How Can I Get Out of a PublishAmerica Contract?

Arkie said:

I don't think an email is going to do it for you, too easily deleted and blocked. I think a professionally written registered letter explaining to PA that it is in their best interest to release you, since you have no interest in continuing promoting and selling your book, and above all, you do not wish to receive any tax forms or royalty checks requiring filing with the IRS.

Click to expand...

No, no, no. Make PA adhere to the letter of the law. Make it difficult for them to dislodge you unless they release your book.

I would look into, "What constitutes copyright infringement," before I went to all the trouble to rewrite a book.

Have PA authors ever got together and actioned a class lawsuit against the publisher? I don't know too much about it, having not seen the contracts, but I would imagine the publisher would be willing to commute contracts if there was a complaint filed by a number of authors in one action.

stray said:

Have PA authors ever got together and actioned a class lawsuit against the publisher? I don't know too much about it, having not seen the contracts, but I would imagine the publisher would be willing to commute contracts if there was a complaint filed by a number of authors in one action.

Click to expand...

This hasn't happened and I doubt it ever will, since buying your rights back from PA is still considerably cheaper than a lawsuit.

In any case, what exactly would you charge them with? PA is not in breach of contract. Yes, the contract is worded to suggest a lot while promising very little, but that is not a crime. The contract also obliges authors to take a dispute to arbitration before going to court, but I am not familiar enough with the US legal system to know whether that would apply to class-action lawsuits as well.

Is there a clause in the contract stating that you can buy your rights back - or are PA just commuting contracts here and there in return for cash? That stinks as it is. I'm thinking there are trading standards violations all over this and any judge worth his salt would see things in the author(s) favor at mediation or arbitration or indeed trial.. I wonder if PA have professional indemnity insurance. If so any insurer would instruct them to settle / commute contracts rather than go down the road of costly litigation. If I had a book with them that meant something to me I'd be looking at putting on some pressure with a bunch of other writers to get the book back.

Ludens said:

This hasn't happened and I doubt it ever will, since buying your rights back from PA is still considerably cheaper than a lawsuit.

Click to expand...

Plenty have tried, however they aren't allowed to sue. The contract restricts them to arbitration in the state where PA is based.

PA has muddied the legal waters with contracts that only allow arbitration and other contracts that only dictate courts. So check your contract and align yourself with other authors with the same kind of contract.

If I had a book with them that meant something to me I'd be looking at putting on some pressure with a bunch of other writers to get the book back.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, as I understand it, getting it back is all you get. As a former PA author who was lucky enough to have my rights returned, it is virtually impossible to have it republished by a reputable publisher. Because first rights are gone, no agent, and by extension no publisher, will be interested in representing the book. It has happened in very few cases in specific genres, but extremely rarely. This is perhaps the most heartbreaking reality of getting tangled up with this terrible company. It kills all future of a well written novel that may have otherwise had a chance. The common advice here at AW is to write a new and better book and pursue publishing through professional means.

stray said:

Is there a clause in the contract stating that you can buy your rights back - or are PA just commuting contracts here and there in return for cash?

Click to expand...

IIRC there isn't such a clause, but a couple of months ago PA offered their authors the option of buying their rights back via the PA webshop. Has the offer been removed?

That wasn't a new thing, anyway. Previously, authors who wrote PA to ask for their rights back were sometimes asked to buy x copies of the book in question. PA doesn't care for the books they have under contract: if they author wants out, they try to use it as another opportunity to get money from him.

Cyia said:

Plenty have tried, however they aren't allowed to sue. The contract restricts them to arbitration in the state where PA is based.

Click to expand...

I was referring the possibility of a class-action lawsuit.

DaveKuzminski said:

PA has muddied the legal waters with contracts that only allow arbitration and other contracts that only dictate courts.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the correction. I didn't know that.

I'd imagine that if a lawyer representing a number of authors could not reach a settlment at arbritration then the next port of call would be to try the matter at a court of law. This would be costly to the publisher so they would simply settle the case by reverting the publishing rights back to the authors to avoid ongoing expenses. I don't see PA making any cash settlements, nor do I see the authors being able to sell any of their manuscripts, but I can see that such an action would hit them where it hurts. Really, what PA are doing is so wrong and they need to be held accountable for it. Yes, writing a new book is the best advice, and we all should be doing this regardless of our publishing history, but what PA has been doing has lawsuit written all over it.

stray said:

...but what PA has been doing has lawsuit written all over it.

Click to expand...

Abiding by the terms of a signed, legally binding contract isn't generally considered to be lawsuit material.

The contract being completely in PA's favour and not in the authors' isn't illegal. Ethically and morally wrong, yes; illegal, no.

The only way to bring PA down is for people to stop giving it their custom. No contracts = no authors to milk for money = going out of buisness. As long as uninformed writers sign perfectly legal (if horrible) PA contracts, they'll stay in business.

And that's why we're here: trying to steer as many potential marks away from PA's clutches as we can. But we can't save 'em all.