My hiring process for the positions has three main steps: a letter of introduction to the position’s duties and pay, an edit of a short partial manuscript along with a critical analysis (for content editors) and an edit of a completed short along with a revision letter (again for content editors). When I first started doing the hiring at my previous position, I didn’t include the first step–the letter of introduction to the position’s duties and pay. I quickly came to realize this letter was a crucial part of the process, because many people aren’t familiar with the business model of digital publishing or with the method of payment generally employed by digital publishers to pay their editors, and many applicants were expecting either an hourly wage, a salary or a high per word pay.

Every digital publisher does pay somewhat differently, but most pay editors via book royalties in some way. Some publishers pay editors only in book royalties, some pay a small fee per book plus royalties, or other variations of these ways. At Quartet, we pay content editors per word edited, payable immediately upon delivery of a completed manuscript, plus a percentage of the book’s royalties, payable quarterly. This allows the editor to be paid promptly for their work, but to also share in the book’s success.

There are pros and cons for both the editor and the publisher to payment in this manner. In the “con” column, it can make it difficult for publisher to attract experienced editors to the position. On the other hand, it makes it an attractive position to new applicants, eager to learn the trade and enthusiastic about helping build the publisher and the author. For the editor who works under this pay structure, especially those who work on a royalty-only basis, with no flat fee or per-word fee, working for royalty-only can be both risky and discouraging for several reasons, including having to wait months to get paid for work performed and little to no pay for publishers/books that have low sales.

On the plus side, the editor enters into a kind of partnership with the publisher and author, invested in acquiring the best manuscripts possible, polishing them to the highest quality, and enthusiastically promoting them. For the editor, this payment arrangement can mean escalating paychecks and a share of each book’s success. Editors who work with successful publishers and authors come to appreciate this arrangement and see the benefit of it.

Publisher who enter into this type of arrangement with their editors do not do so lightly, and reputable publishers revisit the policy periodically as the company grows, to ensure editors continue to be compensated fairly for the time, effort and loyalty shown to the company, and to ensure the payment structure continues to be the best choice for the publisher, editors and authors. At Quartet, one of our goals as a publisher is to grow not just our company, but our editors and authors as well, and that includes re-evaluating and innovating processes as needed.

We realize that this type of payment arrangement is new to many in publishing, though authors, readers and editors familiar with digital publishing will probably have seen this discussed before. We’d like to hear comments from both sides, those who are familiar with this pay structure and those who are new to it. What are your thoughts?

I won’t lie, it’s a big task, and the past few days have been a blur of emails and Word documents as I get the process going. But it’s a task I love, because I’m excited about building the editorial team at Quartet. I love the camaraderie of working with a group of editors who love the books, authors and editing process as much as I do, and I look forward to again working with people who share my obsession with hyphens and commas. If it sounds like I’m describing you, I hope you’ll consider working with us.

As I go through the steps of hiring editors, the main thing I’ll be looking for is skills demonstrated during the testing process. I do look at resumes and/or past experience, but because of the nature of the job, I am most interested in seeing a practical application of skills.

I would like to add, as it’s been asked several times, that one of the beautiful things about digital publishing is its flexibility, and part of that includes the ability to hire contractors from any location. This is a telecommuting position and where you live will not be a factor.

You’ll find the job posting here if you’re interested, but here’s a highlight:

At this time we are searching for motivated individuals interested in working on one to four releases a month as an editor in all genres of romance, women’s fiction, YA, science fiction, fantasy and urban fantasy. Preference for both positions is given to non-authors or to writers not actively seeking publication/pursuing a career in writing, but authors will be considered as well. We are especially seeking editors with interest in working with non-erotic genres such as romantic suspense, historical romance and fantasy, though editors will be asked to acquire and edit across the romance and fantasy genres.

Duties include but are not limited to reading and responding to submissions, contracting books, editing and finalizing manuscripts, communicating with authors, final line editors, other content editors and Quartet press partners about various things such as cover art, excerpts, blurbs, promotion and more. Training and ongoing support will be provided to editorial staff at Quartet Press.

Since we’re launching with our Quench Romance! imprint, we wanted to make sure our submission guidelines reflected what we’re looking for right now. As with the original guidelines, we want romance, and lots of it! We love variety and we love great stories. That part hasn’t changed.

So what’s new?

As you’ll see when you check out the revised guidelines, while Quench is all about romance, we’ve created two sub-imprints. The first focuses on the unusual: steampunk, space cowboys, cyberpunk, science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, and new twists on classic paranormal themes. and new twists on classic paranormal themes. We’re looking for sexy, sweet, adventurous, and unusual, thought not necessarily at the same time.

Our second sub-imprint is Quench Classics. Inspired by a discussion among readers who wanted to buy digital versions of comfort reads and classic romances, Quench Classics is focused on those books readers want to read over and over…and thanks to modern technology, readers can carry a library of favorites with them everywhere they go!

Check out the updated guidelines. Note the gentle comments about sending us a complete query package (ah, the synopsis, such torture to write, such a thing of beauty when it comes to making important decisions about your manuscript!). If you’re looking for specific tips about how to wow us with your cover letter, I quote from Angie’s comments on the Risky Regencies site (hint: lots of good advice and comments throughout the interview and comment thread):

One thing that has always worked to catch my attention in a query letter is just a short line that personalizes it to me, maybe the author reads my blog, has read an interview with me, follows me on twitter. Saying something like, I read in an interview with you on Risky Regencies that you’re especially interested in fantasy romances, so I’m submitting my… Shows that you’ve done your homework and you’re interested in working with me/my press, not just blindly sending out 25 query letters. Other queries have caught my attention in various ways, but it’s almost always something that shows they’re interested in me as an editor/my press specifically.

• Quartet Press Submission Guidelines

The agency didn’t know.

I soon learned. About a year later, the Buchwald v. Paramount case made news, and the whole world (thought they) learned. Bottom line: I have spent a good portion of my adult life reading contracts, analyzing contracts, verifying that people were paid in accordance with said contracts, and, yes, doing all manner of royalty calculations.

I won’t bore you with the details. Instead, I’ll bore you with a few lessons I learned during these years:

• Sweat the Details: Take time in the beginning to get things right: names, addresses, contract terms. Getting it right from the start makes for smooth reporting in the future.
• Manual is Messy: Royalty calculations are not particularly complex, but there is a lot of data to crunch. It is a given that the file layouts from various eretailers, etc are not the same, and manually processing these files is time- and labor-intensive. When you’re working to meet a reporting deadline, rushing through the process can lead to errors.
• In Good Systems We Trust: Good royalty systems are designed to take and process complex inbound feeds, turning streams of data into accurate, understandable royalty statements (no really, understandable!). They automate processes like recouping advances, royalties based on format, and changes in royalty rates based on unit sales. I have done this stuff by hand, and it is not pretty. One screwed up decimal makes for many bottles of aspirin.
• But Double-Checking Is Good Business: Not only should one double-check to make sure royalty statements reflect the agreement with the author, but doing an overall reality check before issuing statements and associated payments should be part of everyone’s best practices. I don’t mean that you need to recalculate every line item after comparing them to source feeds (been there, done that), but some testing and verification gives everyone comfort.
• Responsibility Matters: Issuing statements and payments accurately and on time is critical. When I was a young whippersnapper, my boss and I had a disagreement. I can’t remember the subject matter (my best recollection is I took an overly aggressive approach on an audit point), but I do remember her saying, “It’s their money.” That line has stuck with me ever since. She wasn’t telling me to do the stupid thing, but she was reminding me that we, as a company, had a responsibility to another party. It’s a principle I take seriously.

A little over a week ago, we announced two key partnerships with MetaComet Systems and Firebrand Technologies. I noted then that working with these two companies was essential to our core mission, and I meant it. As we were evaluating royalty systems, the points I noted above were foremost in my mind (we’ll be talking more about Firebrand in another post).

Royalty systems aren’t sexy (unless you’re me, in which case you get a little too excited about them), but they are critical. Getting royalties wrong can destroy the most important relationships a publisher has: those with authors. We were impressed by MetaComet for many reasons, not the least of which was their willingness to engage in conversation with us — they weren’t just selling a product, and I appreciate the time MetaComet devoted to learning what we wanted.

And what we wanted was a system that worked with our business. I believe we got much more than that.

PASADENA, California. June 25, 2009 — Quartet Press–a fledgling digital publisher formed recently by Kassia Krozser of Booksquare.com; Kirk Biglione of Medialoper.com; Kat Meyer, long-time book marketer for trade and academic presses; and an additional partner who is an experienced veteran of the book industry–has announced it is now accepting manuscript submissions in anticipation of its Fall 2009 launch.

The Fall 2009 slate will kick off the house’s romance imprint, Quench!. Krozser notes, “I love the fact that we’re starting out with a line devoted to romance. Not only has the romance reader led the way when it comes to adopting ebooks and new reading technology, it’s also the genre I choose first when it comes to my own reading. I’m excited about bringing great stories to this fantastic community of readers.”

As Quartet Press moves toward launch, the founders have committed to opening the doors and sharing the process of building a digital publishing company. By committing to transparency from day one, Quartet hopes to both educate those interested in digital publishing, and establish lines of communication with readers, authors, and others in the bookish community.

As Quartet approaches its Fall 2009 launch, focus will be on these core principles:

• Outstanding Book Discovery and Shopping Experience: Readers want to find and buy the book. We get it. We’re convinced finding and buying e-books is too hard right now, and this deters many readers from moving from print to “e”. Kirk Biglione and the rest of the tech team are designing a discovery and shopping experience that’s easy, fast and doesn’t require jumping through hoops to get out the door.
• Read Quartet Books Wherever and However You Want: We believe when readers buy our books they OWN our books. They should be able to read them on any device they have. We’re working with some terrific consultants to make our books available in as many common formats as possible and to serve them up without the hassles of DRM.
• Great Authors Mean Great Books: We’re firm believers in creating an experience for our authors that makes it easy, enjoyable and profitable for them to work with us on an ongoing basis. We’re developing an Author Contract that’s fair to all parties and is explicit about what we expect from the author and what the author can expect from us.
• Integrating and Empowering the Community of Readers: The only thing more fun than reading books is talking about books and Quartet will not only be everywhere readers are (conferences, book fairs, Facebook, Twitter and pretty much everywhere else bookish types are hanging out), but Kat and her team are working hard to make QuartetPress.com a place readers will want to spend their time — talking about books and publishing, and helping to guide our editorial and marketing decisions.

Quartet’s commitment to these principles, together with the principals’ participation in the digital publishing community, ensure it will remain flexible and current in today’s rapidly changing digital publishing environment.

Day-to-day experiences as the company grows (including the good, the bad, and even the misguided) will play out on the the Quartet blog. Meyer says, “We look forward to having the bookish community follow along, and hope they will comment and offer their feedback and ideas throughout the process.”

Information regarding Quartet Press’ submission guidelines can be found online at http://quartetpress.com/about/submission-guidelines/.

For additional  information on Quartet Press, please visit our website: http://www.quartetpress.com
Media Inquiries: Kat Meyer, VP Marketing. m: 520.576.0482; email: kat {at} quartetpress(.)com

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However…if you have thoughts on how to achieve that Best Guidelines Ever, goal, I am open to ideas. Comment below or send suggestions via our Contact Form.