The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

Status
Not open for further replies.

NicoleJLeBoeuf

Re: Please publish this dud

I have to put in my two cents, for what it is worth, regarding authors published with this company. I think it is wrong to assume that PA authors only read each others' books. Perhaps those over on the PA boards have done this, but it doesn't mean that all 11,000 authors have read each others books.
Click to expand...
If you're referring to PixelFish's and Uncle Jim's exchange here, I think the point was that PA may be trying to boost sales by encouraging authors to read and review each other's books, but that strategy was doomed to failure because for the most part PA authors have the same reading habits of everyone else. The PA forums could tentatively be said to show a pattern of "review circles" (where everyone in the circle reads each other's books), but it certainly doesn't seem universal even for the PA forums, which are themselves only perhaps a 1% slice of PA authorship (assuming 11,000 authors and 100 active forum members).
 

XThe NavigatorX

Re: re: how did they read it

Hey, I just saw the list of AL authors. Robin Hobb wrote chapter 27! That's awesome.

When Dave Barry wrote about the evilness of Poetry.com, he suggested people send in poems with the line "The dog ate mother's toes" and sign their names "freemont." Once poetry.com figured it out, they posted this hilarious response. I wouldn't be surprised if PA pulled something similar. I could just see it now. "Famed Science Fiction and Fantasy authors submit colloboration for approval."
 

Zazopolis

Re: re: how did they read it

I wouldn't be surprised if PA pulled something similar.
Click to expand...

I believe you assume a sense of humor where there appears to be none.

Never happen.
 

DaveKuzminski

Re: re: how did they read it

I doubt if PA has that much of a sense of humor. Still, I'd like to see them post the chapters to Atlanta Nights as a kind of homage to AN's writers. ;)
 

XThe NavigatorX

Re: CalendarLive

Yeah, but poetry.com wasn't doing it to be funny. It was all spin control. It was unintentionally funny, like Queensryche's last album.
 

James D Macdonald

Sisters Under the Skin

Which is the vanity press?

<a href="http://www.authorhouse.com/ContactUs/FreePublishingGuide.aspx" target="_new">Authorhouse</a>

<a href="http://www.publishamerica.com/benefits.htm" target="_new">PublishAmerica</a>

Compare and contrast.

Answer: !era htob yehT
 

Zazopolis

Queensryche

It was unintentionally funny, like Queensryche's last album.
Click to expand...

Alright, I'll agree based solely on "I Don't Believe in Love" coming on my PC juker as I read the comment.

Creepy.

"Sure God's all powerful, but does he have lips? Whoaaaa."
 

bikrpreacher

Re: PA New Releases...

James and Dave, you have mail.
Can't stay long, would like to say thanks for the mails, and here I am.
Ed, sad story, but at least there is another one enlightened.
I hope not to see myself on the PA boards, but it's a possibility. Some people are afraid of a threat...they just piss me off. I'm not hiding, so if someone comes a knocking, well, don't say you weren't warned that I have an exteremly large family of strong guys, not to mention the big dog...
 

keltora

Re: Something important is being missed

*I doubt if PA has that much of a sense of humor. Still, I'd like to see them post the chapters to Atlanta Nights as a kind of homage to AN's writers. *

I have this sudden image of a scene from MEN IN BLACK.

"We of Publish America do not have a sense of humor of which we are aware.":rollin

Laura J. Underwood
 

keltora

Re: How very interesting: PA rebuttal to Paula Span is dele

I guess when you start making national news in major papers, it gets harder and harder to hold up your end of a rebuttal. ;)

Laura J. Underwood (a Little Bit of Travis Tea)
 

Savannah Blue

Re: How very interesting: PA rebuttal to Paula Span is dele

<<Wonder why PA removed the rebuttal?>>

Maybe someone over there finally grew a brain? :eek

SB
 

LawShark

Vanity, Thy Name Is ...

As Jim pointed out a few messages above, PA and AuthorHouse are both vanity presses. So are XLibris and iUniverse. So are Dorrance, and Rutledge, and American Book, and… well, you get the idea.

How can you tell? By applying Lawshark's two-part <s>Juicy Chum</s> test.
<ul>
<li>Who has legal title to the books as the first copy comes off the press? If the author has legal title, we're dealing with self-publishing, and don't have to finish the test. "Legal title" means who would own it if put in front of a court; of course the printer has possession, and may even have a lien if all printing costs have not yet been paid.</li>
<li>What is the guaranteed direction of capital flow as that first copy comes off the press, including the responsibilities of publishing (such as paying the cover artist, the printer, the copyright registration fee, etc.)? If the direction of capital flow is toward the author, we're dealing with a commercial publishing arrangement; if not, we're dealing with vanity publishing. Note also that this excludes orders for returnable books!</li>
</ul>
The second part of the test should remind you of Yog's Law: Money Flows Toward the Author. I put it in highfalutin' legalese just for fun. And for Judge [name withheld]'s benefit.
 

James D Macdonald

You want facts? I got facts.

There are about 15,000 stores in the USA that carry new books. 8,000 of them are bookstores.

A commercially published book can expect to be stocked in 3,000 of them.

Source: Book Institute Study Group
 

bikrpreacher

Re: PA New Releases...

Well, it seems to me that they are hopeful that this is the end of the articles, and pretty soon, I'm sure that they will pull that entire thing. They are hopeful that it's old news now.
James, that's one book in 3,000 stores, oh, you mean not just one local bookstore? Goodness. Man. I mean, PA is such a rip.
The boards over there are very quiet, many are commenting on that. I honestly think the end is approaching. I want to thank everyone on this board for being here for everyone else, it's made all the difference in the world, knowing that we are not alone.

Chris
 

afanofthetruth

Ditto the thanks Chris

I want to thank everyone on this board for being here for everyone else, it's made all the difference in the world, knowing that we are not alone.
-------------------------------------------------------

Chris can I just say thank you? I feel that same way about the people here making a difference! We've only just started in our writing careers, so we are far from alone - and now without PA we have a chance. Good to see ya! And I'm staying off the PA boards I couldn't take anyother second of that B/S..lol..

;)
 

FM St George

Re: Several General Items....

the word is getting out there, slowly but surely.

the amount of press is now overwhelming, and the "Atlanta Nights" debacle is cold hard proof that PublishAmerica is anything BUT a "traditional publishing company".

this time it's not just a small article in a backwoods newspaper with one whiny author. Now it's international press with a variety of sources, interviews and newspapers with good, solid reputations.

there may be some who will hold fast to their "Grand Conspiracy" theory, but I think of the number of potential victims who have walked away thanks to these articles and it's all Good.

PublishAmerica may have some authors in their clutches, but that number is sure to dwindle as time goes on - bad press from reliable sources is hard to shake and now the word is spreading...

hey, Meiners? Cloppers? Better start liquidating your assets and planning to scoot out of town - it's royalty month and if you screw it up (again) I think you may have a lot more angry authors on your hands than you ever imagined...

;)
 

DaveKuzminski

PA rebuttal?

If anyone needs a copy, let me know. I've got one that I'll share.
 

PixelFish

Re: Please publish this dud

............................................................

Quote:I have to put in my two cents, for what it is worth, regarding authors published with this company. I think it is wrong to assume that PA authors only read each others' books. Perhaps those over on the PA boards have done this, but it doesn't mean that all 11,000 authors have read each others books.

If you're referring to PixelFish's and Uncle Jim's exchange here, I think the point was that PA may be trying to boost sales by encouraging authors to read and review each other's books, but that strategy was doomed to failure because for the most part PA authors have the same reading habits of everyone else. The PA forums could tentatively be said to show a pattern of "review circles" (where everyone in the circle reads each other's books), but it certainly doesn't seem universal even for the PA forums, which are themselves only perhaps a 1% slice of PA authorship (assuming 11,000 authors and 100 active forum members).

...........................................................

Nichole is correct. I wasn't trying to say that PA authors only read each other--just that since lots of PA authors try to sell to each other, PA could place those sales to other PA authors in the "not sold to author" category.

Uncle Jim probably has the right of it though--PA people probably buy the majority of their books through normal publishing-to-reader channels.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.