Musa Publishing

sheadakota said:

Frying pan, fire?

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victoriastrauss said:

That would be my guess.

- Victoria

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Mine too.

Jersey Chick said:

I've seen a few Musa authors who hurried to sign with a few pubs that seem to be very new and I hope it all works out for them, but I can't help but wonder about the wisdom of it - but everyone has to do what they feel is best for themselves, I guess.

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Everyone does. But still: jumping from a failed press to an untested press run by people with no publishing experience is not the best way to get your books before their potential readers.

I see nothing this publisher can offer anyone which they couldn't get for themselves through self publishing.

Sage said:

The publisher should probably get its own thread

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Definitely.

As far as royalties from the assumed spike in sales during the last week at Musa, I expect they won't show up until after the 15th as per their usual cycle.

Yeah, I'm operating under the assumption they'll still be following the standard royalty cycle until everybody's been paid, based on the email announcing the closure.

It would appear that the sharks have scented blood in the water. I've just had my first unsolicited offer from someone who wants to reach out and help Musa authors get their books back into distribution. More in the thread for the YADS/Promo site itself.

For me , I only had one book with MUSA, so it's not that big of a deal. granted it was one of my favorite books, but I can wait to see what I want to do with it. I have learned that not being published isn't as bad a being published badly.

JulesJones said:

It would appear that the sharks have scented blood in the water. I've just had my first unsolicited offer from someone who wants to reach out and help Musa authors get their books back into distribution. More in the thread for the YADS/Promo site itself.

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I got that one this morning! Ugh. So annoying.

Thanks, but no thanks.

I've already posted Road Apples for sale on Amazon Kindle, and the print version is going through the proofing process. I'm so happy to have that book back in my sweaty hands, and I'm not about to throw it into the untested wild blue yonder, either.

Congrats, Maddie!

I don't understand what these services/publishers offer that we can't do ourselves. Seriously.

Neither do I.

I hope that the Musa authors who read this thread are sensible enough to take their time and thoroughly investigate any publishers who might approach them.

Old Hack said:

Neither do I.

I hope that the Musa authors who read this thread are sensible enough to take their time and thoroughly investigate any publishers who might approach them.

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+1

Old Hack said:

Neither do I.

I hope that the Musa authors who read this thread are sensible enough to take their time and thoroughly investigate any publishers who might approach them.

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Second that!

Feel free to contact me at Writer Beware: beware [at] sfwa.org.

- Victoria

I was told that Decadent is one of the pubs that has accepted some Musa authors. However, my genre and style aren't compatible with that particular house.

Oh, my. They picked up the Wiccan Haus shared world series.

I got what's probably going to be my final royalty check this week.

It was a hair more than the last three combined.

My God, this whole thing has been a cluster foxtrot on an epic scale. Hope everyone landed on their feet.

I got my last check, too. A whole $1.50. Whoo!

I got two bucks.

I received one dollar today.

Musa has made a lot of mistakes. But it's really good to see them stepping up to the line now, and making sure that all their authors are treated properly as the company winds down. It's more than many small publishers do when they close their doors.

I would be very interested to read their opinions of what went wrong here, and how they would do things differently now.

The aftermath is sad, but at least they are being orderly and relatively open about it. I would be much more likely to consider doing future business with any of the Musa principals, than I would with anyone currently running Ellora's Cave.

But keeping in mind both Musa and Aspen Mountain Press, I'd still have to see proof of marketing and a tighter focus on just one or two genres.

Old Hack said:

I would be very interested to read their opinions of what went wrong here, and how they would do things differently now.

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Many former Musa authors would likely be interested in the same, Old Hack -- not only in the management's opinion as to where and why Musa failed, but also the cold hard truth. Perhaps many of the reasons for Musa's failure(s) were already alluded to within this thread.

Musa is the first publisher I've watched closely from start to finish. I knew there were problems by mid-2012. I had a slight advantage in that 1) I'm a bit paranoid and 2) I had inside knowledge from sources I can't name to this day. But Musa was among the seven publishers I queried in early 2012. If not for one rejection letter, I might have signed with them before doubts kicked in.

The kicker? I still think Musa could have survived and thrived, with some earlier course-correcting. Publishing is a terrible business. I'm in awe of anyone who succeeds at it, because it can go so easily wrong.

Old Hack said:

Musa has made a lot of mistakes. But it's really good to see them stepping up to the line now, and making sure that all their authors are treated properly as the company winds down. It's more than many small publishers do when they close their doors.

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I agree, Jane. As an AMP victim (Aspen Mountain Press) I never got a dime in royalty, never even got a statement of sales, though I knew there were sales however pitiful they may have been, and never got my rights back. Regardless of how Musa ran their business, they're ending it right, in my opinion.