The New Never-Ending PublishAmerica Thread (NEPAT)

John & Cate, I am absolutely thrilled for the both of you

It's about time. Wow!! A new club is born and it's numbers are growing-yeee haaaaaaaaaa!!!

EX-PA-er's such a nice ring to it

ETA:Those still waiting to get your rights back, please do not take offense.

Read this disclaimer against PA...

From the OK Writers Federation Inc. Conference.


http://owfi.org/Conference/BookRoom/tabid/88/Default.aspx
Book Sale Option No. 1: Best of Books, our bookseller, 1313 E. Danforth Road, Edmond OK 73034 (405/340-9202), will order your books from Ingram or your publisher if they are returnable and the bookstore receives the standard retailer discount. This, unfortunately, does not include the recently popular Publish America, due to past problems. Best of Books will also not purchase books via the Internet, self-published books, or e-books. Best of Books will split profits of this option with OWFI.

Well, great and I was going to enter this year!

Thanks again PA...you've ruined another opportunity for authors to get their books read and noticed!

I was released last year and have begun revisions on my novel. Now that some of us have our rights reverted, and we own the copyrights, one of the best things we can do is to have our books published ligitamately. I have written another novel and have begun queries.

I know I've read where some writers here have said we should forget our books that were printed with PA. Sorry, I can't do that. This book took me four years to write and a year of research. I poured my life's blood into this book. I refuse to put it up on my shelf and let it collect dust.

I've had several x-PA authors ask me about resubmitting their work and I don't know the answer.
Does anyone know how we should go about this? Should we, in our query, say the book was previously printed with Publish America? Or should we submit it as a new work if we have changed the title and completed a rewrite? Do we need to change all the characters' names?

This may seem slightly off topic, but it should be another reason for writers who are considering PA not sign with them.

Editing options raise questions

The college instructor is starting to get a clue. From a thread about editing options on the PAMB is this:

I chose to edit my own because I have a master's degree in English and I have several years of proofing and editing experience. I trust myself more than someone else. Still, it looks sort of funny on the first page of the book where it says: At the specific preference of the author, publishamerica has allowed this work to remain exactly as the author indended, verbatim, without editorial input. And I am wondering why they would even think to do that and I am wondering just how many authors do opt for choice 2 and why they would do this if they don't have a degree in grammar.

When they asked me if I wanted to skip editing, I assumed it was because the book was pretty darn close to perfect as it was what with me being a college English teacher. Now I'm wondering if they make that same offer to everyone.

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Answer: Yes, they do.

Further downstream, another author adds:

When I first saw the disclaimer that you have mentioned in the pdf it really bothered me. My first reaction was that anyone who saw it would think it a work of "vanity". I really hope that that is not the case. I guess time will tell.

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Time has already told. And those Time told extend our sympathies.

PA doesn't care if you're a teacher who indeed can string together gramatically correct English or a barely literate monkey. In fact, they may prefer the monkey in the long run because it'll learn the tricks of Self-Buying without asking pesky questions.

ByGrace said:

This may seem slightly off topic.

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It is. But I think it is good if that is what you want to do. re-write, submit, and good luck

All of your publishing questions will be answered here:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8754

Scroll down through the index until you find the topic that fits your question.
Ken

PVish said:

The college instructor is starting to get a clue. From a thread about editing options on the PAMB is this:

I chose to edit my own because I have a master's degree in English and I have several years of proofing and editing experience. I trust myself more than someone else. . . .

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No one is his or her own best editor or proof reader. An independent set of eyes is always necessary, as a writer tends to overlook his or her own errors. Better: more than one set (one or two people doing only proof reading, and at least one or two others commenting/editing for content, organization, style, factual accuracy, and so on before it even gets to the proof-reading stage). I believe that this is a widely shared view.

--Ken

ByGrace said:

I know I've read where some writers here have said we should forget our books that were printed with PA. Sorry, I can't do that. This book took me four years to write and a year of research. I poured my life's blood into this book. I refuse to put it up on my shelf and let it collect dust.

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People here who mentioned forgetting about your PA book were not talking about situations like yours, where the author's rights have reverted. They were talking about books whose rights are held by PA, especially those held for the length of copyright.

A grammatical note, ladies and gentlemen: Rights revert to the author. They are not "reverted to" the author.

Aconite said:

People here who mentioned forgetting about your PA book were not talking about situations like yours, where the author's rights have reverted. They were talking about books whose rights are held by PA, especially those held for the length of copyright.

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I don't know...if I receive my rights back (one can dream), I'd probably still just let the book go. It was crap then, it's still crap now, and the amount of effort it would take to resurrect an actual novel from the ashes would be more work than simply creating a better work from scratch.

Speaking of which, it's time to go work on another book since my current novel is making the rounds...

Over on the PAMB, the instructor posted a pop quiz:

1. I just read that we have a book of the week contest. How do we find out who wins? How long has this been going on? Can you name all the winners?

2. Who at our house has sold the most books of all time?

3. Who was the first publishamerica.com author, and is he or she still around?

4. Who has done the most book signings?

5. Of the authors who still post here, which one has been around the longest? Who has changed to most since you've been here?

6. Who is the most famous Publish America author?

7. Who has the most expesive book currently in press?

8. Who has the least expensive publishamerica.com book?

9. Who has the longest publishameric.com book? The shortest?

10 What is the largest number of books to sell at a single signing.

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Anybody want to answer? I doubt that Infocenter will. And nobody else on the PAMB has ventured a guess after 3 hours.

OK, I'll answer a couple:

#5. Can't remember his name, but the number sold was around 5,200.
#6. Jamie Farr. But nobody's heard of him lately. (Didn't he sort of vanish into obscurity--and off Hollywood Squares--shortly after his book came out, although his name lingered on the "Up in Lights" for years?)
#7. Two possible answers. (A) Nobody. There is no press. It's digital. (B) Everybody. The books are all over-priced.

ETA: make that #2, not #5.

#6 That would be me! Oh, wait, I thought it said infamous.


Dee

astonwest said:

I don't know...if I receive my rights back (one can dream), I'd probably still just let the book go. It was crap then, it's still crap now, and the amount of effort it would take to resurrect an actual novel from the ashes would be more work than simply creating a better work from scratch.
...

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Mine was crap then. I'll be the first to admit that. And it sure as hay wasn't ready for prime time. Which is why PruneAmerica "gave it the chance it deserved." Bullsh!t!

However, once I received my rights back, I had a decision to make. And, yes, it did involve Borders. To a point. But it was also personal. I could have walked away and told the manager forget it.

I did have another option which Jenna asked me about. And that was to put it through Lulu in its old format to keep it on the shelf @ Borders. I politely told her she was out of her mind since the book sucked. I added I was being given a once in a lifetime opportunity: a do-over. Jenna, in her kindness, lied to me and said it would only take me about a month to rewrite it. Thank God she stretched the truth about as far as one can

As most of you know, it took 6 months to rewrite. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. It was analagous to doing a jigsaw puzzle, it needed so much work. Please remember, my book was first accepted back in the day when PA claimed to have used editors. I have no idea what they used them for...

At the end, I felt like a writer. And the best part is, now I really like my book I'm also proud of it.

To be optimistic, when it finds a home w/ a commercial publisher, I'll be excited about working w/ an editor. A real one. Now there's something to look forward to

Do I ever have to mention PruneAmerica? No. Will I? Not in a query letter. It will be thrown away immediately.

PVish said:

#5. Can't remember his name, but the number sold was around 5,200.

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You meant #2, right?

Anyway, you're thinking of Mr. Neo Franco Cantu, but ... the judges say no. The question was who had sold the greatest number of his books, not who had bought the greatest number of his own books.

#6. Jamie Farr. But nobody's heard of him lately. (Didn't he sort of vanish into obscurity--and off Hollywood Squares--shortly after his book came out, although his name lingered on the "Up in Lights" for years?)

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Maybe, though Hedda Whatsername is also pretty famous, and one of the people the Sound of Music was about had a book at PA too.

#7. Two possible answers. (A) Nobody. There is no press. It's digital. (B) Everybody. The books are all over-priced.

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I don't know exactly, but the answers to #9 are the same as the answers to #7 and #8.

Jamie Farr's book

Wasn't Jamie's book actually his wife's book?

8. Who has the least expensive publishamerica.com book?

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I think he already smells a rat -- why would he say "least expensive" instead of "cheapest?"

-Nick

Memphis Ed said:

Wasn't Jamie's book actually his wife's book?

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Maybe. But he was the one who, uh, "promoted" it.

Nexusman said:

I think he already smells a rat -- why would he say "least expensive" instead of "cheapest?"

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I think he he got the first whiff of rodent when he learned that lesser educated authors were also offered the option not to have their work edited.

Nexusman said:

I think he already smells a rat -- why would he say "least expensive" instead of "cheapest?"

-Nick

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"Cheap" has a connotation related to quality--a connotation of poor quality, to be specific--that words like "inexpensive" or "low-priced" do not. I would not read anything into that particular choice of words for that reason.

That fellow's posts are ... uh ... oh, never mind. I had not seen his lengthy self-introduction and musings about PA until a few minutes ago. Oh, my. Ohhhhh, my.

:-0

--Ken

When you don't want to mention PA...

So what exactly does an ex-PAer or otherwise say about his/her writing background when they don't want to mention anything about PA. What about a person who doesn't have legitimate creditials prior to PA? I saw a post has something to do with that, but I recently read some poetry from my book. It was at an Black History Month event. You know, people were proud. A couple wanted to by it, and one lady told me where I could promote my book. I was glad my mom bailed me out when someone asked about book signings. She was like,"I don't think she'll be doing that. The publisher is shady." I don't even know what to say! I wanted to say "wait for the next one", but I'd get puzzled looks. ugh! When I had to talk about my book, I mentioned it was on PA, since someone did want to buy it. I didn't mention it again. Geez, I love my poems, I just detest the printer! I want to get out there and boost up me, not mention the printer. My friend wanted a copy too, and she went to my site. She was like, "You need to advertise so you can get your royalties". Ha Ha Ha.

You know what I really want from this Pathetic Printer? My print rights back, and 100 copies of my book FREE, and for the big wigs to change the name from Publish America to Punish America, POD, LLLP. And that is just being nice...

#10
Maybe me...75 in one weekend two-day signing. But I'm 2 million ranking on Amazon and not available anywhere else...

Ah, that's PA for ya! Great cause, great audience, no distribution!

Ask me how thrilled I am...

Ilovepensandpaper said:

So what exactly does an ex-PAer or otherwise say about his/her writing background when they don't want to mention anything about PA.

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Silence is golden. You're under no compulsion to say anything at all.

I think I stated "I currently have no notable publishing credits" (or something similar) in a recent query letter...

James, I like the silence is golden technique. Very simple, lol. Astonwest, you just reminded me that I have to edit my resume! :-(

I worked on my anti-PA page tonight. Some changes here and there. Took hours though considering I'm not a HTML/CSS(or whatever it is called) wiz. I do, however, have a knack for trying and actually figuring it out, thanks to some computer sites. If anyone has a link that would be useful, I would love to have it.

Ilovepensandpaper said:

Geez, I love my poems, I just detest the printer! I want to get out there and boost up me, not mention the printer. My friend wanted a copy too, and she went to my site. She was like, "You need to advertise so you can get your royalties". Ha Ha Ha.

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I have yet to pick up a book and say to myself, right, who published this. I scan the blurb, maybe the first couple of pages, and then make my decision. Not that I've ever came across a PA book in a bookstore.

If you're getting good feedback from your readings, then there are obviously those who like your work - and many poets self-publish. I've came across several websites where the authors barely mention PA, simply promote the work and post the info that it is available at Amazon. You should be promoting yourself and your book of poems, and PA don't deserve a mention anyway.

From the PAMB

Is it possible to have corrections made to the text of a book after it has gone past the cover design stage. I have discovered that I somehow failed to edit a couple (or more) chapters in my book and the number of errors in the final PDF version is utterly unacceptable. I know this is my fault. PA gave me a bunch of chances to eradicate the errors in my manuscript but due to some mitigating circumstances I was just in much too big of a hurry and made a very very big mistake.

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Never judge a book by its cover.

This was the same author who not too long ago was waxing lyrical about PA being staffed with angels after he got his cover design through.

I feel sorry for him, actually. I've never really experienced those sledge-hammer-type emotions before, and hope I never do. I've been down, and I've been up, but never went from all-time-high to all-time-low in such a brief space of time.

Fulfilled lifetime dreams aren't supposed to have such a short shelf life.

Only with PA.