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ParaDon Books Publishing / Amazon Book Clubs

IntelligentWriter

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To what end?

I'm awaiting the resume of every self-promoting don't-know-nothing people that's bashing this revolutionary publisher. I myself have submitted my story to them, and will be back in the future to 'Promote my published book' in this same forum. I'm still waiting for that resume that proves you know English grammar more than me. Please respond
 

LindaJeanne

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I'm still waiting for that resume that proves you know English grammar more than me. Please respond

My resume shows I'm a techie -- it's rather light on anything related to English grammar. So, it hardly seems relevant to the discussion.
 

JL_Benet

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please show me your resume mrs. english professor

I don't really feel like posting my entire resume here. Partly due to privacy issues, and partly due to it not really being germaine to the topic at hand. If you really want proof (even though I don't think I'm who you were referencing in your post above), my name should be listed on the English Department webpage of Metro State University (the one in Denver). I've taught English for over a decade, with much of that time devoted to the instruction of grammar and basic writing skills.
On the publishing side, I am professionally published myself. I was also on the Publications Committee of the Horror Writers Association, where I dealt with such publishers as Penguin Books and Pocket Books (as well as reputable small presses).
None of my resume really relates to the topic at hand though, as I have no connection to the publisher being discussed. This isn't about my informed opinion, it's about the reality of the publisher's experience and expertise.
 
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Richard White

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Does anyone else notice the lack of capitalization and similar sentence structure in ParaDon's defender here and the e-mail that Mac's been getting?

Oh, and my publishing resume is in my profile, (before you ask).
 

IntelligentWriter

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I'll say no more. I guess only the future can tell. All i know is, literary agent don't respond to queries, major publishers don't accept unsolicited manuscripts, writing contests (which i have participated in and paid for few times) don't respond to tell you who won, and self-publishing is frowned upon. That's leave me no choice but to look to the next best thing, and i heard great things about this publisher before this discussion began. Most of the comments i read here are flawed, and self-promoting. I am not who you're conspiring to be. I just don't want you guys to tarnish the reputation of my future publisher. That said, i hope ParaDon Books read this post, and take my submission into great consideration. My name is Preston Browne
 

Friendly Frog

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file your report, our cyber attack means publishing the same defamation about your site as you did us, we already have supporters much like your website willing to post our trends.
Please excuse my newbie question :eek: but I'm intrigued. Not many of the AW'ers here seem particularly surprised by this... childish comment of a supposedly professional firm. (It's so surreal that at first I thought it had to be a joke.) Now I've read quite a bit of the PA threads, but is this sort of behaviour so common in publishing that pretty much none of you bat an eyelid?
 

Richard White

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Frog,

Most vanity presses don't like to get called out like this. They prefer to disguise what they do, because vanity presses have had a very bad reputation in the publishing world.

They also rely on the fact that many new authors do not understand publishing and therefore can get authors to pay for things the publisher should be paying for instead.

The more authors know, the harder it is for them to make a living, because vanity presses make most of their money on sales to their own authors and the fees they charge their authors - not in sales to the general public.

So, when we point this out, the vanity publishers tend to get a tad defensive. So they resort to sock puppetry, sending in some of their new authors to "defend their publisher" or out and out threats, so they don't lose access to the money.

If you want to read some real horror stories, go to the index and check out some of the gray links (dead publishers). Some had good intentions, some did not, but many took a lot of good books down with them when they capsized.
 

jennontheisland

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Please excuse my newbie question :eek: but I'm intrigued. Not many of the AW'ers here seem particularly surprised by this... childish comment of a supposedly professional firm. (It's so surreal that at first I thought it had to be a joke.) Now I've read quite a bit of the PA threads, but is this sort of behaviour so common in publishing that pretty much none of you bat an eyelid?
Yup. It's actually almost amusing to some of us to see the same game played over and over again too. You know how you sometimes can't help but rubberneck at accidents? Yeah, kinda like that.

The worst part is that too often people like the poor uninformed "Preston Brown" get suckered into thinking this is actually how publishing works. It's not. Agents do take on new clients. Publishers do accept unsolicited manuscripts. Writers do not have to pay anything to be published. These truths are unfortunately not self-evident and a lot of unscrupulous assholes like to take advantage of that.

Fortunately for us, unscrupulous assholes are rarely able to look like legitimate publishers.
 

IntelligentWriter

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Sorry to keep jabbing at you guys, but Richard White here is a self-published author. You out of everyone should know to keep your mouth shut. Hell will freeze before i self-published. Even though i may have to
 

JL_Benet

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Now I've read quite a bit of the PA threads, but is this sort of behaviour so common in publishing that pretty much none of you bat an eyelid?
PA is an extreme case. If you go through past threads, you will find that the better small presses come to this site and clarify misconceptions. You will also notice that their clarifications reveal that they actually know a great deal about the industry. We all make typos or use unclear language; we're human. You will notice that those publishers thank the people who pointed out their gaffs, and they immediately fix their website. Even when it's a matter of policy that isn't so easily fixed, they maintain a civil tone and explain their side with logic and reason.
You will also notice that many publishers seem to come to this site seemingly ready to fight. They don't understand the mission of the site and they think that they are being attacked for no good reason.
You will notice further that the second type of publisher doesn't stay afloat for much longer than a few years. Such an attitude towards the industry is not sustainable.
 

Calla Lily

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Agents do take on new clients. Publishers do accept unsolicited manuscripts. Writers do not have to pay anything to be published.

Exactly, jenn. This cannot be said enough. The list of AWers alone who were unknown, unconnected writers who researched agents and sent out queries (sometimes many queries :)), who landed an agent or got contracted directly with a publisher and who now have ebooks and/or books on actual bookstore shelves is wonderfully long. And I'm talking real, commercial publishers that follow Yog's Law. The only place I signed a check for my book was on the back.

Yog's Law. Real publishers follow it. Period.
 

MacAllister

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For those of you playing along at home - IntelligentWriter is indeed posting from exactly the same IP that the person purporting to represent ParaDon was emailing me from, earlier today.

Quelle surprise!
 

Richard White

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:e2point:
Sorry to keep jabbing at you guys, but Richard White here is a self-published author. You out of everyone should know to keep your mouth shut. Hell will freeze before i self-published. Even though i may have to

Self-published?

:roll:

Wow.

:e2point:

Seriously. Wow.

I had no idea that I owned Pocket Books, Big Finish, LTD., Byron Preiss Multimedia/Berekley publishing, or iBooks/Simon and Schuster

Someone alert my lawyer, I owe a WHOLE bunch of back taxes.

:snoopy::snoopy:
 

IntelligentWriter

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Exactly, jenn. This cannot be said enough. The list of AWers alone who were unknown, unconnected writers who researched agents and sent out queries (sometimes many queries :)), who landed an agent or got contracted directly with a publisher and who now have ebooks and/or books on actual bookstore shelves is wonderfully long. And I'm talking real, commercial publishers that follow Yog's Law. The only place I signed a check for my book was on the back.

Yog's Law. Real publishers follow it. Period.

I just visited your publisher's website. Not attractive at all.
 

IntelligentWriter

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:e2point:

Self-published?

:roll:

Wow.

:e2point:

Seriously. Wow.

I had no idea that I owned Pocket Books, Big Finish, LTD., Byron Preiss Multimedia/Berekley publishing, or iBooks/Simon and Schuster

Someone alert my lawyer, I owe a WHOLE bunch of back taxes.

:snoopy::snoopy:

shoot my mistake then, all i seen is that your book is PRINT-ON-DEMAND alarming!!!
 

Richard White

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Callalily, can I hook you up. ;)

O.K., I'll come clean. I did self-publish two comics (Troubleshooters, Inc. in 1994-95 and Chronicles of the Sea Dragon in 2004) under Nightwolf Graphics, my small press comic company.

I was a proud member of the great Black and White implosion of the mid-90s during the distributor wars.
 

Marian Perera

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I just don't want you guys to tarnish the reputation of my future publisher.

What reputation?

That said, i hope ParaDon Books read this post, and take my submission into great consideration. My name is Preston Browne

If ParaDon takes a public rah-rah display into account when considering a submission (rather than judging the submission on its own merits), they're even more useless to serious writers.