm not really sure if I should expect that story to pop up in galleys or if I'm free to do something else with it?

An observation (which may be off base) is to consider that Musa has had a seeming continual churning in editors, leaving those familiar with some of the novels/novellas published fewer in number.

Add that to the fact that they publish a lot of works (stories, novellas and novels), so they're pretty busy in addition to constantly adding authors--keeping up and individualized communication with the host of authors published (beyond the minimum) might be becoming more and more difficult, and not a reflection of attitude toward any particular author.

KaitlinBevis said:

About the Christmas freebies, I was a bit surprised to see my name on the list. I sent in my short story to Celina in June, but never heard back (well, I did get an email asking what the file was for because the text in my message didn't send, but once I resent the entirety of the message, I never heard a word about the short story again). Enough time passed to where I could submit it to other places if I wanted to (which I didn't, but still) and then all the sudden at the end of November we got the information for the Christmas releases and the short story was in galleys. I don't recall getting a contract or anything. I didn't mind because I submitted it to be used for exactly what it was being used for so why would I be? Plus if I had any objections, say if I had submitted it elsewhere and it was picked up, I'm sure I could have emailed them at the end of November and had it removed, and I'm really glad Musa does the Christmas freebie promotion, but I was a bit surprised November was the first I heard it had been chosen, and I'm wondering if anyone else with Christmas freebies had a similar experience?

I submitted a short story for another free short story promotion back in June as well and haven't heard anything on it except that it wouldn't be released with my new release in July, and I'm not really sure if I should expect that story to pop up in galleys or if I'm free to do something else with it?

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I find this really disconcerting.

Musa seems to be publishing things they've not contracted.

That's just not on.

VanessaNorth said:

Marketing in the Wiccan Haus is different because it's a shared world series, so there is a lot of cross marketing between the Wiccan Haus authors. There are WH specific marketing materials and swag that was made by Musa, etc. My sales on my WH books trend higher every time a new WH book comes out.

Outside of the Wiccan Haus, my marketing has been mostly driven by me, but Musa has been very helpful and cooperative with trying different things, letting me know about opportunities to do interviews, running sales on my books if I ask them to, etc. Again, a lot of that is driven by me, but Musa is always on board when I have specific marketing goals.

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Thanks for the information. To me, the bolded line seems to sum up what a lot of people are saying.

KaitlinBevis said:

About the Christmas freebies, I was a bit surprised to see my name on the list. I sent in my short story to Celina in June, but never heard back (well, I did get an email asking what the file was for because the text in my message didn't send, but once I resent the entirety of the message, I never heard a word about the short story again). Enough time passed to where I could submit it to other places if I wanted to (which I didn't, but still) and then all the sudden at the end of November we got the information for the Christmas releases and the short story was in galleys. I don't recall getting a contract or anything. I didn't mind because I submitted it to be used for exactly what it was being used for so why would I be? Plus if I had any objections, say if I had submitted it elsewhere and it was picked up, I'm sure I could have emailed them at the end of November and had it removed, and I'm really glad Musa does the Christmas freebie promotion, but I was a bit surprised November was the first I heard it had been chosen, and I'm wondering if anyone else with Christmas freebies had a similar experience?

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Two sides to every story and so on, but this, as is, is deeply worrying. If nothing's been signed, then how can this be right?