Return of a Man Named PAMB and its Quotes

TheTinCat

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Dear PA:
I understand that you want to help us as authors by providing special offers for us on the weekends. However, I am one of those people who live paycheck to paycheck and I only get paid on the 15th and 30th of month. Could you try to have some of these specials at these times of the month? I would love to order some copies of my book(s) at discounted prices, but the offer is over before I get paid. This is just a suggestion, but it would help me immensely and perhaps others as well.
Thank you for your consideration.

Oh, please don't do this. It's too sad for words.
 

Terie

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The one that killed me even more was the guy who was applying for a small business loan to promote his PA book and was querying whether $1,500 was a reasonable amount to allocate to advertising. I pray he abandoned the idea or else was turned down. The thought of taking out a multi-thousand dollar loan, possibly even starting to spend it, then getting a royalty check for a few dollars hurts my heart.
 

PVish

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No, they paid one of their loyalists.

Further down that page, the (now former) loyalist posts:
We are all disappointed.

I have been with PA for years, knew what I was doing when I got in and sorry my book has not sold more copies. The most I ever made in a royalty period was 20.00. I was here when PA and Amazon had a tiff, which somehow got straightened out because when they started selling my book again, it said Amazon was printing it, or so I thought.

I also thought PA had their own printers and was surprised when Info center said B&N stopped selling our books because they were changing printers. I'm old, I get confused easily.

Bottom line for me is... I have an Amazon ad on every one of the over 260 pages on my website for my book that no one can buy from Amazon as we speak.

I need to know if I must take the ads down or wait this out?

On her site, she seems to be using CreateSpace now.
 

TheTinCat

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The one that killed me even more was the guy who was applying for a small business loan to promote his PA book and was querying whether $1,500 was a reasonable amount to allocate to advertising.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If I ever believed my success as a writer depended on my ability to promote and market my books, I'd quit writing professionally.

I only do the minimum amount of promotion needed to keep my publisher happy. I don't like it - at all - and I'm tense about it weeks and weeks in advance when I have something coming up. I'd rather quit and never have anyone read anything I write ever again than spend my time and energy trying to make a career for myself based on promotion.
 

Marian Perera

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Another veteran is dissatisfied

That "When When oh When will our books be back online" thread is getting close to the cornfield.

A question for PA; why can you offer low prices to authors to buy their own books, but the pricing at Amazon or Barnes & Nobel are so outragous?

Because PA's business model is to sell books to authors.

This author has been with PA since 2006, which should be long enough for their modus operandi to become painfully evident.

I don't know of anyone, including myself, that would pay $24.95 for a soft cover book.

To make matters worse, my book is not even in stock. What good is having our books listed at Amazon, etc. if no one can order them.

Wouldn't it be in the authors best interest to price our books at a reasonable price so the public could buy them instead of us buying our own books. Just asking.

What is in the authors' best interest is not in PA's best interest, all that spiel about "the PA family" notwithstanding.

Still, it's good that the current crop and even the veterans seem disinclined to buy their own books.
 

PVish

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The newbie whose PA book is not yet out and who answered this author's plea:
I preordered books and was to get 5 hard cover free. i was charged for them but have yet to reciev them. I have tried calling and sending emails, but publish America has not answered me. Anyone know how to contact them? I have a book signing coming up and need the books!

. . .with this post :
It seems that people regularly complain about getting their books on time here. My suggestion is to have the books before making arrangements. Just to be safe, at least thats what I intend on doing.

. . .might be getting a clue:
How long ago did your book officially become published. Remember they give you a date, and if I remember right, thats not when it's made available at the PA store. It actually becomes available there early I heard.

The real release date is the one they gave you. They really need author counselor's to explain everything to each author they sign up, but I'm sure they couldn't afford those as there would be a constant need for them. Would be nice tho.

Author counselor's (sic)? How about author support that's actually supportive?

In PAspeak, "becoming available" does not mean it's actually available. Heck, "available" doesn't even mean it's available.
 
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Marian Perera

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Author counselors (sic)?

"Author counselors" makes me think of therapists helping writers who have lost money, time and books to PA.

And the latest from the "When When oh When" thread.

My book went to Amazon a few weeks ago with no book cover and stating out of stock. Now a few weeks later it is still without book cover and states unavailable. I am a new author and I am clueless of what is happening. I did receive a email that if I purchase 6 copies of my book than Amazon could print. Do we have to buy copies before it is available? I have numerous emails from persons trying to buy on Amazon. I would appreciate any available information.
 
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M.R.J. Le Blanc

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They really need author counselor's to explain everything to each author they sign up,

No they don't. Because if they were the real publisher they so like to claim they were, many of these questions wouldn't even need to be asked with a real publisher - especially a 'where are my books?' or 'when will our books be avaliable online?' question.
 

merrihiatt

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PA authors are focusing right now on their books not being available online, yet the truth is, even if they were available online, sales would most likely be dismal. At the moment they can blame PA/Amazon/BN/the recession/Obama/the alignment of the stars, etc.; however, at some point an author needs to look at how many books have actually sold in a designated time period and decide if this is what they want for their book. My guess is the answer is going to be a resounding "No!" An author wants their books to be read. By signing with PublishAmerica, an author is shooting themselves in the foot before they ever even get started. PA has one thing on their mind: selling books to their authors.
 

Scribhneoir

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PA authors are focusing right now on their books not being available online, yet the truth is, even if they were available online, sales would most likely be dismal.

But if their books were available for purchase, they could still play Published Author:RPG with a light heart, dismal sales or not.

As it is now, there is absolutely no way for a potential reader to get their books besides selling them personally and that destroys the illusion. And if that wasn't bad enough, even when they do order copies of their own book to "have on hand," the books don't arrive. PA authors are more screwed now than they've ever been.
 

M.R.J. Le Blanc

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Which in a way is kind of good. The hole PA's sinking into has to be getting deeper, and more of their authors are beginning to take notice. When you single-handedly start to piss off enough people, it starts to show. I know it's been said here before that the public in general and even much of the industry isn't aware of PA or the scam it really is, but I think it's only a matter of time now before it starts becoming more known.
 

Marian Perera

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But if their books were available for purchase, they could still play Published Author:RPG with a light heart, dismal sales or not.

Exactly. How many times have they asked about the lack of availability in or through bookstores, only to be told that most books are sold online? When their books were on Amazon or B&N, they could at least imagine that their romance novel was right up there along with Nora Roberts' latest release.

But for books that are only available through PA's bookstore? No discounts for customers, no special offers, no free shipping, not even any way for their family or "PA family" to leave a review.
 

Kweei

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Which in a way is kind of good. The hole PA's sinking into has to be getting deeper, and more of their authors are beginning to take notice. When you single-handedly start to piss off enough people, it starts to show. I know it's been said here before that the public in general and even much of the industry isn't aware of PA or the scam it really is, but I think it's only a matter of time now before it starts becoming more known.

Is it though? I hate to be cynical, but for years I've heard people saying this will finally be it for PA and it never is. Do you really think it's different this time?
 

Gravity

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No. Because the well of desperate, delusional people will never run dry. Nature abhors a vacuum. If the mighty pirate ship ever does founder and slip beneath the waves, a month won't pass before something else--possibly worse--will take its place.
 

Arkie

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Is it though? I hate to be cynical, but for years I've heard people saying this will finally be it for PA and it never is. Do you really think it's different this time?

I think PA will be around as long as there's a dollar to skim off an author. Setting up the PA booth at the BEA was a master stroke of marketing to authors. They will mine that for all its worth. PA gets the goldmine; their authors get the shaft.
 

Marian Perera

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This is sad.

Does anyone know of any online publishing companies besides Publish America and Tate Publishing? I'm looking for a company that is author friendly and will help an author get their book out to the big companies like Barns and Noble without having the author buy copies of their own books and doing a lot of donating. Also, I'm looking for a company that will exept any type of genre of writing. I write fantasy. I'm also looking for a company that won't send you emails gallore asking you to buy so many books and then get an ex amount for free every day, and then not send the books that you paid for, even though they sent you the free copies. I'm also looking for an online company that won't charge you for submitting a manuscript.

The writer has woken up, but unfortunately she asked this question on a pro-PA board. I just hope someone will give her good advice.
 

DeadlyAccurate

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I think PA might close up one day, simply because the guys in charge will decide they're having to do too much work for too little effort. But they or someone else will probably start up something similar quick enough. Like Gravity said, the well will never run dry.
 

HistorySleuth

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That's what I see happening. They will close the doors and just open up something else under a new name, probably even change their own--and forget their other authors ever existed.
 

M.R.J. Le Blanc

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I don't know if they'll ever shut their doors completely, or that no one else will try another similar thing. There will always be victims. But at this large a scale? I can't say I'm optimistic that they can keep it up forever. Victims are complaining faster. More seem to not be getting their books, or getting them excessively late. More are complaining that they can't afford to buy their own books. And more are asking why PA isn't doing things to help make their books more accessible. PA isn't even spouting the 'we're switching distributors' line anymore, they're just ignoring it because really, they don't have any excuse. Plus the lawsuit, which they're claiming will make it impossible to pay royalties until it's resolved. I'm not saying it'll happen overnight of course, but I think it'll happen sooner or later. The illusion is getting more and more short-lived for victims. There's still plenty trying to make a go at it, but many of them seem to be less optimistic on the boards than on their sites, pages etc.
 

Cyia

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Too many people know that even a bare bones self-pubbed novel can be listed on Amazon and B&N.com. If anything sinks them in near future, it'll be holding out on those two venues because it's the varnish they need to look like one of the players actually in the game. Without them, PA's store becomes more like a display site, and that's not what the Author:RPG group signed on for.
 

PVish

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PA feeds the author role-playing game by sending this email (posted on a new PA author's blog)
"Surprise! Today we are preparing to ship to you a free copy of [TITLE REDACTED]. You should expect it on your doorstep before too long, because the book is now ready for release! [...] This is an important moment in an author's life. To see your own book for the very first time is an unforgettable and unique experience, one that on behalf of all of us at PublishAmerica we wholeheartedly congratulate you on. Many authors tell us that they make it a day of celebration, befitting a life-long dream that has come true. We hope that you do, too! [...] And now, hang out the flag. Today is the day you can really say, "I am now a published author!" Congratulations!"

Words fail me. . . .
 

James D. Macdonald

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A $1,500 small business loan for marketing and publicity?

Okay, let's see if that makes sense.

To break even, he'd have to earn $1,500 in royalties (leaving aside the interest the bank would charge over the life of the loan -- I'm going to oversimplify like a dog).

Let's say he has a $19.95 book. He gets 8% of net.

What's net? PublishAmerica's discount to bookstores allegedly ranges as low as 5%. Because that gives the author the highest royalty (I'm being generous), let's use that. Net would be $18.9525, and the royalty would be $1.52 (rounded to the nearest penny).

How many bookstore sales would he have to make to justify the cost? $1,500/$1.52 = 987 copies (rounded to the nearest copy).

Does anyone here think that $1,500 worth of promotion will sell 987 copies of a book through bookstores, particularly when those books aren't shelved to start with?

See also: Special Note to Self-Published Authors, Authors with Print-on-Demand Books from the ALA.