JoNa Books Publishing Co.

Have you checked over at P&E?

http://www.kiva.net/~jonabook/

JoNa Books: a publisher. Poor contract. Writer complaints. Not recommended.

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I've heard from three writers who've experienced substantial publication delays and say the publisher is almost totally nonresponsive. Two of these authors are nearly a year past their promised publication date, and haven't even seen galley proofs. One author also says that JoNa "encouraged" him to pre-sell copies of his book; he says that checks for the books were actually sent to JoNa, but no one received anything, and requests for refunds have gone unanswered.

On Amazon, many of the more recent JoNa books are listed as "Special Order" or "Ships in 1-2 months", which suggests to me that JoNa may not have an arrangement with a wholesaler.

- Victoria

OUCH!

I think we've officially found someone WORSE than PA!

:shudder:

JoNa Books

After putting aside his dream of publishing a book for five years, my husband got out an old mystery novel. JoNa Books has offered a contract. Should we accept? It seems better than not publishing. Or is it? They are listed as a not recommended.

Laura,

Why do you want to have the book published? It sounds as though JoNa might be acceptable if all you want is your name on a publishing contract, given Victoria's comments about complaints she has recieved. If you just want a copy of your own book so you can see your name on it, a reputable POD or even a disreputable one like PublishAmerica can provide that. But if you want am audience of any size to actually read your book, hope to see copies of it in bookstores, aspire to launch a writing career, or wish to write to make money, you'll need a good, reputable publisher.

A bad publisher can indeed be worse than not publishing. For one thing, not publishing is free. A book that is in the hands of a "publisher" that isn't actually doing anything good with it is a book that you can't sell to a real publisher. So you're set back until he can write another sellable book. If your husband is serious about being a serious author, he shouldn't waste time with bad publishers just to get a book any more than someone who is hungry should eat Ex-lax pills just to have something to put in his mouth.

Stay strong and hold out for a better offer.

Thanks for the reply good information. We got this listing from Writers Market. Where would you recommend?

Jo Na Appears to be a Ruse

My dad received a contract from Jo Na books last June and he promptly sent close to $1000 to have an "edit" completed. To date he has received no proofs, no book, nothing...

Even their website is incomplete. I did a search on the few books that appear on the website with Barnes and Noble and Amazon and found nothing. He emails and writes and gets sketchy responses and vague promises. Basically their replies are like a carrot which dangles...

They are shysters as I suspected a year ago. I feel sorry for my dad. He is elderly and the book is good, but I feel that he was taken in out of his enthusiasm to get the book into the market. I tried to tell him not to trust these people and am sorry to say that I was right.