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The Newer Never-Ending PublishAmerica / America Star Books Thread
- Thread starter James D. Macdonald
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One hundred signatures on an internet petition isn't going to amount to a hill of beans in a courtroom. Somebody needs to bring serious, irrefutable, heavy-duty charges that would compel the state of Maryland to revoke their license. It would require reams of proof that PA has engaged in some sort of illegal criminal activity. Signing this petition has the same clout that passing around a meme on Facebook would successfully cure cancer or get President Obama impeached.
Even if it could, petitions need thousands of signatures to do anything useful. Even petitions that ask restaurants not to sell lion meat need over one thousand signatures. One hundred of them isn't going to do diddly squat.
Also, hello! I'm new here, just thought I'd pop in; being very young, I thought PublishAmerica would be my only hope in ever being published before eighteen, and nearly contacted them. So glad I didn't.
Also, hello! I'm new here, just thought I'd pop in; being very young, I thought PublishAmerica would be my only hope in ever being published before eighteen, and nearly contacted them. So glad I didn't.
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It's a nice dream, but the editor in me is staring at the word "blasphemous" in the petition.
The popular meaning (impiously irreverent) would suggest that somehow PA is some sort of sacred whatsit...
Or that the writer needs to do a bit of tweaking.
We would all love to see PA going toes up and sinking into the nearest patch of sewage soaked quicksand, but it will take more than a petition.
I'm sure a hundred people can be found to sign a petition telling me to stop writing and take a job in the fast food industry (it pays better), but I would ignore it. Expect PA to do the same for this effort, however many names are attached.
You can be certain that PA's lurking troll (Hi, Miranda! Are they allowing you back into New Mexico yet?) will be copying names and passing them to their resident shyster.
In the meantime, capricorn19, Welcome to AW!
Please, please come hang out with us. There's so much more to life than trashing PA. however much they deserve it.
Scrape them off your boots, have some cyber cookies and relax with your fellow writers.
The popular meaning (impiously irreverent) would suggest that somehow PA is some sort of sacred whatsit...
Or that the writer needs to do a bit of tweaking.
We would all love to see PA going toes up and sinking into the nearest patch of sewage soaked quicksand, but it will take more than a petition.
I'm sure a hundred people can be found to sign a petition telling me to stop writing and take a job in the fast food industry (it pays better), but I would ignore it. Expect PA to do the same for this effort, however many names are attached.
You can be certain that PA's lurking troll (Hi, Miranda! Are they allowing you back into New Mexico yet?) will be copying names and passing them to their resident shyster.
In the meantime, capricorn19, Welcome to AW!
Please, please come hang out with us. There's so much more to life than trashing PA. however much they deserve it.
Scrape them off your boots, have some cyber cookies and relax with your fellow writers.
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PA doesn't seem to be at the London Book Fair, which is a shame, because I'd have liked to find where they've hidden the stand this year; my money would be on 'sharing stand with North Korea's official publishing arm'. No Strategic either.
I'm also concerned about what would be done with the information collected on a petition, and one that wouldn't do anything if one million people signed it. I still hold that PA will only be brought down when one of The Three jump ship and the others lose momentum. Until then, I'll keep telling the truth about PA and hopefully one writer at a time will make the right decisions for themselves.
And welcome Capricorn and Negative Zero! AW is the bestest site in the world.
And welcome Capricorn and Negative Zero! AW is the bestest site in the world.
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London's annual Book Trade jamboree, where publishers and agents get together for a few days, buy and sell rights, and generally do business. PublishAmerica have turned up for the last few years, occupying a rather sad little booth way in the back, but there's no sign of them this time round. This year, no Strategic either; I find myself oddly disappointed, as Superman might on hearing of the death of Lex Luthor. (In this analogy, I'm Superman, yes, but I justify the comparison on the basis that I look really different when I'm wearing glasses.)
I don't see how, either. Then again, I'm not an attorney and I'm not familiar with the rules for business licenses. I wish they'd post what they'll do with the one hundred signatures or how this will work. There's precious little info on that site and I'm not about to put my signature on anything as wishy-washy as this.
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That sounds like a really interesting experience. Someday I'll have to go to London and check it out. Hopefully PA won't be there when I do.
I understood the analogy. I come from a family of computer/video game/comic book nerds.
There are big book fairs all over the world: there's Frankfurt, for example, and Bologna. But they're primarily for the publishing trade, not for readers or writers, as the focus is in selling rights.
The best a petition can do is make appropriate authorities aware of a problem or issue by bringing it to their attention. I am skeptical that it would do any good in Maryland, because from what I've seen they don't seem to care that PublishAmerica is ripping off people.
As for that web site, I couldn't find anything there that says what will ultimately happen to the petition, but the "Terms and Conditions" contains lots of disclaimers saying the company is not responsible for much of anything. So I doubt that the company will do anything with the petition. At this point, I see no reason to sign.
If a law firm cannot get PA into court with a class action suit, how exactly is a petition going to do any good? PA's contract protects PA from all but arbitration,(or at least it used to). The most they have to do is put your written work into some sort of book form. That is all that contract really promises to do. It doesn't offer you anything other than that, although parts of it are written so that it suggests they might.
I posted this on the other thread (Return of a Man, etc.)
Can anyone verify this into?
Thanks.
A contact confirmed that PA has moved back to their old office at 230 E. Patrick St., across from the post office. They are certainly coming down in the world.
Also, the contact provided a link to the Ripoff Report which involves yet another PA scam, this time on Craigslist:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/PUBLI...-LIST-SCAM-ANTIQUES-FREDRICK-Maryland-1027957
How low can you sink, PA?
Also, the contact provided a link to the Ripoff Report which involves yet another PA scam, this time on Craigslist:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/PUBLI...-LIST-SCAM-ANTIQUES-FREDRICK-Maryland-1027957
How low can you sink, PA?
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Nine circles in Hell, according to Dante? I think they're right around the thirty-seventh circle or so by now.
According to their domain name registration, their address is 111 East Church St., Frederick, MD. Surely, surely, they wouldn't be violating their registration service's TOS! I'm shocked!
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111 East Church St. was their old address, before they moved to 4310 Metropolitan Circle.
Now they moved back to their previous address at 230 E. Patrick St., which was their address before moving to Church St.
Are they violating the terms of service of their registration?
They've violated just about every law of God and man, so what's one more?
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Yup. I know, I know--not terribly surprising considering who's involved.
ETA: I just read the link and must echo ResearchGuy--W...T....F???!?!?, indeed. How is PA, as disgusting a "publisher" as they are, involved in that? I am confused.
ETA: I just read the link and must echo ResearchGuy--W...T....F???!?!?, indeed. How is PA, as disgusting a "publisher" as they are, involved in that? I am confused.