PAMB and its quotes

That picture is hilarious and so fitting!

Icerose: more info please

So you are saying that PA didn't permit it?

Or they were handed an opportunity on a silver platter .... and dropped the platter?

Tsu Dho Nimh said:

So you are saying that PA didn't permit it?

Or they were handed an opportunity on a silver platter .... and dropped the platter?

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When it first began I didn't like how the ingrams discount worked (I believed them when they said it was ingrams discount) so I asked around at barnes and noble and walmart and they said if I could get it with X distributor they would not only stock my book but showcase it as well.

I asked PA if I was allowed to persue my own distributors. They gave the green light.

So I went to X distributor sent them a copy of my book through their requirements, and they offered to carry it. There was a problem, they didn't handle trade paperbacks and they prefer to keep their own stock using their own printer.

So they sent PA a contract stating the terms of distribution and such their cut, PA's cut, and such, price of the book, what it would look like and PA refused, saying I had acted on my own and did not have permission to do such things.

They came back to me and told me what had happened. By this time I was fuming, as you can imagine. I had already lined up 3 television interviews, two on popular state networks and the other was a national. After the distributor deal folded I explained the situation to the networks and cancelled. I had recieved two glowing reviews from legit reviewers and had ten others lined up, one being foreward magazine. I sent their requests on to PA, PA refused to send out the review copies stating that the contract said that they got to choose whether or not to send out review copies.

I never promoted my book to anyone after that. It still sold over thirty copies, most directly bought from PA as it was about four dollars cheaper. Most were not family, four of such sales were total strangers, that was before my book suddenly became unavaible and was unable to be ordered for months at a time. By this time the second book was scheduled to be coming out. The editing was atrocious, they added in errors, and the cover art was hideous. There were somewhere between 30-40 pre-orders, all of which were canceled and then both contracts were returned to me.

It's odd, I'm still getting requests for my book now that my book has been out of contract since febuary, and at least two brand new copies have sold since then.

Weird situation, weird company.

ETA: I also had the local school district lobbying to get my book as required reading for the state but PA refused their request saying they could not fulfill the volume of orders. Go figure.

Nothing weird at all. They'll do anything to avoid dealing with the real publishing industry, they don't want to sell books to anyone but you, and they aren't set up to sell books in commercial quantities.

I have been looking at book festivals
http://www.book-sales-in-america.com/
Contact the local organizer and see if you could set up an autograph signing. You will have to sell the book for "cost" and let any mark up go to the book drives cause. However you won’t loose anything and it’s a great way for exposure.

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Let's see: You sell the book at cost (but you had to pay postage, so you're selling for LESS than your total cost), you have to pay for your gas to get there, you spend most of the day sitting in a booth, and you sell very few books because many other authors are doing the same thing (and the patrons there are buying books from authors they've heard about), and you're handing our bookmarks and cards that you paid for. And, of course, some fairs charge for table space. You're losing money.

At a few of the past Virginia Festivals of the Book, I've seen book-laden tables occupied by folks I've never heard of. They looked lonely, because crowd passed them by to go hear the big-name authors speak. There is no way these unknowns came out ahead. But the lines were long at the tables where bookstores sold the books of the well-known speakers.

The "exposure" you get is the chance to network with other authors, some of whom just might ask why you went with such a scammy publisher. If you're at a local event, you might sell a couple of books to people you already know. If you're traveling a distance, odds are good you won't sell many.

Many fairs/bookfests are by invitation only (I serve on a committee for one of these) and limit the number of authors invited. Others allow authors to apply for space but require them to submit a book for judging before a limited number of invitees are chosen. A few open the gates to everyone, no matter how badly a book is written, as long as the authors cough up the money for table space—but do you really want to attend that kind of event?

Unless the book event has a big name speaker to draw a crowd, not many people are likely to attend. And even then, many go home after the big-name author has spoken and signed books. (Usually, a local bookstore rep will have lots of books to sell for the speaker to sign.)

As for "exposure," you might be exposed to how publishing really works.

PAMB said:

Small town public libraries are are usually happy to have a book signing but you should have some of your books. If you can't affort to buy a supply of your book at the 50% discount, you need other options. If the retail price of your book is, for example, $20.00 per copy, you can purchase 50 books from PA for $500.00 on your credit card at 50% discount from the retail price and pay back your credit card within the no interest period, you can make $250.00 profit. Then, use that money you made to keep purchasing more books and selling them at a 10% discount. Always put your profits back in your business. Dinner out is nice but eats up your profits. Always take your two free copies with you everywhere you go and tell people how they can purchase a copy through the Internet bookstores.

Drug stores that have a book section are good places to place a few books. Your local grocery store is a good place too. Try your Dentist's office. Places to market your book are all around you.

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Same old song and dance.

And that's if you can sell those fifty copies for that price. OUCH! Please people don't buy your own books. Real published authors don't buy their books in fact many real publishers have it in the contract barring their authors from doing so as they feel it's the publisher's job to sell the books. Heck, even PA states on their website it's their job to sell the book. So how does it end up that the author carries the full burden and you all are happy about it???

If PA is truly not a vanity publisher, then I challenge all of you to NOT buy your books, otherwise, congratulations, you have paid to be published. Come on, prove us wrong that PA isn't a vanity, don't pay to be published.

Yeah, that's an example of what PA EXACTLY wants their authors to do. Load up on books, ring that credit card dry, with the assumtion that you'll get it all back and more. What a system. PA knows damn well it's a vanity operation and are giggling all the way to the bank. The authors refuse to believe it.

Tri

triceretops said:

Yeah, that's an example of what PA EXACTLY wants their authors to do. Load up on books, ring that credit card dry, with the assumtion that you'll get it all back and more. What a system. PA knows damn well it's a vanity operation and are giggling all the way to the bank. The authors refuse to believe it.

Tri

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Not to mention very few were able to sell even the fifty books that they bought and rarely at anything more than cost, especially since you factor in the outrageous shipping costs. I think most authors fail to account for that and PA is happy to jack it up.

I live in a one-horse town, in NC, and we don't have a newspaper . . . I've tried to persuade other newspapers to write a review to no avail. My book is currently 62 pgs. (I plan to add a Foreword as soon as I can find a PA author willing to write a 15 pg. minimum, single space, for a [negotiable] fee and the byline) and it has a Christian motif.

Oh, dear. I don't get this. I just don't. He wants a foreword that is roughly 1/4 the size of his short story for inclusion in the text AFTER the book has been published. How or why should you credit a foreword author with a byline? Add to that, his first question asked if it was too late to promote the book, since it's already out.

He needs to visit AW, AND STAY HERE WITH US.

Tri
Tri

Drug stores that have a book section are good places to place a few books. Your local grocery store is a good place too.

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That author's book came out in January, '06. He's seen one royalty period since then. I'd like to ask him, "How's that working out for you?" (Grocery stores and drug stores are usually covered by the IDs (Independent distributors), who demand very steep discounts and won't touch a POD book.)

Also, that author needs to learn how to make direct links to his book at Amazon and such (not just a link to Amazon's front door with instructions on how do do a search). Have him get in touch with me if he wants to learn how.

This PA Author had been around awhile. I think she's figured it out...

(My book) is on the Inside the book feature of Amazon. The way I see it is that we are really unknown. No one could basically give a rats behind about what we have written. To me, I am please with the Amazon feature because it does give some clue to what my *** book is about. It has some stories, shows some of my pitiful drawings and lets the viewer have a glimpse.

If I could afford to buy a million books my own self to give away, I would do it. As an author that no one ever heard of, I could have written the best book ever written and no one would know it at all. To me, it is all about getting your book recognized and out there into the wide world. It is just a shame I am so poor!!!

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I don't think she has figured it out. It isn't just about being an unknown author or poor.

It's about your publisher, it's about what they do to market it, it's about editing, it's about presentation and so on and so forth.

Steven King was an UNKNOWN, and he was poor. He didn't know anyone. Yet he made it big. He did not buy his own books. Same with every other career writer. It isn't who you know, or what connections you have. It may work that way in hollywood but not in the book world. It's about writing a book that people love AND about having a publisher that will put it out there, get it stocked, get it reviewed, get it into book clubs, libraries. Your publisher does NOTHING. After that it's all about the readers. And a million books? Some can't even give away the fifty they bought.

Folks, this has NOTHING to do with money on your side or unknown status. It's all about publisher, marketing, and how good the book is. But even the best written PA book will and has failed, because of the publisher.

Mr. 25% has changed his stock answer to the bookstore question:

Do not be too upset when you will discover that many bookstores will not even carry your book. Bookstores are really a waste of time and effort to have your book placed on their shelves simply because the only people making the money is the bookstore and the publisher and many times it cost you more than what it is worth.
Your book is already in their store catalogue simply because it is in their online bookstore. So why duplicate the effort?

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PA lurkers: The reason the it "isn't worth the effort" for you is that your publisher is supposed to do that work and expend the expense of getting the book into a bookstore, not the author.

And "why duplicate the effort"? Because people don't browse online bookstores. People browse in real stores, and frequently buy books that they discovered that way. Or, if they are cheap, like me, they browse in bookstores and order online to get it cheaper.

The PA faithful like to refer to this:

PAMB said:

From Publishers Weekly, some sobering statistics:

In 2004, Nielsen Bookscan tracked sales of 1.2 million books in the US. Of those 1.2 million, 950,000 sold fewer than 99 (yes, ninety-nine) copies each. Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies. Only 25,000 books sold more than 5,000 copies. Fewer than 500 sold more than 100,000 copies. Only 10 books sold more than a million copies each. THE AVERAGE BOOK IN THE US SELLS ABOUT 500 COPIES.

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Now Miss Snark explains

http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006/11/sky-is-falling-sky-is-falling.html

Miss Snark said:

1. Bookscan, despite its name, tracks ISBN numbers not books. The difference is that you can have several different ISBN numbers for ONE title: hardcover, trade paper, mass market, special editions. Calenders have ISBN numbers too. As an author of one title, you could have three, maybe four ISBN numbers sliding over the scanner and ringing up royalties.

2. Bookscan doesn't measure sales at WalMart.

3. Bookscan itself says it only captures about 70% of the hardcover market, and offers no stats on how much of the paper market it captures.

4. Bookscan measures retail sales, which excludes sales to libraries.

5. There is no such animal as the average book.


Go back to tormenting yourself with sentence structure, back story and the death of chicklit. The state of the industry will be there for you to anguish about later.

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To me, it is all about getting your book recognized and out there into the wide world. It is just a shame I am so poor!!!

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A certain Uk author also wanted to get her book out there into the wide world. She was on welfare, and so poor at the time she that she spent her days in a cafe with her infant daughter while penning her book. This saved on heating bills for her bedsit.

As a total unknown (as most authors are when starting out) she got her book(s) out. She's not so poor now.

PAMB said:

PA not only has some very good writers in their stable, it may be the last avenue of real writers.

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Is this denial or delusion?

PAMB said:

Most of the people in your address books are friends, and if they haven't bought your book by now, they probably won't...so you've got nothing to lose and a good deed to gain. Just write one email, and send it to them all at once.

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Nothing to lose but your friends! Friends don't treat friends like potential sales.

spike said:

Nothing to lose but your friends! Friends don't treat friends like potential sales.

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(P)Amway.

It comes down to the same sort of thing, every party they go to, they'll be forcing their book on people who don't want to read it, and after a while there will be no more invites, people will "forget" to call and email...

And then the police will find the author's body, half-eaten by feral cats, surrounded by towering piles of autho- discounted copies of their PA books.

It's a scary future kids, don't do PA.

More mind numbing arrogance from the PAMB:

PA not only has some very good writers in their stable, it may be the last avenue of real writers.

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avenue - more of a cul-de-sac

endless rewrite said:

More mind numbing arrogance from the PAMB:

PAMB said:

PA not only has some very good writers in their stable, it may be the last avenue of real writers.

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avenue - more of a cul-de-sac

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Cul-de-sac my a$$! It's a dead end.

Most of the people in your address books are friends, and if they haven't bought your book by now, they probably won't...so you've got nothing to lose and a good deed to gain. Just write one email, and send it to them all at once.

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And then sit back while they transfer you from their address book to their spam folder.

PA not only has some very good writers in their stable, it may be the last avenue of real writers.

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That person is arguing that the major publishers are publishing exclusively celebrity books, therefore "real writers" must go the vanity route.

It's demonstrably untrue that the majors only publish celebrity books -- a stroll through any bookstore would tell you that -- so the conclusion isn't supported.

Most of the people in your address books are friends, and if they haven't bought your book by now, they probably won't...

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That author is still working on getting one selected PA book to the #1-on-Amazon slot. Somehow, magically, that'll make PA books in general more palatable to the public.

In the same thread, another author says:

That and I do not require an ego boost by getting all of six books onto the middle shelf way back in the aisles of some bookstore.

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He's quite right: six books in one bookstore (which is close to the best a PA author can hope for) isn't worth much.

Six books on the middle shelf way back in the aisles in half the book outlets in America, with just a 50% sell-through, is 24,000 sales. Does he want to turn down 24,000 sales?

James D. Macdonald said:

Snipped....

He's quite right: six books in one bookstore (which is close to the best a PA author can hope for) isn't worth much.

Six books on the middle shelf way back in the aisles in half the book outlets in America, with just a 50% sell-through, is 24,000 sales. Does he want to turn down 24,000 sales?

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What I would give to have 24,000 sales!

Heck, what I would give to have a tenth of that.

My PA book didn't even sell 24 copies. It saddens me to see so many PA'ers thinking that six books in the back of the bookstore is a bad thing. Some PA books don't even sell 6 copies altogether.