Return of a Man Named PAMB and its Quotes

Bartholomew said:

I know you're being sarcastic, but that Constitution really does say this. First amendment.

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I agree that it's absolutely 100% true that anyone can publish whatever they want. The essence of what the guy said is, indeed, true.

But it's also true that no one is automatically entitled to a publishing deal with a commercial publisher. If you can't get one and choose to self- or vanity-publish, that's your right and best of luck. But if you do so, there's no guarantee that you'll sell anything. There's the rub for PA authors.

I always thought it was interesting that the Constitution gave people the right to the pursuit of happiness, rather than the right to happiness itself. As in, you can try publishing your book yourself, but you're not guaranteed the sales that you might feel you deserve.

In his blog, the guy went on to say that it was the buyers who should decide on whether a book was worth reading or not. Unfortunately, with PA, most buyers are never going to see that book - or if they do, they'll be turned off by the price tag.

Bartholomew said:

I know you're being sarcastic, but that Constitution really does say this. First amendment.

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Really? Where?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

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There's no mention of a right to be published.

The free exercise of the press=/= publication.
The free exercise of speech =/= publication.

Your rights stop at the next guy's feet, which means they have a right to tell you "No, we will not publish you." It doesn't matter that you think you have something to share with the world. Yes, you can go get it printed if you find someone willing to help you for pay or charity, but you have absolutely no right to a commercial transaction that you don't have the skill to fulfill.

I know you're being sarcastic, but that Constitution really does say this. First amendment.

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Not all countries are under the US constitution, mind you - but the entitled attitude seems to extend beyond American borders.

The free exercise of the press=/= publication.
The free exercise of speech =/= publication.

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Yeah, that.

you have absolutely no right to a commercial transaction that you don't have the skill to fulfill.

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And that.

Actually, I'm about 90% sure the pursuit of happiness thing is one of those myths. It's from the Declaration, not the Constitution.

And I agree. There's a difference between "You have the right to say what you please" and "You have the right to a commercial publishing contract."

My bad! It was the Declaration of Independence. I should have checked that up before posting it.

Um... the First Amendment does NOT entitle anyone to be published. It means the government can't stop it should a publisher wish to publish, not that HarperCollins et al MUST publish every bit of dreck it receives.

Jersey Chick said:

Um... the First Amendment does NOT entitle anyone to be published. It means the government can't stop it should a publisher wish to publish, not that HarperCollins et al MUST publish every bit of dreck it receives.

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All of this is giving me the chills because I can imagine PA turning around soon and saying they are the only company that gives authors the right to pursue happiness through their writing.

Guess it depends on the definition of "publish". If by "publish", the author means printing a manuscript and fastening the pages together in some way, I agree that everyone has the right to do that.

If by "publish", the author means both of the above plus good cover art, editing, reviews, distribution, advertising, shelf space and sales, then I don't agree that everyone has the right to such use of a publisher's and distributor's resources.

The blogger seems to think that anyone who writes is entitled to publish a book, no matter the path they take to get there, and that it's up to readers to decide what's good, not publishers.

Yeah, I can agree with that. And readers will reject crap writing, just like agents and editors will.

He'll see soon enough that readers don't want to read crap after crap after crap book just to try and find something readable.

M.R.J. Le Blanc said:

He'll see soon enough that readers don't want to read crap after crap after crap book just to try and find something readable.

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So true.

Some writers seem to lose sight of the fact that publishers provide services to readers, not to writers. Anything the publisher does for a writer is incidental to providing books readers will want to buy. Publishers aren't a roadblock or an unnecessary middleman to readers; they're a filter so the readers don't have to wade through tons of slush to find the good stuff.

And all those vanity or self-pubbed books flooding out from places like Authorhouse, PublishAmerica, Strategic Book Group, Lulu, Createspace, and Borders Ink? The vast majority of them are helping to make readers realize exactly how much commercial publishers do to provide a quality product. Unfortunately, the good ones among them mostly get lost in the flood. Ironically, the way one knows a self-pubbed novel is a success is that it gets picked up by a commercial publisher.




OMG, did I refer to a book as product? ::SMACK:: Okay, snapped out of it.

I love how he says (in the comments) that our 'beloved publishing is dieing'. Forget that the guy can't spell and has chronic homophone problems, publishing is evolving but it's not DYING.


But he's (or maybe hes) the answer, right?

Bartholomew said:

I know you're being sarcastic, but that Constitution really does say this. First amendment.

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Well, on a related note: a while ago, someone asked if spammers have the Right of Free Speech.

In my firm belief, yes, they do, just like everyone else.

We're lucky that people don't have the Duty to Listen, though. I don't care what the spammers say and I don't want that stuff in my inbox, thank you very much.

You'll see the same problem with all communication: the problem isn't what you want to say, it's how you find the listeners.

DreamWeaver said:

Publishers aren't a roadblock or an unnecessary middleman to readers; they're a filter so the readers don't have to wade through tons of slush to find the good stuff.

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Yep. Anecdotal experience from a random Internet hack (yours truly): No one reads stuff I post on unmoderated sites - I get the feeling my stories get lost among the noise. Responses from moderated sites are more numerous and more helpful. People tend to go to sites that stick to genres and see that the stuff is basically readable. Someone has to do the filtering.

DreamWeaver said:

. . . Anything the publisher does for a writer is incidental to providing books readers will want to buy.
. . .

Ironically, the way one knows a self-pubbed novel is a success is that it gets picked up by a commercial publisher.

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The first part I quoted above (which I bolded) = words to live by. That is a splendid statement. I'm going to quote it in an upcoming talk to a writing/publishing group (with the understanding that the statement pertains to real publishers, not the likes of PA, of course).

The second part quoted above is probably a superb generalization, but does have exceptions, IMHO. Frankly, I cannot cite a whole lot of exceptions off the top of my head, I grant you! But Naida West's success in selling tens of thousands of copies of her historical novels (she explicitly rejected commercial publication) is a counterpoint. And the definition of "success" can depend on viewpoint. Niche novels might be unsuitable for commercial presses but still successful in terms of the authors' audiences and goals. Bill Pieper's novels might be a good example: Gomez, for one, a fine literary novel with a San Francisco regional tilt. Still, The Bum Magnet, by AW forums participant K.L. Brady, initially self-published and recently picked up (in a two-book deal) by a major publisher, certainly illustrates your point.

--Ken

As I am waiting for my release date for [title redacted]. I think back on how it all started when I first listen to that song [title redacted] the story took place. Now I am working on my second series which will be a fantasy saga. I am just waiting for my artist to finish her works. But the story of [title redacted] in itself is a modren day norse mythology that I spent 15 years working on and researching from 1995 till just last year. I am now premoting this book on all the sites I am on and spreading the word out as much as I can because well thats what a true author who wants to become sucessful does.

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See I sometimes think people are their own enemies and live deluded lives where they try to run before they walk, but this post got me a bit. I write my books almost with a click of the finger. I love writing, I'm self published and I get a few sales a month. It's a great conversation piece, I love seeing my work in print, I love talking about it, and like lottery tickets, one day who knows...

However, if I spent fifteen years of my life doing a book, I would at least type into google to see what publish america is! I mean come on, even I didn't fall into that one! There's no such thing as a free lunch and anyone that is offering to buy every manuscript blindly is up to no good. I genuinely feel sorry for the guy as it's his life's work. He remembers the song he was listening to when he started, it's a journey for him. How can they genuinely see that and rip people off? When I read some of the comments, I feel that some people deserve it as they have no sense and aren't realistic, but that's just cruel...

I feel bad for this author. I'm with you--it passes my understanding how PA can be so viciously mean with people's dreams.

OT:
But I have to say, I *love* the word this author invented, probably accidentally (a happy typo, perhaps?). Premoting: to promote in advance; to prepare the ground for future promotion; to start publicizing earlier than usual. It's a sniglet, no?

Examples of sniglets (courtesy of Rich Hall):
cinemuck: the sticky stuff on movie theater floors
carperpetuation: the act of failing to vacuum something up several times, picking it up and looking at it, and then putting it back down to give the vacuum cleaner one last try
expressholes: people who get in the grocery store express lane with more than the allowed number of items

Sniglets!!!

Lactomangulation - the act of, when upon opening a carton of milk, mangling the spout so badly you are forced to use the "illegal" side to pour.

bovilexia - the condition where, when driving past a field of cows, one cannot restrain oneself from leaning out the window and yelling, "Moo!"

I have both of those snigleteases (sniglets that have become a disease). Is there a cure?

Sniglets! Here are some of my favorites:

Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

Glibido: All talk and no action.

Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

Basically then, vanity and most self-pubbed authors only work in favor of support for publishers, instead of against them. With exceptions, I've never heard of a commercial publisher putting out subpar products but it's pretty much standard with vanity and self-publishers (except for those who shell out the money for a really good cover artist). You can always tell the difference.

Zeroine : female protagonist who does precisely nothing.

Cinemutation: The dramatic change ungone by the plot in conversion from book to movie.

Ignoranus: Someone who is both stupid and an asshole.

A Washington Post contest winner.

((sorry about that))

For every author who posts to say that she heard from the Book Signing Department, there seem to be three more who haven't.

I have been waiting for over a year to hear something about setting up a book signing. I, too, have sent (numerous times) the info requested for help on securing book signings.
Not wanting to wait around and do nothing, I went to the stores and asked for a signing and I always get the same response. They tell me my books are not available. To date, my new book, <title> released, December, 2009, has never been available to any book store.

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Not available to implies they can't even special-order it, so I wonder if this was an early casualty of PA switching distributors. On Amazon the book is "temporarily out of stock".

I have been with PA since 2004 and I, too, am wondering what is going on. It is hard to get a response from Author Support Team no matter what the question. I have had what I considered a wonderful rapport with them, so I'm confused.

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A wonderful rapport? I find it difficult to believe that this author even corresponded with the same person on the "team" during those years.

This morning, I sent another email to Author Support and asked again when the books will be available to the stores. I hope I get a response.

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Please don't hold your breath.