The Newer Never-Ending PublishAmerica / America Star Books Thread

ChristineR · Jan 22, 2010

The bookstores in India have an agreement with Ingram (PA's wholesaler, and the largest U.S. wholesaler of books). Basically what it means is that if someone in India wants a PA book, that Ingram can get it printed and ship it to India. The Indian bookstore then adds the (high) shipping cost to their price. So other than the extra shipping, it's no different from the large U.S. bookstores.

It doesn't mean that anyone in India has your book. It just means that the book shows up as available to be printed on demand in Ingram's catalog. Whether or not PA would actually sell one if someone ordered it, is another question.

JulieB · Jan 22, 2010

DeadlyAccurate said:
Isn't it likely they're simply listing all books with an ISBN the way Amazon and the other online sites do? PA doesn't market anything to anyone except its own authors.

That's probably the case. If you try to purchase one, you most likely won't get a copy - unless they have one physically in stock. That's my experience, anyway. YMMV.

tlblack · Jan 23, 2010

A friend popped this over to me. I thought I'd share.

Dear Author:

Hardcovers are back!!

One week only, then we'll take them off the market again. For the next few days, your book is available in hardcover at the same list price as your softcover.

If you wish to stock up on those hardcovers, you want to do so now. They go at a 35 pct discount. That's more than one-third off your softcover price. For most of you, this means that your hardcover is available at under $13! That's unheard of.

The five thousand (!) authors who purchased hardcovers last summer
have, without exception, been excited about the beautiful look of their book.

Go to www.publishamerica.net, find your book, click on it, then add to cart, indicate quantity, and use this coupon: Hard35. Then click Recalculate and finish the transaction. Minimum order volume is 12 copies. Fullcolor books are included.

Offer expires next Sunday, January 31. At that time your book will not be available in hardcover anymore. Of course, the softcover version stays on the market as it always has!
Cover design on the hardcover jacket will be exactly as on softcover. Most hardcovers are manually manufactured inhouse, require more production time than softcovers; most orders ship within 2 weeks, some may take longer.

Thank you,

PublishAmerica Author Support Team

kaitie · Jan 23, 2010

Am I the only one who thinks of Disney's "after this it's going into the vault forever!" advertising campaigns when I read that?

M.R.J. Le Blanc · Jan 23, 2010

Now that you mention it, it does sound like those. Only Disney actually delivers a good product and doesn't overprice.

Gillhoughly · Jan 23, 2010

Most hardcovers are manually manufactured inhouse, require more production time than softcovers;

I'll bet they do. A minimum wage grad student presses a button on the copy machine. Then the writer better hope the student puts on the right cover. There have been complaints (quickly deleted from the message boards) about correct covers on the wrong books. Or just the wrong books are sent, period.

MY hard cover books are made at a proper printing facility in New Jersey by the thousand, not just one or two, or "minimum of 12." They ship to bookstores, not to a shelf in my garage.

Dear PA reader, I can assure you that NO REAL COMMERCIAL publisher sells books to its writers the way PA does.

PA throws these "one time only" events with the same regularity as your local car dealerships.

I suppose you'll say that PA is not that big (despite their website claims), that they shouldered the production costs (legit publishers always do that and much, much more AND pay you a real, not symbolic, advance), and that they fulfilled their end of the contract (a contract designed to favor PA, not you).

We've heard it before.

The truth is that legit publishers sell more books to the public in one day (sometimes in one hour) than PA has sold in the last 10 years.

When you get that PA royalty statement and see how much money your book has NOT earned, ask yourself if that is a satisfying return for all the work you put into it.

Cyia · Jan 23, 2010

Dust cover? You really think they front the costs for dust jackets?

Terie · Jan 23, 2010

Most hardcovers are manually manufactured inhouse, require more production time than softcovers; most orders ship within 2 weeks, some may take longer.

When their softcovers aren't actually shipping even months after they're ordered and the purchaser's credit card is charged? :roll:

ChristineR · Jan 23, 2010

I'll never find it again, but someone on the PA board did say that they were blank covers with a dust jacket. I remember it because we were trying to figure out exactly how PA was doing their hard covers. There are people who will sell you three attached pieces of cardboard and hot glue for making your own hardcovers, but these are expensive and not very durable.

tlblack · Jan 23, 2010

I can't say how PA is assembling the books today, using their own machine, but my hardcover copy has a dust cover that matches the cover on the trade paperback, and also includes PA's web address; the book itself is dark blue and the only writing on the book is on the spine. It has my name and the title of the book, but not the publisher. Keep in mind that this hardcover most likely came from either Ingrams or LSI, and definitely not off the PA printer.

Cyia · Jan 23, 2010

If they're not printed at PA like the softcovers, then they could arrive on time.

DaveKuzminski · Jan 23, 2010

I noticed that postal employees are bragging they're much faster than PA as well as being more reliable and affordable.

Swordswoman · Jan 23, 2010

ChristineR said:
I'll never find it again, but someone on the PA board did say that they were blank covers with a dust jacket.

This may not be the one you mean, but here's one reference from August last year:

My six copies arrived fifteen minutes ago (UPS). I checked them and all corrections were made perfectly...and the hardcover books are great. Nice job on the dust jacket, too.

Is that after PA started using their own machines?

Louise

gordo · Jan 25, 2010

More than six years and millions of posts later and the PA threads keep on keeping on. As best I can tell, there are three groups of folks who submit their work to PA:

1. People who want to print something like a family history or collection of poems who know in advance that their work will be purchased by family and friends only.
2. People who have done their research and know what a terrible company PA is but
decide to go with them anyway.
3. People who for whatever reason (laziness, lack of knowledge about publishing etc.) haven't taken the time to do any research.

For people in group 1, choosing PA is OK
For people in group 2, nothing said here or elsewhere has dissuaded them.
For people in group 3, their decision is on them, and they need to live with it.

So, I've got to wonder to whom the millions of posts over all these years are directed to. It might be that there is no one to save from the evil clutch of PA, especially if we believe in letting the buyer beware

Christine N. · Jan 25, 2010

Gordo, keeping this thread up to date and current lets new authors know that PA remains the same old same old. If all you were to see is criticism from five years ago, you might think that PA has changed, or less inclined to believe the bad things said about the company.

Not only that, but PA keeps coming up with new and sleazier ways to pry money from their author's wallets, like the "donate to Haiti", "We'll send your book to Wal-Mart/Target/Oprah/Today Show/ God" emails that get sent out. Those are current.

PA puts up a good front, and the newbie author still might get snagged by their hype. We remain the other side of the coin.

DaveKuzminski · Jan 25, 2010

Gordo, it's as simple as the following: I operate P&E and people frequently write and ask me if a warning is still current because it has a date that is old. Evidently, many people believe a warning is no longer valid if it's dated back a year or two. It's not like posting a warning sign beside a cliff where the danger can still be seen. Therefore, these posts are needed just to alert writers that the warnings are still current.

Cyia · Jan 25, 2010

Swordswoman said:
This may not be the one you mean, but here's one reference from August last year:

Is that after PA started using their own machines?

Louise

It looks like only the softcovers come off PA's machine. The others go through an off-site printer.

ResearchGuy · Jan 25, 2010

gordo said:
...
1. People who want to print something like a family history or collection of poems who know in advance that their work will be purchased by family and friends only.
...
For people in group 1, choosing PA is OK
...

I disagree. A local print shop, or maybe Lulu.com, would be better, as they don't grab publishing rights for seven years or deluge the author with buy-now spam.

--Ken

ChristineR · Jan 25, 2010

Cyia said:
It looks like only the softcovers come off PA's machine. The others go through an off-site printer.

They describe the hardcovers as being made "in house." The book block, the stack of white paper with text on it, is the same for a hard or soft cover. They could certainly be printing the book block on their machine and hiring someone to make the covers, but the "in house" part makes me think they're gluing covers on themselves.

Marian Perera · Jan 25, 2010

I suggest checking Gordo's previous posts on this subject, then deciding whether to spend time explaining the purpose of these threads to him or her.

gordo · Jan 25, 2010

Yes Queen of Swords. I have posted a few times in the past about this issue. Clearly, I continue to disagree with both the wisdom and effectiveness of what you and others think is necessary. If you think you can save people from PA, that's fine with me, and I wish you luck. I believe there is something to say, however, for assuming people are adult enough to make their own decisions, and if they make mistakes to learn from them and write a better book the next time around.

M.R.J. Le Blanc · Jan 25, 2010

On the other side of that, it gets hard to watch people throw away a second, third and sometimes even a fourth book with PA.

Marian Perera · Jan 25, 2010

gordo said:
I believe there is something to say, however, for assuming people are adult enough to make their own decisions

I don't think it's possible to read these threads objectively and conclude that we try to stop people from making their own decisions.

We provide information and we have opinions. What people do with that is up to them - it always has been.

and if they make mistakes to learn from them and write a better book the next time around.

Which does not take into consideration the amount of time, money and effort wasted on the mistake. Not to mention the people who may simply give up on writing thanks to a costly and unpleasant experience with a vanity press.

If you continue to disagree with the need for these threads, I have a simple solution: stop reading them.

Jersey Chick · Jan 25, 2010

By that token, perhaps the Surgeon General's warning should be taken off cigarette packs. After all, if someone knows smoking's bad, and yet continues to smoke...

kullervo · Jan 25, 2010

Gordo, I want to warn people because I cannot get my mind around the hideous disappointment writers must feel when they realize they haven't really been published, that their work hasn't been chosen over hundreds of others, that their work is lost for at least seven years and realistically forever, and that they have to explain all this to their friends and loved ones. I am against PublishAmerica because they operate on mendacious, grasping, cold-blooded cruelty.

The Newer Never-Ending PublishAmerica / America Star Books Thread

What happened?

I grow my own catnip

nothing simple here

With great power comes

aka Sadistic Mistress Mi-chan

Grumpy writer and editor

Rewriting My Destiny

Writer is as Writer does

What happened?

nothing simple here

Rewriting My Destiny

Preditors & Editors

Resilient and kind

haz a shiny new book cover

Preditors & Editors

Rewriting My Destiny

Resident Curmudgeon

What happened?

starting over

aka Sadistic Mistress Mi-chan

starting over

Up all night to get Loki

minion