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Okay, I'm not going to finish this piece, nor do I wish to discard it entirely, so I'm going to do something I hate doing: reveal an unfinished work. For your consideration, I've removed my "come back and fix this later" tags and deleted those unfinished sections. Here goes
This discussion references a short documentary called Mind Control Made Easy, which I found on i-am-bored.com. The link is http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=21383
I recommend that you watch it first, and then continue with the discussion.
Attribution notes: quotes prefaced by Mind Control Made Easy or the abbreviation MCME are direct quotes by the narrator. Subsequent quotes not specifically identified are in-character quotes made to support or exemplify the statement. If I’ve transcribed anything incorrectly, please inform me and I’ll change it immediately. I insist on 100% accuracy in quoting.
I don’t expect that any such errors will change the conclusions I’ve drawn. If anything, a minor phrasing different might turn up that supports the same conclusion.
Mind Control Made Easy says “Layer your cult like an onion, with the most benign parts on the outside.”
Publish America says “We are the nation's number one book publisher.”
MCME: Promise to fulfill their dreams.
PA: “We are a book publisher who put our trust in the big league of unknown authors.” [from the PA website]
MCME: Offer them something free and get them obliged to give you something in return.
PA: “Get published free.” [from the PA website]
MCME: “Start with a prolonged period of love bombing.”
PA: We are always happy when a new author has found the way to our door, because opportunity knocks on both sides of it. [from the PA website]
MCME: Get information and hone their weak spots…
”Tell us about yourself”
”Take this personality test”
“…and then use this information to manipulate them.”
PA: Fill out this Author Questionnaire.
MCME: “Gradually over time you’ll be able to shape the recruits behavior by granting or withholding this attention.”
PA features books seemingly at random in Up in Lights and their Book of the Week. They issue “tone letters” to authors who question them.
MCME: Control their thoughts.
“Our ideology answers all questions to all problems.”
MCME: Control Information. Keep them from knowing all the workings of the cult.
PA doesn’t provide a phone number. They refuse to share exact sales figures. They don’t always sign their communications, hiding individual identity behind the corporate mask. They don’t allow accountants to review sales figures. In fact, they even refused to bring supporting documentation to a courtroom when it would have helped them in a legal argument.
MCME: “Block out any information which is critical of the group.”
PA deletes negative posts on its website. Wouldn’t the authors be better served by having the negative posts followed by a reasonable answer that explains the situation in a positive light?
MCME: “A good con man takes a little bit of truth and a lot of lies and pulls the wool over the eyes of the ignorant.”
PA: “Pulitzer Prize winner joins Publish America.” The author in question didn’t win a Pulitzer Prize. The newspaper he worked for at the time won the prize, and it was a prize for Public Service, not one of the literary prizes. Also, he didn’t write the stories that earned the prize.
PA claims to have partnered with the New York Times. By that, they mean they took out an ad in the New York Times. The purpose of the ad was to convince authors to buy their own books so that they’d have them on hand for the sales rush that PA was telling them they would experience after the ad hit.
MCME: Encourage separation from their family.
“Your friends and family probably won’t understand.”
“It doesn’t sound like your friends and family really love you if they don’t support your new decision.”
“If you can’t recruit your friends, cut off from them.”
“Stop wasting time with non-believers.”
MCME: Make them feel a part of a special elite group with an important mission. Tighten your group’s bond by establishing scapegoats and enemies. Demonize outsiders as less than human, biased, corrupt, or conspiring against the group. Develop an us-vs.-them mentality.
PA and its authors call critics “bashers” and claim they’re jealous. Why would any author published by a real publisher be jealous of a PA author? Is it the PA author’s average 75 sales, compared to 5,000+ sales for the author with a real publisher? Is it the poor editing, the clip-art cover, or the total lack of bookstore presence? What, exactly, would we envy?
So, there you go. Anybody who says PA works like a cult is not exaggerating.
This discussion references a short documentary called Mind Control Made Easy, which I found on i-am-bored.com. The link is http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=21383
I recommend that you watch it first, and then continue with the discussion.
Attribution notes: quotes prefaced by Mind Control Made Easy or the abbreviation MCME are direct quotes by the narrator. Subsequent quotes not specifically identified are in-character quotes made to support or exemplify the statement. If I’ve transcribed anything incorrectly, please inform me and I’ll change it immediately. I insist on 100% accuracy in quoting.
I don’t expect that any such errors will change the conclusions I’ve drawn. If anything, a minor phrasing different might turn up that supports the same conclusion.
Mind Control Made Easy says “Layer your cult like an onion, with the most benign parts on the outside.”
Publish America says “We are the nation's number one book publisher.”
MCME: Promise to fulfill their dreams.
PA: “We are a book publisher who put our trust in the big league of unknown authors.” [from the PA website]
MCME: Offer them something free and get them obliged to give you something in return.
PA: “Get published free.” [from the PA website]
MCME: “Start with a prolonged period of love bombing.”
PA: We are always happy when a new author has found the way to our door, because opportunity knocks on both sides of it. [from the PA website]
MCME: Get information and hone their weak spots…
”Tell us about yourself”
”Take this personality test”
“…and then use this information to manipulate them.”
PA: Fill out this Author Questionnaire.
MCME: “Gradually over time you’ll be able to shape the recruits behavior by granting or withholding this attention.”
PA features books seemingly at random in Up in Lights and their Book of the Week. They issue “tone letters” to authors who question them.
MCME: Control their thoughts.
“Our ideology answers all questions to all problems.”
MCME: Control Information. Keep them from knowing all the workings of the cult.
PA doesn’t provide a phone number. They refuse to share exact sales figures. They don’t always sign their communications, hiding individual identity behind the corporate mask. They don’t allow accountants to review sales figures. In fact, they even refused to bring supporting documentation to a courtroom when it would have helped them in a legal argument.
MCME: “Block out any information which is critical of the group.”
PA deletes negative posts on its website. Wouldn’t the authors be better served by having the negative posts followed by a reasonable answer that explains the situation in a positive light?
MCME: “A good con man takes a little bit of truth and a lot of lies and pulls the wool over the eyes of the ignorant.”
PA: “Pulitzer Prize winner joins Publish America.” The author in question didn’t win a Pulitzer Prize. The newspaper he worked for at the time won the prize, and it was a prize for Public Service, not one of the literary prizes. Also, he didn’t write the stories that earned the prize.
PA claims to have partnered with the New York Times. By that, they mean they took out an ad in the New York Times. The purpose of the ad was to convince authors to buy their own books so that they’d have them on hand for the sales rush that PA was telling them they would experience after the ad hit.
MCME: Encourage separation from their family.
“Your friends and family probably won’t understand.”
“It doesn’t sound like your friends and family really love you if they don’t support your new decision.”
“If you can’t recruit your friends, cut off from them.”
“Stop wasting time with non-believers.”
MCME: Make them feel a part of a special elite group with an important mission. Tighten your group’s bond by establishing scapegoats and enemies. Demonize outsiders as less than human, biased, corrupt, or conspiring against the group. Develop an us-vs.-them mentality.
PA and its authors call critics “bashers” and claim they’re jealous. Why would any author published by a real publisher be jealous of a PA author? Is it the PA author’s average 75 sales, compared to 5,000+ sales for the author with a real publisher? Is it the poor editing, the clip-art cover, or the total lack of bookstore presence? What, exactly, would we envy?
So, there you go. Anybody who says PA works like a cult is not exaggerating.
