The New Never-Ending PublishAmerica Thread (NEPAT)

Places and people to contact to remove your PA book

I have really got to get back to the book I'm working on and stop hanging around this board!

I have a list of people that anyone who received their rights back from PA might want to contact to make sure their book is removed for sale.

Lightning Source
Barnes and Noble Corporate Offices
Borders
Ingram
Amazon.com

I am not going to post the contact information for these people here or anywhere else, but if you want the list email me [email protected]

If you don't think I'll recognize your name, tell me your real name and the title of your book PA has released.

I know for a fact that just because amazon has sellers that say they have a new or used copies of your book for sale doesn't mean they actually have a copy. They may not. Many of them are just other online booksellers that order the book from the publisher after they've sold a copy to a customer.

I know for a fact that just because your ranking on amazon improves that doesn't mean you've sold a book. It may mean that all the other books have changed their ranking based on their sales. This doesn't make sense I know, but it's true.

I know for a fact that just because amazon says that the ordering time has increased or decreased doesn't mean you've sold a book. I also know that just because amazon says hurry only one copy left, and then that statement is gone a few days later, that doesn't mean they have ordered and received more copies.

If Ingram has your book in stock, they can sell that copy even if you have your rights back. If you want to find out how many books are in stock and Year to date sales call
615-213-6803

If you want to find all the online stores that have your book go to http://www.bookfinder4u.com then punch in your isbn


Dee

No PA is not a public company

It is a closely held corporation. Not a public company.

Dee

spike said:

You know, that would make a good novel...Scam-publisher scams a disturbed and unbalanced writer, who goes after him with a perverse and manic homicidal rage that makes the movie "Saw" look like the Sound of Music.

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Like it.

This was always on the cards. Pavel has simply redirected his fury. Revenge will be mine. My career has been ruined. Someone must pay. Anyone. Next target for a guy like that is usually someone in Government.

ResearchGuy said:

Or read a (reliable, professional) review or hear a personal recommendation or already know and enjoy the author's work. Dunno about other folks, I but I have bought many books on the basis of published reviews, some on the basis of friends' recommendations, and a few as a result of Amazon reader reviews (assuming I am already looking for something on the topic and just needed to make a decision on that book). Some I have bought sight unseen because they were cited in notes or bibliography of a book I was reading and I needed to pursue the research further. Browsing is good, but it is not all there is.

--Ken

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I don't buy novels online unless I already know and enjoy an author's work--which means I found them originally in a bookstore. I don't go by reviews and recommendations because I have done so in the past and regretted it. I might look for a book because someone recommended it to me , but if I can't look inside it, I won't buy it. I might buy a book online that has the "look inside" feature, but most PA books don't. When it comes to what I like to read, I only trust my own judgment.

Reference books are a different matter entirely, but most PA authors write novels or poetry books, not reference books. Cancer boy, of course is one exception.

Tilly said:

At least it's off the market now.

I'm wondering if it's possible that he really, truly doesn't understand what plagiarism is? ...

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Well he did say that he had "legaly Sited" all of the words in his book. Maybe he confused "cite" with "site." He think that citing research means that if you see it on-line, you can use it. And when he says "Every Word for word in my Book has been legally Sited...," he wasn't kidding -- most of the words came from other places.

Anyway, to keep this on-topic (ahem), this just proves that PA is not a good place for any author to be. No matter how good your book is, this is another nail in the coffin of its chances. Booksellers already think of PA as a vanity press, not to mention a publisher that gives discounts that are insultingly low and is extremely hard to deal with. Now they are going to think of them as the place that published a book that was pretty much plagiarised without checking it themselves. (One minute Googling the first page would have saved them from accepting it!) With the number of books they accept, I'm sure this isn't the first time, just the first one that was detected. And what else is out there that hasn't been found out? Hate literature? Pedo stuff? Fan fiction that uses copyrighted characters? (I'm not even counting the infamous covers that have already been discussed as those don't involve vetting of the manuscript.)

Is this the company you want your manuscript to keep? It's like letting your manuscript hang out with manuscripts that have needle tracks on their arms. If you truly love your book, protect it from being smeared by this sort of thing. Submit it somewhere else, rewrite it as much as you must, and when necessary, learn when to put it away and write a better book. (I've done that several times myself and I never regretted it. Trunk novels are not a waste as I learned from every one, and had fun learning to write. ) Heck, if you really just want a copy to show to family and friends, use a service such as a copying center or Lulu.com.

DeePower said:

It is a closely held corporation. Not a public company.

Dee

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Hello, Dee! If someone wants to sue a corporation, they can sue jointly and severally, meaning anyone who has had access to anyone's material or signed for can be held liable. When you do it jointly it means everyone...severally means if one doesn't pay the other has to.

Bee

rekirts said:

I don't buy novels online unless I already know and enjoy an author's work...

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Agreed there. My test for a novel is to pick it up and start reading. If I am still reading after a few pages, I usually buy it. (BTW, Stephen King's latest failed that test. It was Blah Blah by page 2. Maybe I need to give it another try, though.) Never going to happen for a PA novel, not in physical form in a bookstore -- only the theoretical chance to read a portion online in a probably hideously designed Web page (with garish colors, horrible fonts, and doohickeys flying around the screen).

Would have saved me twenty bucks and a snitload of grief to have seen a certain PA children's book (maybe written for very, very BAD children) before buying it.

--Ken

Oh, ok, Dee, I thought that's what you said. I guess I'm just not familiar with a "closely held stock company" and what that means. Thanks

This guy posted on Monday stating that he was submitting a provisional draft of his second novel to PA, as it wasn't completely finished yet. But he was excited and keeping his fingers crossed that it would be accepted.


Two whole nail-biting days later, and he then posted this on the Wednesday.

My second book, ***************, has been accepted by PA!!!

Totally thrilled... and I can't honestly say that I'm any less thrilled this time round compared to when my first book had been accepted

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Obviously isn't familiar with the old adage that whatever comes that easy in life is not really worth having.

Christine N. said:

Oh, ok, Dee, I thought that's what you said. I guess I'm just not familiar with a "closely held stock company" and what that means. Thanks

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It basically means (disclaimer: I am not a broker) that the stock is only available to the partners (and possibly the employees) and cannot be bought or sold on market exchanges. For example, since Microsoft is publicly traded, you can go out and buy all you can afford. Since PA isn't publicly traded, you can't buy any. (Not that I can think of a reason why I'd want to own part of PA, besides using the stock certificate as part of the clean-up process after a bowel movement.)

-Nick

Family Member on PA...

I have a family member who has 2 books on PA. I wrote her and told her about PA, but I haven't heard from her. Before I knew about the PA scam, I did say I would buy her first book. I do not want to buy any PA book! I don't know what exactly to do or say. I want to see her work, but not pay PA anything. I thought about asking to see her proofs, but I dunno...I do have friends that even though I told them about PA, still want my book. I guess it is at their descretion what they do, but ugh. Two already have it...

LOL Nexusman. Thank you for that concise (and way too visual) answer

We find this on the PAMB...

I think we must all realize that we tend to join various boards as a means of promotion for our book or books.

I for one have joined countless boards. From time to time I even forget which ones, and am shocked to read that some are PA bashing? I think that none of us should condemn anyone if by accident or ? Is on such a board. However I personally have never bashed PA. If ever a post is made stating otherwise, I would be surprised ,as they could never have any backup.

Like all authors there are always some things we could complain about. Whether a product we bought in a store or a publisher ,we all have some complaints or issues.
However I never forget that PA was the only publisher so far that willingly gave me an opportunity to be published. For that I am eternally grateful. I do mean eternally. Why bash or bite the hand that feeds you? To the bashers I say "Get a Life."

There is far more than monetary gains to this business of writing and being recognized.

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Emphasis mine. Uh, so there's a thousand some odd pages of backup, dear. Yes, there is far more than monetary gains and recognition. There's the satisfaction of writing a book. But with PA, who reads it? Personally, I write because I like it. I publish so others can read it. Business of writing. Yep, it is a business, unless you don't make money, then it's a hobby.

Why did you send your books to PA (I say books, because I know this author has at least two with them) if you didn't have some hope of them being read by the public? You thought that PA read them, didn't you? You thought that your manuscript was better than someone else's, that you beat out others to get 'published'. And since I haven't read her books, I don't know the quality. I do know that PA didn't choose you above others, or that they even know what your book is about.

Methinks someone is trying to rationalize. Only a few steps away from acceptance.

Wllem Meiners stated, in public, during Phil Dolan's arbitration, that PA's main goal is to sell books to authors. Remember that.

I do enjoy the way it suddenly twists around to "I'm not out to make money off my books!"...

yes, but you're not out to LOSE money, are you?

Ilovepensandpaper said:

I have a family member who has 2 books on PA. I wrote her and told her about PA, but I haven't heard from her. Before I knew about the PA scam, I did say I would buy her first book. I do not want to buy any PA book! I don't know what exactly to do or say. I want to see her work, but not pay PA anything. I thought about asking to see her proofs, but I dunno...I do have friends that even though I told them about PA, still want my book. I guess it is at their descretion what they do, but ugh. Two already have it...

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It must have taken a lot of courage to talk to your relative about PA. You could offer to let your friends read an electronic version of your book. And you could ask your relative whether she'd let you do the same with her writing.

A question arises within me, about PA and what they're trying to do to authors around the world.

Several, actually.


1.) Why do they not allow their authors out of a contract when they ask?

2.) Why do they keep books regardless of how well they sell?

3.) Why does PA refuse to do any marketing?

4.) Why does PA allow for the horribly bad press they have received over the last several years?


Okay, I'll leave the questions at those four.

I am beginning to think that the principals at PA want more than just money, here. How many posters here remember the statement about Mr. Clopper wanting to ruin as many authors' careers as possible, since he himself is a failed author?

I'm thinking maybe the answer to all four questions has to do with that simple statement.

I've noticed how long and drawn out these PA threads are. They're filled with people talking about the evils of PA. People talking about PA, who could be spending their time writing and making their careers better.

This is not a rebuke, nor is it an admonition. What it is, is an observation. I'm thinking that Mr. Clopper might be enjoying threads like this one, because in these threads, writers are not writing about what they love. Rather, they are writing about PA, which keeps them from making better headway into their writing careers.

Does anyone see where I'm going with this? I'm thinking that the PA principals are enjoying watching us talking about them instead of moving on with our lives. I think it brings them some kind of perverse pleasure to see people working on anti-PA stuff instead of what we really want to put out there.

This is not to say this thread is not useful, because this thread is very useful. The information on threads like these are highly important to people who are searching for a reason to either sign or not sign with a company like PA. Also, a thread like this is a good place for many PA'ers--like myself, about this same time last year--to land when trying to flee from that company.

But I think in my own life, what I need to do is go back to the love of my life: writing Fantasy. I think it's time for me to set the PA issue aside--though not completely as it is an interesting topic that has to do with me--for the time being and focus on my work. I have been focusing on PA so long and so hard that I think PA and its principals get enormous satisfaction from watching me berate them here on this thread, as well as others like it around the 'Net.

So I will be leaving this thread for quite a while, although I do intend to keep up on it and occasionally post here for the sake of giving any pertinent information about PA that I can. I have decided that I have fed PA's ego enough, and am going to do what I intended to do ever since I was a child.


I hope you'll all forgive me for a very long post, but I think it was necessary to write.

Mods--if you find that this post is in any way OT, I will completely understand your porting it over to the Overflow. I just needed to get this out of my system and I didn't know really where to put it except the first thread I came to when I discovered AW.

I hope you all have a great evening, and a wonderful rest-of-the-week.


Sincerely,


Sean D. Schaffer

SeanDSchaffer said:

1.) Why do they not allow their authors out of a contract when they ask?

2.) Why do they keep books regardless of how well they sell?

3.) Why does PA refuse to do any marketing?

4.) Why does PA allow for the horribly bad press they have received over the last several years?

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1. They're hoping that the author will break down and buy his/her own books.

2. They're standing by for the author to buy more books. Doesn't cost them anything to do it.

3. If they do no marketing for a title, the author and the author's family and friends will buy the books. If they market the heck out of a title the author and the author's family and friends will buy the books. They'll have spent money with no increase in income to show for it.

4. They don't have a choice.

A Friendly Business E-mail To Ms. Miranda Prather

Well, for the last few weeks I have been staring my mortality dead in the eye. That prompted me to write the e-mail below to Ms. Miranda Prather:

Dear Ms. Prather,

On December 10, 2005 I suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital for four days. Subsequently, I had a Stent placed in one of the arteries of my heart, and was in the hospital for one day. Since those occurrences, I have suffered a mild stroke which has left the left side of my body extremely weak. The only saving grace that I have been blessed with, is the fact that Tracy Sutterer has been by my side throughout the occurrences, and has made my life bearable. She is a great and loyal woman. In addition, I still have the use of my fingers, so I can type.

While I was in the emergency room - and the doctors were working to save my life, my mind focused on my memoir. It would have been a damn shame if I had expired from the heart attack, and my book would have still lingered in cyberspace for another five years - not reaching the audience that it was written for. At the time of this writing, twenty individuals have purchased my memoir - and the reviews have been good. However, due to PublishAmerica’s business marketing plan - my memoir is locked out of conventional distribution channels offered by other publishing houses.

I hereby request that PublishAmerica release me from the remainder of my publishing contract, due to poor sales. I make this request, so that I may rewrite my memoir and solicit the services of a reputable literary agent - who can then market the revised memoir to other publishing houses that incorporate a strong marketing department and viable distribution channels.

At fifty-one, and since I already have suffered a heart attack and stroke - I do not know how much time I have left on this earth. I would sincerely enjoy having my memoir published and distributed nationally & internationally - while I am still alive. I desire a clean and unencumbered release from the remaining time that is enforced in my present contract with PublishAmerica. A simple “PublishAmerica hereby releases Argile Stox from the remainder of his contract,” will suffice. Nothing fancy - No Clauses - No Restrictions. A plain and simple termination of my present contract with PublishAmerica, will be in the best interests of all concerned. Please advise as to your decision.

Argile Stox

Well, let’s see how long it will take before PublishAmerica responds to my request. I have a feeling they will ignore it and will conduct business as usual.

Argile Stox

Good for you Sean. I've seen you asking a lot of writing questions lately, and it makes me feel good that PA hasn't got you down.

Willie isn't stopping me - I've written over 20 pages in the last five days. Only four pages a day, but they were good pages.

You take your rest, good soldier, and we'll be here waiting for you when you're ready to come back

TracySutterer & ArgileStox said:

Well, for the last few weeks I have been staring my mortality dead in the eye. That prompted me to write the e-mail below to Ms. Miranda Prather:

Dear Ms. Prather,

On December 10, 2005 I suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital for four days. Subsequently, I had a Stent placed in one of the arteries of my heart, and was in the hospital for one day.
Well, let’s see how long it will take before PublishAmerica responds to my request. I have a feeling they will ignore it and will conduct business as usual.

Argile Stox

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:::::Snipped:::::


I hope you're feeling better...and with all due respect...it's business, not personal. Prather's a scammer, so why would she care about your personal problems, or consider them a reason to release you from your contract?

They'll do what's expedient for them--e.g., releasing the 'squeaky wheels' from their contracts. Compassion isn't a motivator.

Argile, they don't care about your stent.

What will get their attention is a letter from an arbitrator, telling them where and when to show up for another arbitration hearing.

Why are you messing around with these guys?

Congratulations, Tracy!!!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you, Argile!

Sheryl Nantus said:

I do enjoy the way it suddenly twists around to "I'm not out to make money off my books!"...

yes, but you're not out to LOSE money, are you?

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It's denial. Loss of control. Deluding oneself into thinking that the control is still there.

The following quotes probably best describe the psychology of those at the forefront of the PA ra-ra team.

WHAT A CON ARTIST LOOKS FOR

IN A SCAM VICTIM




The chosen

Con artists choose you very carefully. They are only interested in those people who can be turned around to believe in them without question. They don't merely seek out the greedy or the weak or the stupid. Not at all. They seek out the needy. They sniff and snuffle around until they find someone who has an unfulfilled desire that even you yourself may be unaware of until the carrot is dangled in front of your face.




Con artists will stalk anyone whose weaknesses or strengths can be used to advantage.

​

​

Right from the start

From the very moment a con artist targets you, his entire arsenal of psychological manipulation is brought into play. You are moved from a position of control to one of no control over anything at all. The con artist moves into the position of supreme power, regardless of how powerful you may be in real life.

How can this be? Because you are the only character in the play who hasn't a clue as to what is really happening. No one has given you a script to follow. The only choice given you is to react to what the other players are saying and doing.

Reality is gone, you just doesn't know it - your real world has been completely and effectively replaced with that of the con artist and his cronies. Smoke and mirrors.

​

​

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​

​

​

Argile... I doubt they can still feel remorse, guilt, or shame.

-Nick

Christine N. said:

We find this on the PAMB...

" I think we must all realize that we tend to join various boards as a means of promotion for our book or books.

I for one have joined countless boards. From time to time I even forget which ones, and am shocked to read that some are PA bashing? I think that none of us should condemn anyone if by accident or ? Is on such a board. However I personally have never bashed PA. If ever a post is made stating otherwise, I would be surprised ,as they could never have any backup.

Like all authors there are always some things we could complain about. Whether a product we bought in a store or a publisher ,we all have some complaints or issues.
However I never forget that PA was the only publisher so far that willingly gave me an opportunity to be published. For that I am eternally grateful. I do mean eternally. Why bash or bite the hand that feeds you? To the bashers I say "Get a Life."

There is far more than monetary gains to this business of writing and being recognized.


Emphasis mine. Uh, so there's a thousand some odd pages of backup, dear.

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I don't think she was denying that other PA authors have spoken out against the company. The sentence before the one you highlighted was "However I personally have never bashed PA," so I think she meant that there was no proof she had ever said anything negative about PA, even if she might have joined messageboards labeled as "PA-bashing."

It sounds to me more like she was trying to protect herself from any possible attacks by the PA faithful than anything else.