[Publisher] PanAm Books

I searched and couldn't find a thread for this; forgive me if there is already one.

http://panambooks.com/flight-check/

An elderly gentleman contacted my newspaper about his lengthy WWII novel published by this press. Examination reveals it to be a provider of paid editorial and publishing services with a submission fee. The website isn't loading well for me, so I can't figure out whether there's any non-pay-to-play aspect. The fees are referred to as "investments."

Anyway, pretty standard, except for the flight motif and evocation of the Pan Am trademark. I'm just always intrigued when I come across yet another of these companies.

Specifically, if a journalist covers the book for whatever reason (this book has a cool backstory that was featured in the author's hometown paper), how should he/she refer to the publisher? I feel like it's misleading to imply such a book was trade published, but it's not technically "self-published," and "vanity" is a loaded term, so...

Thedrellum said:

What I find most strange about the site is that they seem to only list their various publishing services, none of which seem to include actually publishing the book. If there is a way to publish with them that doesn't involve paying them money, that way is well-hidden.

Click to expand...

Indeed, that part is quite mysterious. My assumption would be that you pay for their services, but they also mention vetting submissions according to their needs. And because of that vagueness, I can almost count on some authors getting angry if I suggest that they paid for publication. (This is why I treat Tate authors with kid gloves.)

I won't be reviewing this one, but I have reviewed books from other presses with similar business models, if more polished products. So it's an ongoing concern.