The Newer Never-Ending PublishAmerica / America Star Books Thread

pa to cut your book price for 48 hours

Eirin said:

I suspect there is a cut-off here. PA will only agree to set a lower price on books from authors who've already bought a certain number, or authors who've been with them so long that they must be presumed to be sucked dry. And since PA will never agree to take a loss on a title, the new, "low" price will still be advantageous to PA, with a built in minimum purchase of 19 books.*
Or else it's about trading in a possible higher profit for the almost certain sale of at least 19 copies. How many books does PA have to sell back to their authors in order to recoup these days? They can't have much of an overhead, not when they've cut even what passed for editing back in the day.
It's all about topping off the last wagon of the gravy train.

*I do wonder about the number though. Why 19? Does it have to do with prices at LSI?

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i cut mine down to 14.95 last week, and you know i have yet to hear anything from them since i did. they were supposed to contact you when they received your price, but nothing at all. i did receive a new one at the end of the week, and new weekender 2 for price of one deal. for 55% off. yeah right, why do i want my own books to sell myself. they are a joke. about ready to tell them where to stick there toes and its not inmexico and in the sand either.

i dont buy a copy at all. i have the authors copy that they gave me and i gave the other one to my friend, hes the only one that has a signed copy, and then my other two friends bought one, i just haven't seen them yet to sign it. but my friend got it cause he read the book as it was being written and helped me through this whole deal. now we both naturally feel bad cause neither of us knew about the contract or anything else either, so we just decided that we would let it be a live and learn experience and from now, take the contract to a lawyer, even as excited as i am, i still will cover my butt from now on. whats tragic in all this is i thought they were DR PHILS publisher and thats why they were on his show. thats awful i know, and sad. but i thought they were legal.

i know i think thats stupid now too, but they were on there and they seemed so legal and real. and by the way none of those people are there now, that was then when i got my contract, which doesnt make a difference,i know. but it would explain alot i guess. not sure. i will say this that they just looked more legal and legit on tv than they are.

PA was on Dr. Phil because there was a woman and her mother having a dispute over publication of a "based on true story" book one of them was wanting to publish. PA sent someone to the show because they were the publisher that was going to put the book out. The women were fighting, in part, because one of them expected there to be better than a million dollars on the line for the "book deal"

PA never published anything for Dr. Phil

Here's the link to the Dr. Phil slide show on this.

This is all the connection between Dr. Phil and PubliSHAMerica:

Dr. Phil: "Do y’all think that this book is going to make a lot of money? Is that what this is about?”

“Well, she told me that it was projected, the first check in September was projected to be $3,000,000,” Sarah says.

“No, what I told her was, according to my contract, a million books sold was a $3,000,000 check,” Carrie explains.

Dr. Phil turns to Carrie’s would-be publisher, Batya, from PublishAmerica. He asks her, “How many $3,000,000 checks has PublishAmerica ever written to a new author two months after the book came out?”

“I think I can safely say none,” she says.


Dr. Phil tells Carrie, "This $3,000,000 pipe dream, I’m sorry, ain’t happening."

Of course the idea of anyone making money with their PA printed book is a pipe dream. Only the Stooges make money at PA.

The picture leaves out the "deer in the headlights" look Batya had when Phil aimed his question at her.

It must have been a TERRIBLE psychological strain for a PA employee to tell the truth!

Dr. Phil's people flew her all the way out there, put her up in a nice hotel for about 5 seconds of screen time.

I'm SO in the wrong business.



That was in '07. Batya seems to be working for a property management company in Frederick now. I wish her well. It's got to be a much better job than working at PA.

But then so is *anything*.

This seems to be the book--published by a different vanity.

You'd think that being on Dr. Phil would be pretty good publicity for a book. I wonder how many she actually did sell.

ChristineR said:

You'd think that being on Dr. Phil would be pretty good publicity for a book.

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Not a year or more after the event. People don't watch Dr. Phil and take notes about unsold books. They're there to see the breakdown of people worse of than themselves.

I wonder how many she actually did sell.

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One hell of a lot more than she ever would with PublishAmerica. And I bet her royalty statements are honest.

At least Infinity is up front about being a vanity printer.

Her book has a reasonable price on it, too.

Hers is a 225-page book for 14.95.

I looked up a random non-fiction PA title: 160 pages for 24.95.

Yikes.

Willie's "How to Upset a Goliath Book Biz" is available used at .01 cent.

Still overpriced!

oh, yeah, thats how I found them, was on pa, and i guess thats why i thought they were legal. i missed the 3 million dollar question. we all know that she wouldnt have sold that at all. shes better off with that company she ended up with but I am still not paying anyone anything to do that. guess that lady lost her job with PA after that show. of course she is making money now. more than with them. how much did the lady pay infinity to have it published, and why wouldnt Random house get it. yes, my book started off at 24.95 too. i think thats what they do to everyones book.

Maybe Batya resigned in shame after seeing up close and personal the kind of damage PA does to people with its lies.

wanda4545 said:

how much did the lady pay infinity to have it published, and why wouldnt Random house get it.

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Why would Random House want it? There are millions of "memoir" or "Tell all" style books out there that detail the horrors of someone's home life. The story has to be:

unique - which is difficult since so many people have horror stories to tell.
compelling enough that others will want to read it - which is difficult because, while so many people have those stories, they may not want to read about them from someone else's POV
well written - which it's a safe bet hers probably was not, since better than 90% of all MS aren't.

Assuming that all books are saleable (or worse, blockbusters) and that all books are going to be instant sensations resulting in the big houses fighting to see who "gets" it is part of the warped perception of the writing industry. It's one way vanity presses who don't want to look like vanity presses manage to snare so many people who have no chance of a commercial career - they feed the fantasy. It's vindication.

"See, YOU'RE WRONG [insert name of "meanie" who didn't "believe in " Jane Author's dream]. I AM a great writer. A publisher snapped me up on day one so no one else could have me, HA!"

Publishing is slow, but no one wants to wait (silly since they sunk so much into their book), and no one wants to hear any truth other than one exulting their own brilliance on paper. They also don't want to hear that [insert celebrity name here] may have her own memoir coming out at the same time, and while Jane Author's may be a beautiful and well crafted story, the big house who was interested has decided to go with the safe money.

Publishing is a business. It operates to make money by selling the most profitable book possible. This means that not everyone with a book is going to get published, and it's not the publishers' job to make those who don't (or even do) feel better about themselves, or reach their dreams.

Vanity publishing is a business. It operates to make money by selling the dream to the author at the highest profit margin possible. This means that they print everything - good, bad, and incomprehensible - and pretend to care about making the authors feel better about themselves and their dream.

wanda4545 said:

thank you, i know what you mean i type fast because i am so upset at them...

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I understand you're justifiably upset at PA right now, but I'd like to point out that this board does have an edit feature if you notice errors in your post. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would really appreciate it if you'd spend just a little more time on your messages and try to make them as grammatically correct as you can. The purpose of writing is to communicate an idea, and it's on the writer to communicate as clearly as possible to the reader. Like Susan Gable said, grammar, spelling, and punctuation are our tools. Using these tools poorly or not at all makes it difficult for the reader to receive your message, and you are more likely to lose them. (In other words, people will start skipping over your posts).

I Wish agents would come on here and find some of us and offer us a contract.

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There are plenty of agents on this message board. Look in the other forums. But agent contracts aren't given out like free samples at CostCo. Agents offer to represent authors when they believe they have a product they can sell. That means a completed (and near-publishable) manuscript for fiction or a proposal for nonfiction. Editors also aren't there to fix a book. They help the writer improve it, but they don't buy books riddled with errors. Books have to be as close to perfect as they can be before you stand a chance of selling it.

Well, her book is about her mother, who was threatened by a serial killer decades ago. The thing is, that there are many books about that particular killer, most centering on the woman who talked him into handing himself in. (There's also a fair amount of discussion of the ethics of the death penalty.)

While being stalked by a serial killer is certainly something that touches a nerve in a lot of people, it doesn't necessarily make a good story. The essence of their history seems to be that they changed their names and moved out of state while the police looked for him, and that another woman he was planning to kill convinced him to give himself up.

The mother isn't even the heroine of this story. Her friend was murdered, but she wasn't there. Her actual interaction with the guy was pretty minimal, and started with her saying "not interested" and ended with her running away. So there's no climax, no resolution. Interesting, but not a good story.

Added info:

Based on her sales rank on Amazon, she sold one or two copies of her book last year. That may not be all of her sales--it doesn't include the other online sites, and any other venues where she might have sold it. Infinity says its prices begin at $499. Infinity appears to charge a reasonable amount per copy (about $5) on top of the $500 upfront fees and offers a standard discount to retail stores. The rest is author royalty, so she might be clearing $1.50 from every $15 book sold at Amazon. This is similar to what you'd get from Lulu. So it does not look like she's made any money, even enough to cover her costs at Infinity. Nonetheless, her book is in a much better financial position than any PA book.

isnt that pathetic she did all that work and she still hasnt made that much money and she paid out more money than any of us paid pa together to begin with. think aboutit, we all got a 1.00 bill up front then whatever little our checks have been, added together we still have came out better cause she paid out 500.00 plus god knows how much more to begin with and she still hasnt sold no more than us. She s along way from that 3 million. I myself could care less about reading a book about a serial killer. one thats dead now, and has been for awhile hasnt he. so Dr Phil was still right, she still doesnt have a 3 million dollar check in 2 months. we would all come closer to hitting the lottery than getting a huge check from pa. and so will she .

Suing & being sued by PA

wanda4545 said:

well i contacted a lawyer for pro bono work, since i have no money, well he said that they could sue us, if any of us broke the contract with pa.

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In theory PA could sue you if you breached the contract, just as you could sue them if they breached the contract. I think you could also try to void the contract on the basis of fraud, because they are running a scam that dupes people like you and me who are naive about the publishing business.

However, as a practical matter neither you nor PA is likely to ever sue, because it's just not worth it from a cost-benefit perspective. Lawyers and lawsuits are expensive, and that's without even throwing in the travel expenses to go to Maryland for the trial (and any pretrial hearings). Arbitration--which the PA contract requires, by the way--is somewhat less expensive, but it is still no free lunch. I'm a lawyer, so I could go after PA on my own dime and my own time, but I've decided it's not worth even the cost of travel & lodging to pursue it. I would rather save my money, wait out the 7 years, and keep writing new stuff that PA will never get their slimy paws on.

this is true, and I have read many of horror stories here. mine, well at least i got the free two copies, which i understand now they do one. i have found a agent on here that i contacted in one of the post and I hope that he can help me out with my new book. You will not believe this, but i sent in a poetry manucript to Pa in july and i sent in a sequel manuscript to what they did publish last year, and both times i was told that it does not fit their needs at this time please find a new publisher. THEY have a nerve dont they to say that, and they accept anything. no not now they dont. dont have a clue to what happen to all of them people that i talked to last year. they probably are mad now since they come on here and find out what we are saying, you would think they would cancel our contract on that account. But, hopefully i will end up like sandy z and find someone good, without paying out any money.and hopefully we all will. but when you get right down to it, if you love to write then you will write whether you get paid for it or not or get published every now then. Thats really what a true Author or writer is. we write because we love to and we would be lost without it, cause it is part of us. i hope we all do end up with a agent and publisher, and a bestseller. thats all any of us can hope for. what kind of lawyer are you Don? you are right it wouldnt be worth a trip to maryland.

i was just wondering something where are all these authors with these videos of booksignings?

we all know that we couldnt do it. the only thing that i hear from them is when they send that discount thing, to you each week. but nothing personal. wait till they find out that i filed a complaint against them with BBB in maryland and the rip off report.

The books, especially poetry, have to be of a certain length and in a certain format or else PA won't accept them.

(And it's not likely an agent is going to consider any book pitched here; that's not why they come here. Nor do all agents handle all kind of books. at least one of those who posts here only handles kids' books, so romance wouldn't interest her.)

wanda4545 said:

isnt that pathetic she did all that work and she still hasnt made that much money and she paid out more money than any of us paid pa together to begin with. think aboutit, we all got a 1.00 bill up front then whatever little our checks have been, added together we still have came out better cause she paid out 500.00 plus god knows how much more to begin with and she still hasnt sold no more than us. She s along way from that 3 million. I myself could care less about reading a book about a serial killer. one thats dead now, and has been for awhile hasnt he. so Dr Phil was still right, she still doesnt have a 3 million dollar check in 2 months. we would all come closer to hitting the lottery than getting a huge check from pa. and so will she .

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Vanity publishing is a bad idea for most people. However, Infinity Publishing charges authors about $7 for their copies, and has a cover price of $15 for her book. This is actually pretty good--the printing cost per book to Infinity is probably about $3.50, plus all their work in editing, setting up, etc. There are other outfits that will charge you less upfront (Lulu) but will give you a higher per copy cost, or you can pay more upfront and less per book. It's really a trade off, and if you want vanity publishing, you can compare different packages and get the one that fits your needs best.

If you and your friends and family have purchased just 35 copies of your PA book, that extra $15 has added up to more than the $500 she paid.

I've used Infinity for a few very small niche projects (previously published columns and stories of primarily local interest). I've figured that Infinity is a much better deal than PA:

1. If you order at least 20 books from Infinity (enough for a speaking engagement/back of the hall sales & signing), postage is free. (The 20 books don't have to be all the same title either.)
2. The toll-free number is for both ordering and for authors to ask questions.
3. You can usually talk to a real live person who can actually deal with your concerns, and this person has a real first and last name.
4. If you don't like the cover they designed, they will fix it until you are satisfied.
5. It's possible to negotiate the set-up fee downward, if you happen to talk to the rep at a conference.
6. You know in advance how much the book will cost consumers because the book price is based on number of pages. (You determine the font, size, etc.)
7. With Infinity, you get royalties on books you purchase yourself, as well as books that others purchase. Royalties are much higher than PA's.
8. Infinity books are returnable (A local gift shop that orders mine gets the returnable books individually wrapped in plastic).
9. Orders are processed quickly. I've never had to wait longer than 4 days for books I've ordered; ditto for the shops that carry my books. (Infinity prints in-house.)
10. For your first purchase, you get 50% off cover price; for your other purchases, 40% off the cover price (same as bookstores and gift shops). AND you can order other Infinity authors' books at the same discount as yours.

Now, how much of the above does PA do? (But, of course, with PA you don't pay to be published, etc., etc.)

And that, dear PA Lurker, is the difference between a real vanity house who treats their customers fairly and courteously like any professional business, and PA, which treats *their* customers like crap while pretending not to be a vanity printer.

PA calls you a "Published Author" so you will put up with their horrible service, thinking it's all part of the publishing process.

You are nothing more than a walking wallet to them.

They play that tired old tune of "We're footing all the expenses here, be grateful we gave you your chance!" so you'll feel guilty and cowed and not complain.

You would totally complain if any other business treated you so shabbily, and you'd never go back again. You'd certainly warn your friends!

So, how many e-mails have you gotten in the last month urging you to "stock up and have copies on hand"?

You are PA's ONLY customer. Until you wake up and realize that, they will continue to get you to drain your bank account any way they can.

I guess that It's good that I have kept my money. they havent gotten a dime of my money, and I dont plan to at all.
I get those emails, but i dont do anything but delete them. I dont plan to buy anything at all. where are all of us going to take these 20 books to? There are no book signings to go too.

Better yet, post a copy online of each sales email you receive from PA so that other writers can see what PA's really doing.