PublishAmerica Management

CheyElizabeth said:

To me it reads like a bunch of regurgitated facts and no actual voice of the author.

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Not all of the statements masquerading as facts are

waylander said:

Not all of the statements masquerading as facts are

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Right.. which brings me back to the Columbus wasn't trying to find Asia thing..

Guys, please. Talk about writing. Talk about PA. Let's leave personal attacks out of this.

callalily61 said:

I charge $8.50 per double-spaced page, standard 1# margins, courier font. 26 years' experience.

But I'm busy till December, writing the second book on my three-book contract with a commercial publisher who paid me considerably more than $1. When February arrives, I will walk into my nearest B&N and see my book on their shelves.

Because I came here 4 years ago, suspicious of PA, and did not sign their contract. I then spent my time here listening and learning and improving my craft.



The above post was both technically polite and technically snarky. Because, Kirk, you have not accorded respect to the many people who came on this thread to help you, offer experienced advice, and politely ignored your mean-spirited, chip-on-your-shoulder jabs. I stopped being sorry you fell into PA's clutches sometime yesterday.

People reap what they sow. You've sowed snark and meanness and disrespect. What does that say about the face Christians show to the world?

For the record: I am a Christian.

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For the record: She's an ex-nun....so Uber-christian

And here I thought I'd left the game.

Yup-- let's leave religion and politics OUT of this, plus the personal sniping. Vent in your blogs, gang, not here.

Writing is writing.

Kirk, I read your sample chapter--about three paragraphs--before I had to stop.

It had nothing to do with the politics/religion. It was the writing--that's why you've gotten rejections.

I'm a professional editor, and hand-to-heart, am telling you your writing is not up to commercial level. That is what's between you and selling to a commercial market.

Your views don't matter, it's your writing. Which is fixable if you put some effort into it.

Try mailing a copy to any of your media heroes and ask for feedback. They will tell you the same thing you're getting here--if they bother to reply.

They've all written books, too. The writers knew how to organize and set down clear, simple sentences to carry forward an argument in a logical progression to support their views. Do what they did if you want to join them.


The facts are simple and not going to change unless you deal with them:


The PA book is not free to sell elsewhere. Don't waste money buying it back.

Why?

It is not publishable.

Get a book on how to write non-fiction articles. The library will have those on the 808 shelves.

Listen to the advice here. You may not like it, but the pros here--including myself--have been trying to help you despite the fact that most do not care for your views.

If you're unable to accept these points, then stay with PA. If you're happy with an overpriced, unedited book no one will ever buy, then that's all that matters. But don't expect anyone here to enable you.

Sometimes the answer is NO, and no amount of argument will change it. Therefore you take stock and figure out how to improve. The only person between you and selling to a commercial market is YOU.

For those joining the program late, this thread, so far:

K: I'm looking for an agent for my PA published book.
AW: You need to get out of your PA contract before you look for an agent.
K: I'm looking for an agent who will represent controversial material.
AW: Uh, okay, but you can't sell a novel that already belongs to someone else. I.e., PA.
K: I want to keep my book with PA in the event I sell a copy or two. And I want an agent to represent the book to other publishers.
AW: [Blinks, confused. Wonders if previous posts were in Swahili.] Um, in very plain English...You've signed away your book's rights to PA. You can't sell them to someone else unless you dissolve your contract with PA.
K: That's just "conventional wisdom."
AW: Er, no it's not. It's a fact.
K: That's a lie, cooked up by the liberal media. Rush warned me about people like you. BTW, does anyone know of an agent who is representing controversial material? Here's my query letter.
AW: [Sighs.] With all due respect, that's not a query letter.
K: You're all just commie-pinko, fascist, socialist, hippy, feminazi, liberal elitists. Neener-neener, neener, I can't hear you.

Anyway...did someone say popcorn? Burnt popcorn? Gimmee! (Please.)

To answer the opening question:

No, there's no way to contact PA's management unless they want you to, and (like everything else they do) that's at their "election and discretion," i.e. only if they feel like it, and they don't feel like it.


And with that, it's time for this thread to end.