The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

Ed Williams · Apr 24, 2005

Sweet lady, you should look at being banned...

bluwinteryfox said:
I really don't care why I was banned. I just kept wondering when it would happen. They finally banned me when I stopped signing my posts here by my pen name of Monique and started using my real name. This was a few months after I received my release papers with gag order. No I did not sign it.

...from the PA boards as being a personal badge of honor, it means you have a mind of your own and some personal integrity. These are concepts that Moe-randa, Larry, and Curlem know little about.

My bro Memphis Ed saideth this:

Think Cloppers, Willem, et al would call Shemp or the nightie chick as character witnesses?

Bro Ed, if you put together Moe-randa, Larry, Curlem, the POD Squad, Shemp, and the nightie chick together you wouldn't have enough character to round out a Brazilian wharf rat....

P.S. For those of you interested, my article about my last week's consumption of a hamdog is over on the "Take It Outside Board"...

Gravity · Apr 24, 2005

PVish said:
Perhaps someone from here needs to submit to PA a book called "200 Authors." Surely there are 200 unhappy PA authors here who would tell their story on one page and give a sample of PA's lousy editing on the facing page.

Then submit said book to PA. They'd probably take it, no matter that there's already a "200 Authors" book in the works. In fact, they could use the same cover (which may or may not be the turtleneck guy reproduced 200 times).

Ah yes, I can see it now..."200 authors" having "200 book signings" at "200 motels..." (I consider it a personal best to manage to get a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention album title sandwiched into the ongoing PA thread.)

John (who's always thinking of the reader)

astonwest · Apr 24, 2005

tinasamuels said:
I'm thinking about writing to PA with reverse psych.
Telling them I love them ,the book, everything about it.... so much that I'd like to rewrite the entire book in a different format, change the cover and add a coauthor. See if they release me then

Not likely...I'd be willing to bet they'd copy and paste everything you put in that letter onto their testimonial page...

Dolan said:
My PA pals, in Poz land, are having a discussion re who is banned; Why does someone get banned; how to get un-banned; what are the banning rules? On and on it goes.

My own PA banishment e-mail (from 2003):
"It does not surprise us to receive a response like this from you.
It will not surprise you that your message board privileges have now been
revoked indefinitely."

At least they told me about it, and didn't let me find out on my own...heh.

Renee · Apr 24, 2005

tinasamuels said:
I'd like to rewrite the entire book in a different format...See if they release me

Tina,

I already tried something similar. I was unhappy that I did not get the final ok on my book, it went to production anyway. I was very unhappy about it, since with poetry the formatting is totally different than from a novel. Anyway, they did, after about a ayear, allow me to edit my book again. The reason? I made it a point to complain about this particular issue on the PA mesage board. It started a whole stream of concern from newbies that had yet to get that far in the PA "publishing process." They offered to let me correct the formatting errors and several typos from my book since I did not get final say so, as per my contract. So I was like alright I made them make the situation right! Right? WRONG! Then AST told me that all the copies that had already been printed (as if there were a ton, right) would have to be sold before they could apply the new and improved book to the printer. Let's see that was in 2003..guess what? Since there was a problem with ordering through IPAGE at Hastings, Hastings never did receive my order. The book store manager tried ordering through Lightning Source, no copies arrived to this day. I gave up because I had done all that I could, and more than I should have had to. PA made it to where there was no way a bookstore could order, even though it "showed" copies available in three warehouses and the bookstore manager, I felt had already gone above and beyond the call of duty.

In conclusion that perfect edit job and final approval, to this day, has not been placed on my book because my book was not orderable. So I wasn't able to "get rid" of that "first supply." LOL..what a joke the whole ordeal.

I wasn't going to continue to supply copies of my book, especially after the bookstore was more than happy to order my book. After that there was no way in hell that I was going to make PA a penny - not intentionally.

Which reminds me -- I need to find that email where AST told me about the warehouses having to distribute the original copies first. AFTER, they told me the complete opposite..

Ok, now my head is spinnin'..too much PA b/s.

I hope everyone that wants to can get out of their contract because PA cannot keep up their end of the agreement, not to mention the way they intentionally lie..

Kate Nepveu · Apr 24, 2005

Dolan said:
> That said, please note that our author message board is not a First
> Amendment medium. Board access is a privilege, not a right, and
> PublishAmerica monitors it with that in mind.

> Thank you,
> Author Support Team

I hate to admit it but I don't have a clue as to what PA means.

The First Amendment says that "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press" (emphasis added). (It wasn't until later that the same thing applied to state governments.)

DaveKuzminski · Apr 24, 2005

Gravity said:
PVish said:

Perhaps someone from here needs to submit to PA a book called "200 Authors." Surely there are 200 unhappy PA authors here who would tell their story on one page and give a sample of PA's lousy editing on the facing page.

Then submit said book to PA. They'd probably take it, no matter that there's already a "200 Authors" book in the works. In fact, they could use the same cover (which may or may not be the turtleneck guy reproduced 200 times).

Click to expand...

What really makes me chuckle is the fact that once the PA editors get finished, it ought to be even worse than before since I find it difficult to believe that they might actually have learned enough by then to recognize their own previous errors and apply the proper corrections.

lindylou45 · Apr 24, 2005

Memphis Ed said:
Seeing KAS go face to face with a PA attorney would be worth the price of admission.

As long as KAS isn't selling Real Estate, he should be fine.

writerjenn · Apr 24, 2005

Renee said:
In conclusion that perfect edit job and final approval, to this day, has not been placed on my book because my book was not orderable. So I wasn't able to "get rid" of that "first supply." LOL..what a joke the whole ordeal.

Doesn't that make them in breach of contract then, if you didn't get final approval of the proofs before production?

Jenn

SeanDSchaffer · Apr 25, 2005

Some things all prospective PA authors should know...

I went over to the Copyright Office's website yesterday, and found out something very interesting.

Several things, actually, came to my attention while searching out the records on my work.

1) I still own the Copyright -- that's good, because I had actually come to the point where I thought my work was PA's property.

2) There is no registration for a book entitled Wyverinia Chronicles. And the copyright date on the book, (2004), is not correct. According to the Copyright Office, the title of my book is still The Fighting Black Lions (This was its original title) and the copyright date is still 1998.

3) It is the Publisher's responsibility to depost two copies of a book they publish, to the Copyright Office. This, so far as I can tell, has yet to be done -- and PA was supposed to have done it several months ago, according to Copyright Law.

4) Though I own the Copyright to the book, I have no right to re-write it yet or to write a derivative work; those rights belong to PA.

5) All these things said, I can only assume that, so far as the Copyright Office is concerned, my book that is being printed by PA, is not published. So far as the Copyright Office Records say, it's still a manuscript that has never been touched by a publisher.

What is the moral of the story?

If you are thinking PA will publish your book, they won't. At least not so far as the Copyright Office is concerned.

They will print your book, but only to the bare minimum requirements prescribed by law.

The things I've listed above are the reasons I urge anyone thinking of PublishAmerica as a potential publisher for their written works, to turn around and go with someone else. In what little experience I have, you'd be better off paying Lazerquick to print a couple hundred copies of your book and selling it out of a briefcase than by going with PublishAmerica.

I should know: my book is being printed by PA, and according to the Copyright Office, it is not published.

Passionate N.Y. Lady · Apr 25, 2005

Well, la de da! Aren’t all of you, so-called authors, God’s gifts to the publishing world. For those of you bad-mouthing PA, won’t you please step forward and tell me the name of your publisher? Could it be Random House, McGraw-Hill, Bantam, Simon-Schuster, Penguin, Hyperion, Pocket Books, Putnam, Harlequin, Avon? Have I hit on one yet? I haven’t seen any of those names mentioned by any of you, and I tend to think, if you were with one of them, you wouldn’t be wasting your time here.

You sure do spend a lot of time talking about PA. This is one of your most popular posts. Seven hundred and thirty pages worth. Eighteen thousand two hundred and forty responses. My, my! I’m impressed with all the publicity you are giving PA. I’d like you to keep up the good work. It just goes to prove, if they’re making post headlines, here in your little world, they must be doing something right to get all this attention--and venom you are spewing.

Does PA have inferior writers? Well, I’ll speak for myself on that issue. I am one. Do I blame PA for my shortcomings as a first time author? No. Each author is responsible for their work, regardless of who is publishing it. Did I go with PA knowing they were going to make a profit off the sales of my book; most likely from the purchases made by myself and my family and friends? Absolutely. Was I, or were any my family members and friends, obligated to make any purchases to insure PA of a profit? Nope.

Some of you speak of advances, what were they? I doubt substantial in most cases. You also failed to say what percentages you are receiving from the sales of your books--should there be any.

I venture to guess, many of you are disgruntled former PA authors, but you’ll never admit to that. So go ahead, toot your own horns. See if it gets you anywhere, other than having to live with a guilty conscience for not having a kind word to say to those authors who are not with the big boys of the publishing world--such as all of you are. Yeah, right!

tjwriter · Apr 25, 2005

Passionate N.Y. Lady said:
Could it be Random House, McGraw-Hill, Bantam, Simon-Schuster, Penguin, Hyperion, Pocket Books, Putnam, Harlequin, Avon? Have I hit on one yet? I haven’t seen any of those names mentioned by any of you, and I tend to think, if you were with one of them, you wouldn’t be wasting your time here.

Does PA have inferior writers? Well, I’ll speak for myself on that issue. I am one. Do I blame PA for my shortcomings as a first time author? No. Each author is responsible for their work, regardless of who is publishing it. Did I go with PA knowing they were going to make a profit off the sales of my book; most likely from the purchases made by myself and my family and friends? Absolutely. Was I, or were any my family members and friends, obligated to make any purchases to insure PA of a profit? Nope.

Some of you speak of advances, what were they? I doubt substantial in most cases. You also failed to say what percentages you are receiving from the sales of your books--should there be any.

I believe your anger may be misdirected. None of us that post here are after the writers. We are going up against a company that misleads and uses people who dream of becoming published.

Many people who make their living as writers come here to be part of a community where they can discuss current events with each other and are kind enough to share their wisdom with new writers. These are people who actually live off the earnings from their books, not those who make enough to buy beer and cigarettes. They are published with big name publishers.

There are some people who sign with PA that have potential to be good, published writers, given the chance to work with real editors. PA is the problem, not the writers. PA does not do the things that a real publisher would do.

Though I am not yet published, I hope to be one day, and I am glad to be part of a community where people support each other and fight for those who may or may not know the scams that exist. These are people I admire and respect.

Ed Williams · Apr 25, 2005

Well, this is interesting....

Passionate N.Y. Lady said:
Well, la de da! Aren’t all of you, so-called authors, God’s gifts to the publishing world. For those of you bad-mouthing PA, won’t you please step forward and tell me the name of your publisher? Could it be Random House, McGraw-Hill, Bantam, Simon-Schuster, Penguin, Hyperion, Pocket Books, Putnam, Harlequin, Avon? Have I hit on one yet?

Actually, you are hitting pretty close to the target for several authors here, although they can speak for themselves, Jenna, Jim, and others are published by some of the "bigs." I've been published by one of the larger Southern regional houses and have a couple more deals in the works.

My, my! I’m impressed with all the publicity you are giving PA. I’d like you to keep up the good work. It just goes to prove, if they’re making post headlines, here in your little world, they must be doing something right to get all this attention--and venom you are spewing.

Ummm, do a Google search on PA and you'll see the nature of said publicity. And who have I heard using the word "spewing" before? You're not twice dead by chance, are you?

Do I blame PA for my shortcomings as a first time author?

No. I'm sure they count on that from anyone that writes for them.

Each author is responsible for their work, regardless of who is publishing it.

No, reputable publishers know their bread is buttered from the sale of their books, so they do the things necessary to sell them, you know, placement in bookstores, legit reviews, legit distributors, just some of those little nuances that PA hasn't gotten around to yet.

Did I go with PA knowing they were going to make a profit off the sales of my book; most likely from the purchases made by myself and my family and friends? Absolutely.

Then you should be well satisfied, because all you're ever going to sell is to your family and friends, the PA system insures that.

Was I, or were any my family members and friends, obligated to make any purchases to insure PA of a profit?

Frankly, family members and friends will buy the books because they have deep feelings for the author involved, PA counts on those feelings and it works, they don't have to obligate anyone because people obligate themselves towards the people they love.

Some of you speak of advances, what were they? I doubt substantial in most cases. You also failed to say what percentages you are receiving from the sales of your books--should there be any.

For me, advances in the thousands of dollars and ten percent of the cover price of my book. Others here have fared much better. Per chance, what was yours?

I venture to guess, many of you are disgruntled former PA authors, but you’ll never admit to that.

Seeing as how you've chosen to post anonymously, you asking anyone to admit to anything is pretty hypocritical.

So go ahead, toot your own horns. See if it gets you anywhere, other than having to live with a guilty conscience for not having a kind word to say to those authors who are not with the big boys of the publishing world--such as all of you are.

No ones' argument here is with PA authors (there are a couple of slimeball exceptions, like that Shemp idiot, for example), it's with the scum that operates the business.

SeanDSchaffer · Apr 25, 2005

Passionate N.Y. Lady

I originally made a different post, but in my opinion all the quoting was a bit much. So I thought I'd delete the whole thing and start over again. The post you are reading presently is the result.

First, I'd like to congratulate Passionate N.Y. Lady on the courage she has shown in posting on this board. I most certainly didn't have that courage when I didn't like AW and was pro-PA. What she has done takes a lot of guts.

But secondly, I'd like to point out something: this thread is not about demeaning authors from any publisher... no, not even PublishAmerica. It's about exposing what we believe to be a scam: namely, PublishAmerica itself.

You see, PA supposedly has 11,000 'happy' authors. But the truth is, not all of the 11,000 authors are so happy with PublishAmerica. I personally am an unhappy PA author. Unhappy with PublishAmerica, because they implied things on their site that they did not follow through on with their contract.

I am also unhappy with PublishAmerica because they use deceptive language in their contracts. This is language which can easily fool potential signers into believing they are promising certain things when, in fact, they are stating something totally different.

I do not believe PA's authors are worthy of ridicule, simply because they are writers. People who follow the same craft and trade as I aspire to follow are not worthy of my ridicule.

No, my beef is with PublishAmerica itself, and with its policies which promote lack of book sales by making it virtually impossible for the author to get books into major chain bookstores. (And, might I add, this makes the author look like a blithering idiot in the process.) It is the Publisher's job to market a book, not the author's.

The author's job is to write a book; nothing more, nothing less.

What you've done, Passionate N.Y. Lady, is admirable for the simple sake of the courage it took to do so. But the truth is, PublishAmerica is a scam, and they will hurt you as an author. They've hurt countless others, and at present they don't seem to be doing anything to improve the situation for their authors.

Therefore, I for one shall continue speaking out against PublishAmerica.

astonwest · Apr 25, 2005

Passionate N.Y. Lady said:
Was I, or were any my family members and friends, obligated to make any purchases to insure PA of a profit? Nope.

Ah, but even the mighty Infocenter claimed that if your friends don't buy your book (because of highly inflated prices), they really aren't your friends at all...

And when an author wants to sell books, and bookstores aren't willing to stock copies (and sometimes not even willing to place special orders for copies), what's an author to do?

*shrugs*

Sher2 · Apr 25, 2005

astonwest said:
Ah, but even the mighty Infocenter claimed that if your friends don't buy your book (because of highly inflated prices), they really aren't your friends at all...

And when an author wants to sell books, and bookstores aren't willing to stock copies (and sometimes not even willing to place special orders for copies), what's an author to do?

Ditto. It's a trifle hard to work up any kind of passion about a situation like that, which would be the situation anyone printed by PA is placed in.

cwgranny · Apr 25, 2005

Passionate N.Y. Lady said:
I venture to guess, many of you are disgruntled former PA authors, but you’ll never admit to that...

Actually quite a number of folks here were taken by PA, are profoundly unhappy about it, and admit it quite readily. No conspiracy there. You must not have read much (any?) of this thread if you didn't realize how readily the participants tell exactly why they are disgusted by PA...whether for themselves or for others.

You're on a road, Passionate Lady, that has been taken by many of the folks here. They also thought PA was doing exactly what they expected -- at first. They also believed that they "knew the score" and could either live with it or make it work. They found out they were mistaken. Some simply didn't realize how impossible it is to sell a PA book to actual people in any quantities. Some didn't realize that PA flatly lied when they said that if their authors get the ball rolling on a local level, PA will step in and go with it. Some knew they were throwing away their first book to no sales but thought that any "publishing credit" would be a "stepping stone" for future books. Some had no idea that PA would eventually turn on them and begin sending the endless snotty, vicious emails that address the writer as if her were a naughty schoolchild. Unfortunately, it's very hard not to keep moving on the road you are on...you may resist it but eventually you're likely to find out exactly what PA is. Even the great un-dead guy got a clue that PA cares nothing about him or his books even after all the antics he's pulled.

One of the sadly funny things about where you are on the road is the tendency to grasp for anything to discredit those who would pull you further down the road to realization. If the person has a record with PA -- you sneer at them as "disgruntled former PA authors." If the person is unpublished but avoided the PA scam -- they are said to have sour grapes because PA probably rejected them." (Like that's likely.) If the person is published with a small house -- they are laughed at as wannabees trying to make their pitiful situation look better by cutting down other publishers. If the person is published with a big house -- they are called "God's gifts to the publishing world" and accused of being elitist pigs who want to close the doors to new voices. Care must be taken to ensure that NO ONE is a credible witness against PA because so much of your ego is tied up in your book and PA is eventually going to make you feel very very bad. I understand wanting to resist that.

But ultimately, if you really care about the book you wrote (which might not be a fair assumption, but I suspect it is), you will end up realizing what's been done to you. When you do...there will be a chair waiting here. And you can join in a chorus of la-di-dah if you like.

gran

Jeff · Apr 25, 2005

Dear "Lady"

Welcome to AW!

Well, la de da! Aren’t all of you, so-called authors, God’s gifts to the publishing world. For those of you bad-mouthing PA, won’t you please step forward and tell me the name of your publisher? Could it be Random House, McGraw-Hill, Bantam, Simon-Schuster, Penguin, Hyperion, Pocket Books, Putnam, Harlequin, Avon? Have I hit on one yet?

Not been reading here much, have you? Oh, I think someone is going to regret that he/she typed that line!

I haven’t seen any of those names mentioned by any of you, and I tend to think, if you were with one of them, you wouldn’t be wasting your time here.

Isn't it wonderful that there are authors, while signed by the major houses, who are willing to take time from their writing schedules to speak out against scam printers masquerading as publishers (PA), other literary scams (see the rest of this board) and who will offer a helping hand to fellow writers/authors by answering questions and sharing their experience (see the rest of this site).

Just because you signed with a sham publisher and are defensive about it, does not in the least minimize the effort these kind pros show to those of us who struggle to one day earn a spot among them through the quality of our work.

If you are as poor a writer as you claim to be (and your post here does not show it), take some time and investigate all the resources available to you here at AW. You cannot help but come away better for it.

Best Wishes,

Jeff

Ed Williams · Apr 25, 2005

New PA propaganda!

New cover designers!

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb225345.htm

New! PA authors tired of Shemp, wonder why honest board posters get banned!

http://www.publishamerica.com/cgi-bin/pamessageboard/data/main/12003.htm

Old! Mr. Platts takes the gloves off, again!

I stand by my words that the show was amateurish. I’ll also say that the guests, you included, were ill prepared for the show and did not understand, or disregarded the importance of the listener, who were solicited for emails that would “be read live”.

spacejock2 · Apr 25, 2005

Passionate N.Y. Lady said:
Well, la de da! Aren’t all of you, so-called authors, God’s gifts to the publishing world. For those of you bad-mouthing PA, won’t you please step forward and tell me the name of your publisher? Could it be Random House, McGraw-Hill, Bantam, Simon-Schuster, Penguin, Hyperion, Pocket Books, Putnam, Harlequin, Avon? Have I hit on one yet?

You have indeed:
http://www.penguin.com.au/catalog/f_catalog.cfm?SBN=192073189X

As I said 2 pages ago - I have no problem with vanity press or self publishing - in fact, I originally went down the self-pub route for my own novels, and I'm the last person on the planet who will deride authors for trying alternatives when the main road is littered with landmines.

But I do have a problem with a vanity press which pretends to be otherwise. Read a few posts in this topic where people tell of their mortified embarassment after friends, book store owners, librarians or random members of the public explained the facts about their chosen publisher to them ... often with a total lack of tact, and sometimes in front of an audience. Read about the people spending large sums of money buying copies of their own books because that's the way they've been told the publishing industry works.

Look, I wrote for 12 years before I got a short story published in an obscure fiction magazine. It took me another 3 years to get a handful of stories into print. And it was 10 years from the day I started my first novel to the day I signed the contract with my current publisher. It is HARD to get into print via the traditional route, which is why shortcuts can be so attractive.

All we're saying is - check out that alternate route carefully before you take it, and don't use a map provided by the troll living under the bridge - especially when it fails to mention the spring-loaded trapdoor.

Cheers
Simon

Jaws · Apr 25, 2005

SeanDSchaffer said:
I went over to the Copyright Office's website yesterday, and found out something very interesting. [snip]
5) All these things said, I can only assume that, so far as the Copyright Office is concerned, my book that is being printed by PA, is not published. So far as the Copyright Office Records say, it's still a manuscript that has never been touched by a publisher.

No. It is published. What you discovered is that PA didn't register the copyright. Under the 1909 Act, that would have resulted in the loss of your copyright… except that, in this instance, you had already registered it. Only one registration per work is required.

None of this is to excuse PA's refusal to register, which is a duty of the publisher (and, at minimum, a duty of a printing service to remind the author to perform). Your situation is not parallel to that of most PA authors; most PA authors did not register their works in manuscript form before PA published them.

Last, note that I did use the word "published" there. That's because that word means something different under copyright law than it does in the sense of "published author" or "published and available in bookstores" or as virtually anyone who is not a lawyer specializing in copyright, First Amendment law, or entertainment law understands it. This is an unfortunate overloading of a perfectly good word to mean incongruent things based on context.

realitychuck · Apr 25, 2005

Passionate N.Y. Lady said:
Well, la de da! Aren’t all of you, so-called authors, God’s gifts to the publishing world.

No one claims that. The people posting in this thread fit into one general category: those who are angry that PA is ripping off authors and want to do something about it.

Some here have been published by major publishers (for the record, mine was Warner Books). Others are, as you would put it, "disgruntled PA authors." Others are those who have a history of fighting tirelessly against writing scams.

Which PA is.

You mention "disgruntled PA authors." Ever notice that the word "disgruntled" is always used when someone blows the whistle on illegal practices? In the corporate world, whenever some insider makes serious charges against the company, their PR people always call him a "disgruntled employee." And usually when they do this, the charges turn out to be true. It's the first rule when faced with serious charges you can't refute: call the person involved "disgruntled."

And being ripped off would make anyone "disgruntled."

Additionally, shouldn't the fact that there are "disgruntled" authors -- enough to help fill 700 pages in this thread -- tend to indicate something is wrong with PA?

You may be happy with PA now, but, to quote Groucho Marx, "It's early yet."

Christine N. · Apr 25, 2005

Whoa. Passionate N.Y. Lady really IS late to the party. I know the big published authors here have been mentioned, but is it time for a recap??

James: Troll (division of Scholastic), Tor, and I'm sure Someone Big I'm forgetting, this is off the top of my head
Jenna : Simon Schuster
Susan Grable: Harlequin
Victoria Strauss, AC Crispin, who's publishers I can't recall, but they're big guys.

Bleck. Someone else sent to rile us up. I'm leaving this one alone. If NY Lady likes PA, that's her perogative. Mine is to help spread the truth about that awful publisher, and to write more books. I spend too much time here, not enough BIC'ing.

MMo · Apr 25, 2005

Passionate N.Y. Lady said:
Well, la de da! Aren’t all of you, so-called authors, God’s gifts to the publishing world. For those of you bad-mouthing PA, won’t you please step forward and tell me the name of your publisher?

On the off chance that this is a serious request, I'm going to answer. Again.

The last time we saw this type of confrontation on the board was April 13, and we began by welcoming and discussing --

This thread appears to be going in a similar direction.

But Passionate N.Y. Lady, if you really want answers to your questions, mine are set out here:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=158018&postcount=15909

The welcome mentioned in that post also applies to you, if you want it.

Mo

Memphis Ed · Apr 25, 2005

Passionate N.Y. Lady said:
Some of you speak of advances, what were they? I doubt substantial in most cases. You also failed to say what percentages you are receiving from the sales of your books--should there be any.

I venture to guess, many of you are disgruntled former PA authors, but you’ll never admit to that. So go ahead, toot your own horns. See if it gets you anywhere, other than having to live with a guilty conscience for not having a kind word to say to those authors who are not with the big boys of the publishing world--such as all of you are. Yeah, right!

I'll play.

This is my story and I'm sticking to it.

I self-published my first book printed in '96. Hardcopy, sold around 10,000 copies. Now print in paperback and sell when I speak, 100+ or so so far this month for example Cost of each around $3.50, retail is $14.95. Nice profits to supplement my speaking.

Got an agent last year for new book. Developed proposal. Sold to AMACOM Publising (Publishing arm of Amercan Management Association) in "tradiional" deal (my words) described as "a nice deal" by Publishers Lunch (if you don't subscribe to that, I suggest you take a look. It will tell you about deals being made every day). You can determine from that an estimate of my advance. My royalties begin at 10% and go up as more books are sold.

Please do not take this info a ego talk...you requested it. Additionally, please also let me state clearly that an author with a platform (i.e speaking audiences) has a better chance of publishing than others since the marketing can be made easier for the publisher. I am aware of this.

That said, please do not misunderstand the intentions of the folks "over here". This people are generally well-intentioned and protective of their passion, which is writing. The effort is in no way to discredit PA authors, current or former. Some of them make themselves easy targets which cannot be overlooked, such as those creating their own deaths, those posting on boards in their underwear, etc. These would be noticed if they were policticians, civic leaders, pastors or rabbis, whatever. They have brought that upon themselves and know what they are doing.

The discredit is aimed at PA itself for its deceptive practices. There are good authors there and there are bad authors there. Same can be said here. There has never been a "class" of quality implied as you imply.

However, the practices, tone of voice, and general deception of PA cannot and will not be accepted for our fellow authors. This is what this board is all about and will continue to be.

Your are welcome here and invited to come and play! You sound as if you would be a welcome additon to the conversation. I simply urge you to reconsider our motivation and objectives.

James D. Macdonald · Apr 25, 2005

Ed Williams said:
New cover designers!

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb225345.htm

I wonder if the old ones quit or were fired?

I think it's time to pull in Miranda's whole Press Release (at least she doesn't say anything resonates -- good girl!).

PublishAmerica Gets Creativity Boost from New Designers

Lord knows the old ones weren't too creative. I just have to bring up this old post from XThe NavigatorX. Really -- check it out, follow the links. Or check out the post from "Joanna" (Wed Oct 20, 2004 7:02 pm) here. It's worth your while.

Cut-n-paste clipart, badly photoshopped, with some really poor typography: Those are your PA covers. Some of the ugliest, most unreadable, inappropriate things imaginable. These aren't going to pull in many bookstore sales -- but then, they aren't meant to.

With the influx of new authors as a result of national news coverage, PublishAmerica has added four new designers.

Click to expand...

That's Miranda whistling past the graveyard. Secondary purpose: To get the PA truth-squad to stop getting national news coverage. She's hoping we'll say "Oh! This is bringing in new victims! Better stop!" Sorry, Miranda. No.

Frederick, MD (PRWEB) April 6, 2005 -- PublishAmerica is proud to announce new additions to its Cover Design Staff.

What happened to the old guys? Did they figure out what was going on and go get honest jobs?

After a wave of national press, PublishAmerica has witnessed a sharp rise in the number of new authors seeking publication.

Yeah, un-hunh.

Miranda N. Prather stated, “In order to meet the rise in the number of authors realizing a dream come true, and to continue to offer top-notch service, we are pleased to announce the addition of Ashley Newcomer, Anthony Saavedra, Santo Mirabile and Stacy Brown to our Cover Design Staff.

Wow! They must be getting desperate. It sounds like two of those folks are male.

I'll try Googling in a minute to see when they graduated from college. Anyone want to put down any bets?

Our covers routinely win accolades from our authors.

And derision from everyone else.

I have no doubt that our four new designers will continue our tradition of creativity and excellence.”

I have no doubt either, Miranda.

Most of PublishAmerica's books are written by new and previously undiscovered talent. A traditional publishing company, PublishAmerica pays advances and royalties while offering a distinct alternative to authors who would most likely be overlooked by larger, more commercial publishers simply due to their lack of experience in the industry. For more information about PublishAmerica visit: www.publishamerica.com.

Standard PA advertising boilerplate.

Oh, and hi to Passionate N.Y. Lady. Stick around, look around. I realize this is a big thread. You have some reading to do to get up to speed. You might want to start with the Condensed thread to see the basic positions.

Oh -- "Passionate N.Y. Lady" is a pretty long name. Is there something shorter we can call you, if the conversation continues?

If all you want is to give or sell a few books to your family and friends, then PA might actually be the best place for you.

===================

Update: A quick amble through Google later, we find our four new designers to be pretty much stealth folks on the 'Web. The only name associated with art, graphics, or design is Stacy Brown, and that's a mighty common name (8,800 hits). Is this Stacy Brown the oil painter, or some other Stacy Brown? The rest, who knows? Is Ashley Newcomer the young lady who was a junior volleyball player in spring 2004, or is she some other Ashley Newcomer? Is that Anthony Saavedra the horse trainer?

Well, we'll see if the quality of the cover art picks up any.

The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

Ed Williams

Gravity

Seen 'em come, seen 'em go

astonwest

2 WIP? A glutton for punishment

Renee

Kate Nepveu

Vacuumer of Cats

DaveKuzminski

Preditors & Editors

lindylou45

The Stooge Slayer

writerjenn

SeanDSchaffer

Passionate N.Y. Lady

tjwriter

Emerging Anew

Ed Williams

SeanDSchaffer

astonwest

2 WIP? A glutton for punishment

Sher2

Auroraless ExPAtriate

cwgranny

Jeff

Quixote without a cause

Ed Williams

spacejock2

Jaws

Apex Predator

realitychuck

Hack Writer

Christine N.

haz a shiny new book cover

MMo

Memphis Ed

Big Elvis fan

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle