The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

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Canada James

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Just a Note...

DaveKuzminski said:
Preditors & Editors (tm) has frequently featured PA books on its New Book page over the past few years when their authors notified P&E and provided a banner or cover scan. However, I doubt if anyone has seen anything positive about that within the PA forums, particularly for more than a few minutes before it was deleted by the PA author support team.

I've seen it noted in the PA forums (back when I frequented the board with a working password), and the threads were allowed to stay and drop into oblivion unharmed.

C. James
 

Ken Schneider

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Literary Lola said:
Um, nitpicky, I know, but the proper word is its.
"PA does not edit its books."


I apologize for my spelling error in the heat of typing. I have been chastised on the P.A. board on occasion by the those who considered themselves better writers than thier compatriots. I didn't think it was like that here.

Again as stated in a previous post. My book was not edited by P.A., but an English professor from my local college.
It is my opinion that he did a fine job. Of course, being a former P.A. author, what do I know.

Disclaimer: This message is not intended to start any fights. I am hoping that this forum is not like others. As always this is my opinion.
 

Canada James

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POD vs. Offset

James D. Macdonald said:
We ought to compare TPB to TPB but ... my point was that a small percentage of a large number is larger than a large percentage of a small number.

(Which is larger -- 1% of 10,000 or 99% of 100?)

Personally, I've yet to have a POD book fall apart on me. My point should have been that the numbers are probably close to being equal between the two; however, the difference comes when the customer tries to *return* the defective product. (Again, I have no experience having to return a product produced by LS, but I've read stories from people who have.)

C. James

============
 

JennaGlatzer

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Chang! She wasn't saying that to put you down, just to correct a common grammatical error. Yes, we can be uppity grammar/spelling snobs here, too. ;) Hell, I wrote a whole book on the topic (Words You Thought You Knew). Doesn't mean anyone's claiming to be a better writer than anyone else. Just trying to help with the tools of the trade.
 

Ken Schneider

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JennaGlatzer said:
Chang! Doesn't mean anyone's claiming to be a better writer than anyone else. Just trying to help with the tools of the trade.


And, I don't mean my statement to come off that way.

I'm humble, I know good and well their are better writers here than me. I appreciate any constructive help given, am here for that reason.

I want to be a better writer. I want to achieve the goal I set out to achieve.

I want to be traditionally published.

I'm willing to do the work, take the knocks along the way, learn what it takes.

It is my opinion that I wrote a good book. I have about ten copies left.

Anyone who would care to read it send me a message and you can have them. Cut it down, tear it apart, and tell me about it. It will only make me a better writer.
 

Literary Lola

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Originally Posted by Literary Lola
Um, nitpicky, I know, but the proper word is its.
"PA does not edit its books."


changling said:
I apologize for my spelling error in the heat of typing. I have been chastised on the P.A. board on occasion by the those who considered themselves better writers than thier compatriots. I didn't think it was like that here.

Again as stated in a previous post. My book was not edited by P.A., but an English professor from my local college.
It is my opinion that he did a fine job. Of course, being a former P.A. author, what do I know.

Disclaimer: This message is not intended to start any fights. I am hoping that this forum is not like others. As always this is my opinion.
Chang, you miss my point. I wasn't trying to be a pain in the *** or a grammar Nazi as much as I was trying to show you that in order to know whether a book is properly edited, one must know a great deal about editing. I'm not picking nits here, but if you have problems with spelling, for instance, then how are you going to know if the college prof did a proper job?

Editing encompasses the copy editing stuff like spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation. Developmental editing cover issues such as consistent points of view, character and story development, and backstory problems. A college professor can only take you so far. Editing for publication purposes (especially fiction) have different rules and a college professor isn't going to know what those rules are.



As an example, exclamation points may be perfectly fine in a creative writing class and a college prof may allow them. In fiction writing, they become the bane of every editor's existence because they see it as a cheap way of conveying an emotion, when it should be created by the writing.



Now, if you're being published by a commercial publisher who has a damn good editing department, they're going to catch all of this during rewrites. However, you've published with a company that has NO EDITING, and this puts you at the mercy of your college professor who, while probably is okay, he isn't a professional editor.


I meant no disrespect to you at all. I was just trying to make a point, albeit, lame. Ah, hell, nevermind.
 

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Canada James said:
(Again, I have no experience having to return a product produced by LS, but I've read stories from people who have.)

LS has pretty good quality control--and they do what their customers want. PA could go for better quality paper and cover stock, and a ink and print process on the covers that would make most of the covers look better, but they choose not to (I suspect because of the minimum numbers per run some options come with).

I've had LS reprint several hundred books because the initial run didn't meet their standards, and I've experienced LS courteously volunteering to replace several boxes of manuals that slipped through their QA. They told me to destroy the unacceptable books and not even to give them away because LS didn't want their less than quality work out in the world.
 

keltora

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I am never gonna get caught up with all these posts!

I suppose that is what I get for going to a convention to sit with my publishers, promote my books, and meet my fans.

And now I have another deadline.

*sigh*
 

Kevin Yarbrough

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ZaZ said:
For the record, we did sleep together and it was hot. I can't believe you don't remember that steamy igloo north of Saskatoon, eh?
I can vouch for Zaz on this one. He tried to sell me a half-frozen igloo awhile back, said even though there was some water damage and the roof looked unstructural he said it didn't leak. I had to pass since there was some wet spots on the floor and he didn't know what caused them.
 

Uncarved

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Kevin Yarbrough said:
I can vouch for Zaz on this one. He tried to sell me a half-frozen igloo awhile back, said even though there was some water damage and the roof looked unstructural he said it didn't leak. I had to pass since there was some wet spots on the floor and he didn't know what caused them.
since when have you cared about wet spots?
 

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Since I'm rather new here, would someone please answer the following questions so I don't have to go back and search through a gazillion posts. Thank you.

Who are the "Big 3" that you're trying to bring down? (I know PA is one. I'm not that "stipid.")

Who prints PA's books?
 

Susan Gable

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changling said:
Again as stated in a previous post. My book was not edited by P.A., but an English professor from my local college.
It is my opinion that he did a fine job. Of course, being a former P.A. author, what do I know.
QUOTE]

Well, there you have it. Like I said, we weren't talking about anything done BY THE AUTHOR, we were talking of lack-of-editing as far as PA goes. When you pick up 10 books by a certain publisher, and 9 of the 10 have loads of grammar/spelling/other errors (because the 9 didn't have even the benefit of the English professor), then assumptions will be made about the quality of the books coming out of this publisher.

Your book, unfortunately, gets brushed with the same stroke because of the company it kept. It's unfair, yes, but much about life is unfair.

And as Lola pointed out, if we're talking about fiction, a college professor might be able to edit it for some stuff, but not everything that a quality fiction edit entails.

No one was trying to put down your specific book. I think the fact that you had someone else edit it for you speaks to your professionalism as well as the fact that PA is guilty as charged of not editing. :)

Susan G.
 
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Sparhawk

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Jean Marie deserves all of the credit for her success. She went out there and made it happen and refused to give up. I applaud that kind of devotion and energy.

The thing is, look at how much she had to do to get into one local bookstore. AGAIN, I AM NOT belittling her accomplishment. As one who spent the better part of Saturday Morning at Borders hoping to accomplish the very same thing, I can attest to the heavy "Barriers of Entry" in getting a book shelf space or promotion time. The fact that she's going to be giving a round table there is fantastic.
emoteHail.gif
I also freely admit that Jean Marie was far more successful than I was. My accomplishements were leaving a copy of my book, reviews and copies of newspapaer articles with a promise of a callback after my book was scrutinized. (Atleast they bought the coffee and pastry.
emoticonbanana.gif
) IT wasn't the warm reception that I had recieved over the telephone and I confess to leaving somewhat disillusioned. I don't blame the manager for his caution, in fact I respect him for it. He doesn't know me from Adam and for all he knows my book could be the equivalent of used literary toilet paper.

As was pointed out in an above thread, for each Jean Marie success story, how many Sparhawk failure stories are there that never get posted? I would like to run an algorithm and compute that number.

Bottom line. I like Jean Marie, I respect her immensly and she deserves every bit of her success. May she find a bigger publisher for her second book and may it be seen in several dozen bookstores.
emoteClap.gif
 

JennaGlatzer

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Quick answer for Crystal: The "Big Three" (also known as the Three Stooges) are Larry Clopper, Willem Meiners, and Miranda Prather, the three principals of PA.

PA apparently has a few printers, the main one being Lightning Source. A few people here have received PA books sent by other printers, though.
 
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Lisa Y

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Crystal Rivers,

I believe the "big 3" are Willem Meiners, Larry Clopper, and Miranda Prather, all of PA.
 

CaoPaux

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<smartaleck> I'm sorry, there's an echo in here. Who're the Big Three again? </smartaleck>
 

Deleted member 42

JennaGlatzer said:
PA apparently has a few printers, the main one being Lightning Source. A few people here have received PA books sent by other printers, though.

A university publication received a PA book for review last week that honestly looks like it was photo offset; it was definitely not digital. I've only seen digital printing used by PA before.

I also don't think this was a Lightning Source book--for one thing, the cover stock is not typical of them, and the cover looks like a b and w photo offset of a color original.

I'm both puzzled and curious--has any one else seen any PA books that look like they were printed using photo offset?
 
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Sher2

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tinasamuels said:
since when have you cared about wet spots?
Tina, you are wicked. Of course, you can get away with it -- you have a sword.;)

Me, I want to see three wet spots on the floor of that townhouse in Poz, where the Wicked Witch and her bumbling minions have melted into their shoes. I get to throw the first bucket of water, unless the girl with the sword objects.
:roll:
 

Lisa Y

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Cao,

I SWEAR that when I started to post my answer, the question hadn't been answered yet! I actually looked to be sure. And I thought I was a fast typist.:gone:
 

astonwest

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Myself, I'm still mystified at how my book ended up (one copy) in a local B. Dalton (now closed) without having to go in and ask or beg...that's always seemed rather weird. I just figured someone ordered a copy, and then saw the price...

Maybe with copies in seven different stores, I should be the PA king...if one deserves commendation...
Bwaaaaaaahahahahahaaaaaaaaa...
Ahhhhh, that felt good...
:eek:

Now off for some BIC time...
 

Sher2

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Lisa Y said:
Cao,

I SWEAR that when I started to post my answer, the question hadn't been answered yet! I actually looked to be sure. And I thought I was a fast typist.:gone:
Lisa, this board's just plain wonky today. Every time I try to post or PM or check other threads, I get a "broken link" message and have to backtrack. I'm not previewing to avoid error messages, so if y'all see typos or other screwups, don't hurt me too much.;)
 

CaoPaux

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Lisa Y said:
Cao,

I SWEAR that when I started to post my answer, the question hadn't been answered yet! I actually looked to be sure. And I thought I was a fast typist.:gone:
*giggle* This thread moves faster than a lawshark after a wounded POD. But don't mind me, I was just tickled that three (3) folks answered so similarly. :D
 
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