Return of a Man Named PAMB and its Quotes

I read it. Took about a minute and a half that I will never get back. His grasp of history, folklore, and anthropology is so bad it's not even entertaining.

Maybe it will so offend some of his 'authors' they'll run away.

This man is allowed to edit Wikipedia articles, and this makes me sad.

PVish said:

Willem's Christmas Eve letter to the authors is, er, odd.

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Holy crap, that thing needs a serious trigger warning. There is not enough brain bleach in the world....nor, apparently, accurate research.

I've always thought Meiners was sleazy, but he appears to be an absolute lunatic if he thinks that's a charming story to tell. "Inappropriate" doesn't even begin to describe it.

This man is allowed to edit Wikipedia articles, and this makes me sad.

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Don't you wish you could slap a bunch of [citation needed] notations on that sucker?

stopdropreload said:

Don't you wish you could slap a bunch of [citation needed] notations on that sucker?

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Yes. Yes, I do.

I think the most telling part of that crazy letter is this right at the end:

If you want to rent space on Willem's future Letters-from-the-CEO, go to www.publishamerica.net/CEOFace.html. Have your book portrayed for tens of thousands of people to see in Willem's letter AND on Facebook.
All previous letters are here: www.publishamerica.net/ceoarchives.

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Yes. You too can pay to share in the crazy.

MM

Momento Mori said:

I think the most telling part of that crazy letter is this right at the end:
Yes. You too can pay to share in the crazy.

MM

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Not on this side of hell. Eww.

With all the avenues now available to writers, it would seem PA's salad days are behind them.

Now Willie's riffing on New Years Day. Is this going to be a continuing series on the holidays or what?

http://www.publishamerica.net/ceo123112.html


All I can say is that Jan. 2 was more of a holiday for me than Jan. 1st as Jan. 2, 2013 marked the final day of my contract with PA.

Been going around with a smile on my face and shouting "Free at last, free at last. Praise God Almighty I am free at last!!!!!" ever since.

I wonder if he plaigiarized anyone?

Gravity said:

With all the avenues now available to writers, it would seem PA's salad days are behind them.

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I just Googled "book publisher." PA is the fifth hit (seventh if the query is "book publishers"), behind Schiel and Denver (a vanity/subsidy with packages starting at $599), the Wikipedia article on book publishing, Harper Collins, and Lulu.

I have a feeling PA will still catch the eye of new authors who aren't yet aware of how new books get into book stores. I've spent the last five years predicting the death throes of PA. I'm afraid it's going to be around for as long as its three head haunchos want it to be. Actually, I predict one of the three will eventually decide to move on for whatever reason and it will lose its momentum.

ETA: Just realized Google's defaulting to Google Uganda for me, but I'm pretty sure PA's near the top in most countries.

Chris P said:

I'm pretty sure PA's near the top in most countries.

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There's really no way to tell unless you have a lot of people Google with the same terms. If I use the same search you did, it comes up 9th, but Google's search engine incorporates data from your search history and even location to try and pinpoint something you're likely to want. In my case, my publisher comes up before PA, because I've searched them and used their site more often, so Google assumes I want the option I've chosen before.

Cyia said:

There's really no way to tell unless you have a lot of people Google with the same terms. If I use the same search you did, it comes up 9th, but Google's search engine incorporates data from your search history and even location to try and pinpoint something you're likely to want. In my case, my publisher comes up before PA, because I've searched them and used their site more often, so Google assumes I want the option I've chosen before.

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Google: Useful internet search tool, or creepy stalker? You make the call!

I really shouldn't have clicked on the link to link to that Christmas letter. Seriously odd man.

Oh, and out of curiosity, I Googled "book publisher" to see what it threw up. PA didn't make the first page, for me at least. Instead, Schiel & Denver UK, Penguin, Octopus, etc did.

I was recently told that the office at 4310 Metropolitan Court has closed. Since I no longer live in the area, can anyone confirm that they have shut down, and where they are operating from.

This bit of intel was from a former employee. Thank you.

Some new posts from the Facebook page:

PA is a major rip-off. And never op for the Wal*Mart scam. I did that when I first published with them. Wal*Mart threw away the copies I bought to be sent there because they didn't have the bar code in their system. PA doesn't register the books correctly with the book distribution factor of the store. They are in no way professional.

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I published a book with Publishamerica in 2004. It was never promoted, it is too highly priced and nobody knows about it. I would like to release it as an free or low-cost e-book, but apparently I need 'written permission' from Publishamerica!

I e-mailed them and have got permission to use my own text in an e-book, simply because our 'contract had expired (7 years apparently is all they can hold you for) However, they sent me a snotty message as well, saying I can't use my own cover design. I designed my cover, in conjunction with my brother who is a qualified architect, and sent it to them in the first place!! I have no faith whatsoever in PA.

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RE: that first one. I called the local Piggly Wiggly when I was still in Mississippi, and asked the manager what he would do if he got a box of unsolicited/unordered books. His answer was pretty much what happened to this fellow/lady. He said he'd first try to "return to sender," and if that didn't work he'd try to contact the author to figure out what he (the store manager) was supposed to do with them.

I didn't know about how books got into grocery stores, so the offer would have seemed like a good deal to me. After all, traditional publishers like PA have deals with all the chains to distribute books, right? Uh, guys? Right?

New poster with an old question

I haven't been able to sell many of my book due to being housebound and I wondered if PA would be able to put it onto Amazon Kindle books? Does anyone know of this please? I live in England and the cheques I had sent to me were in dollars and was only for a very tiny amount. My bank told me it would cost more to change them than they were worth, so therefore I didn't bother cashing them.
My book is not very thick but cost over £10 in English money, now, I have noticed it has gone up to between £13-£16 which I think is far too expensive to promote it.

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Given how dead the PAMB is, I doubt anyone's going to reply. Unfortunately the poster didn't include an email address or a website, so I just hope she won't decide to throw good money after bad when she finds out PA will charge her for the e-book.

Still, she joined that board in 2006, so maybe she can get her rights back.

One of the few remaining old-timers complains:

I was a little irritated this morning to receive a hit on me from some publisher that was trying to recruit me at a price for my book…

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Well, you've paid to publish once, though you may not realise it, so they thought you might do it twice.

I guess anyone can get that info from copyright office, but I thought it was in poor taste. So, be glad we have PA.

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Yes, because PA's so much better than paid-for vanity publishing.

From the Facebook page:

Well I am just waiting for the publishers to do their thing. Tate Publishing is going to start editing in October and PublishAmerica has my final copy of <title>. I hope that things go great and I can pay off my churches building payments on top of paying my bills and buy my family a house.

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And when I looked at the author's Facebook page for his novel, I saw what bills those might be.

The book review company I hired for my book <title> wants to wait and do the editing first so that it is a more positive book review.

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Well in a week I will be sending payment to once again have <title> edited.

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This makes me very sad for the author, and extremely disgusted with the vultures taking the author's money. I *so* wish people would get the clue to research (especially for information on actual results) before making these decisions! But, I also recognize that the companies that prey on these authors' hopes are slick and skillful at selling their buckets full of propwash .

DreamWeaver said:

This makes me very sad for the author, and extremely disgusted with the vultures taking the author's money. I *so* wish people would get the clue to research (especially for information on actual results) before making these decisions!

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The author I quoted is probably snared by a scammer agent as well, since his Facebook page refers to his agent sending his manuscript to filmmakers. This isn't someone who's made just one mistake; this is someone so completely inexperienced with writing and publishing that he's excited about a positive review from a place that took his payment.

It's sad, but there's nothing to be done about it. I've PMed authors on Facebook before if they had specific questions or seemed uneasy/suspicious, but this one is not only in the honeymoon phase, he's in too deep with all the various vultures.

Shipping complaint on Facebook:

Publish America really needs to change its shipping policy from a per book cost to a flat rate through the USPS Priority Boxes.

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But how would they make a big profit if they did that?

And how do they expect the authors who can't pay for all these so called specials and promotions to do any good with their books?

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They don't.

Common sense tells you that they would make more money and so would the authors if they did a lot more promotions without the financially strapped authors having to pay for every single listing at every show

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PA replied, blowing the author off as usual:

Please go through our support form if you have any questions or concerns about the shipping or marketing policies.

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The author was having none of that, though.

NO it needs to be addressed before the people cause your customer service department gets nothing done and give nothing but excuses

you promise potential authors everything and deliver nothing but a constant income for your company and then when you call the company you get nothing but attitude from the person that answers the phone

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I smell a PA-style bannination in the breeze...