Return of a Man Named PAMB and its Quotes

[ctripp]

Originally Posted by Queen of Swords

And the start of the last sentence reminded me of Boxer from Animal Farm, a staunch loyalist whose motto was, "I will work harder". Remember what happened to him in the end?

That visual picture really drives it home

[JulieB]

Originally Posted by James D. Macdonald

Since the movie deal on Atlanta Nights was announced, AN's sold 32 copies. That's without me buying any, or button-holing my friends and acquaintances. Maybe it's on e-bay. Who knows? If a random PA book is there, AN is probably there too.

Of course, it is. And it's overpriced. But Jim knows that.

For the benefit of the new folks (and lurkers), there are sellers on ebay and Amazon who contract with dropshippers to sell books, DVDs, you name it. The seller doesn't have the item in stock, and I can almost guarantee you that your book wasn't hand curated for sale by the seller. It's all fed out of a database, and the seller puts a markup on everything.

Hey, it's cool to see your book in so many places. But to translate that into sales, your publisher needs to be actively involved in getting books into the hands of readers. Otherwise, it's just one more book on a long list.

[Unimportant]

Originally Posted by Queen of Swords

Royalty check season begins as it always does. The first serious thread (I'm not sure Google Guy's counts) is called No royalty check.

And poof, it's gone.

[Unimportant]

Meanwhile, more woes on the no-show e-book front:

Back in December or Early January I purchased the package and authorized the ebook conversion. Haven't been able to find it anywhere. I also sent an email to author support and did not recieve an answer. It is an exciting addition concerning availability but I can't promote something even I can't find. Can't seem to locate the $12.95 or $14.95 versions I authorized either. I hope this misunderstanding is cleared up soon. PublishAmerica has always done well by me so far. I am presently working on a new marketing program. Who knows, maybe we'll sell a bunch. have a great day fellow authors. We did it didn't we!

Hope springs eternal.

[James D. Macdonald]

Who knows, maybe we'll sell a bunch.

I know. Ask me!

Meanwhile, make extra popcorn and set up the folding chairs. We're going to get some new friends.

[IceCreamEmpress]

Well, if that poster means "bunch" as in "a bunch of bananas," then yeah (depending on how large that person's family is). A "bunch" as in "a bunch of grapes" would be a lot for most PA titles.

(In my kitchen right now, I have a bunch of six bananas and a bunch of 50+ grapes, so.)

[Richard Falk]

Originally Posted by amergina

huh. Now I wonder if Google Guy is being very very sarcastic:

Congratulate me

Oh yes. I first thought our friend was gullible or deluded when he began posting all those web statistics, but no: he's been playing the long game. He's obviously known for a while that his royalty statement would show virtually no sales, and he's been building and building and building to this revelation. I take my hat off to the man for the way he's pulled the rug from under PA.

[Terie]

Originally Posted by Richard Falk

Oh yes. I first thought our friend was gullible or deluded when he began posting all those web statistics, but no: he's been playing the long game. He's obviously known for a while that his royalty statement would show virtually no sales, and he's been building and building and building to this revelation. I take my hat off to the man for the way he's pulled the rug from under PA.

On this topic (database listings at online booksellers and eBay), the guy isn't pulling the rug from under PA.

Online sellers all over the world are filled with database listings; there are also folks selling 'used books' (based, again, on database listings) even though they don't physically posses the book. This doesn't have anything to do with PA. The same thing happens to all publishers' books. It happens because of the database listings.

The guy is, essentially, presenting data (bazillions of database listings) to prove he's been ripped off on royalties. But the existence of database listings does not equal sales and never has. It is, therefore, an erroneous conclusion and not proof of deceit.

PA does enough bad shit all on its own without blaming them for stuff that is outside their control. I don't think imputing lies where lies don't exist helps. It just muddies the waters.

[Richard Falk]

I didn't take the guy's posting to mean that he thought PA were ripping him off on royalties; and I do understand how online book listings work, so please don't patronise me on that score. What I think he's done, rather cleverly, is to take their boast (and that of every vanity publisher) that books are "available" from 25,000 physical outlets and all over the net and demonstrate quite clearly that listings do not translate into actual sales.

[circlexranch]

If Google Guy would put half that energy into writing and querying, he'd be a force to be reckoned with . . .

And yes, I agree with Richard, there is a strong undertone of sarcasm and disdain in his PAMB post.

[Queen of Swords]

An newbie who paid for the Kindle conversion mentions that she can't find her e-book anywhere. Another author mentions what PA doesn't want them to know.

To put your books on Amazon Kindle yourself, go to https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin

It doesn't cost anything to make your books available on Amazon Kindle, you just need to make sure you have the rights for electronic publication. You'll also have to make the book file into an accepted format.

Bolding mine. Yes, it's pure profit for PA.

[Unimportant]

But, QoS, if the author has signed electronic rights over to PA, doesn't that legally bar the author from signing up with Kindle themselves? Doesn't it have to be done by PA?

[merrihiatt]

Originally Posted by Unimportant

But, QoS, if the author has signed electronic rights over to PA, doesn't that legally bar the author from signing up with Kindle themselves? Doesn't it have to be done by PA?

Some PA authors have obtained the digital rights to their work, so they can place it on Kindle, but you're correct, if PA has the digital rights, the author cannot legally submit their work, it would need to be submitted by PA (unless they receive permission from PA, of course).

[Gillhoughly]

Be assured, getting that "permission" from PA will cost at least 99.00 + 3.99 S&H.

Hi Miranda! How are the hemorrhoids this morning?

[ctripp]

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:18 am** *Post subject: e books
I was surprised with the Tsunami statement assuring us no one will be left behind. There must have been thousands of us authors taking advantage of the offer and paying up front. I did some research because I haven't recieved an answer from author support. I am only alittle concerned because P.A. has always backed up what they say but just in case I checked with my Credit card services. We don't have to be concerned if we do get left behind for too long. If the promised service is not produced within a reasonable time and we get no response from P.A., we can request a charge back and our money will be refunded to us. Then we can order the ebook when they get caught up. I don't see that happening but it helps dispense with the worry about losing our money. Some of us made substancial sacrifice for this offer. I've been working on the marketing end and don't know when to say the ebook option will be ready.

This will be gone VERY soon!

[brianm]

Originally Posted by ctripp

This will be gone VERY soon!

Still there.

[merrihiatt]

Originally Posted by Gillhoughly

Be assured, getting that "permission" from PA will cost at least 99.00 + 3.99 S&H.

When I asked PA for the digital rights to my book they said, "No." But, they were willing to make the book into an e-book if I bought XXX number of copies of my printed book. If there's money to be gleaned from an author, PA will find a way to access it.

[TheTinCat]

Some of us made substancial sacrifice for this offer.

I'm sorry to hear that, friend. It won't do much good.

[TheTinCat]

Originally Posted by Richard Falk

What I think he's done, rather cleverly, is to take their boast (and that of every vanity publisher) that books are "available" from 25,000 physical outlets and all over the net and demonstrate quite clearly that listings do not translate into actual sales.

Whether he wanted to or not, that's certainly what he's done,

[HistorySleuth]

Still there. I think its too many words for Infomonster to keep their attention till it gets to the credit card part.

[stormie]

Originally Posted by HistorySleuth

Still there. I think its too many words for Infomonster to keep their attention till it gets to the credit card part.

Still there. I think PA got stuck on the word "tsunami" so they didn't read the rest.

[Jill Karg]

here is something I just thought of when reading the PAMB. When they assign a book a new ISDN number, it becomes another edition. So the counter get's reset for each paperback, kindle, hardback ect.

So royalites on all these editions will have to make 50.00 before check is issued for pennies.

another wrinkle that they didn't tell the author before signing on the electronic dotted line. Editions in most people minds don't equate paperback vs hardback. But in the three stooges minds it does mean exactly that.

[darkprincealain]

It's still there, by the way. Wow.

[zakucac]

Originally Posted by Unimportant

You know how when you copy and paste from one program to another, things like hyphens and smart quotes about life can get garbled? I'm betting that's what happened when a PA author's book title got pasted into Amazon: the punctuation mark in her book title got garbled into the characters ….

The author noticed, and asked PA:


PA's reply isn't "Oh, goodness gracious, we'll get that fixed right away" (which you'd expect from a normal publisher), or even their usual "Oh, it must be AMAZON's fault, you'll have to complain to THEM." No, they say:


Leaves me speechless, it does.

hahahaha.. me too.. hhaha

[brianm]

Another sarcastic post from this PA author who received a tone letter (you'll need to page down to nearly the bottom of the page to see the letter) from PA back in November of 2010. Clearly he's figured out the warnings about PA being a vanity press/author mill are true but knows if he speaks his mind on the PAMB his posts will be deleted.

After all these months of my book being on over 1000 web sites world wide inclucing China and with over 6,000 copies available on ebay. PA's royalty statement states 11 copies have been sold.
WOW this so awesome!!!!!

Snippets from the tone letter.

Dear (author's name redacted):

Do not address us in such a tone. No, you are not “disappointed”. You could not possibly be, because you have not found us doing anything wrong.

We will expect your prompt apology for implying that we did something wrong. We obviously did not.

~brianm~