My email inquiry to Musa autoresponded with 'out-of-office'.
Because I am out of the office. N'est ce pas?
Employment aside (for surely it is now), just like I don't edit for royalties, I would not submit to a publisher who paid their editors in royalties, and this is something I would want to know ahead of time--maybe it's not important to others, it is to me. I don't want editors or cover artists sharing my byline, nor do I want an editor sharing my royalties for the life of my book. Instead, I will effusively thank my editor in my acknowledgements page, and trust they've been paid well by their employer, my publisher, and off we go our separate ways.
Um--what the staff who works on someone's book gets paid is unequivocably none of a writer's business. Whose names go on the copyright page--also, none of a writer's business. At Musa, the editor, cover artist, and interior book designers are all credited on the copyright page.
If you don't submit to houses that pay their editors in royalties, then that pretty much excludes ALL of e-publishing and a huge number of small presses. I'd recommend getting an agent and trying for New York then, but be aware--agents take a percentage of the AUTHOR'S royalties. In e-publishing, the staff gets percentages of the HOUSE'S royalties.
Just as I'd want to know a publisher's experience, I'd want to know their editors' experience. Telling me 'how' their editors are paid gives me an indication of experience. In-house and salaried is my gold standard. With many start-ups using questionable freelancers, or even some of their own authors as editors, I think it's a concern submitters should have. I don't know what the case is with Musa, the publisher has yet to answer. It's something for those who plan to submit manuscripts to Musa to consider, if it's a concern. If not, then no skin off. Best of luck.
Here again, the editor's experience or how they are paid is not the author's business. I don't allow writers to vet the editorial staff and pick their own editor. I pair the writer with an editor I feel would work best for them in regards to personality, writing style, and the degree of technique work that must be done on the manuscript. As the editorial director, that's my job.
And let me be perfectly frank with you: I've edited in epublishing for most of a decade. I have NEVER been salaried. I have ALWAYS been paid with royalties. I paid my mortgage payment, without fail, with those monthly royalty checks for years.
Then, one more time, the publisher has yet to answer because she's on the medical leave of absence you noted earlier in the thread.
You know, I wasn't sure about that. With some publishers you never know where the 'net' on royalties begin or where they end. I guess that's another topic. I really don't know. So if a publisher takes 50% royalties on net, then the editors and cover artists are included in the *publisher's* 50% after net. I appreciate your information. I'm ignorant to publishing and don't mean to 'learn' in Musa's thread, but the name had been popping up lately and I clicked on it, and... etc. I definitely want my misconceptions cleared. So thanks.
There is a breakdown of royalties on the Musa blog:
http://musapublishing.blogspot.com/p/musa-contract.html
That will give you any information you require.
Editing is editing in that it is a skilled craft and art in whatever genre it's performed. I didn't mean otherwise, in case you assumed.
I don't have any fancy hats, wish I did, I'd be wearing one now!
I take it it's not kosher to ask publishers how editors are paid on the boards.
Sorry. Every day's a learning experience.
You seem to have a great deal of confusion about how publishing really works. (Thanks Medi and Stacia for steering her in the right direction) My best advice is to take the time to peruse the forums here and find the answers that you need. It is really, really easy to put your foot wrong in publishing. Until you have a strong foundation of knowledge, it's best to sit and listen instead of stand and declare.
Musa's pay scale for editors is, I believe, standard within--and in some cases better than--digital publishing. We pay royalties to our editors on SALES, not net. In addition, our editors are paid a release bonus--no, it's not much but it's something and our really fast/busy editors end up with a nice chunk of change if they're turning out multiple titles per month. The release bonuses are paid a couple of months before any third party site royalties come in, so it's a way to reward the editor in advance for a job well done.
Editorial applicants are required to edit a 500 word excerpt--the same excerpt for everyone. The only folks who are hired to edit at Musa are the ones who've scored a 90% or better score. In copy/line editing, applicants are given a completely different test by the interior book designer, Coreen Montagna, who also established the Musa house style. In order to perform well on either test, the applicant must have a strong knowledge of and understanding of the latest edition of the Chicago Manual of Style.