America's #1 book publisher writes to SooToday.com

Hummertime · Dec 26, 2007

America's #1 book publisher writes to SooToday.com By David Helwig
SooToday.com
Wednesday, December 26, 2007

The editor who offered a book contract earlier this year to the almost-great Sault Ste. Marie poet Giovanni Pietro Verri has today asked that his name be removed from a SooToday.com article about the offer.

"My name is not necessary to the story," argues Tim Ratliff from the acquisitions department of PublishAmerica, which claims to be "the nation's number one book publisher," proudly offering "lower acceptance barriers than any other traditional publisher."

To continue reading the full story, click here:
http://sootoday.com/content/news/full_story.asp?StoryNumber=29264

IceCreamEmpress · Dec 26, 2007

O, David Helwig, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways! Pete Vere, too. This is a lovely sting operation, and having it in the local paper will reach the core PA demographic, I'll wager.

DaveKuzminski · Dec 26, 2007

Well done, SooToday, Pete Vere, and James Macdonald!

Saundra Julian · Dec 26, 2007

Bravo!

Rolling Thunder · Dec 26, 2007

*adds cottage cheese to grocery list*

benbradley · Dec 26, 2007

What a great read, I really like the letter and response at the end. I look forward to the day when ~~the majority~~ all of the contracts PublishAmerica sends out are in response to sting submissions.

tlblack · Dec 26, 2007

Well done!

James D. Macdonald · Dec 27, 2007

Perhaps Tim is looking for a job and doesn't want any prospective employers to find out that he worked for American's Number One Traditional Publisher.

Hummertime · Dec 27, 2007

James D. Macdonald said:
Perhaps Tim is looking for a job and doesn't want any prospective employers to find out that he worked for American's Number One Traditional Publisher.

Perhaps this email I was cc'd this morning from PA's acquisition department will shed some light on Tim's motivations.

Mr. Helwig,

Thank you for your prompt response.

I really don't appreciate the negative light in which your articles have portrayed me personally. I'm just an editor for a publishing company that does as he is told to do. I by no means am the mastermind behind PublishAmerica, but I have to pay my bills like anyone else.

I would really appreciate if my name was not associated with negative articles regarding PublishAmerica. If you are going after the company then surely you must agree my name is not necessary.

I'm not asking on behalf of PublishAmerica I am asking on a personal level and it would mean a lot to me.

I feel for the guy, but I assume nobody put a gun to his head and said: "Start acquiring manuscripts for PA or I will pull the trigger." Thus one can reasonably assume Tim chose to accept his current position with PA. As such, he is part of the PA process and any correspondence sent to authors on behalf of PA in his name is fair game for media comment.

His name is the PA signatory on the acceptance letter I received. This is a fact, and as such it was noted in the articles SooToday.com ran about PA. SooToday.com did associate Tim with PA. SooToday.com simply reported an association that was claimed by Tim and PA in an acceptance letter sent to a prospective author.

AC Crispin · Dec 27, 2007

I'm cracking up here. I love seeing PublishAmerica shown in all their true colors.

Tim, honey, I have no sympathy for you. Any human being with a molecule of sense would have realized after two hours at the PublishAmerica offices that this "publisher" is an author mill with no crediblity in the industry.

-Ann C. Crispin
Chair, Writer Beware
www.writerbeware.com

IceCreamEmpress · Dec 27, 2007

Oh, man, this is hilarious. 'PLEASE DON'T USE MY NAME IN ARTICLES ABOUT MY SCAMSTER EMPLOYER! PEOPLE MIGHT THINK ILL OF ME!'

sandyn · Dec 27, 2007

Would that all scammers out there were so publicly 'outed' (and that all aspiring authors would have the guts to resist them.)

Great job!

Marian Perera · Dec 27, 2007

I'm just an editor for a publishing company that does as he is told to do.

At the risk of invoking Godwin's Law, it didn't work in the Nuremberg Trials and it doesn't work here.

Hummertime · Dec 27, 2007

Well, here is my response:
http://sootoday.com/content/editorials/details.asp?c=18856

IceCreamEmpress · Dec 27, 2007

Hummertime said:
Well, here is my response:
http://sootoday.com/content/editorials/details.asp?c=18856

Wait, is his name "Ratliff" or "Radcliff"? Because it's spelled differently in the two articles.

Hummertime · Dec 27, 2007

IceCreamEmpress said:
Wait, is his name "Ratliff" or "Radcliff"? Because it's spelled differently in the two articles.

Sorry, my mistake. The name is "Ratliff". Thanks for the head's up, and I have made the correction.

PattiTheWicked · Dec 27, 2007

Best. Poems. EVAH.

edgyllama · Dec 27, 2007

So Tim Ratliff, you don't anyone to know you are connected to PublishAmerica...such as Tim Ratliff WORKS FOR PUBLISHAMERICA? that Tim Ratliff is an editor at PublishAmerica? Don't worry, Tim Ratliff, the fact you work PublishAmerica is a secret and no one will tell. Promise.

DaveKuzminski · Dec 27, 2007

Gee, Tim's been at PA for seven months or more and he's just now worried about how his employment with PA will appear to future employers, especially if PA gets hauled into court and declared guilty of fraud? Sorry, Tim, but you get fleas as part of the perks when you associate with dogs.

On the other hand, you can make up for it quite easily by contacting the state attorney general and furnishing them with evidence and testimony so PA can be shut down. Heck, if PA is also guilty of tax evasion, you might even get paid for turning them in to the IRS.

Think about it, Tim. Hero or zero? Your choice.

Christine N. · Dec 28, 2007

Yep. Those nondisclosure agreements you signed when you were hired, Tim, don't apply to actual law-breaking behavior.

Hummertime · Dec 29, 2007

Dear all, I have received an email stating that Tim Ratliff is no longer employed by PA. Let us move on and wish him well in his new job search.

edgyllama · Dec 29, 2007

Good Luck, Tim!

emsuniverse · Dec 29, 2007

Quit or fired?

edgyllama · Dec 29, 2007

emsuniverse said:
Quit or fired?

I hope quit. If he got fired for doing his job, I'd be angry.

DaveKuzminski · Dec 29, 2007

Well, now's his opportunity to be a hero. All he has to do is spill everything he knows about the internal operations of PA to a prosecutor.

America's #1 book publisher writes to SooToday.com

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