Aqueducts

I was chatting over email today with writing buddy Rosen Trethivick about Kindles, ebooks and the joy of self-publishing (well, editing and formatting at this stage of the game). She asked me about my ebooks and I mentioned my e-publisher Musa.

Having passed on some useful info about KDP Select, she asked me, not unreasonably, what it is that Musa does for me. I mean, let's face it, other organisations are falling over themselves to help writers do everything independently.

I pondered that for a minute and realised that Musa do much the same as a paperback publisher, and perhaps a little bit more.

- They consider submissions on merit and they have an electronic process for their contracts.

- They edit intensely and request revisions where necessary. They're not out to make friends, just good authors. (The friendship part comes later.)

- They create cover artwork in consultation with the author, starting with the author's ideas.

- They create, market and sell ebooks. (And plenty of them now.)

- They enable all their authors to access monthly statements online and any royalties due are paid electronically each month.

- They maintain a vibrant writing community.

- They share marketing ideas for authors and they fly the flag for your other books too. (That's right - the ones with other publishers.)

Now, it won't have escaped your attention that I'm either very flexible in my approach to writing or else I have one face too many, seeing as how I've decided to self-publish Covenant. True, on both counts. 

I did consider approaching Musa with Covenant, as it has a flourishing fantasy imprint. But I wanted to see Covenant in paperback and I wanted it to remain, as written, in British English. However, I was so impressed with their handling of The Silent Hills that they're publishing my first tween / YA book, The Superhero Club, through their Euterpe imprint in November.

And just in case you were wondering, here's the Musa story in their own words.