PAMB and its quotes

James D. Macdonald · Dec 11, 2006

The objections to Ahad's Constant seem to fall into two groups: How constant is it if it only has that value for one particular place in the universe, and how useful is it if the criteria for deriving the number are arbitrary?

Sheryl Nantus · Dec 11, 2006

I am constantly amazed at the amount of "faux science" books that PA puts out.

James D. Macdonald · Dec 11, 2006

Vanity publishing is a place where you'll find a lot of crackpot science. Even crackpots have checkbooks.

Stacia Kane · Dec 11, 2006

Gravity said:
Maybe "Ahad's constant" requires Doctor Emmet Brown's "one point five gigawatts of power." GREAT SCOTT!!

It's one point twenty-one gigowatts, not one point five.

Sorry. hijack off.

Stacia Kane · Dec 11, 2006

James D. Macdonald said:
I did, indeed, Google on "Ahad's Constant." What I found was, not

but rather a series of astro-physics messageboards where Ahad pops up to ask people to call his number "Ahad's constant" to which he gets a series of puzzled replies. He presses the case; replies become testier.

Here's a typical one.

He's created some lovely sock puppets to push the theory as well, along with the typical PA Amazon review puppets (several people comment on those in the Google groups).

LloydBrown · Jan 10, 2007

The Marketing Folder

I think they should restrict posting in the Marketing folder to people who have actually sold 1,000 or more books. People giving bad advice to each other just means more people have bad advice.

Yes, I know the board would be empty.

James D. Macdonald · Jan 10, 2007

And "sold" would have to mean sold, not "bought yourself and still in boxes in your garage."

Bartholomew · Jan 10, 2007

James D. Macdonald said:
Here's a typical one.

The... The stupidity hurt my eyes.

Sheryl Nantus · Jan 10, 2007

Bartholomew said:
The... The stupidity hurt my eyes.

Look away! Look away!

AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

James D. Macdonald · Jan 10, 2007

The purpose of this thread isn't to support PA authors. It's to warn folks who might become PA authors.

If PA authors have these various misconceptions, they probably had them before they became PA authors. Perhaps if they didn't have the misperceptions they would have made a better decision about their writing.

If folks who aren't yet PA authors get their eyes opened, and are saved from the wheels of the author mill, that's a win for them.

As to the PA authors themselves -- they signed that awful contract. There isn't much I can do for them.

WWWWolf · Jan 10, 2007

James D. Macdonald said:
Here's a typical one.

The referenced paper is a gem in itself. I'm not an astrophysicist, but my few visits to arXiv.org usually don't give me instant headaches thanks to the presentation. (Depth of the content, maybe, but not presentation.) Maybe I should stop reading computer science papers (which are usually laid out boringly, yet effectively) and see which astrophysicist uses the most animated rainbow GIFs and pixely Excel screengrabs with graphs that's placed partially on top of the data.

I say one thing - this guy's theory wouldn't last a day in Wikipedia. Even if described as fictional.

I wouldn't brag about it being particularly widespread either - 30 distinct Google hits for "Ahad's constant" and 65 distinct Google hits for "Ahad radius"? Pathetic...

Hm, hokey science and a hokey publisher. These go just nicely hand in hand...

emsuniverse · Jan 10, 2007

Some gems I found this evening (my comments in bold):

Orig poster: "My book was published this past July, I cant afford to buy any copies of my book, I dont know what to do." Then you're S.O.L., buddy!

Part of a reply: "PA will send out a limited number of review copies for you IF the reviewer is legitimately a reviewer and if the review will be published somewhere." Yeah, and the book will arrive (if at all) in about a year.

---

Next, we have one guy who posted his "book commercial" for others to view. It's... well, have you guys seen those commercials for James Patterson's new book Cross or Nora Roberts' new book? It's NOTHING like that, let's put it this way. Kinda made me cringe.

---

This one lady wrote to Barnes and Noble's headquarters, wanting them to stock her book.

"It is obvious from the wording of the letter that Barnes and Noble perceive PublishAmerica as a POD publisher, and no matter how strenuously I argued otherwise, they refused to accept it.

Incidentally, I'm having the same problem with WH Smith and Borders here in the UK - they also insist that PA are POD publishers. "
No, really?

A reply: "One of the problems I learned about was that B&N has an inhouse POD publisher they promote, name withheld, in which they own a large percentage of the stock. We learn not to believe all of what we are told by the bookstores, but still they are the ones we have to deal with. "

Random PAMB quotes:

"Don't worry. It'll be all right. Your book will sell millions, just wait and see."
"Go look at my cover. Was the wait worth it or what?? "

J.S Greer · Jan 10, 2007

Found on today's trip to the PAMB:

However, when I contacted my local newspaper to see if they would do an article, I was told they did not want to review my book. You would think they would be more than anxious to interview one of their own.

Well...

The next three are related, the last two being in response to the first.

I have found so many errors and typos that were suppossed to be fixed before the book went for sale; but we are all human and bound to make mistakes.

Didn't you take advantage of all the opportunities PA gave you to check for errors?
If they are not to blatent, I wouldn't worry about it.

I personally didn't find any typos in my first PA book Species. I lament the fact that it's happened to you.

Hysterical blindness from three seperate people on one topic?

I am the author of IRISH OATMEAL. My second novel, CHARLOTTE'S HUMMOCK has just been contracted here at Publish America. I usually call Ingrams, at their 1-800 number to find out how many copies are sold on their automated service. Now my ISBN is no longer valid according to tele. Does this mean that only the Publish America Warehouse is housing copies of IRISH OATMEAL?[/QUOTE]

They have a warehouse?!?

Ok, one comment before I go. Looking at the avatars that each person uses, doe sit seem to anyone else that browses over there that most of them are middle aged or older?

JulieB · Jan 11, 2007

I almost posted a link to that book commercial, but I realized that the author's new book is NOT with PA. Apparently his second book got turned down due to poor sales of the first. I'm surprised the post was allowed to remain.

And yeah, that "commercial" had me scratching my head until I realized that this guy writes about video games. Then I was simply shaking my head in disbelief.

Marian Perera · Jan 11, 2007

I couldn't make out what in the world he was trying to promote with that commercial. "You might think you are great. But have you faced... The secret society?" That's the limit of the commentary on the book; the rest of the video is devoted to some video game that I didn't find very interesting. Surely he could have used the commercial to say a little more about the plot or characters? There wasn't even a picture of the cover.

JulieB · Jan 11, 2007

Ah, yes. That's another issue. I'm sure he had Nintendo's permission to use that game footage, right? ;-)

emsuniverse · Jan 17, 2007

Some quotes:

"I have received email from authors who watch the boards, both PA authors, and those yet to becomes part of the family, and they read what we say to one another. Who's to say that potential agents, movie execs, and various buyers aren't reading them as well?"

I'm sure.

"Hello! I had about the same thing with the first book. I had a lot of people tell me they really enjoyed it, then I had others who only asked "Didn't someone edit that for you?" or "I know someone who would be willing to edit your manuscripts" and that's it. It was really kind of embarrassing after awhile, but I'm glad that at least SOME people got the true message from it.
It was for that reason that I decided to endure the wait and select the option.of editing with PublishAmerica for my second book. I'm not quite sure what kind of job they've done yet, but it's gotta be better than my first one!"

Don't hold your breath.

"I am just curious, has anyone had great success with their first novel, or is it just a way to get your name out there? I came into this not expecting to make tons of money. One day, yes, I want to be full time author, but I know it will take years."

The poor man.

Some good news; a well known publisher of business and academic books and articles has made an offer on my 3rd and 4th manuscripts.
They read my first book, some of my published research, and a synopsis along with a couple of sample chapters of the manuscripts. We just finished a phone conference and are working out some details but a contract will be signed soon.
It will certainly be different to get paid while I finish the books in addition to some other compensation.
I did, a few weeks ago, inquire about submitting my 2nd manuscript with PA and will still submit it here. But it does appear that entering the market with PA has launched another part of my career. Once the 3rd and 4th books are on the market and on the shelves of all the bookstores I'll post info about it here. Things are looking up, indeed.

Wonder what business/academic publisher it is...

"I thought I read something awhile ago that stated PA has made their books returnable. Well I went to Barnes & Noble Saturday to ask them if they would put my book on the shelf because I have several people wanting to purchase a copy but is a little weary about purchasing online. The manager told me they could come in and order it from the store and there would not be a shipping charge, but they do not shelf PublishAmerica books because of their no return policy. I told him I believe they changed that policy, he then showed me his computer and I saw it for my self...no returns. The manager did say if enough people came in and asked to order my book he would think about putting it on the shelf, but whoever purchase it must know that they cannot return it. So back to the question, are PA's books returnable or not?"

After this post, the thread was replied by a site admin:
"Your book is returnable. Please advise your bookstore to re-check Ingram's listings periodically as they are being updated from time to time."

And then they locked the thread.

J.S Greer · Jan 18, 2007

As a writer I initially came to these boards to learn more of PA and its operation, to be exposed to editing and grammar features and to find other facts to help me write a better book. I learned a lot and it helped sales once I was published.

Once published and upon returning to the boards, however, I found less and less information to nourish my writing growth. I found more and more personal and inane comments; too much gibberish about pets, and in-laws and former spouses; too many good threads disintegrating into chatline nonsense.

With thousands of books being published by PA, it would be difficult for them to give equal marketing attention to every book published.

And finally...

I agree with Dick.

Well of course you do my dear. Of course you do.

TwentyFour · Jan 19, 2007

Now that's nice...

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 2:22 pm

INFOCENTER2 Writes:

XXXXXX wrote:
If you... find that your manuscript was not edited by a person, but only appears to have been run through some editing software

Click to expand...

This would be impossible. PublishAmerica has never used such software.

XXXXX wrote:
is it possible to stop the process so that you can have enough time to get it properly edited?

Click to expand...

Perhaps, but an exception would need to be made. Normally authors submit manuscripts that do not require such a level of editing.

XXXXX wrote:
Most of the errors are mine, although I have found some that came from the editing software PA uses

Click to expand...

We would submit that all of them are yours. Again, PublishAmerica has never used such software.

TwentyFour · Jan 19, 2007

Wow...Another problem with PA...

From One Author
I was so excited to see an e-mail from PA. The e-mail was addressed to me with the name of my book XXXXXXXX. They said I had 48 hours to look them over and send reply. Problem was, it was not my proofs. They were another author's by the name of XXXX XXXXXX. I e-mailed PA immediately. Has this happend to anyone else?

From Infocenter

Not sure this is worthy of all this attention; apparently a mistake was made.

Next time please send an email to your editor.

TwentyFour · Jan 19, 2007

One author is told her book is not discounted and the store has tried ordering, only to be told they will end up paying full price or so...

My local independent bookshop is telling me they are having some difficulties.

I wonder if they are giving me the run around?

They claim they cannot get an answer as to what the discount is to order? They want to order in small quantities due to a small storage area. They want to be able to reorder as their small stock diminishes.

They claim the discounts quoted were only 20% for 10 books?
They claim a 4 week wait to receive the order?
They felt frustrated that there was no 800 number to place the order or speak to someone?

They claim they wanted my book and signing for their busiest day Memorial Day and when they called two weeks before they were told that was impossible.

I do not want to argue as they are an outstanding source for my book and its sales..I said I am sure they were mistaken, but promised to get back to them on all of this?

I cannot find the answers on your website to these questions.
I want to be able to print this all out and personally bring the information to them with me.

Hope you can help

Infocenter argues back with...

>>My local independent bookshop is telling
>>me they are having some difficulties.
>>I wonder if they are giving me the run around?

"Run around" would be a very charitable way of putting it. They are simply telling you things that are not true. All of what you say that they told you, is false.

>>They claim they cannot get an answer
>>as to what the discount is to order?

This is false. Our largest customers are bookstores, and they call, email, or fax us every day. Our full time support team is happy to give them answers. To get a busy signal or ring-no-answer is a rarity, but the support team checks voice mail at least twice per day anyway.

>>They claim the discounts quoted
>>were only 20% for 10 books?

This is false; they were not told this at all. Also, this statement contradicts the statement above that says they could not get an answer. Which was it? Bookstores order from us every day, using our wholesaler discount schedule, which does not contain such a discount as you describe.

>>They claim a 4 week wait to receive the order?

This is false. The support team did not tell them that.

>>They felt frustrated that there was no 800 number
>>to place the order or speak to someone?

They are welcome to call and speak to us at any time, of course. Of all the hundreds of bookstores that order from PublishAmerica, if they are the only ones who "feel frustrated" that we do not have an 800 number, then so be it. They are very well aware that they can also order your book through the world's largest book wholesaler, right from their computer screen. A stock check done just now shows that your book is physically in stock at their wholesaler. They will see this same information on their computer screen.

>>They claim they wanted my book and signing for their
>>busiest day Memorial Day and when they called two
>>weeks before they were told that was impossible.

This is false. They were not told that.

>>I do not want to argue as they are an outstanding
>>source for my book and its sales..I said I am
>>sure they were mistaken, but promised to get back
>>to them on all of this?

Please feel free to quote us on all of the above.

Everyone but PA is wrong, don't they realize this yet???

She answered back with the usual answer...

Thank you Info center for the reply. I suppose my best option is to forget about this source of a bookstore that will carry my book and offer me a signing.

If everything is a lie that they are telling me then I cannot feel comfortable with any arrangements they will offer.

This infuriates me! I have spent considerable time and money on visits to the store and in having posters and book marks made up in their name.

Okay I will now persue some other stores and prospects.

What is the discount they would get for 10 books then? Apparently that was what they wanted to order? They use a wholesaler so they say, but often order direct if they can get a better discount. I really have no idea how independent shops buy.

It's off to B&N or some other larger stores.

triceretops · Jan 19, 2007

Unbelievable. PA just shot down a free publicity event, 10 book sales, and lied to an author about their own culpability. PA was correct about them not offering a 20% discount on 10 books. Crikey--it's less than that. Notice that PA did not offer to call the outlet and offer an explanation to iron out the problems. They in fact called the bookstore liars.

Anything...anything to get PA authors to buy their own books, instead of seek legitimate publicity routes.

These pigs are never wrong, and brow-beat EVERYONE into submission.

Tri--very sad for that author.

stormie · Jan 19, 2007

From PAMB:

It's off to B&N or some other larger stores.

Poor thing. I wonder how many stores she visits before getting discouraged? Or realizes the truth.

Christine N. · Jan 19, 2007

Yeah, how IS a POD book physically in stock at the wholesaler warehouse?

Hmm....If PA is lying about that, how true could the rest of it be?

BenPanced · Jan 19, 2007

"Everything your bookstore told you is a lie and we're not really going to tell you the correct answers! You just have trust us that everything's going to be okay!"

PAMB and its quotes

Your Genial Uncle

Holding out for a Superhero...

Your Genial Uncle

Girl Detective

Girl Detective

Your Genial Uncle

Comic guy

Holding out for a Superhero...

Your Genial Uncle

Look! A carnival wolf!

Back to freelancing again...

Feel the power!

I grow my own catnip

starting over

I grow my own catnip

Back to freelancing again...

Feel the power!

practical experience, FTW

practical experience, FTW

practical experience, FTW

storm central

haz a shiny new book cover

THE BLUEBERRY QUEEN OF HADES (he/him)