The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

Snicker!

www.publishamerica.com/whatsnew.htm

scroll down to see the following is listed there:

The Associated Press interviews Dee Power
Dee Power, a longtime PublishAmerica author, was interviewed by reporters from the Associated Press, The Washington Post and the hometown paper of PublishAmerica, the Frederick News Post. "I was thrilled to be interviewed so I could share the real story of being a PublishAmerica author," says Ms. Power. "PublishAmerica is unique in how they treat their authors. And I intend to tell everyone I know about them." The stories should break in late January 2005.

Re: Good People and Nancy

I fully agree with you about PA's practices. My first post on this thread was a big long statement to that effect... which I thought was going to be the first and last post, lol.

Personally, I'm for putting the company out of business, not just made to come clean. They've done a lot of damage to a lot of people who didn't deserve it. So first, let's clarify my most recent statement: If PA wasn't using the tactics they are using and outright lying to snag the unwary, then they wouldn't be that bad of a deal.

As far as what's happening over on the PA board... well... as I suggested on another group it's the stages of grief and you just have to cut them some slack and let it run its course. Ignore the worst of the stupid comments and laugh at the rest. They are watching a ship sink with loved ones still on board(their books) and are grasping at flotsam to keep from drowning themselves.

Re: Good People

Yes, it was retaliation for his phony manuscript. Pretty pathetic, huh?

Sorry to post 3 times so close together. Hope this doesn't make me responsible for that $250.00 payment (LOL!) - but someone over on Mindsight said they didn't understand my quote in the AP article. I said that PA removed their mistakes - then sent me back my original manuscript - without any editing at all. (Anyway, that is what I meant.) Did anyone else have a problem understanding what I said?

I talked to Hillel for quite some time - and faxed him information proving that I haven't been paid for books ordered and received after they released my contract. I really thought that he would use that info - and was surprised that he used the editing info. I have no problem with that at all - but I certainly hope I was clear...

Nancy Mehl
www.nancymehlbooks.com

I like this quote...

...not that I didn't see this one coming:

"Those persons having an axe to grind has SCHNOOKERED the news media. Played them like a drum, bugle and sax! It includes the REPORTERS and WNBC."

yes, that's it - all those crack reporters that have broken major stories over the years were hornswoggled by a bunch of malcontents and tricked into putting out two print stories and a television segment without checking their sources or even considering the fact that someone may be distorting the truth. Of course. How foolish of the average public to think that it may just be the TRUTH.

denial - that old man river is flowing straight through the PA bulletin boards today. And it ain't pretty.

Re: curious

Dhewco,

It is an odd contradiction, on the one hand many accept the traditional label, but want to emphasise how revolutionary PA is, how it will change the publishing industry. And it is even odder when they seem to suggest they have basically self-published.

Could it be that those comments are mostly coming from those who didn't believe the 'traditional' publisher line in the first place, and saw PA as a hybrid between Vanity and commercial publishing? There seem to be quite a few people who take that attitude on the PA board and elsewhere.

I think it's also sometimes simply an argument against criticism of PA. Along the lines of - ' You say PA is a vanity press, and vanity press=self publishing, so that can't be bad because look at these self-published authors' e.t.c.
People's arguments can become contradictory when there are gaps in their knowledge, and PA banks on those gaps.



-----------------------------------------------------------------------

So Uncle Jim....

what are your favorite AuthorSnax?

Re: Good People and Nancy

I agree with Stephanie and others who've made the same point. We need to cut the PA authors some slack. They've taken some rib-cracking body blows recently and are struggling to stay on their feet. And when news of the sting starts being whispered....

Speaking of which: I'm jealous. I would have loved to have contributed a chapter to that...that masterpiece!

Hats off to all who did.

Re: Good People

How was Kevin strong armed? By lawyers?

Frank, I totally agree...

...when I read that manuscript, I kept thinking, "Oh man, I wish I could've written a chapter for that."

Some have grandiose literary goals, mine are just two:

1. One day write a chapter for something like "Atlanta Nights," and let PA publish it before finding out the truth.

2. Purchase my own personal ICEE machine off the proceeds from my writings.

From the Forrest Gump of Literature.

Re: Good People

Oh, dear. I didn't mean that I wasn't "cutting anyone slack." I do feel that way about the "regular" PA authors. It's the authors who have been around long enough by now to know that something is wrong - but don't care enough about anyone else to look honestly at the situation.

I care deeply about authors caught up in this thing. Why in the world would I have talked to the AP - put myself into this if I didn't care? My book is out of PA's clutches. It's been released through another publisher. I'm free and clear.

Obviously, I've done what I've done because I still care about those authors who can still be warned away from making the mistake I did.

My problem is with the long-time cheerleaders who refuse to take a good, long, hard look at their publisher - after seeing the trail of bloodied and battered authors lying along the road that leads to and from PA.

No matter how much compassion you profess to have - you must realize that by now these guys should have enough proof to understand that something is dreadfully wrong - yet they go on...and on...and on...

Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way. Shutting up now...

Nancy Mehl
www.nancymehlbooks.com

Re: Frank, I totally agree...

2. Purchase my own personal ICEE machine off the proceeds from my writings.

Click to expand...

*snrk!* Ed, you are teh bomb.

(My secret desire has long been an original "Joust" upright arcade machine.)

Sting

Brilliant writing deserves its chance, just as PA indicated in their contract letter. I think you guys should slap a cover on this little beauty, add an Acknowedgment page stating why and how this book came into being and sell the little beggar.

Get the newsies to interview you and make some real impact. Maybe a chapter could be added to describe what happened to Kevin Yarbrough having the FBI and police sicced on him by PA.

And they say real life doesn't imitate fantasy. Man, no one can make up this type of thing.

Re: The Sting

You asked for it, you got it!

<a href=" http://www.lulu.com/content/102550" target="_new">Atlanta Nights</a>, now in a handsome trade paperback.

I didn't pay one thin dime, either, so this must be traditional publishing.

The cover price ($11.94) is set to give me the same royalties that a PA author would get, per copy, for a book sold through PA's own site.

The first 32 copies sold will pay for an ISBN, to make Atlanta Nights available in the major on-line bookstores and in Brick-And-Mortar Bookstores from Sea to Shining Sea! All the copies sold thereafter will benefit the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Emergency Medical Fund.

Ed, if you want to tell your readers about this excellent example of Southern literature, you just go ahead.

<HR>

For our friends at PA: This definition is from the FAQ at http://www.pulitzer.org:

<BLOCKQUOTE>Nominated Finalists are selected by the Nominating Juries for each category as finalists in the competition. The Pulitzer Prize Board generally selects the Pulitzer Prize Winners from the three nominated finalists in each category. The names of nominated finalists have been announced only since 1980. Work that has been submitted for Prize consideration but not chosen as either a nominated finalist or a winner is termed an entry or submission. No information on entrants is provided.</blockquote>

I hope that clears up some of your confusion.

(My first clue that PA was a not on the up-and-up was way back when I first heard of them, and went to their page to see what they were. When I saw them proudly announcing on their main page that two of their books had been nominated for the Pulitzer, I knew right then that they were either a) incompetent, or b) crooked. Possibly both.)

Remember: To enter your book for a Pulitzer, all you have to do is send in four copies of your book and $50. Since the entries aren't listed anywhere, you can save time and money by not sending in four copies of your book and $50, just telling people that you did.

With Pulitzer prizes, it's normal for the publisher to submit the work, not the author.

The Sting Ms.

You know, I think Navigator had a great idea. Why don't we send Atlanta Nights off to Lulu.com and get some copies? We could auction them off at SFWA EMF auctions.

If the authors agreed, we could even put their names on the individual chapters, thus giving the buyer a chance to buy something really unique he or she could get autographed.

A real keepsake!

Jim could write a foreward about how the project was conceived in response to the Authorsmarket.net "smear site" and how it was executed. Basically tell the story of how PA accepted it, then, when they realized what it was, they angrily rejected it. LOL

I really think we might have something here, folks.

I'd kick in ten bucks to get a copy or two printed at Lulu.
If you kept the amount of books auctioned off relatively low, I bet each might fetch 20-50 bucks. Readers love items with a real "history."

That way we could really make lemonade out of this lemon! AND get the word out on PA even more!

What do you think, Jim?

-Ann C. Crispin

Atlanta Nights

Let me know when it has an ISBN and such so I can order a copy through a local store. I want this book to have accountable sales so that other writers can see how it should be done.

Uncle Jim, you are now officially...

...my idol. Elvis is dead, so I need someone. My God, the author of "Atlanta Nights" is Travis Tea?" LOLOLOL

I am going to do a column about "Atlanta Nights," PA, and I will be willing to put something in there about what happened to Kevin should someone whisper it in my ear. You can email me at:

[email protected]

Travis Tea - LOLOLOLOL

:rollin

Re: The Sting

You asked for it, you got it!

Atlanta Nights, now in a handsome trade paperback.

I didn't pay one thin dime, either, so this must be traditional publishing.

Click to expand...

This is great on so many levels. Now if PA starts claiming that they really knew all along the book was unpublishable, (really they did, honestly, they were only funnin' us), we can show that the book actually could sell with the proper marketing. It'd be nice if we could surpass their 75-copy average.

That "Oh, gee, we really meant to reject you" e-mail was another example of PA shooting themselves. If they hadn't sent it, they could argue that they knew the book could sell, and the Lulu Press version proved they were right in accepting it. Their actions of accepting it, then canceling the acceptance, was absolutely the worst way they could have handled it. :lol

Re: Snicker!

I can not believe they had the gall to list Dee under "What's New!" Honestly, this is a new low.

Re: Uncle Jim, you are now officially...

In total fairness to PA and poor Meg Phillips (whoever she is), Atlanta Nights was submitted under the name of a real person with a real email address. "Travis Tea" is there since Lulu.com required an author name.

(It was a close-run thing between Travis Tea and Mike Roscope.)

Y'know, I've been thinking of doing a global search-and-replace on character and place names, reordering the chapters, and submitting this thing again. I wonder how many times they'll accept it?

Re: Uncle Jim, you are now officially...

So, you didn't even give any consideration to selecting Richard Cranium for the author name? Gasp!

I heard from support...

As most of you know, I was banned from the PA boards, both public and private a few weeks ago. The reason for being banned on the public board was because someone got mad at me in a discussion and posted a terrible review on my book that they had not read, and they sent me a vulgar e-card, and I posted about it on the board and told every one to watch out for this person, on the private board for saying that, yes, you have to market your own books with no help from PA, also, someone posted something untrue and I set the record straight. I wrote to PA for these two weeks, and I thought I would share this with you, their reply:

Dear Chris Bartholomew:

Our authors are not entitled to access to any of our message boards; rather, it is a privilege. Not only did you turn negative about another author, but you also elected to turn negative to your publisher. As such, your access was revoked and will remain so for now.
Thank you,
Author Support Team

PA: Have you absolutely NO shame?
You should be addressing your 'authors' on the publicity, not sending me this trivial piece of, well, what can I say.
I am awaiting reply to my reply...does this mean they are tearing up my contract?


:rollin

Re: I heard from support...

Gee, they must have someone new on board to write that letter. What'd they do? Pay ten cents over minimum wage to find that employee?

It was a joke!

I emailed the announcement to the PA "What's New" just to see if they would post it, since my name is known personally to Miranda, Willem and Larry. And they did it.

You're supposed to laugh.

Oh, the bogus manuscript I sent in was accepted in September and I received a follow up email in December asking if I was still interested in publishing with PublishAmerica.

That should help them narrow it down to which manuscript it was.

Dee

Uncle Jim, please resubmit it...

...and should you desire any new material for this opus, it would be an honor. I am a true genetic Southerner, you know...

P.S. Nicole, thanks much, just having a woman with as cool a name as yours address anything to me is a major thrill. Re the arcade game, I think I would have to go with Galaxians, although Ms. Pac-Man would be a close second.

:b :lol

Arcade game?

Defender! Then again, that's probably a foregone conclusion in guessing what true arcade video game I'd prefer.

Okay, back to PA now.