The Newer Never-Ending PublishAmerica / America Star Books Thread

ctripp

Christine Tripp
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SW, it's hard for many authors to do book signings, I know it frightens the heck out of me. The idea of sitting there, with no one stopping by the table, no one even making eye contact with you, for fear they would then be compelled, out of pity, to buy a damn book:)
When I have done signings, and I try to get out of them when at all possible, I like group signings. A Young Adult author, a middle grade novel author and me, a picture book illustrator usually guarantees at least a small crowd around the table and even if they aren't buying my books, at least there is a lot of laughing and noise and activity. I've seen single signings where the author is behind a sea of books KNITTING. Sad, so sad.
These PA authors just don't understand that people are not so easily parted from their money. That it's a struggle to sell top quality, hard cover picture books, published commercially and award winning even, for $19. If they think the average parent will spend upwards of $30 for a badly illustrated paperback.... ahhhhhhhk!
 

Jill Karg

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Thank you for the story. It is sad, but you think she would have figured it out after a book or two.

I figured out only two weeks into my unbreakable contract without a fee. Then when they up the price of my book and everyone elses books I resigned to the fact that no matter what I do for that moment on I will only be able to sell the ones I had in stock. Not a lot but still enough to keep me busy, at a more reasonable price and when they are gone so is the rest of the sales to my book.

I met another PA author face to face. She too was disgusted with them but had been with them for 10 years. She had another two books that she was working on.
I said, "You are not going to submit them to PA are you?"
She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm in my 80's, most likely I will try the self publishing venue but haven't decided."
She gave me her phone number so I will call her this week or next and give her any good self publishing firm's info that I can muster up from this site.
Again she was a sweet lady, I felt bad for her but she was glad her stuff was in print. She was happy that her family and friends had a chance to read her books in published format."
 

Neil Larkins

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About six months after I was published by PA, a new guy showed up at the writer's club of which at the time I regularly attended (I no longer do). "James" found out I had gotten published (none of the others in the group had and still haven't) and asked me how I'd done it. Since I was still in the honeymoon stage, I told him that if he wanted to get published to use PA and gave him contact info. A month later he told me PA was going to do his book and how glad he was. I was glad for him. Six months later I said I was sorry that I had put him onto PA. He said he was OK with it, that he had an online outlet for his books and since it was very slim he could make some money with it, even at their inflated price. I hardly attended the club any more and didn't see James for another year. I asked how things were going with PA. He said not so good, but not in the way that I had expected. He said he had submitted another book to them, the second in a series he'd done, and was refused. What, PA refuse to publish a book, especially since they had gone with this guy before? Yes, and the reason was, his sales weren't good enough! James had, as I recall, bought about 150 copies of his book...but that wasn't sufficient for PA. Since they had such a low price on his book, it being so thin and all, they needed to recoup more of their "investment" before committing to another one that would be just as small. I don't think he bought a bunch of his first books just to satisfy them and publish his next one but I haven't seen or had contact with him for about four years now, so I don't know what he did. Maybe he finally went the self-publishing route, which was what he had been contemplating from the start when he met me.
So there we have it, another twist on PA's business model, that they are only intent on selling to their own authors.

Neil
 

ctripp

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That's so weird that they didn't sign him. I thought they were all about each and every nickel. It costs them virtually nothing to set up a file for an author, mail out the buck and with their shipping costs waaaay more then covered by the author, what the heck??
They only print the books after they have seen the whites of the authors master card, so I don't get it. hummmm, maybe it was porn?:)
 

Gillhoughly

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Now, now, let's not wank on the writers, but on PA's monstrous over-pricing.

The book is over 600 pages, which accounts for the hideous price.

Since the base price for the same size book at CreateSpace is 14.70--8.70 for the "Pro Package", you can figure about how much profit PA hopes to make from it.

And perhaps the author thinks the name game is a good marketing ploy.

If I thought "Gillhoughly the Grand" would sell more books for me I'd be on it! :D
 

circlexranch

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Gil said "wank" . . . heh, heh, heh . . .

Of course, Gillhoughly the Grand is right. It might be a righteous piece of erotica fit for Ellora's cave or other reputable purveyor. At that price, no one will ever know (I'm not seeing his Mom and the ladies of the knitting club partaking, although, ya never know!).
 

Kweei

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Okay, so what is there now? Pocketbooks, PAperbacks, softcovers, and hardcovers? Am I right, or did I miss some?

And do these all have different prices/rules?
 

Wrider

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Okay, so what is there now? Pocketbooks, PAperbacks, softcovers, and hardcovers? Am I right, or did I miss some?

And do these all have different prices/rules?

All different prices. The PAperbacks, softcovers and (I truly believe Pocketbooks will be) are the same size, formatting etc - the only things different are the ISBN, ridiculous price and maybe a line of the PA logo that says that it's paperback or pocketbook. There is no difference in quality. Some on the PAMB have claimed there is, but I've got a softcover and a paperback and they are identical - paper, ink, glue, the whole thing. Those who have found "differences" honestly don't know what they're talking about (variations in color is a printing issue, not something of lesser quality befitting a paperback versus a softcover etc).

The hardcovers (or "bargain" hardcovers since technically they claimed to have discontinued regular hardcovers after quite the nice little ploy) are plain hard covers (not even the book title is on them) with dust covers. I have a hardcover of one each of my books - just for the fun of it - never bought any more - and the spines didn't even wrap around all the way. They, of course, made no adjustments for size - looks like they just enlarged the same file they had for the softcover cover, without considering the proportions (surprise surprise). Pretty poor quality.

Shipping costs of $3.99 (and $12.99 for outside the US?) seems to be the same for all types of books.
 

Marian Perera

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Excerpts for $2.99? That is so wrong. Not when you can get a free preview of darn near any ebook at the major ebook retailers.

Why miss out on any opportunity to charge writers?

And it would be writers, because
without cover art, without a blurb and without even a hint as to genre, who else will pay for these excerpts?

Unfortunately most PA authors don't have an excerpt (a chapter, maybe more) on their websites. Maybe because the PAMB stresses guestbooks more than excerpts.
 
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CatSlave

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Okay, so what is there now? Pocketbooks, PAperbacks, softcovers, and hardcovers? Am I right, or did I miss some?

And do these all have different prices/rules?
What about the Independence Book versions of all the above for those who are ashamed they stepped into a pile of PublishAmerica?
 

merrihiatt

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Oh, so the $2.99 I saw offered was only for an excerpt from the book? That was definitely not clear on the website. Shocker!

Okay, I just double checked. It was clear. I just didn't scroll down. Doh!

Download the e-book preview to see sample chapters of this upcoming title!
 
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Gillhoughly

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Dear PublishAmerica,

Apparently you wankers don't understand that SAMPLES are supposed to be FREE. Whether it's snack crackers at the market or chapters of a book, samples are free.

Here it is in the simple terms even the Stooges can understand:

Samples are FREE.

Or perhaps you have NO CONFIDENCE IN YOUR WRITERS and are afraid that if people read samples for free that they'll not buy.

Well, grow up--all legit publishers take that chance.

What's YOUR problem? Inability to compete with the big kids is the first thing that comes to mind.

Oh yeah--do your writers get a royalty off sample sales???

I doubt it.

Dear PA Lurkers--demand payment for sample sales, okay? It's YOUR work, after all.
 

Unimportant

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Does the PA contract give them second serial rights? Isn't that what would allow them to publish excerpts?
 

Neil Larkins

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That's so weird that they didn't sign him. I thought they were all about each and every nickel. It costs them virtually nothing to set up a file for an author, mail out the buck and with their shipping costs waaaay more then covered by the author, what the heck??
They only print the books after they have seen the whites of the authors master card, so I don't get it. hummmm, maybe it was porn?:)
No, far from it. James has written a series on how he rid himself from cancer through nutrition. Interesting concept, though I never read any of his books. But, yeah, this rejection thing by PA was puzzling...though it wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't something else, like you said. But not because of the content of his writing.
Neil
Oh, hey...after reading that "Queen of Swords" thing, I see that PA now accepts porn. They would probably call it "adult" and it's more likely smarmy and tasteless, but some people, just from that blurb, would call it porn. Oh, well, what else were we to expect?
 
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B.L. Robinson

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I am waiting for the real reason for all these bait and switch tactics and offers to become apparent... that PA is about to shut their doors and Miranda and her cohorts are trying to pad the bank accounts with enough for them to flee the country when the doors are shuttered for non-payment of rent! I will learn to do a jig just so I can dance one on that day!
 

Jill Karg

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since i never opted into e-books. Guess I luck out on the 2.99 scam. I just feel they are so out of touch with everything that I can't ever take them series.

Again will not beat myself up today for bad choices :e2paperba (<--- me)
Nephew reminded me tonight that PA was bad choice, lol College brat.
Uncle counted 23 errors that PA did on mmmm publishing that I missed in the marathon 48 fix or leave it. It's a 492 page book so 23 aint all that bad I guess...lmao. :deadhorse
Yes I have a cruel family.