So a few days back I sent our lovely friends at PA a little note about not getting a royalty statement in years, nor getting a check in years.
I even included a link, to a bookseller with three actual copies of my book in her possession for well over a year (not virtual copies waiting to be printed).
PA's reply?:
If your books have been purchased by the entity whose name you keep a big secret, you will receive royalties. Also, the statements will only show sales from that royalty period for which we have been paid. Some retailers and distributors have a grace period of 30, 60, or even 90 days. Any sales not shown on one statement should certainly be included on the next.
Yes. PA lies a lot. It's their profession.
Big secret? I sent the bloody link to her website with the listing of my book.
PA has more than once ignored more substantial and compelling evidence than that.
What? Do I need to fly out to Maryland, load up the PA staff and drive them to this woman's store? I mean holy hell, aside from stapling the address on everyone's forehead at PA I really don't know how much more I can do to show them proof of sold books that I haven't been paid for.
They are also claiming I've changed my address and they haven't been able to send me any statements.
Really? I still have access to all four e-mail addresses I've used to contact them (they've blocked the first three and I am surprised they haven't done the same for #4 yet) and I still get my mail from every physical address they have on file for me.
Here's the problem: you're thinking about your interactions with them in terms of what is and isn't true. What you don't understand is that
they don't care whether something is true or not. They're professional con artists, and they've been running this scam for a long time.
There are two things they do care about:
1. What they can get you to believe that will cause you to send them money.
2. What you can or will do about being conned by them.
If the answer to #2 doesn't include bringing the law down on their heads, or destroying their ability to continue doing business, or doing some other unspecified thing that involves the use of physical force, they still won't care. Outside of those remedies, there's nothing an author can do that they can't ignore.
I love how they keep writing that I haven't produced a shred of evidence of book sales I haven't received royalties for.
Yes. PA lies a lot. They don't care that you know it.
I mean. the name and address of the three booksellers I have found so far isn't good enough? What do they want? Videotape of the purchases?
On a purely impersonal basis, they want you to shut up and send them money. That's only insofar as they want everyone to shut up and send them money.
You keep wondering and imagining what they're thinking about you. That's asking the wrong question. They aren't thinking about you. They don't care about you, and they sure don't care what you think. They've already scammed innumerable writers, and just about every one of those writers sent them nasty letters and made irate phone calls. PA brushed them all off. They're doing the same to you.
I doubt you'll find anyone at PA who believes they're running a scam. They will tell you that they deliver exactly what they advertise. ... The problem is in the contract that leads authors to think their books will be for sale in brick and mortar stores, when they won't be.
Sorry, Arkie, but I have to disagree with you about PA. They know they're running a scam. You can't accidentally write a contract as artful as theirs, which reads one way before the book is published, and completely differently once the book is published and you discover they're going to do sweet fa for you.
Hmmm, reckon I must of finally pissed someone off up there at PA?
No. That's exactly what you haven't done.
Got this in my e-mail inbox today:
Dear Richard Paolinelli:
Thank you for your inquiry. Your message was deleted automatically.
PublishAmerica Support
http://publishamerica.com/support/
So, they aren't opening my e-mails, when I call I get dead air for 15 seconds and then a hang up and they are returning regular mail unopened. I feel so unloved right now *sniff*
You've been that unloved all along.
Consider this: PA has automated systems for deleting incoming email from specified addresses, not answering phone calls from specified numbers, and returning unopened mail from specified senders. What they don't have are conflict resolution systems or mechanisms.
This is because just about all their authors reach the point of sending them irate email, making irate phone calls, and/or sending irate letters. This is dreary and troublesome for them to deal with, and there's little chance that those authors will be sending them any further money, so PA have automated systems for shutting down communication with them. They lack conflict resolution mechanisms because the authors are right to be angry, and PA doesn't intend to do a damned thing to fix the situation, so there's no percentage for them in trying to resolve the conflict.
A friendly piece of advice: get help overcoming this unhealthy preoccupation (read: obsession). You will not be free until you can be indifferent.
Ken's right. You're still emotionally all tied up with this situation. It's difficult to accept that an operation you care about so much doesn't care about you at all. It is nevertheless the truth. PA doesn't care about you, your book, or your opinions. They never did.
Well, why don't you hop a plane to Maryland and give the PA gang a big ol' hug since I'm being such a big ol' meanie.
That's rude and unwarranted.
Because I don't intend to just sit down and take it like some of the others here. I choose to strike back and so far, judging by the phone call I got the other day and the responses by e-mail, it seems I am making someone's life pretty damn miserable in Maryland.
You are mistaken. You have failed to understand the implications of PA having automated no-contact systems.
Good advice or not, it was unwanted advice --
That does not give you the right to be rude.
-- and sounds more like it came from someone who has no problem with PA and its practices.
If you think that's how it sounds, you're not a very good reader. You also didn't do your research in advance.
But, if it is going to offend some, then I'll just quit posting any updates on my activity.
Wuss.
I am starting to feel the same way you do about some of these people !
Ah, Stonecold. Glad to see you here. Your thread's shut down, so I was unable to respond to your various remarks.
As I understand it, you signed PA's contract, you sent them your manuscript, and they're going to publish it but haven't done so yet.
Your legal reasoning doesn't hold water. Changing your title falls well within the terms of PA's contract. I know you disagree. You're wrong. If you still care about getting out of it, say so. There are other approaches you can try.
