The Newer Never-Ending PublishAmerica / America Star Books Thread

bhall87 said:

I want to know who really does think of these gimmicks. An underpaid "marketing" department? Larry? Miranda? Maybe they just send an email to all of the employees and offer immunity from being fired to the one that comes up with the next swindle.

Click to expand...

Dart board madlibs?

You can now order your personalized holiday gift books, dedicated to friends and family, for only $9.95 each. On top of that, we're giving you a 50 pct discount on the books (all retail prices drastically reduced last week)! And shipping is absolutely FREE.

Click to expand...

So is the $9.95 in addition to the cost of the books? If so, no wonder they're being so generous as to offer free shipping.

I am pretty sure that the 9.95 is added to the other price which would make a book well over 30.00 a piece. and this is still a book at19.95. they must not be selling anything at all, to keep coming up with these gimmicks to sell us books. The only way we will get our rights back will be when they shut the doors to PA. I hope no one really buys their book and has this done. the dedication page is always at the front of the book after the title page. Why would pay extra for a persons name to be on the cover of your book.

This dedication idea is great--something else for PA to screw up. Won't Mom be surprised when she gets her book, dedicated to "Momm" or "Moo." And then PA can charge extra to fix their own mistakes. What will they think of next?

Does Oprah know that PA is using her name to sell their books?

I predict she'll learn soon enough when PA authors start to send her copies with her name on the cover.

Am I the only one who wonders why you have to order a minimum of five copies? And, do the five copies have to be dedicated to the same person? It struck me that if I was going to purchase five books at 50% off (plus the $9.95 for dedication), I wouldn't want to have to get five of the same book with the same dedication. Wouldn't family and friends already have purchased a copy of their family member/friends' book? Why would they want another copy? Just because their name is on the cover? I don't think so.

PA authors, you know what would mean more to your family or friends? Write a heartfelt letter about a special time you shared together or let someone know how they changed your life. This is another PA gimmick to get you to spend your money and buy your own books.

Merri, I was going to say the same thing. Minimums don't make any sense here, and I think we can all agree that this way of ordering is guaranteed that they'll screw something up. Five copies of the same book, all with different dedications? Or five copies of any book? Or five different books? Plus the pricing is very confusing. They really, really need to do this one by phone, if they insist on doing it at all.

ResearchGuy said:

Is it conceivable for those people to come up with any more preposterous gimmicks? I mean, really . ..

Click to expand...

I still think selling authors framed copies of thier royalty checks, which probably cost more than the face value of most of the checks and obligated the author to pay shipping on thier check, tops the list. With the 900 number a close second ;-).

PA - Sleazy vanity house and...giftshop?

The brain, she boogles.

Eirin said:

PA - Sleazy vanity house and...giftshop?

The brain, she boogles.

Click to expand...

The next big seller?

Those PA survivor T-shirts like the ones on Zazzle. Irony still makes money.

I'm wondering how this dedication on the front cover works. For instance, will it be in a complementary font/color to the title and author's name? If it isn't, will the authors have any recourse, given that PA is unlikely to run it by them for approval before printing the books?

And if the cover is filled with text/images - wouldn't that get a bit cluttery? Then again, I suppose the rationale is that Oprah will be so delighted to see a book with her name on the cover that she won't care about the aesthetics of it.

Either way, though, these are books that most likely cannot and will not be sold, meaning that the authors will never recoup their investment. Also, they won't get royalties.

Once we print their name on your book's front cover, together with yours, you have their attention. They will show it to others, guaranteed.

Click to expand...

So the implication to me is that the book alone didn't catch the attention of family members and friends. They didn't bother showing it to others. However, printing their name on the cover changes everything!

Queen of Swords said:

Then again, I suppose the rationale is that Oprah will be so delighted to see a book with her name on the cover that she won't care about the aesthetics of it.

:

Click to expand...

OMGs I just had a vision of a horde of PA authors getting their books dedicated to Oprah, then sending them to her.

Cyia said:

The next big seller?

Those PA survivor T-shirts like the ones on Zazzle. Irony still makes money.

Click to expand...

I gave my book to PA and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.

I know thats true, I dont have a t shirt though.

First, you have to pay for it.

I'm noticing that today's PA "New Releases" are the same as last Wednesday's new releases. And there are only 30 of them, at least 10 of which are for children (including this 12-page book that has been reduced from $24.95 to $19.95).

And the covers seem to be getting more, um, minimalist. A few don't have any artwork.

PVish said:

And the covers seem to be getting more, um, minimalist. A few don't have any artwork.

Click to expand...

Of course not! If you're gonna personalize the book to the family you'll need space. No need to bother with all that coverstuff in the first place.

Probably a release delay from their move to the new state of the art location.

James D. Macdonald said:

They're recreating the International Library of Poetry, gimmick by gimmick.

Click to expand...

So when are they going to organize a "novelist convention"?

Sarashay said:

So when are they going to organize a "novelist convention"?

Click to expand...

Can you imagine the cost to each author to attend one?

Sarashay said:

So when are they going to organize a "novelist convention"?

Click to expand...

They did that years ago and discovered it's best not to get large groups of their authors together where they can compare notes and actually speak to one another.

Ah, but they still have the pictures of the last convention on their website. Here's a trip down memory lane.