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Musa Publishing

Old Hack

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Jim, I agree.

I've been hearing suggestions that there are a few issues with the publication of some of Musa's books: tight schedules getting tighter, things not being ready in time, that sort of thing.

I know how any sort of delay in editing and production can throw a whole promotional plan out of whack, so I'm concerned. And this ties in with your worries about the number of books that Musa has signed: with so very many books to push through the system I wouldn't be at all surprised if something gives, somewhere; I just hope that they have the skills and the staff to pull things together again when that happens.
 

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Jim, I agree.

I've been hearing suggestions that there are a few issues with the publication of some of Musa's books: tight schedules getting tighter, things not being ready in time, that sort of thing.
They must have a giant staff to edit, produce, market and promote that many titles - and do justice to all of them.
 
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As has already been mentioned in this thread, some Musa publications were carry-overs from the now-defunct AMP. They were already edited.
 

James D. Macdonald

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There's more than editing involved. There's the whole production/publicity/marketing/distribution thing too. I'll be very interested in seeing how things go over the next few months.
 

priceless1

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As has already been mentioned in this thread, some Musa publications were carry-overs from the now-defunct AMP. They were already edited.
Editing is only a small portion of production. The real time, energy, and money go into marketing, promotion, and distribution.

ETA:
Oops, sorry, didn't Jim's post. What he said...
 

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From the link provided:

All internships are six months in length. Musa interns will receive hands on training, including professional publishing credits at Penumbra, our speculative fiction magazine or in our books division. Interns will also participate in our master classes program, where industry professionals teach workshops on a variety of subjects. These are unpaid positions. Some interns will move on to paid positions within the Musa organization. Send any questions about posted positions or internships to [email protected] or [email protected].
 

mscelina

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All our internships are six months. We offer internships in the art, IT, and editorial departments. We don't use our interns to do busy work; they are placed in active positions within the company--acquisitions readers, the magazine staff, the art department--and taught the skills necessary to work in those sectors of the industry. We switch them up after 3 months, and move our interns to another area in the company if they'd like to try something new. These programs are practical training and not the online equivalent of licking stamps and fetching coffee. With the number of academics and teachers we have on staff, we strive to create an interactive education for our interns, with hands on work within the company.

I work with my editorial interns on a one to one basis. They have the opportunity acquistions (how to determine good submissions from bad), basic proofing/line editing, and content editing. Some of my interns work at Penumbra. There, they learn the processes from slush reading to article writing, editing and layout. Our first batch of interns put together our December issue as a result of this training; two more interns will be putting together two more issues of Penumbra in the next few months as the acting editor (under my supervision). Art interns learn to create covers and promotional art. IT interns learn to build our database and maintain our sites. Design interns learn to create and format books, both for print and digital release. Promotions and marketing interns help to create and execute our promotional campaigns for both Musa and Penumbra.

We use the internships to train our interns for jobs within the publishing industry. And we educate them about that industry. Our master classes programs have been very successful so far. We had two classes in January--including the Writer Beware presentation. Our next two classes are in March (since I'm out with surgery for the rest of the month) and include a class on character building by Sharon De Vita and a class on agents taught by Cherry Weiner. I have classes scheduled, two a month, through June.

Since a lot of publishers rely on unpaid slush readers, we wanted to create programs that went beyond that standard. We wanted to give our interns a real educational experience. So far, our interns have responded with enthusiasm to the programs, what they are asked to do, and what professional experience they gain. Our goal for each intern is to have them leave the program with the knowledge, education and experience to pursue employment in digital publishing--whether with Musa or not.
 

mscelina

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Jim, I agree.

I've been hearing suggestions that there are a few issues with the publication of some of Musa's books: tight schedules getting tighter, things not being ready in time, that sort of thing.

I know how any sort of delay in editing and production can throw a whole promotional plan out of whack, so I'm concerned. And this ties in with your worries about the number of books that Musa has signed: with so very many books to push through the system I wouldn't be at all surprised if something gives, somewhere; I just hope that they have the skills and the staff to pull things together again when that happens.

Books that have been pulled before the release date were books I personally pushed back because they did not meet our--MY--standards. In almost all those instances, I worked with the author and editor myself to properly prepare the book for release. Right now, Musa is working six weeks in advance, and I have every expectation we will be at two months or more by the time I get back from my surgery because of the light release schedule in February and March.

They must have a giant staff to edit, produce, market and promote that many titles - and do justice to all of them.

We do. We have a staff of 54.

There's more than editing involved. There's the whole production/publicity/marketing/distribution thing too. I'll be very interested in seeing how things go over the next few months.

I'm thinking things will go very well. No matter which company, there will always be glitches upon occasion. That's the nature of the beast. But, our editing staff and pre-publication staff are working well, our art department is putting together covers with astonishing celerity, our promotions and marketing department has just launched two new campaigns, our spec fic magazine, Penumbra, has assumed the electronic subscribers from the defunct Realms of Fantasy (we agreed to fulfill the remaining time left on those subscriptions and they are now receiving monthly issues of the eMag). I'm feeling pretty good about where we're at.

That being said--I'll be offline for about a month. Having my back surgery on Monday. I'll see if I can't find someone to monitor this thread while I'm out. Otherwise, you guys will just have to wonder about Musa without my rebuttals for a few weeks.

:)

Thanks!

Celina
 
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happywritermom

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Good luck with your surgery, Celina. I hope your recovery is smooth and stress-free.
 

san_remo_ave

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If anyone has specific questions about Musa's internship program, I'd be happy to try and answer them. I've interned there for the past three months or more and can attest that this is not a veiled attempt to get a bunch of busy and mindless work done by volunteers.

Celina and her team are enthusiastic, tireless and determined. Interns are given a solid training/support system and are challenged and empowered in their roles. I'm now in my second department and learning tons more. They are sincere about giving interns a contributing role in the department they are assigned to, and they are careful to select the right fit for the individual.

I'm getting more experience from this program than I ever expected.
 

heyjude

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Hope that the surgery goes well and you have a quick recovery, Celina!
 

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I'm curious about cashflow, myself.

54 employees, assuming they aren't all unpaid interns, is a huge amount of overhead. I haven't heard any sales numbers, but realistically, even if the company's at Samhain/EC levels, which I have no reason to believe they are, there's just not THAT much income coming in.

I'm with all of those who are hoping for good things for this company, but I think there's a reason most publishing ventures build slowly.

I don't know. Maybe somebody's sunk a hell of a lot of money into the start-up and there's a generous fund to draw on. I hope there is.
 

Amadan

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Yeah, I am trying to do the math on 54 employees for a new ebook startup, and unless someone is funding this from their lottery winnings, it doesn't add up.
 

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This isn't an unimportant point, and there are two possibilities.

One possibility is that they are paying their editors via royalties. This has its own set of problems for the editors because they have to get wait to get paid. And what if those books they edited don't sell well? Then how will they get paid? Secondly, they aren't going to get paid until that book finally makes it to market and begins selling.

For that very reason, I have to consider what quality are these editors who are willing to work under those constraints?

Lynn, I don't think that paying their editors royalties instead of upfront fees is the red flag you imagine it to be. It does seem to be common in e-publishing; and I don't think it implies that the editors Musa is using are of lower quality than we'd like. We both know how difficult it is out there right now: I bet there are plenty of very good editors who are happy to take this gig on.

That doesn't mean that all editors who work on a royalties basis are automatically fab: just that I don't think that this alone is indicative of a problem.

Books that have been pulled before the release date were books I personally pushed back because they did not meet our--MY--standards.

Celina, I wasn't aware that you'd pulled any books and good on you for taking that step if you felt the books weren't up to scratch: it's incredibly difficult, schedule-wise, to pull books, and it takes a brave publisher to do so. But that doesn't explain the concerns that I expressed:

Jim, I agree.

I've been hearing suggestions that there are a few issues with the publication of some of Musa's books: tight schedules getting tighter, things not being ready in time, that sort of thing.

I know how any sort of delay in editing and production can throw a whole promotional plan out of whack, so I'm concerned. And this ties in with your worries about the number of books that Musa has signed: with so very many books to push through the system I wouldn't be at all surprised if something gives, somewhere; I just hope that they have the skills and the staff to pull things together again when that happens.

My concerns are that your schedules aren't working well, not that you've pulled books. And if your schedules aren't working then books aren't going to be ready for release, and all the promotional efforts that you and your writers put in are going to be wasted.

I'm sorry to drop this on you when you're not at your best, but I know you'll understand that this isn't a personal thing. And to get personal for a while, I hope your surgery goes really well, and that you're back to full health very soon. Good luck.
 

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I'm just going to chime in and say that I know a good number of editors (epublisher and otherwise) who refuse to work for any epub who only offers pay on royalties. For exactly the reasons priceless mentioned - they just don't usually make enough to be worth the effort they expend.

I don't personally have a problem with editors who work for royalties - everybody has their own reasons for doing what they do - but I know I tend to get a much better editing experience at the pubs I work with who use salaried editors, not the royalty based ones. More in depth, more time consuming, and end up with a better product. I'm not saying that's the way it always falls, but just in my experience personally.
 

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I could be mistaken, but I've seen royalty editors and artists share title credit at places such as Amazon. It's part of the deal. I know this because it's happen to me twice. The second time it happened I know that the editor and artist received a small flat fee and a royalty amount in their contracts. But it's not unusual to see royalty editors hired to do several books.

And yes, what if the book tanks?

Tri
 

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what happens if the book(s) they edited don't sell well? Is the editor simply out that money, or does the publisher have to pay them after a waiting period?

The editor loses out. I don't like it as a way to run a business, because it means that the publisher passes part of the risk of running a business to its editors, which I really don't like. But at least it's a job, and I guess it's better that people have some sort of work to do than none at all.

I don't personally have a problem with editors who work for royalties - everybody has their own reasons for doing what they do - but I know I tend to get a much better editing experience at the pubs I work with who use salaried editors, not the royalty based ones. More in depth, more time consuming, and end up with a better product. I'm not saying that's the way it always falls, but just in my experience personally.

Fae, your experience has nothing to do with how those editors are paid, but who is editing your books. I know of a few good editors who lost their full-time jobs a couple of years ago, when the financial crisis hit, who now freelance. They edit for the big houses, and get an upfront fee for that; and they edit for other publishing houses too, and sometimes accept royalty deals. You'll get just as good an edit from them regardless of how they're being paid.

If publishers employ editors who aren't good at their jobs, however, then it doesn't matter how those publishers pay them, the author won't get a good edit.

If Musa is paying its editors royalties, fees, or a white mouse in a box, that's none of our business, because as I understand it this is a pretty standard procedure in e-publishing. What we should be considering is if that editing is being carried out appropriately or not, or if it's being rushed or if deadlines are missed. Don't you think?