Musa Publishing

BarbaraSheridan · 08-11-2011, 07:56 AM

Haven't seen these guys listed in the big sticky thread so I thought I'd post 'em up.

Musa Publishing
So far the site directs to their blog

In the Welcome to Musa post they say "The founders of Musa have worked in publishing for a long time. We are writers, editors, artists, designers, financial officers. We've seen the insides of the industry, both the good and the bad."

I didn't notice any"About Us" section though so, no idea of who the folks behind the company are.

The historical lover in me does like that they plan to fact check historical subs (as per their submission guidelines).

DreamWeaver · 08-11-2011, 08:25 AM

Quote:

At Musa Publishing, the author comes first. Period.

I'd feel more hopeful if the reader came first. Well, time will tell. It's a good sign that the blog is grammatically correct and reasonably well-written.

Unimportant · 08-11-2011, 09:21 AM

They are, apparently, also starting a spec fic magazine ("Penumbra") paying pro rates.

mscelina · 08-11-2011, 10:28 PM

Yes, they are.

Musa Submissions for novels, novellas and some short stories (which will be published alone as royalty-paying ebooks) can go to submissions@musapublishing.com.

Submissions for Penumbra, the spec fic magazine paying pro rates need to go to submissions@penumbra.musapublishing.com.

The about page will be up soon, from what I understand, as will the websites for both the publisher and the magazine.

ShyWriter · 08-12-2011, 12:25 AM

I can't find the names of anyone involved with the company on the website or blog which makes me very uncomfortable,
I kind of like to know who I'm sending my stuff to, ya know?

eqb · 08-12-2011, 05:03 PM

The bios are now on the website...

BarbaraSheridan · 08-12-2011, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eqb

The bios are now on the website...

Unfortunately they don't really tell authors the facts we need to know--what is the hands on experience the folks in charge have.

I would assume the Financial Director will handle accounting and payment of royalties. I'd like to know they've been the bookkeeper/owner/partner in a successful business for X years or worked as a certified accountant.

The Promotions Director has a lot of fluff in her bio but only a vague line that concerns her new position with Musa: She is not new to the promotional world of publishing.

The Art Director gets the gold star from me. That bio is all about the experience that fits the job description. This is the model they should use to revamp the About Us page.

The Director of Editorial Production (can't we say simply Senior Editor? Editor-in-chief?) seems to have no practical training or experience as an editor for a publishing house.

I'm not trying to nitpick. You got a big brownie point from me for the historicals fact checking bit, but it's in everyone's best interests to showcase the publishing/real world training and experience that supports the new company.

mscelina · 08-12-2011, 07:35 PM

No, you can nitpick--that's what you need to do. I don't mind at all. But to ease your minds a bit, after over a decade in the business as an editor, senior editor and managing editor, including building a historical imprint from the ground up and publishing over 40 well-researched, well-edited and well-written historical novels in the past year, on top of my editorial duties for the publisher as a whole, I have a little practical experience in the field of editing.

When you add in the two years of managing editorial experience, including dealing with royalties, contracts, release schedules, editorial assignments, working with the art department to create an aesthetic to brand a line, dealing with an...ahem!...indifferent publisher and creating a management team to address the problems with a failing e-publisher, and then posting a 40% increase of sales in the first month, following that up with an additional 23% increase in sales in the following month et cetera and so forth I feel pretty confident that I *might* know what I'm doing. I certainly hope so.

However, that assessment is one for you and other authors to make independently.

I will also state that the contract for Musa has been vetted by experienced individuals throughout the publishing industry--several of whom are regulars in this particular forum and other watchdog sites--in their roles as author advocates, agents, and attorneys to make certain we've created one of the most author friendly contracts available in small press.

We're trying to accomplish a lot in a short period of time. And as the webmistress didn't get my bio until this morning, I'm thinking that perhaps the placeholder statement might be taken as just that for the overnight hours. As you can imagine, with our ezine paying pro rates the submissions email has been my primary concern for the past week. Fortunately, I am currently winning the battle of the inbox, so I am coordinating the construction of our sites and information more aggressively.

We've been creating Musa slowly over the past month or so, intending to build and launch it properly once we felt our previous employer had been stablized and our replacements hired and trained. After a disastrous difference of business plans with the former press, we escalated our plans so we could provide a home for any author who might be stranded by that publisher. But our team is put together, we are completing our database and building our websites, we are ahead of schedule on our releases and for the inaugural issue of the ezine. Musa is starting out with an established team, including an interior book designer, that is focused upon providing the highest quality electronic product we can create while keeping the author informed and integrated into all the processes involved with their books. And while I feel confident that we have all the pieces in place, I would--as I have done previously in this forum with other fledgling publishers--state that a new small press is always a reason for concern for authors. That's why we are establishing a policy of full transparency for the writer--so they'll always know exactly where they, and we, stand and won't be trapped in a morass of uncertainty about the relative strengths or stability of their publisher.

I haven't spent years on my apprenticeship in B&BC for nothing. The most common mistakes of small publishers I've duly noted, and we made a concerted effort to address those issues at Musa BEFORE we set our business model. I intend to succeed, as does the rest of my team, at forging our own path around those pitfalls in advance. Hopefully, we'll soon be able to tell if we've done so.

Any other questions anyone has about Musa, I'll be happy to answer either here or privately off loop at editorATmusapublishing.com. Our blog is up, and we're adding pertinent information as we go. Including the bios on the About Page instead of placeholders. In the upcoming week, we expect to have a sample of our interior book design, sample book covers, contract information, further royalty guidelines and more added to the blog, as well as getting our database and websites live.

And we'll go from there.

Thanks, Barbara, for bringing these issues to B&BC. The one mistake I am determined NOT to make is the one most fledgling pubs make in here--getting defensive about questioning posts or being cute about what we're trying to do. I, personally, don't have time for that. I will always, however, find time to respond to questions in this thread.

Hope this helps--

BarbaraSheridan · 08-12-2011, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Our blog is up, and we're adding pertinent information as we go. Including the bios on the About Page instead of placeholders. In the upcoming week, we expect to have a sample of our interior book design, sample book covers, contract information, further royalty guidelines and more added to the blog, as well as getting our database and websites live.

And we'll go from there.

I look forward to seeing the interior design samples. That's a fantastic idea and once you don't usually see. Good luck to you and the team and thank you for giving us more info.

mscelina · 08-12-2011, 08:19 PM

No problem. Any time.

Our interior book designer does beautiful work. The body of each book in PDF and print forms, will use Open Type, Pro Fonts--not a Word program--and will be typeset using InDesign. Our ebooks are not simply converted and then tweaked for formatting. They are typeset individually after the line edits.

I'm really excited about this particular part of our process; this isn't something my books ever had, and the difference in product is amazing. And, to be quite honest, it makes our books ready to go to print without additional work. By putting the work in from the get go, we've streamlined the process for ourselves and have created a higher quality product.

If we stay on schedule, and we're working ahead of schedule so I'm pretty optimistic, we'll have a sample book design for download on our website, which should go live in the next 24-48 hours.

happywritermom · 08-12-2011, 09:20 PM

It sounds like an exciting endeavour. I wish you all the best and lots of success!

happywritermom · 08-12-2011, 09:28 PM

Love your Royalties section, by the way. It's nice to have those comparisions and explanations all in one place.

mscelina · 08-12-2011, 11:24 PM

We thought so. There's no reason for any publisher to be coy about what they're getting paid and how much goes to the author. Sure, an author can figure it out--and usually does after hard experience teaches them how to do it. But, we're not about any of that. Besides, an author with the ability to track sales can also see what marketing and promotional activities are working for them and what doesn't.

And if I know I'm getting a check for X amount in 45 days, then I can budget around that and my husband is happy. And I get my new boots.

Unimportant · 08-13-2011, 12:42 AM

mscelina, what rights is Penumbra buying?

mscelina · 08-13-2011, 01:07 AM

We ask for the following:

Printed Trade Paperback (Perfect Bound) Edition
eBook Edition (readable-text digital format provided in electronic download, disk, CD/CD-ROM, E-Book Reader or similar media of presentation, excluding motion picture/television/video/DVD rights)

Any and all other unnamed rights remain with the Author.
for a period of 3 years, with a 90 day option to renew at the end of the contract period if the author and publisher agree.

Old Hack · 08-13-2011, 01:54 AM

Celina, I wonder if you made a mistake here:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mscelina

We ask for the following:

Printed Trade Paperback (Perfect Bound) Edition
eBook Edition (readable-text digital format provided in electronic download, disk, CD/CD-ROM, E-Book Reader or similar media of presentation, excluding motion picture/television/video/DVD rights)

Any and all other unnamed rights remain with the Author.
for a period of 3 years, with a 90 day option to renew at the end of the contract period if the author and publisher agree.

Might it be possible that you meant this?

Quote:

We ask for the following for a period of 3 years, with a 90 day option to renew at the end of the contract period if the author and publisher agree.:

Printed Trade Paperback (Perfect Bound) Edition
eBook Edition (readable-text digital format provided in electronic download, disk, CD/CD-ROM, E-Book Reader or similar media of presentation, excluding motion picture/television/video/DVD rights)

Any and all other unnamed rights remain with the Author.

mscelina · 08-13-2011, 02:52 AM

Well, part was a quote and part was just me. I quoted the contract on the specific rights and just answered on the time period. So, yes.

Unimportant · 08-13-2011, 04:13 AM

Just to clarify -- those are the rights Penumbra is buying for short fiction to be published in their ezine?

mscelina · 08-13-2011, 04:18 AM

No. Those are for Musa Publishing.

Penumbra asks for six months exclusive rights for first electronic rights, non-exlusive archival rights, and optional rights for a Best of or year-end anthology or collection. Penumbra will look at *some* rights reverted material, but not that often.

James D. Macdonald · 08-13-2011, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Printed Trade Paperback (Perfect Bound) Edition

World? World English? US/UK? North America? USA?

mscelina · 08-13-2011, 10:11 AM

Doh! I should never answer questions in the middle of the night.

For the print version of the books, we ask only for North American rights.

victoriastrauss · 08-13-2011, 07:32 PM

I've seen the contract (which is a work in progress at the moment), and overall I thought it was fair and author-friendly. I did have some suggestions for improvement (in some cases, I thought the language was actually too generous--publishers shouldn't exploit authors, but they are businesses, and they also shouldn't give too much away), which the Musa staff are considering and I think may result in a number of positive changes.

- Victoria

mscelina · 08-13-2011, 08:28 PM

Thank you, Victoria.

Soccer Mom · 08-13-2011, 09:26 PM

I have personally worked with the Editorial Director, the Financial Director and the Art Director at another publisher.

The pretty cover art in my avatar is from Kelly, the AD.

eqb · 08-14-2011, 12:42 AM

For Penumbra, would you be open to a clause that allows the author to sell reprint rights to the usual Year's Best anthologies before the six-month's exclusive is up? (By that, I mean the Dozois, Hartwell, Datlow, Horton, Year's Best anthologies, etc.)

08-11-2011, 07:56 AM	#1
BarbaraSheridan insert catchy phrase here Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Steeler Country Posts: 537	Musa Publishing Haven't seen these guys listed in the big sticky thread so I thought I'd post 'em up. Musa Publishing So far the site directs to their blog In the Welcome to Musa post they say "The founders of Musa have worked in publishing for a long time. We are writers, editors, artists, designers, financial officers. We've seen the insides of the industry, both the good and the bad." I didn't notice any"About Us" section though so, no idea of who the folks behind the company are. The historical lover in me does like that they plan to fact check historical subs (as per their submission guidelines). __________________ ~Barbara Sheridan~ Barb's website

08-11-2011, 10:28 PM	#4
mscelina Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fudz. Not pie. I do not share pie. EVER. Posts: 20,019	Yes, they are. Musa Submissions for novels, novellas and some short stories (which will be published alone as royalty-paying ebooks) can go to submissions@musapublishing.com. Submissions for Penumbra, the spec fic magazine paying pro rates need to go to submissions@penumbra.musapublishing.com. The about page will be up soon, from what I understand, as will the websites for both the publisher and the magazine. __________________

08-12-2011, 07:35 PM	#8
mscelina Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fudz. Not pie. I do not share pie. EVER. Posts: 20,019	No, you can nitpick--that's what you need to do. I don't mind at all. But to ease your minds a bit, after over a decade in the business as an editor, senior editor and managing editor, including building a historical imprint from the ground up and publishing over 40 well-researched, well-edited and well-written historical novels in the past year, on top of my editorial duties for the publisher as a whole, I have a little practical experience in the field of editing. When you add in the two years of managing editorial experience, including dealing with royalties, contracts, release schedules, editorial assignments, working with the art department to create an aesthetic to brand a line, dealing with an...ahem!...indifferent publisher and creating a management team to address the problems with a failing e-publisher, and then posting a 40% increase of sales in the first month, following that up with an additional 23% increase in sales in the following month et cetera and so forth I feel pretty confident that I might know what I'm doing. I certainly hope so. However, that assessment is one for you and other authors to make independently. I will also state that the contract for Musa has been vetted by experienced individuals throughout the publishing industry--several of whom are regulars in this particular forum and other watchdog sites--in their roles as author advocates, agents, and attorneys to make certain we've created one of the most author friendly contracts available in small press. We're trying to accomplish a lot in a short period of time. And as the webmistress didn't get my bio until this morning, I'm thinking that perhaps the placeholder statement might be taken as just that for the overnight hours. As you can imagine, with our ezine paying pro rates the submissions email has been my primary concern for the past week. Fortunately, I am currently winning the battle of the inbox, so I am coordinating the construction of our sites and information more aggressively. We've been creating Musa slowly over the past month or so, intending to build and launch it properly once we felt our previous employer had been stablized and our replacements hired and trained. After a disastrous difference of business plans with the former press, we escalated our plans so we could provide a home for any author who might be stranded by that publisher. But our team is put together, we are completing our database and building our websites, we are ahead of schedule on our releases and for the inaugural issue of the ezine. Musa is starting out with an established team, including an interior book designer, that is focused upon providing the highest quality electronic product we can create while keeping the author informed and integrated into all the processes involved with their books. And while I feel confident that we have all the pieces in place, I would--as I have done previously in this forum with other fledgling publishers--state that a new small press is always a reason for concern for authors. That's why we are establishing a policy of full transparency for the writer--so they'll always know exactly where they, and we, stand and won't be trapped in a morass of uncertainty about the relative strengths or stability of their publisher. I haven't spent years on my apprenticeship in B&BC for nothing. The most common mistakes of small publishers I've duly noted, and we made a concerted effort to address those issues at Musa BEFORE we set our business model. I intend to succeed, as does the rest of my team, at forging our own path around those pitfalls in advance. Hopefully, we'll soon be able to tell if we've done so. Any other questions anyone has about Musa, I'll be happy to answer either here or privately off loop at editorATmusapublishing.com. Our blog is up, and we're adding pertinent information as we go. Including the bios on the About Page instead of placeholders. In the upcoming week, we expect to have a sample of our interior book design, sample book covers, contract information, further royalty guidelines and more added to the blog, as well as getting our database and websites live. And we'll go from there. Thanks, Barbara, for bringing these issues to B&BC. The one mistake I am determined NOT to make is the one most fledgling pubs make in here--getting defensive about questioning posts or being cute about what we're trying to do. I, personally, don't have time for that. I will always, however, find time to respond to questions in this thread. Hope this helps-- __________________

08-12-2011, 08:19 PM	#10
mscelina Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fudz. Not pie. I do not share pie. EVER. Posts: 20,019	No problem. Any time. Our interior book designer does beautiful work. The body of each book in PDF and print forms, will use Open Type, Pro Fonts--not a Word program--and will be typeset using InDesign. Our ebooks are not simply converted and then tweaked for formatting. They are typeset individually after the line edits. I'm really excited about this particular part of our process; this isn't something my books ever had, and the difference in product is amazing. And, to be quite honest, it makes our books ready to go to print without additional work. By putting the work in from the get go, we've streamlined the process for ourselves and have created a higher quality product. If we stay on schedule, and we're working ahead of schedule so I'm pretty optimistic, we'll have a sample book design for download on our website, which should go live in the next 24-48 hours. __________________

08-12-2011, 11:24 PM	#13
mscelina Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fudz. Not pie. I do not share pie. EVER. Posts: 20,019	We thought so. There's no reason for any publisher to be coy about what they're getting paid and how much goes to the author. Sure, an author can figure it out--and usually does after hard experience teaches them how to do it. But, we're not about any of that. Besides, an author with the ability to track sales can also see what marketing and promotional activities are working for them and what doesn't. And if I know I'm getting a check for X amount in 45 days, then I can budget around that and my husband is happy. And I get my new boots. __________________

08-11-2011, 09:21 AM	#3
Unimportant but appreciated anyway... Join Date: May 2005 Location: Aotearoa Posts: 4,328	They are, apparently, also starting a spec fic magazine ("Penumbra") paying pro rates.

08-12-2011, 12:25 AM	#5
ShyWriter figuring it all out Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Getting Coffee Posts: 74	I can't find the names of anyone involved with the company on the website or blog which makes me very uncomfortable, I kind of like to know who I'm sending my stuff to, ya know?

08-12-2011, 05:03 PM	#6
eqb Self-Banned Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 3,122	The bios are now on the website...

08-12-2011, 09:20 PM	#11
happywritermom practical experience, FTW Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1,043	It sounds like an exciting endeavour. I wish you all the best and lots of success!

08-12-2011, 09:28 PM	#12
happywritermom practical experience, FTW Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1,043	Love your Royalties section, by the way. It's nice to have those comparisions and explanations all in one place.

08-13-2011, 12:42 AM	#14
Unimportant but appreciated anyway... Join Date: May 2005 Location: Aotearoa Posts: 4,328	mscelina, what rights is Penumbra buying?

08-13-2011, 01:07 AM	#15
mscelina Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fudz. Not pie. I do not share pie. EVER. Posts: 20,019	We ask for the following: Printed Trade Paperback (Perfect Bound) Edition eBook Edition (readable-text digital format provided in electronic download, disk, CD/CD-ROM, E-Book Reader or similar media of presentation, excluding motion picture/television/video/DVD rights) Any and all other unnamed rights remain with the Author. for a period of 3 years, with a 90 day option to renew at the end of the contract period if the author and publisher agree. __________________

08-13-2011, 02:52 AM	#17
mscelina Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fudz. Not pie. I do not share pie. EVER. Posts: 20,019	Well, part was a quote and part was just me. I quoted the contract on the specific rights and just answered on the time period. So, yes. __________________

08-13-2011, 04:13 AM	#18
Unimportant but appreciated anyway... Join Date: May 2005 Location: Aotearoa Posts: 4,328	Just to clarify -- those are the rights Penumbra is buying for short fiction to be published in their ezine?

08-13-2011, 04:18 AM	#19
mscelina Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fudz. Not pie. I do not share pie. EVER. Posts: 20,019	No. Those are for Musa Publishing. Penumbra asks for six months exclusive rights for first electronic rights, non-exlusive archival rights, and optional rights for a Best of or year-end anthology or collection. Penumbra will look at some rights reverted material, but not that often. __________________

08-13-2011, 10:11 AM	#21
mscelina Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fudz. Not pie. I do not share pie. EVER. Posts: 20,019	Doh! I should never answer questions in the middle of the night. For the print version of the books, we ask only for North American rights. __________________ Last edited by mscelina; 08-13-2011 at 08:27 PM. Reason: I am an idjit

08-13-2011, 07:32 PM	#22
victoriastrauss Writer Beware Goddess Absolute Sage Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Far from the madding crowd Posts: 6,314	I've seen the contract (which is a work in progress at the moment), and overall I thought it was fair and author-friendly. I did have some suggestions for improvement (in some cases, I thought the language was actually too generous--publishers shouldn't exploit authors, but they are businesses, and they also shouldn't give too much away), which the Musa staff are considering and I think may result in a number of positive changes. - Victoria __________________ Victoria Strauss www.victoriastrauss.com Writer Beware: www.writerbeware.com Writer Beware Blog: www.accrispin.blogspot.com Follow me on Twitter

08-13-2011, 08:28 PM	#23
mscelina Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fudz. Not pie. I do not share pie. EVER. Posts: 20,019	Thank you, Victoria. __________________

08-13-2011, 09:26 PM	#24
Soccer Mom Crypto-fascist SuperModerator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Under your couch Posts: 18,624	I have personally worked with the Editorial Director, the Financial Director and the Art Director at another publisher. The pretty cover art in my avatar is from Kelly, the AD. __________________ <clickety to see my books Join us for the Absolute Write-in #AWritein Marguerite Says...Microwave Peanut Butter Fudge I also Twitter & Facebook People think I’m disciplined. It is not discipline. It is devotion. There is a great difference ~Luciano Pavarotti

08-14-2011, 12:42 AM	#25
eqb Self-Banned Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 3,122	For Penumbra, would you be open to a clause that allows the author to sell reprint rights to the usual Year's Best anthologies before the six-month's exclusive is up? (By that, I mean the Dozois, Hartwell, Datlow, Horton, Year's Best anthologies, etc.)

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