The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

Caopaux, it is not the media that is giving PA a bad name. It is PA that is giving itself a bad name! I am a published PA "author" and NOT proud of it! I am at this moment trying to get out of my contract with a company that is nothing but crooks, feeding on innocent people that want a break in life. You my friend need to get a clue or collect your check from PA as the newest public relations person and move on to a thread where people might fall for that crap!

CaoPaux said:

Uh, is you entire message addressed to me, T42?

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edited, to take off a message I put here that was rude, and sorry T42

CaoPaux said:

I feel sorry for this poor lady. She's obviously degrees of literacy above the average PAvidian, yet....

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Degrees of literacy and common sense do not always go hand in hand. Some of the most intelligent people I know can be the most blindly stubborn when they make up their minds and don't want to be confused with the facts.

Fact: PA is not a golden opportunity for ANY author, new or old.

Fact: Larry Clopper is a lot like the proverbial king of the hill sitting on an ant hill in the middle of an ivy patch.

He will never budge from his position inspite of the rash on his backside.

Bail out now, PA authors. Be smart! PLEASE.

There are thousands of opportunities out there that are the real thing.

Laura J. Underwood (A Little Bit of Travis Tea--My ATLANTA NIGHTS can poke out your EYE OF ARGON any day!)

DRAGON'S TONGUE forthcoming from Meisha Merlin in the Summer of 2006. Preview a copy at http://www.embiid.net.

You know, too, one thing that hits me here...

...is that the PA authors are the ones who're concerned about the effect of the negative news coverage PA has recently received. Notice that? They're the ones worrying about the effects of it, not Moe-randa, Larry, or Curlem. Simply put, even if every bit of the propaganda put out by PrintAmerica were true, it would be the responsibility of the PUBLISHER to mount a public relations campaign to correct/restore its image. Not the authors. The New Three Stooges have literally brainwashed their authors into thinking that they should shoulder just about any obstacle that PA puts up in front of them. In my book, those three and pond scum have a lot in common, except pond scum has a much more nobler purpose in the overall grand scheme of things....


(The new PublishAmerica logo, inside
contacts slipped it to me on the sly...)

T42 said:

Caopaux, it is not the media that is giving PA a bad name. It is PA that is giving itself a bad name! I am a published PA "author" and NOT proud of it! I am at this moment trying to get out of my contract with a company that is nothing but crooks, feeding on innocent people that want a break in life. You my friend need to get a clue or collect your check from PA as the newest public relations person and move on to a thread where people might fall for that crap!

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Good for you, and I hope your book gets picked up so you can thumb your nose at those who refuse to believe the truth is anything other than what PA tells them.

Laura J. Underwood (A Little Bit of Travis Tea--My ATLANTA NIGHTS can poke out your EYE OF ARGON any day!)

DRAGON'S TONGUE forthcoming from Meisha Merlin in the Summer of 2006. Preview a copy at http://www.embiid.net.

My message is addressed to you if you are the one that thinks that it is sad that PA is only trying to help unknown authors. If you are quoting someone else then I apoligize to you and the message is to whomever wrote the "poor PA" message. They are the only ones making money. It certainly isn't the people who wrote the books!

Of course, I think you misstepped a little there too, T42.

CaoPaux is not clueless in the least. *g*

Laura J. Underwood (A Little Bit of Travis Tea--My ATLANTA NIGHTS can poke out your EYE OF ARGON any day!)

DRAGON'S TONGUE forthcoming from Meisha Merlin in the Summer of 2006. Preview a copy at http://www.embiid.net.

CaoPaux said:

:faint:

But anyway...here's a response to the "Slam Dunked" thread referenced earlier.
-----
Gloriajean
2/18/2005
12:43:39

Message:
David,
The problem is greater than the bookstores. I talked with an editor about doing a review of my book and was told PA is a vanity press. I argued with him, of course; however, it didn't matter because his mind was made up by bad press coverage from the Associated press story, which was far more deleterious to PA than was thought.

Thus, we're caught between erroneous/negative press coverage--which went out over the wire and was picked up by many major newspapers, influencing the book editors!--and ignorance about a POD business model and the Ingrams situation, which has resulted in the "can't order" policy adopted by many bookstore chains.



Hang in there!

Gloria Lewis
Rain On Red Clay
------
I feel sorry for this poor lady. She's obviously degrees of literacy above the average PAvidian, yet....

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If I had seen that all those people found fault with PA before I had signed, I would have been highly alerted. I don't think all those people can be wrong or were just brainwashed to print all of it. There really isn't a reason for the media to "pick on" a poor, little, misunderstood POD publisher.
Again, most people don't want to find out the truth about PA. It is really disheartening. I can attest to that.

Chris I didn't know that. Sorry Caopaux......I just get really upset when I see messages like that because I am so angry that pa has caused so many people so much grief I still haven't gotten the board down yet and get confused...I'm old...give me a break
Sorry again Cao...

Keltora, Chris, Cao...I give you permission to lash me 49 times, then you must stop because I have to make some brownies and won't have time for the rest

T42 said:

My message is addressed to you if you are the one that thinks that it is sad that PA is only trying to help unknown authors. If you are quoting someone else then I apoligize to you and the message is to whomever wrote the "poor PA" message. They are the only ones making money. It certainly isn't the people who wrote the books!

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PA does only look to help "new" authors (though I don't think I would call it help in any way, shape or fashion since they do nothing are are just looking to make money for themselves), in that new authors tend to be the ones they target. They want unpublished authors because those are going to be the easiest to "mark" with their scam.

Ages ago, I have had a publisher try to scam me, and I know how bad it hurt, and how bitter it made me for a while. Fortunately, I didn't sign the contract. I was desperate to see my books published, but not so desperate that I was willing to pay them in the process. Instead, I reported them to Writer's Digest where I found them listed as a regular publisher, and the next year WD put them in their directory as a vanity press.

The rewards of my patience and my persistence have been that I have sold several novels and short story collection since the year 2000, and I have options with MM for future books through them, and am still getting books looked at elsewhere.

Galaxy Quest: "Never give up, Never surrender."

That first rung is always the hardest...

Laura J. Underwood (A Little Bit of Travis Tea--My ATLANTA NIGHTS can poke out your EYE OF ARGON any day!)

DRAGON'S TONGUE forthcoming from Meisha Merlin in the Summer of 2006. Preview a copy at http://www.embiid.net.

T42 said:

Keltora, Chris, Cao...I give you permission to lash me 49 times, then you must stop because I have to make some brownies and won't have time for the rest

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Hey, we forgive ye...

Laura J. Underwood (A Little Bit of Travis Tea--My ATLANTA NIGHTS can poke out your EYE OF ARGON any day!)

DRAGON'S TONGUE forthcoming from Meisha Merlin in the Summer of 2006. Preview a copy at http://www.embiid.net.

Keltora, Cao, Chris...did you all get my message about giving me 49 lashes? I can't find it and really don't even know how to change back over to see new post without leaving a message. Anyway....must go make brownies so hope you all have a great day! I waited around for the whacks

When it comes down to it, I believe the only thing that will shake awake enough of those PA faithful will be when PA loses in a courtroom and the results are publicized. When that happens, PA will wither away until it crumbles into dust to be blown away with the other unremarkable trash of history.

Maybe you're waiting for the whacks...but I'm waiting for the brownies!

I think this misunderstanding is a good example of just how tender authors really are about having their literary lives squished by PA. Sure, we move on...but for many it's the start of a new round of submissions that has the stench of PA hanging all over it.

I need a Tylenol...

DaveKuzminski said:

When it comes down to it, I believe the only thing that will shake awake enough of those PA faithful will be when PA loses in a courtroom and the results are publicized. When that happens, PA will wither away until it crumbles into dust to be blown away with the other unremarkable trash of history.

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That, or someone finds sufficient numbers of photos of Larry with his pants down (in the figurative sense--no, not the literal, oh, no, Not That!!!!!!).

Sorry, I'm having a fog moment at work. I'm in a fog because I want to be writing instead of sitting here answering patron emails and digging up dead people.

Back, back, little muse!

Laura J. Underwood (A Little Bit of Travis Tea--My ATLANTA NIGHTS can poke out your EYE OF ARGON any day!)

DRAGON'S TONGUE forthcoming from Meisha Merlin in the Summer of 2006. Preview a copy at http://www.embiid.net.

T42 said:

Chris I didn't know that. Sorry Caopaux......I just get really upset when I see messages like that because I am so angry that pa has caused so many people so much grief

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I love Texans. Because Texans have attittude. Honestly, you just don't mess with Texas. (My best friend and critique partner is from Texas.) PA needs to watch out - a few more upset PA-author-Texans in league with you, T42, and we won't have to worry about them much longer. <G>

Now, about those brownies you were baking... You're sharing with everyone, right? I have the coffee right here:

Susan G.
--------
www.susangable.com

Rejection -- Better sooner than later

I was saddened by the following thread on the PA Authors Board: How well do you take rejection?

Getting rejection slips from a magazine or publisher is part of one's journey to become a professional writer. These rejection slips force one to improve one's work, to persevere, and to put all the more effort into one's work. By depriving their authors of this opportunity, I think PA is harming rather than helping their authors.

By not having to deal with their manuscript being rejected by the publisher, PA authors are all the more shocked (and disappointed) when their "traditionally" published manuscript is rejected by bookstores, professional reviewers, professional writing societies, and ultimately readers. What makes it tougher to accept is that at this point the author is holding a book in his or her hands, and not merely a typewritten manuscript.

So the next obvious question is Why is my book being rejected? And here is where the truly devoted separate from the mere poseurs. Those who are honest with themselves will recognize that PA is a vanity press. They will get out, learn from their mistake, and be more cautious next time.

On the other hand, you find those who simply cannot admit they got taken in by a vanity publisher. This is where the excuses start -- "professional snobbery", "jelousy", "trying to impede progress", etc.

The Truth Is Out There...

unfortunately a lot of the PA authors are buying into the Grand Conspiracy theory that's been tossed around the PA corral since day one - I remember hearing it; about how PA was going to "break new ground" and that the publishing industry was going to do all that it could to keep PA down - but they would rise triumphantly and best their foes!

*coughs up hairball*

right...

seriously, it's rather sad to see the PAvidians continuing to push this theory on newer authors in the PA fold - folks, there ain't no Grand Conspiracy to hold you all down, the media DID their homework and checked out their facts before putting out those articles and you ARE being scammed!

think of it this way - if PA truly had a legal leg to stand on, they'd be suing the Washington Post, Associated Press, James here and a whole lot of other peeps - instead, they can't even be bothered to do much more than put up a webpage bleating their innocence and how they've been "misquoted".

walk away, PA authors - do what's best for your writing career and just walk away from PublishAmerica. Or run, that's better.

I can speak from first hand experience here regarding PA, ST, ABPG, Karen Lewis, and others. They all claim they offer a new way to operate the industry, but all they're doing is recycling old Ponzi schemes. If they were truly being libeled, it would be to their advantage to shut up watchdog sites such as Writer Beware, Absolute Write, and Preditors & Editors by taking us to court.

Speaking for P&E only, the worst of them have threatened to take P&E and myself to court. Yet, have they?

Nope.

Because they don't have a case and because they don't want their operations exposed publicly in court where it would become apparent to even the most fanatical follower that their particular publisher or agent is nothing more than a scam.

And for heaven's sake, for those of you submitting works to other houses, (I've said this before but it bears repeating) do not mention your PA "experience" to the editor. Or to an agent. Throw your PA debacle down the memory hole, wipe it from your brain, whatever works, but it...never...happened.

Because if you try to use your PA work as a credit, you will find it completely, utterly, irreedemingly worthless. Now, I'm not saying your work per se is bad, but your choice of a printer is. In the mad scramble for a contract, you need every good point you can score. And a PA book ain't it. Hard words, but true.

keltora said:

Matrix2

They borrowed it. Wasn't their line originally.

Movie from the mid-late 80s.

Actor's initials. C.S.

Laura J. Underwood (A Little Bit of Travis Tea--My ATLANTA NIGHTS can poke out your EYE OF ARGON any day!)

DRAGON'S TONGUE forthcoming from Meisha Merlin in the Summer of 2006. Preview a copy at http://www.embiid.net.

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Well, I don't know about the borrowing, but if we're riffing off the "There is no spoon" line, that was Matrix 1, not 2.