I did it too thanks to PA

edit

when you say that PA authors should expect little to no editing from PA editors, does that mean they misspell things on their own or if you yourself send your work in misspelled, they wont bother to correct it?

ACapron said:

when you say that PA authors should expect little to no editing from PA editors, does that mean they misspell things on their own or if you yourself send your work in misspelled, they wont bother to correct it?

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Yes.

ACapron said:

so this isn't a "bad" money stealing silly company?

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Well, if you don't consider withholding royalties you earned to be bad or stealing, then I guess they're fine.

I mean, no matter what ,they still produce your finished product....better than charging you and not producing anything..right?

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It's better than coming to your house and beating you with baseball bats, too. Doesn't make them good. I usually like to set my standards a little higher than "doesn't blatantly steal from me."

ACapron said:

when you say that PA authors should expect little to no editing from PA editors, does that mean they misspell things on their own or if you yourself send your work in misspelled, they wont bother to correct it?

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AC
My experience was PA did run a spell check, but did misspell one word. I had the word right. I detected the error, notified them, and it was corrected. I wasn't too upset with their oversight, but afterwards noticed some syntax problems - I thought they would do more than they did. In retrospect, I would have been more thorough in my editing.

ACapron said:

so this isn't a "bad" money stealing silly company? I mean, no matter what ,they still produce your finished product....better than charging you and not producing anything..right?

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AC,
Wouldn't call PA a money-stealing silly company. Would prefer to say I am currently awaiting a reply from a tradional publishing company re my second manuscript. By the way, the one dollar "advance" paid by PA is deducted from the first royalty check. Life is a good teacher. Have a wonderful day!

If all you want is a few copies of your book for yourself, learn to use Lulu.com. If you want strangers to read your book, look elsewhere. In no case is PA your best option.

The $1.00 advances were not deducted from my first royalty checks or my last, or any in between; although my contracts stated they would be deducted from the first.

roncouch said:

By the way, the one dollar "advance" paid by PA is deducted from the first royalty check.

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Good grief!

I hadn't heard that before. Thanks for telling.

They are supposed to be deducted, but I have never heard of any PA author whose advance was deducted from their first or any subsequent royalty check.

I should hope that a PA author could earn out a $1 advance... But then again, when it comes to PA-math, I understand it's different from "traditional" math.

Mine were big enough to cover the $1.00 advance. PA did not deduct them as their contract stated they would.

It's not so much that it's deducted... but rather royalties aren't paid until the advance is earned back by the publisher. That's how it worked with my publisher.

ACapron said:

so this isn't a "bad" money stealing silly company? I mean, no matter what ,they still produce your finished product....better than charging you and not producing anything..right?

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Except they do charge you. You have to buy your own books. This wouldn't be a bad thing if they'd place your books in stores, but they don't. PA is not a publisher, they're a printing house (and a lackluster one at that.) Publishers promote books and get them into stores. PA does neither.

Plus, you've given them your first publication rights for seven years, which means your book's future is essentially ruined. Bad company.

ACapron said:

when you say that PA authors should expect little to no editing from PA editors, does that mean they misspell things on their own or if you yourself send your work in misspelled, they wont bother to correct it?

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What tends to happen is that they do not bother to correct errors. They will run a spell-check, but we awl no whot thee kin due. Complex problems involving plot or structure are not addressed at all. When they do run the spell-check, there is a good chance that errors will be introduced.

Their editors must churn out several books a week, which means that they cannot possibly do the kind of thorough work that is done by editors at commercial houses.