What do we know about Michele?
<BLOCKQUOTE>
PublisAmerica Acquisitions Staff Expands
In order to meet the demands of 7,000 authors and hundreds of new authors each day, PublishAmerica has expanded its Acquisitions Staff.
Frederick, MD (PRWEB) April 21, 2004 -- PublishAmerica is proud to announce that its acquisitions staff has expanded. In order to meet the ever-growing demands of new authors, PublishAmerica realized the need to add new members to its team of Acquisitions Editors. With the addition of Jeni Watterson, Katherine Michaud, and Michele Omran to the staff, PublishAmerica is set to welcome more new authors on board. Executive Director Miranda Prather expressed confidence today that the new Acquisitions staff members will quickly make an impact. “We always react to the needs of our expanding team of authors and felt the additions now would benefit not only our current stable of authors, but those authors contacting us each day. We especially feel confident that Ms. Omran as our new Acquisitions Supervisor will be able to insure efficient response for our new authors.”
Most of PublishAmerica's books are written by new and previously undiscovered talent. A traditional publishing company, PublishAmerica pays advances and royalties while offering a distinct alternative to authors who would most likely be overlooked by larger, more commercial publishers simply due to their lack of experience in the industry. For more information about PublishAmerica visit:
www.publishamerica.com.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<a href="http://ww1.prweb.com/releases/2004/4/prweb119827.htm" target="_new">PRWeb, 21APR04</a>
Michele is also mentioned in this <bizarre collection <a href="http://soli.inav.net/~penfold/beth/garyemail.html" target="_new">bizarre collection</a> of correspondence. There we learn, among other things, that "PublishAmerica, for privacy reasons, does not give out its physical business address."
(I'm happy to help, though: It's
230 E. Patrick St., Frederick, MD.)
You can learn about the visual arts degrees at University of Maryland, Baltimore, <a href="http://www.umbc.edu/undergrad/majors/m_visart.html" target="_new">here</a>.
I notice that commencement 2004 at UMBC was on May 20th, and Michele was hired in mid-June. Coincidence?
Other than that, Michele has left a very small footprint on the web. Where has she been? What else has she done?
I do wonder if Ms. Omran's degree in digital art is put to good use in supervising the four or five individuals who gen up Photoshop covers for PublishAmerica's books.
From new hire to acquisitions supervisor in just six months? Good on you, Michele! What's turnover like in the PA offices?
<HR>
We have a couple of other new hires at PA announced: Jeni Watterson and Katherine Michaud. Who are they, and what have they done?
Jeni's left just as small a footprint as Michele -- mentioned a couple of places on-line (a live journal and a message board) as the person who signed a PA acceptance letter.
Here's a text of a standard PA acceptance:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Dear XXX :
As this is an important piece of email regarding your book, please read it completely from start to finish.
I am happy to inform you that PublishAmerica has decided to give "Fallen Angels" the chance it deserves. Attached you will find a sample copy of our contract for your careful review. Upon receiving your e-mail in acceptance with the terms, we will forward the final contract documents to you via regular mail for your signature. Along with your e-mail please include your legal name, current address, telephone number and title of work as you would like it to appear on the final contract. Please note that once you have requested that we send the official contract, we cannot further amend the contract.
The main terms of the contract are that we will pay you climbing royalties starting at 8%, you retain the copyright, and we will begin production on the book within 365 days of the date we receive the signed contract. A symbolic $1 advance underlines that all financial risk is carried by the Publisher, as we firmly believe it should be.
After both parties have signed the contract, you will be contacted by our production department with a list of questions and suggestions. Please feel free to e-mail any concerns or questions dealing with the terms of the contract to
[email protected] Also, please visit our web site at
http://www.publishamerica.com/.
Welcome to PublishAmerica, and congratulations on what promises to be an exciting time ahead.
Sincerely,
Jeni Watterson
Acquisitions Department
PublishAmerica </BLOCKQUOTE>
There's a Jennifer Watterson, a college student in California as of last spring, but she was a Medical Clinical Assistant major. Don't know when she graduated (if she has). Another Jennifer Watterson was a freshman at Purdue in 2000. That would put her graduation in spring, 2004 ... hmmm. Hard to tell. The only Jennifer Watterson I've found who has a connection with books and writing is a sales rep for Prentice Hall. She appears to still be living and working in Utah.
<HR>
Katherine Michaud, now.
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Katherine Michaud is a 22 year old starving artist. She has been writing poetry since the age of 14, granted it was awful, and recently discovered a love for art and design. She graduated cum laude from Salisbury University in Maryland, May 2003 with a bachelors degree in Communication Arts (specializing in Public Relations and Journalism).
She now turns her attention to the University of Baltimore where she is a full-time graduate student studying for her masters degree in Publications Design. Every free elective she takes tends to be writing related. To pay the bills, Katherine is a full-time Assistant Acquisitions Editor at the publishing house, PublishAmerica. Not a glamorous job, it does pay the bills and the emotional satisfaction is high. She hopes to eventually change departments in the company to become either a text editor or cover designer - as these coincide more with her love for the creative.</BLOCKQUOTE>
Katherine Michaud is mentioned in a press release <a href="http://www.neuticles.com/webpages/press.html" target="_new">here</a>, where we learn that "Katherine Michaud, acquisitions editor for Publish America, said Miller's book has tremendous appeal to a wide range of readers." We learn that the author thinks "movie rights ... will also be negotiated by Publish America 90 days after the book's release which is scheduled for January, 2005," so I expect we'll soon see another unhappy author.
If you'd like to read some of Katherine's poetry, it's
here and
here.
But wait! What's this?
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Comings and Goings at PublishAmerica
With the transfer of one acquisitions editor and unbelievable growth, PublishAmerica' acquisitions staff has once again expanded.
Frederick, MD
(PRWEB) October 7, 2004 -- PublishAmerica is proud to announce new additions to its acquisitions staff. With the transfer of one Acquisitions Editor to its Editing Team and growth unseen in the rest of the industry, PublishAmerica was quick to add staff to accommodate the needs of the new authors. Miranda N. Prather stated, “We wish the best to PublishAmerica’s newest Editor, Katherine Michaud as she steps away from the acquisitions process. We are certain that Leah Baird, Nikol Destatte and Claudia Nese will provide potential PublishAmerica authors the kind of service and attentiveness that have become hallmarks of our company.”
Most of PublishAmerica's books are written by new and previously undiscovered talent. A traditional publishing company, PublishAmerica pays advances and royalties while offering a distinct alternative to authors who would most likely be overlooked by larger, more commercial publishers simply due to their lack of experience in the industry. For more information about PublishAmerica visit: www.publishamerica.com.</BLOCKQUOTE>
<HR>
So Katherine has gone off to run a spell-checker, while we have three new names in acquisitions: Leah Baird, Nikol Destatte, and Claudia Nese.
Is
everyone at PA other than Willem and Larry a young female?
I don't feel much like looking those individuals up. I'm betting ... recent college graduates, no history in commercial publishing.
<BLOCKQUOTE>"...authors who would most likely be overlooked by larger, more commercial publishers simply due to their lack of experience in the industry."</BLOCKQUOTE>
Authors who wouldn't submit to PA on a dare if they had any experience in the industry, is what she means.
Frig!!... hit the wrong button.