The Newer Never-Ending PublishAmerica / America Star Books Thread

Gillhoughly

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The PA response reads like Larry's drunk texting again.



The comments? Clearly from PA employees.



sock-puppets.jpg

 

Don Davidson

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Now on the largest blog in the U.S., reported by a well-known writer:

http://boingboing.net/2012/06/15/class-action-against-publisham.html

I hope the publicity about this makes a dent in PA's business. As for the lawsuit, it will be interesting to see if it can survive the arbitration clause in the contract. I think that may be the biggest obstacle, because I've long believed a good case can be made that PA is engaging in fraud--and now it's more blatant than it's ever been.
 

James D. Macdonald

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If publicity could put a dent in PA's business it already would have. (Actually, I suspect it has: witness the increasingly-desperate schemes to worm money out of their authors.) Anyone who can Google at all knows that PA won't do a darned thing for them in terms of a writing career. What will stop PA will be the judgment against them and the need to pay lawyers' bills, court costs, and restitution.

I am not a lawyer, but I doubt the arbitration clause, which covers the publication of the book itself, stretches to cover the additional marketing services, such as "We will show your book to J. K. Rowling."
 

Dhewco

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My ex-Brother in law has a book out from this publisher and now my family is trying to guilt me into buying the book. I've read this thread and the previous ones. I don't want to give money to this publisher, but I want peace in my family.

What to do?


David

PS. I haven't read the book. The last time I read any of his material was ages ago. I thought it wasn't half-bad, but not yet publication worthy. Like I said, the price of the book and the publication reputation of PA are hindrances.
 

Katrina S. Forest

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Dhewco, I would be upfront and honest with him. You fully support him and his writing, and you can even ask for a copy of the manuscript to show this. But you don't support this company because you believe it's taking advantage of him and other writers. If he asks for evidence, point to the lawsuit that's going on right now. A family member might be the one he'll really listen to. Buying PA books out of guilt just fuels the idea that if an author does enough "promotion," the book will be successful, and that's what PA banks on.
 

AlexPiper

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Say, "I'll look for it at Barnes & Noble!" Or for added whimsy, "I'll look for it at Borders." Or, "I'll borrow it from the library."
If he's stubborn and unwilling to listen to you — or you think as much — you could probably go with "They're really slow to deliver, sometimes months or more. I'd rather pick it up from one of the local bookstores, if you can get them to carry it." Attempting to get Barnes & Noble or wherever to carry the book will probably lead to self-discovery.
 

Don Davidson

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Dhewco, I would be upfront and honest with him. You fully support him and his writing, and you can even ask for a copy of the manuscript to show this. But you don't support this company because you believe it's taking advantage of him and other writers. If he asks for evidence, point to the lawsuit that's going on right now. A family member might be the one he'll really listen to. Buying PA books out of guilt just fuels the idea that if an author does enough "promotion," the book will be successful, and that's what PA banks on.

I agree. Be honest with him. And then tell him to do a Google search for "PublishAmerica scam." If he does it, it will open his eyes, and hopefully get him off your back. That's all it took for me.
 

Gillhoughly

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My ex-Brother in law has a book out from this publisher and now my family is trying to guilt me into buying the book.
If your family doing the guilt thing, then you need to address them, not the ex-in law.

Let them know that the book is placed with a scam outfit that rips off inexperienced writers, and while you want to support his writing, you don't want to pay money to pack of con artists.

It costs PA 3.00 to print a book and most books ship at media rate for about 2.50.

Ask them how much they paid, then let them know anything over 5-6 bucks went straight to the publisher, not the writer.

If you think it will create conflict, then do NOT invite them to Google Publishamerica + "complaints."

Right now, he's proud of being "published" and not likely in the right frame of mind for the truth.

That will come when he gets his first royalty check --probably this August-- and smells the coffee. He will need support and encouragement then.

Be prepared to accept that he may not smell the coffee.

But be firm and diplomatic with the family. Emotional guilt is a nasty weapon, but only if you allow yourself to feel it. You're doing nothing wrong by saying "no thank you."
 

jaksen

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If your family doing the guilt thing, then you need to address them, not the ex-in law.

Let them know that the book is placed with a scam outfit that rips off inexperienced writers, and while you want to support his writing, you don't want to pay money to pack of con artists.

It costs PA 3.00 to print a book and most books ship at media rate for about 2.50.

Ask them how much they paid, then let them know anything over 5-6 bucks went straight to the publisher, not the writer.

If you think it will create conflict, then do NOT invite them to Google Publishamerica + "complaints."

Right now, he's proud of being "published" and not likely in the right frame of mind for the truth.

That will come when he gets his first royalty check --probably this August-- and smells the coffee. He will need support and encouragement then.

Be prepared to accept that he may not smell the coffee.

But be firm and diplomatic with the family. Emotional guilt is a nasty weapon, but only if you allow yourself to feel it. You're doing nothing wrong by saying "no thank you."

Years ago I had the opposite happen to me - the opposite to what I see in almost all PA threads. I had my family try to pressure me into sending my stories to PA. I received written material from them. (My older sister would print out stuff she 'found' on the internet and give it to me.)

My family also sent me information from every vanity publisher they could find. (Many of them advertised in the back pages of various magazines.) I was constantly getting stuff in the mail and throwing it in the garbage. This began pre-internet, so it's a wonder I didn't fall into the pit and get buried by the well-meant intentions of cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, distant relatives, etc. I so remember getting this stuff and chucking it and my mother saying, 'shouldn't you at least read it over?'

When I finally said, 'You got $500 for me to publish something?' she let up and the material stopped coming.

But I distinctly remember PA sending me things, too, and one of my sisters saying, 'Well they sound okay. Why not send something in and see what they say? If they reject you, you can at least see what they say.'

I credit the fact that I am and always have been a bit of a contrarian (more than a bit, I think) and I stood my guns and threw all this junk away.

I hope I didn't go too off-topic for this thread, but I have been avidly reading all the PA threads (and similar) on AW for a few years now.

But to the fellow who's feeling pressure from the family: Family pressure can be brutal. If you don't succumb they can pile on the guilt. Stand your ground. Be courteous about it, if you can. But if you can't, so what? Speak your mind. And the advice about getting it at a book store - brilliant. (Just make sure he doesn't run to the closest book store and order it through them for you.)
 
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Dhewco

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Thanks everyone for the advice. If the man had given his book to almost anyone else, I would have bought a copy just to shut the family up. (Despite the fact that I got fired last Friday) I've read every post on the NNPT and on the overflow thread and I don't think I can give money to them in good conscience. The price of the book is outrageous for its size and that doesn't help.


David
 

DreamWeaver

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And the advice about getting it at a book store - brilliant. (Just make sure he doesn't run to the closest book store and order it through them for you.)
It *is* great advice, and no worries--there's almost no chance any bookstore in the US will special order a PA book without pre-payment.*




*When print-on-demand technology was young, sneaky vanity & self-pub authors made the mistake of ordering their books at bookstores but not picking them up or paying for them. This was a transparent effort to force the stores to shelve the books, since the stores couldn't return them. The unintended effect was that the bookstores figured it out, and now almost no book store will order a POD book without prepayment. In fact, the one I worked at would only order a POD book ship-to-home, where it never enters the bookstore at all.
 

Deb Kinnard

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David, obviously I don't know your family, but one thing I might consider saying to them: "Much as I'd like to support an author in the (ex) family, it goes against my principles to send money to an illicit operation that cheats writers."

Might work. Might not. I personally am against one dime more going into PA's coffers, for heaven knows, the author won't see a cent of it.
 

stormie

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Say, "I'll look for it at Barnes & Noble!" Or for added whimsy, "I'll look for it at Borders." Or, "I'll borrow it from the library."

--Ken
(Bolding mine.) I know my quoting this is a little off-topic, but it's a good response.

And it made me laugh.