The Newer Never-Ending PublishAmerica / America Star Books Thread

kaitie

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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.

Gordo, there's another group that you're failing to overlook: Those who do their research, find threads like this, and then decide not to go with PA. These threads aren't necessarily for people who have already fallen into the trap. They're to help people make a good informed decision. It might be easy to see how many people have gone for PA, but there is no way to know how many people have been offered a contract or discovered the company and then found threads like this and decided not to use it.

You mention an adult must make his/her own decisions, and I completely agree, but in order to make a decision we need to have all the information. If sites like this didn't exist and the only information out there was what PA says, making that decision would be a lot harder in the first place.
 

ResearchGuy

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. . . the hideous disappointment writers must feel when they realize they haven't really been published. . . .
I know some who have gone on for years never realizing that. Most curious. One, however, has stopped announcing "My publisher is PublishAmerica" in a tone that suggests that was an accomplishment.

--Ken
 

DaveKuzminski

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Speaking only for P&E, I've received many letters thanking me and P&E for posting the truth about PublishAmerica, some unfortunately after they signed and discovered for themselves firsthand just how bad PA was and is. I sympathize with those individuals and wish I could do more for them. For those who avoided the PA pit-o-hell, I can heartily applaud them knowing they won't be skewered by that scam. I feel the same about those who post in this forum and others about how they learned either in time or too late about the real PA. And I know that the truth cannot be allowed to be buried as PA constantly does to it on their own forum because that's the only way to prevent PA from rising to the level of Madoff.
 

merrihiatt

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I thank my lucky stars for finding AW, even if it was after I signed a contract with PA. The thing is, it's hard to tell people about the intangible things PA does because as a new author (or an old one!), you may not know what the standard is.

PA inhibits writers from getting their books into the hands of readers by offering poor bookstore discounts, not sending books in a timely manner, pricing the books at too high a cost, making authors call a 900 number and pay to talk with someone if they have a question, sending them "special offers" more often than some people change their underwear, using condescending wording to their authors, such as, "Hush, baby," "Stop your whining," "Nonsense!" and "The bookstore lied" when authors express a concern or question.

These are things you will need to plow through the myriad of PublishAmerica + scam Google searches to find. Here at AW, they're all in one place, with documentation to back up what is said.

I believe it is essential that PublishAmerica's business practices be kept in the light for all to see. Of course adults can make their own decisions, but isn't it better to make a decision when you have all the facts, rather than a select group of skewed facts from PA's website? I think so.
 

entropic island

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Funny story; a long time ago, I sent my manuscript to PA. Then I found AW, soI asked them to remove me from their database. That was a while ago. Now, guess what I just found in my inbox:

<http://www.publishamerica.com>
Book Publishing by Publish America

For Immediate Release

Contact: Shawn Street – Public Relations
<mailto:p[email protected]>[email protected]
www.publishamerica.com

PublishAmerica Presents Woman Priest by Jackie Audrey O’Neal, S.T.M.

Frederick, MD January 26, 2010 -- PublishAmerica is proud to present Woman Priest: A Collection of Spiritual Reflections and Commentary on Today’s Issues by Atlantic City, New Jersey author Jackie Audrey O’Neal, S.T.M.

Woman Priest chronicles the spiritual journey of the Reverend Jackie O’Neal, S.T.M., from her early discernment in an Episcopal parish, the Church of the Ascension in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to her eventual incardination to The Old Catholic Church of the Americas. The book consists of spiritual reflections, anecdotes, commentary on issues affecting the world and the church, and international projects the author is part of as an arm of her ministry.

The reader will come away with a better understanding of the role of women in the church, and the book will make the reader aware of urgent needs outside of their borders, and encourage them to reach out. In addition, the book explores several theological issues from sacramental theology to Ecclesiology.

Jackie O’Neal has been a regular contributor to award-winning The Press of Atlantic City, The New York Amsterdam News, The Huffington Post, and USA Today.com, among others. She holds an MFA in poetry and fiction from the renowned Sarah Lawrence College. In addition, she holds a master’s degree in sacred theology from Agape Seminary. O’Neal taught developmental writing as a senior adjunct professor at Atlantic Cape Community College where she was nominated for an Excellence in Teaching Award in 2007.

Originally from New York, O’Neal taught at York College of the City University of New York. Currently, she is an ordained priest and the only woman in 126 years to be nominated for the priesthood at her parish. She has been married for over a decade to Mason O’Neal, a retired NYC investigator. The couple raised four sons.

PublishAmerica is the home of 40,000 talented authors. PublishAmerica is a traditional publishing company whose primary goal is to encourage and promote the works of new, previously undiscovered writers. Like more mainstream publishers, PublishAmerica pays its authors advances and royalties, makes its books available in both the United States and Europe through all bookstores. PublishAmerica offers a distinctly personal, supportive alternative to vanity presses and less accessible publishers.

END

They sent the press release to former prospective prey.
 

Terie

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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.

Gordo, out of curiosity, do you detect any irony in repeatedly posting that you think the group should stop repeatedly posting on this subject? :)
 

DaveKuzminski

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It's not going to be a pretty sight when the orders start to come in from that promotion and PA fails to fulfill them.
 

James D. Macdonald

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People who teach writing at the college level frequently have no idea what commercial publishing is all about.

Someone who is fundamentally honest may not have any conception that others are not. (General Grant had that problem as president.)

And every writer is prey to the feeling, "Yes, but it'll be different with me. Other people didn't read their contracts. Other people didn't believe in their books. Other people didn't try to market or promote them. I'll be different. Because it's my book."

Or, maybe she's just fine with 75 sales.
 
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Don Davidson

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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

For people in group 1, choosing PA is still stupid because a vanity press would be cheaper.
For people in group 2, they live in the state of Denial and probably cannot be helped.
For people in group 3, they are victims of PA's lies and their own naivity and/or ignorance. I was one of them. I signed the contract, but PA didn't (and won't) get any of my money because I found AW and similar web sites in time. And I still get about one email a month from someone who read the PA page of my web site in time to avoid signing the contract or at least avoid losing any money. That makes it all worthwhile.

Besides, the truth is always worth fighting for, even if only a few want to hear it.
 

CatSlave

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Hmmmm. Well, maybe her husband can come out of retirement with something new to investigate.

--Ken
They may have bitten off more than they can chew, when they get bombarded with requests to represent other PA authors...
since PA does not provide publicity, no matter what they claim.

It should be interesting to see where this leads.
 

profen4

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I used to feel sorry for PA authors... not anymore. There is just so much information out there that all someone has to do is Google Publish America and they can see the truth. That they don't want to implies a level of ignorance that I cannot pity.
 

ResearchGuy

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For people in group 1, choosing PA is still stupid because a vanity press would be cheaper. . . .
PA IS a vanity press. Different revenue model than others, but same principles of deception and selling books to authors not to readers.

Some others charge many thousands of dollars in advance -- if not tens of thousands.

--Ken
 

Marian Perera

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Some others charge many thousands of dollars in advance -- if not tens of thousands.

The most expensive vanity press I've read about so far is the Writers' Collective, at $18,000. Second was XLibris, which I believe charges $12,999 for their costliest best package deal.
 

ResearchGuy

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The most expensive vanity press I've read about so far is the Writers' Collective, at $18,000. Second was XLibris, which I believe charges $12,999 for their costliest best package deal.
I've heard of $40,000 and even $100,000 (! -- that info. was from the publisher herself!), but those were undoubtely complex specialty books of unusually high-quality design, printing, and binding. Dorrance and Vantage can (allegedly) run into tens of thousands of dollars. Even Lulu has a package running to something like four grand.

--Ken
 

Arkie

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PA IS

Some others charge many thousands of dollars in advance -- if not tens of thousands.

--Ken

I found a hardback last week in my local public library published by P3Press. I had not heard of them. I did a little checking and their web page reminded me a little of Publish America, except with further checking I believe they come under the umbrella of Brown's Publishing and if the article in the Texas paper shown on Brown's web site is to be believed, Brown's Publishing charges $20,000 to $40,000 to publish, offering such services as editing, cover art, etc. The book I read badly needed editing. The story had a hard time getting started, but it did about midway. The last half was pretty good. I don't know what the author paid, or if he paid for editing services. If he did, he got shafted royally.
 
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Don Davidson

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PA IS a vanity press. Different revenue model than others, but same principles of deception and selling books to authors not to readers.

Some others charge many thousands of dollars in advance -- if not tens of thousands.

--Ken

From what I've heard, not all vanity presses are deceptive (like PA) or expensive (like PA). Those which are up front about costs and the lack of marketing efforts--and which do not try to bind you with a long-term contract (like PA)--are not deceptive (like PA). And a vanity press can make sense for some, where distribution to the public is not really desired, such as the PTA cookbook or a family history book.

Now, are you actually saying that PA is a good deal????
 

ResearchGuy

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From what I've heard, not all vanity presses are deceptive . . .

Now, are you actually saying that PA is a good deal????
By definition, a vanity press is deceptive. If it is not deceptive, it is something else. The whole point of a vanity press is to exploit the author's vanity (and gullibility).

Here is my longer treatment:

Vanity publishing

Vanity publishing, an unflattering term, has a long history. Vanity publishing can be hard to distinguish from subsidy publishing, and the distinction, such as it is, is not necessarily worth the effort. The key distinction, I would suggest, is that the true vanity publisher attempts to persuade the author that it is a legitimate commercial publisher, selective and respected. The subsidy publisher is more forthright about what it is. But one glides into the other.
I’ll try to sort through the key issues and the two major divisions of vanity publishing: old-style (blatantly exploitive and deceptive) and new-style (less blatantly exploitive, but still deceptive). We have already discussed what I consider to be straightforward and relatively nonexploitive subsidy publishers.[1]
Any publisher that aims its marketing and promotion to authors rather than to readers and that nonetheless implies in any way that it is a legitimate commercial publisher is a vanity press. Some are even more deceptive or exploitive than others, but all are vanity presses. An easy tip-off is any form of invitation to “become a published author.” That is a sure sign of a vanity press. It will publish pretty much anything submitted to it, for a fee or with equivalent practices and conditions, cannot gets its books into bookstores, and is held in disrepute by book reviewers, librarians, and industry professionals.

[1] I do not consider Lulu.com to be exploitive or misleading, but authors need to carefully consider how and whether it meets their purposes. It is no panacea for authors, although it can be useful.

No, of course I am not saying PA is a good deal, no more than saying a non-fatal heart attack is less bad than being run over by a train is saying that a heart attack is good for you.

--Ken
 

tlblack

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PA has another bright idea forming...

The latest from PA's idea box.


Dear Author:

PublishAmerica proudly announces: your book as an e-book!

Saw the launching of Apple's iPad this week? PublishAmerica is going to make thousands of its titles available for the iPad e-book reader.

"How do they do that?" Stay tuned!

Do you want your book available as an e-book? Let us know by returning this message today to [email protected]. Simply say Yes in the subject line, and you'll be among the first to receive more details as early as next week.

Thank you,

PublishAmerica Author Support Team

Bolding mine.

I understand that sentence in bold because I hear southern all day long, but they could at least try to write a correct sentence. Sheesh!
 

merrihiatt

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Ten will get you a hundred that PA authors are going to have to pay for this "service." Or, maybe they'll have an auction!

Step right up folks! You, too, can have your unedited, grammatically incorrect, typo-ridden PA book available to iPad's from sea to shining sea. Just act now by making your bid. The highest bidders will be selected!

You must hurry! This offer is only good on January 30th from 10:00pm to 10:02pm and January 31st from 11:58 to 11:59pm.

This offer valid only if there is a full moon and you rub your belly and pat your head for five minutes.

Call 1.900.IH8TEAW and mention code WHEN PIGS FLY.