The Newer Never-Ending PublishAmerica / America Star Books Thread

James D. Macdonald

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Length of float doesn't really matter that much. The scammers want you to deposit their bogus check, draw out the money, and wire it to them all the same afternoon.
 
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Not Write Now

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Hello again everyone. It's been awhile since I visited here. I came by because I have PA on my mind again (briefly) after receiving an email from them again. I had removed myself from their general mailing list and this time the spam came from a specific person instead of their usual spam address. I was offered a savings of over 50%(!!!) to have my book converted to ebook format for only $119! He even gave me a phone number.

Okay, sarcasm aside. My book was once offered as an ebook (without consulting me), then the ebook format was pulled, now they are trying to get me to pay for something that once was already done, and that I am perfectly capable of doing myself since I am good with computers. Silly. Guess they gave up "final" offers to sell my rights back to me. I wish they'd get bored of my non-response and just go ahead and end my contract.

Anyway, I'm ranting a bit. I saw the updates since I last was here but it's been awhile since anyone said anything about that lawsuit. Has there been any news? If it's class-action I'd like to add my name. Thanks.
 
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Don Davidson

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I wish they'd get bored of my non-response and just go ahead and end my contract.

I could be wrong, but I doubt if PA even tracks non-responses. I'm guessing that they shot-gun these emails to most or all of their 40,000 "happy" authors, just like scammers shot-gun their bogus emails to a huge number of email addresses on the assumption that 0.1% will respond.

If you respond to PA's email, then they get your money. If not, they probably don't even know it. You are simply part of the 99.9% that didn't respond. They'll keep you on the list in the hope that one of these days you'll be part of that 0.1%.

I've requested to be removed from their email list at least twice now, and it stops for awhile but then resumes. Just this week I started getting more "offers" to waste my money on faux marketing ploys. I have one year to go, and can't help but wonder if I won't still get these offers even after the contract has expired next year. We'll see.
 

benbradley

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I've requested to be removed from their email list at least twice now, and it stops for awhile but then resumes. Just this week I started getting more "offers" to waste my money on faux marketing ploys. I have one year to go, and can't help but wonder if I won't still get these offers even after the contract has expired next year. We'll see.
I wish I knew more about what to do with spammers thesedays, especially these low-volume spammers who don't honor unsubscribes and such. I've been getting email from a political site after I unsubbed, but such sites are unlikely to get blocked the way the millions-per-hour spammers are.

For what it's worth, there's http://spamcop.net
 

tlblack

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A cease and desist e-mail worked for me, but I'd already been out from under their feet for three years.
 

Munday Mack

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I’m new AW but I’m certainly not new to the abuse by PA. I signed my contract with them in 2008 and I remember each and every day to kick myself in the rear. I’ve been back and forth with them for several years. I won’t get into all the crap I’ve been through with PA but I’m sure that if anyone of you signed that contract then you know all too well. Anyway, I do make it my mission to keep up with possible litigation against PA and what I‘ve noticed is that there is currently another class action in the works. Some of you may already know this but I thought I’d post it for those who may not.

To: Not Write Now, who is listed above. No, its not too late

The lawyers involved:
http://www.gslawny.com/lawyer-attorney-2147170.html

More info from a separate page:
http://www.victoriastrauss.com/2013/03/11/another-class-action-suit-launched-against-publishamerica/

“Yay. We live in a nightmare. ” :/

- Munday

 
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FluffBunny

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Hey! Stop kicking yourself in the rear. You got sucked in by a bunch that are good at lying to people--it can happen to anyone. The important thing is you know now, so the most important question is...are you working on your next book? :)

And welcome to AW! Go introduce yourself in the New Members thread here - http://absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=27 and don't forget to read the Newbie Guide that you'll find here - http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66315

Welcome, again! And have fun poking around this place. There's all sorts of good information here.
 

merrihiatt

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I’m new AW but I’m certainly not new to the abuse by PA. I signed my contract with them in 2008 and I remember each and every day to kick myself in the rear. I’ve been back and forth with them for several years. I won’t get into all the crap I’ve been through with PA but I’m sure that if anyone of you signed that contract then you know all too well. Anyway, I do make it my mission to keep up with possible litigation against PA and what I‘ve noticed is that there is currently another class action in the works. Some of you may already know this but I thought I’d post it for those who may not.

To: Not Write Now, who is listed above. No, its not too late

The lawyers involved:
http://www.gslawny.com/lawyer-attorney-2147170.html

More info from a separate page:
http://www.victoriastrauss.com/2013/03/11/another-class-action-suit-launched-against-publishamerica/

“Yay. We live in a nightmare. ” :/

- Munday


MM, I'm with FluffBunny, are you working on your next book? Put PA in the past and keep writing. PA only wins if writers stop writing.
 

Munday Mack

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Nah, I would never quit writing and have written numerous things since - all posted on B&N and Amazon. PA was however, my first go at it with the paperback thing (2008). I was between gigs, low on funds and looking for the easiest, cheapest way. I remember having this thought (back then) that something stunk about the whole PA thing. But of course, my hope and enthusiasm replaced that gut feeling that I had always trusted in the past. I’m a huge believer in “What comes around truly does go around”. It’s the law of the universe that no one will ever escape. The hammer just falls a little slower on some than it does on others
 

FluffBunny

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"Though the mills of the gods grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small..."

Yes, unfortunately it's that hope and enthusiasm that they count on. :( Good for you for keeping on! :)
 

Don Davidson

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I’m new AW but I’m certainly not new to the abuse by PA. I signed my contract with them in 2008 and I remember each and every day to kick myself in the rear. I’ve been back and forth with them for several years. I won’t get into all the crap I’ve been through with PA but I’m sure that if anyone of you signed that contract then you know all too well. Anyway, I do make it my mission to keep up with possible litigation against PA and what I‘ve noticed is that there is currently another class action in the works. Some of you may already know this but I thought I’d post it for those who may not.

To: Not Write Now, who is listed above. No, its not too late

The lawyers involved:
http://www.gslawny.com/lawyer-attorney-2147170.html

More info from a separate page:
http://www.victoriastrauss.com/2013/03/11/another-class-action-suit-launched-against-publishamerica/

“Yay. We live in a nightmare. ” :/

- Munday


Welcome, Munday Mack! :welcome: Actually, I'm very sympathetic with you kicking yourself for signing with PA since I chide myself sometimes too, even after six years. But then I remind myself that PA is really a very clever scam, because they don't ask for any money up front. If they had, I think I would have seen through it right away. Instead, they suck you in, obligate you long-term, and then start trying to pick your pocket. It's diabolically clever.

Anyway, thanks for the links. In following them, I note that there is a hearing on a motion to dismiss scheduled on July 18th. I assume PA has filed their customary motion to dismiss the action, either as failing to state a cause of action or as in violation of the contractual arbitration clause. So we'll have to see what happens on July 18th. I'm pulling for the plaintiffs, but PA has consistently won these battles before. Given the overcrowding of most courts, they love an excuse to get rid of a case. But perhaps justice will prevail this time.
 

DreamWeaver

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There were some years when the PA contract didn't specify arbitration (after they lost an arbitration case). If some of the plaintiffs signed that version of the contract, that might do some good in avoiding dismissal. One can but hope.
 

LindaJeanne

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Nah, I would never quit writing and have written numerous things since - all posted on B&N and Amazon. PA was however, my first go at it with the paperback thing (2008). I was between gigs, low on funds and looking for the easiest, cheapest way. I remember having this thought (back then) that something stunk about the whole PA thing. But of course, my hope and enthusiasm replaced that gut feeling that I had always trusted in the past. I’m a huge believer in “What comes around truly does go around”. It’s the law of the universe that no one will ever escape. The hammer just falls a little slower on some than it does on others

By my observation (of both myself and others), people in a state of transition are always more susceptible to scams. Being in transition forces you out of your comfort zone -- which is largely a positive thing, but alas, sometimes it also causes us to ignore that "gut feeling" that usually protects us.

Scammers, of course, know this -- and prey on the doubt and uncertainty of people going through transitional or difficult stages of their life. They're very good at telling us exactly what we need to hear.
 
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Gillhoughly

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PA is a speed bump made of poo.

You hit it, it shakes you up, but you scrape off the stink and keep moving forward.

Many of the writers on this thread -- certainly Marrihiatt, good grief, look at all those books! -- are prime examples of successful forward momentum.

:welcome:
 

Munday Mack

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Thank you all for reaching out. I appreciate the welcomes. No doubt misery loves company and I’ll be the first to admit that. And, Don, yes. I’ve got a good eye on the 18th of July, as well. Anyway, the following (No.7, which is part of the complaint filed) is from the link I posted a couple blocks up and I think this is the entire thing in a nutshell. For me, at least
--------------------
7. PublishAmerica sabotages its authors’ ability to sell and market their books by printing them with errors. These errors are inserted by PublishAmerica itself.Plaintiff Grant’s book has glaring typographical errors. On the side binding of the book, the word “collection” is misspelled as “collectrion.” If that were not enough, on every other page, the title of the book is misspelled, replacing “romantically” with “roimantically.” These errors humiliated Grant once the book became widely searchable on the Internet. Notwithstanding these glaring errors, PublishAmerica prices Plaintiff Grant’s book at $30. This price is notably higher than the top ten selling fiction paperback books. See Exhibit 2 attached hereto.
--------------------


Isn’t that dreadfully sickening to read?


This is exactly what they did to me – as I’m sure they did to everyone. What’s really worse in my situation is that I regrettably trashed quite a few people (companies or individuals within these companies) in my book which was a personal account of corporate injustice. Many of these people I have recently reconciled with. I hope every day that those I “have” reconciled with haven’t seen this book. Chances are that those reconciliations would go down in flames with the quickness should it be read what I had previously written (Even after reconciliation). I honestly am now quite regretful of some of the things I wrote in the account. Not because they weren’t true but because I’m a different person than I was just a few years ago. What mattered to me then, means nothing to me now. However, now, not only do I have a book that looks like it was written by a 2nd grader with a crayon; it is also a good way for all those who harbor disdain for me to slap their knees with glee at a laughable typographically butchered account of my past.


I suppose I shouldn't be so upset. I mean, let's look at the bright side. All I have to do is pay "Public "Disgrace" Amerika" $89.00, multiple times and they'll fix the errors that "they" inserted. Then everything will be wonderful :/

 
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Gillhoughly

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Don't pay them a dime.

The bright side of this is that with the high price attached and you not promoting it in any way -- and THEY certainly won't! -- and zero bookstore placement (no mass printings, after all) no one is going to buy the book.

Even if a reader looks it up on Amazon, the book is likely to show as being "out of stock" with a 2-3 week delivery date. No reader's going to be that patient.

PA's prime target market for your book is YOU, which explains all those "buy copies to have on hand" emails that arrive. They also try selling their writers useless promotional gimmicks like "get your book noticed by Oprah!" (or whoever) which is usually a list of titles in a spam email. There's also the classic "Get your book in front of Hollywood!" where you pay a few hundred bucks so some broke script writer does a hasty "treatment" which is also ignored.

They don't market to the public. Just the writers.

True to their contract they list the book on their website, on Amazon, B&N and a couple others and that's the limit of their promotion. It's in the contract.

The vast majority of PA books never sell a single copy to the public.

But for you, since things have changed so much, that's a good thing.

Write a new and better book. Shop it to a publisher that has books *in* stores. not just *available to* stores.
 

JulieB

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I do believe Munday Mack knows exactly what will happen if he forks over that $89, and he's holding on to his dough.

Welcome to AW, Munday Mack.
 

Munday Mack

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Thanks, Gillhoughly. A lot of valuable information there. I appreciate it – it does make me feel a little better to think the book will never sell. I sure hope it doesn’t – and JulieB clearly caught my sarcasm. I have never paid Publish America a dime and would never even consider such a thing. If I had written some random fiction or cookbook or something, and then realized the scam, I would have just walked away and chalked the whole thing up as a loss. However, writing that personal account made a big difference to me. That was just one of those judgment calls that I’d really like to take back - especially out of the hands of PA
 

Terie

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Thanks, Gillhoughly. A lot of valuable information there. I appreciate it – it does make me feel a little better to think the book will never sell. I sure hope it doesn’t – and JulieB clearly caught my sarcasm. I have never paid Publish America a dime and would never even consider such a thing. If I had written some random fiction or cookbook or something, and then realized the scam, I would have just walked away and chalked the whole thing up as a loss. However, writing that personal account made a big difference to me. That was just one of those judgment calls that I’d really like to take back - especially out of the hands of PA

Be sure to review your contract and follow it to the letter when it comes to not renewing the contract. It used to be that both parties had to agree to renew or else it was automatically expired. Now it's the other way around: you have to inform them in writing that you don't want to renew or else it automatically DOES renew.
 

James D. Macdonald

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Even if a reader looks it up on Amazon, the book is likely to show as being "out of stock" with a 2-3 week delivery date. No reader's going to be that patient.

Not to mention the price that's higher than similar-length books, even those printed with identical technology.