The New Never-Ending PublishAmerica Thread (NEPAT)

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PVish

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Why does PA have pictures of the 2006 BookExpoAmerica on its website?
http://www.publishamerica.com/conventions/BEA.htm

Did PA actually have a display there? (Can't tell from the pictures--they seem generic.) Or is this just a weasely way for PA to link itself to a legitimate event?

On the PAMB, some authors are discussing the "book fair in New York."
http://bb.publishamerica.com/viewtopic.php?t=19708
I was informed about the new Book Fair in New York (May 2007). Dare I ask you a question? Do you know if there a writer can have an appointment with a publisher or with an agent? Here in Europe, even in Frankfurt Book Fair, that it is not possible. You must be accompanied by an agent. This year the Fair must be very interesting, all the English World of Publishing will be there. I have looked for the answer on their website, but I didn’t find the response. Thank you very much for the help.
Later someone posts the URL: http://www.bookexpoamerica.com

Maybe some PA authors will go and learn about how real publishing works.
 

triceretops

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Perhaps PA is banking on writers to buy books for an event that they might never get into or be allowed to attend? Everything PA does has a lucrative bent to it, specifically bringing in more cashflow. Watch to see how this develops. The authors might believe that sending books to editors and agents can garner an invitation or admission (they are already tossing that idea around). Obviously PA has got their excited attention with this Expo photo display. Now, the question is, how are they trying to manipulate this into the business model?

Tri
 

smsarber

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p.a.

I do still post on the message board, I like some of the people. I WILL NOT be sending my next work to P.A.
However I was able to get the Barnes and Noble in Crestwood Missouri to stock three whole copies of my poetry book. Yipee.
What does anyone think of Infinity Publishing?
 

M. K. McWilliams

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When I get back from my hiatus, I can start leaning on PA. I just tried to access the boards today and was told invalid password even after trying several and knowing the right one. First step to ticking them off? I think so. The people I wrote the book for are really the ones that matter. Anyone else who picks it up is bonus. I want out of my contract, trust me. I want to fix the damn mistakes in the first book, add to it and maybe later put it back out there. I must be OCD or just plain anal. I'm trying to finish this trilogy as I have like 15 other books to write on the same world and those are stand alone books.
I have days of frustration and irritation and days where I really just don't want to deal with them. Things are on hold right now, I'll be back March 7th. My aunt died. I'll go slap PA down when I get back.
 

TracySutterer & GaryRogers

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Same Stuff - Different Day

Hi, M.K. McWilliams:

First, I would like to extend my deepest sympathies for the loss of your Aunt. Second, I would like to discuss a civilized action that you can take, you may find it useful to get out of your contract.

If you do not sell a single copy of your book in four to six royalty periods and receive $0.00 checks, you have an opportunity to DISCUSS having your contract voided. The only problem with this waiting it out period is, if you sell one copy of your book with in that period - you start from ground zero. I have read that people have stopped promoting their books hoping that not one single copy is sold with in that period. If you are successful, you can send PublishAmerica a polite e-mail to DISCUSS having your contract voided.

Yet, if you do not actively promote your book, this is, in PublishAmerica’s view, a direct violation of the terms of the contract. This procedure has been successful for many people. No sales equals a dead book. In that same vein, PublishAmerica can argue that they have made significant monetary investments and promoted your book via the Amazon & other bookseller web sites. It is really a crap-shoot.

If you can present evidence that you have taken an active roll in the promotion of your book - and have written or verbal evidence from booksellers who will not stock your book in their store & or that you have placed advertisements in your local paper and have spent X amount of dollars, and those attempts at promoting the book has failed to yield significant sales results, then you may have a small shot at being released. You can argue that the price of your book is too high on a wholesale basis to booksellers and that PublishAmerica’s return policy is rejected by the booksellers.

There was a point in time, about six months ago, where PublishAmerica had dropped a significant amount of their authors and voided contracts due to lack of sales.

In addition, if you posted an offensive message on their boards they will pull your post and password for between one to six months - a sort of cooling off period. You can send a polite e-mail to Author Support to discuss why you feel that the banning has taken place. You can apologize, prostrate yourself in the e-mail and promise to be a good poster without any offensive complaints on their boards.

If your e-mail does impress them, they will restore access. I have seen and read that people have used this method. My best suggestion is if you are restored, just read - don’t write anything that may rock the boat. Address any and all complaints to Author Support.

When I was under contract with PublishAmerica, I did not write any offensive posts concerning PublishAmerica. If another author attacked me on the boards - I shot right back with a post, and wrote Author Support concerning the attack and named the offending poster.

It has been my experience that there was not anything significant to learn from both the Public & Private Boards to begin with. So, why even bother? It is a rather trivial attempt to gain knowledge from their boards. It is very clickish and to make matters worse, there are kings and queens of the PublishAmerica Public & Private Boards. You will garner more knowledge regarding the publishing field and how to manipulate it from AW and other real writer forums.

If you desire to be cheered on for posts that reveal how you sold your books at signing‘s, advertisements, etc, then you will get pats on the back for your successes. However, failures are not tolerated on the PublishAmerica Public & Private Boards. Keep that information to yourself. If you have justified complaints on how your book has been handled by PublishAmerica, address them to Author Support.

If you take my suggestions, you will be reinstated on a probationary period. If you violate any of PublishAmerica’s posting policies - you will be banned again, perhaps for life. Get the picture?

If you do indeed desire to get out of your seven year lock and chain contract the hard way, it is a wear down process. Tracy Sutterer and me had our contracts voided and all rights were returned to us after a difficult one year process. It took a few $0.00 royalty period checks to convince PublishAmerica to release us from our contracts (plus an active and ongoing investigation by the New York State Attorney General, Internet Fraud Division - which is still in place. They are compiling complaints about PublishAmerica from NYC, NY State authors and will, in time - if there are a significant rise in justified complaints - overrule Baltimore’s Attorney General, and summon PublishAmerica to NY State Supreme Court for a hearing. They have my complaints and all e-mails back and forth, copy of my contract at the time and a copy of PublishAmerica’s web site for the time period of 2003-2005).

Please go back and read our posts on AW from 2005-2006 and you will see how we backed PublishAmerica into a corner. I do not suspect that if you use our tactics that you will be successful. You can also read the results of Mr. Dolan’s arbitration meeting with PublishAmerica on the old Never-Ending PublishAmerica forum, as well.

Good Luck!

Argile Stox
 
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James D. Macdonald

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I just tried to access the boards today and was told invalid password even after trying several and knowing the right one.

Congratulations! You've been banned. You're now eligible to get your official "I'm With The Banned" tee-shirt. (Check out the ExPAtriot coffee mug while you're there.)

For a long time InfoDump claimed that PA didn't ban anyone. It was just by coincidence that people who asked questions they didn't want to answer found that their passwords stopped working.
 

CatSlave

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I do still post on the message board, I like some of the people. I WILL NOT be sending my next work to P.A.
However I was able to get the Barnes and Noble in Crestwood Missouri to stock three whole copies of my poetry book. Yipee.
What does anyone think of Infinity Publishing?
Hi Steven, welcome to AW. :welcome:
I hope you enjoy the AW forum as much as we do.
Good luck with your book!
 
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CatSlave

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When I get back from my hiatus, I can start leaning on PA. I just tried to access the boards today and was told invalid password even after trying several and knowing the right one. First step to ticking them off? I think so. The people I wrote the book for are really the ones that matter. Anyone else who picks it up is bonus. I want out of my contract, trust me. I want to fix the damn mistakes in the first book, add to it and maybe later put it back out there. I must be OCD or just plain anal. I'm trying to finish this trilogy as I have like 15 other books to write on the same world and those are stand alone books.
I have days of frustration and irritation and days where I really just don't want to deal with them. Things are on hold right now, I'll be back March 7th. My aunt died. I'll go slap PA down when I get back.
Condolences for your loss. Please come back when you're able.
 

Brenda Hill

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Just saw your excellent news, Brenda. Congratulations.

Thanks, Julie.

And welcome, Steven & M. K. McWilliams. So sorry about your loss. When you return, you’ll find the AW boards very liberating after the censorship at PA.

I didn’t have to go through the emotional trauma that Argile Stox experienced when asking to be released from my PA contract, nor did I have to wait two years like a writer friend. I started sending emails to the support department asking for my release and for a while, they ignored me. At first they sent a denial, but I kept sending polite emails. Sometimes I’d get a response, other times I wouldn’t. But in a relatively short time, I received the contract release in the mail.

I think AW has done a great service in providing a place for writers to talk freely about the publishing world and about how legitimate publishers operate. When that information is contrasted with PA, it doesn’t take long to realize the scam. I have nothing against vanity presses when the company advertises as such, but oh, how terrible it is for a scam publisher to let writers think they’re good enough to be ‘published’ when all the ‘publisher’ wants is their money.
 

J.S Greer

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Condolences for your loss. Please come back when you're able.

I would like to offer my condolences too. I lost my aunt not too long ago as well, and I know how hard it was for me. Well wishes to you and yours.

And youve been banned from the PA boards, not really a big suprise. Big brother is always watching.
 

Ken Schneider

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I do still post on the message board, I like some of the people. I WILL NOT be sending my next work to P.A.
However I was able to get the Barnes and Noble in Crestwood Missouri to stock three whole copies of my poetry book. Yipee.
What does anyone think of Infinity Publishing?

Hi there smsarber.

You still post for now. As soon as they (PA) figure out who you are you won't be posting anymore.

Good luck in your future projects.
 

Ken Schneider

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Hi Steven, welcome to PA. :welcome:
I hope you enjoy the AW forum as much as we do.
Good luck with your book!

PA's Hell.
icon10.gif
 

Lisa Y

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Here's the latest-

Dear author,
As you know, February is a number crunch month at PublishAmerica. We are preparing roughly twenty thousand royalty statements and checks, to be mailed by Wednesday night. That's what happens when you are home to an incredibly fast growing army of authors. Only two years ago PublishAmerica proudly announced that our ranks had reached the milestone of ten thousand authors. It took us five years to get there. The next ten thousand authors followed within less than two years. And today we are approaching the magic number of 25,000 authors.

Last month alone, an average 145 new authors contacted us every day, hoping to join your ranks as a traditionally published author. That's more than three thousand aspiring writers in one month. They applaud that PublishAmerica's acceptance barriers are considerably more author-friendly than what has historically been the norm in the traditional publishing world. They also cheer the key fact that PublishAmerica never charges any of its authors a single penny in return for publishing their work. As you know, PublishAmerica foots the entire bill of publishing a book: to date we have invested more than fifteen million dollars in book production alone.

More numbers: in the past twelve months, our public relations department has sent out more than twenty thousand individual news releases to domestic media from coast to coast, and to places as far away as Britain, Finland, South Korea, and Pakistan. The names and book titles of PublishAmerica authors have appeared in thousands of newspapers all across the nation. Links to many of those articles can be found here: http://www.publishamerica.com/Press, and as a courtesy to you we are in the process of scanning hundreds of printed author interviews that will soon be made available for your education and entertainment.

The result of all of the above is that PublishAmerica continues to release more new books than any other traditional publisher, typically more than a hundred new titles each week, or five thousand in a year.

So here's for the happy campers among you who love to make numbers work in their favor. For those of you who choose to keep copies of their own book on hand, this is your week. As always, never buy copies of your own book if you don't need any, but if you do: those who purchase 40 or more copies will receive 40 percent discount. Those who order 65 or more copies will receive 50 percent discount. Phone orders only: please call us at 301 695 1707. Offer expires this Friday, March 2; sorry, full-color books and hardcovers excluded.

Thank you!

PublishAmerica Auhor Support


"army of authors" kind of bothers me. And aren't they grand, investing 15 million dollars in book production!
 

Rolling Thunder

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Wow. It's like the classic 'pyramid scheme' as money is about to flow out, you just bring it in from another source. Get enough to flow and you don't have to touch a dime of your own.
 

Sparhawk

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Here's the latest-

Dear author,
As you know, February is a number crunch month at PublishAmerica. We are preparing roughly twenty thousand royalty statements and checks, to be mailed by Wednesday night. That's what happens when you are home to an incredibly fast growing army of authors. Only two years ago PublishAmerica proudly announced that our ranks had reached the milestone of ten thousand authors. It took us five years to get there. The next ten thousand authors followed within less than two years. And today we are approaching the magic number of 25,000 authors.

Last month alone, an average 145 new authors contacted us every day, hoping to join your ranks as a traditionally published author. That's more than three thousand aspiring writers in one month. They applaud that PublishAmerica's acceptance barriers are considerably more author-friendly than what has historically been the norm in the traditional publishing world. They also cheer the key fact that PublishAmerica never charges any of its authors a single penny in return for publishing their work. As you know, PublishAmerica foots the entire bill of publishing a book: to date we have invested more than fifteen million dollars in book production alone.

More numbers: in the past twelve months, our public relations department has sent out more than twenty thousand individual news releases to domestic media from coast to coast, and to places as far away as Britain, Finland, South Korea, and Pakistan. The names and book titles of PublishAmerica authors have appeared in thousands of newspapers all across the nation. Links to many of those articles can be found here: http://www.publishamerica.com/Press, and as a courtesy to you we are in the process of scanning hundreds of printed author interviews that will soon be made available for your education and entertainment.

The result of all of the above is that PublishAmerica continues to release more new books than any other traditional publisher, typically more than a hundred new titles each week, or five thousand in a year.

So here's for the happy campers among you who love to make numbers work in their favor. For those of you who choose to keep copies of their own book on hand, this is your week. As always, never buy copies of your own book if you don't need any, but if you do: those who purchase 40 or more copies will receive 40 percent discount. Those who order 65 or more copies will receive 50 percent discount. Phone orders only: please call us at 301 695 1707. Offer expires this Friday, March 2; sorry, full-color books and hardcovers excluded.

Thank you!

PublishAmerica Auhor Support


"army of authors" kind of bothers me. And aren't they grand, investing 15 million dollars in book production!


Still a pretty slick piece though. The uneducated writer would see this and be excited and enthusiastic. Note how they throw in the caviat sentence about never buying your own book IF you don't need any; but if you do our operators are standing by because no bookstore will order them let alone place them on thier shelves. I also love the sentence pertaining to thier "Lower" acceptance threshold. Well, at least they finally are admitting it. Do they still claim 80% rejection?
 
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kjh7073

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Congrats & thanks for giving me a little hope :)

KJ

Wanted to let everyone know that after a few more exchanges with PA, I received that wonderful letter in the mail. I’m now released from their contract.

I feel relieved and hopeful as a writer. My second novel is in my agent’s hands and I’m currently working on the third one.

So please, PAers and former PAers, know there can be a future after PA. Keep learning everything you can about the craft of writing. Even though I’ve attended many classes over the years and have taught what I’ve learned, I spend a few moments every day refreshing my memory, going back through one of the many ‘how-to’ books, always wanting to learn, always open to something new. I believe it’s in our power to make a future for ourselves as long as we never give up in our goal to be the best.

Thanks to the many posts on PA tactics on AW and the notes of encouragement from fellow writers, the entire process was much easier.

Thanks, guys.
 

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"As you know, PublishAmerica foots the entire bill of publishing a book: to date we have invested more than fifteen million dollars in book production alone." --from the latest PA letter to authors

I want to know why that book isn't on bookstore shelves from sea to shining sea yet? You'd think that if they invested that much that they'd have something to show for it.

"Psst!"

Huh?

"Bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzt."

Oh, book production. You mean they don't spend anything on actually getting their books out there? Then how do they stay in business if they don't sell to customers in the book-buying public?
 

allenparker

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what Dave said, then...

"As you know, PublishAmerica foots the entire bill of publishing a book: to date we have invested more than fifteen million dollars in book production alone." --from the latest PA letter to authors

I want to know why that book isn't on bookstore shelves from sea to shining sea yet? You'd think that if they invested that much that they'd have something to show for it.

"Psst!"

Huh?

"Bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzt."

Oh, book production. You mean they don't spend anything on actually getting their books out there? Then how do they stay in business if they don't sell to customers in the book-buying public?

I take it that, out of 25,000 books, they have spent 15,000,000 on production. That is 600 dollars per book.

Now, here is where I need the help. If they spend $600 on a book, what does the average commercial publisher spend?
 

CatSlave

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a new spin

They applaud that PublishAmerica's acceptance barriers are considerably more author-friendly than what has historically been the norm in the traditional publishing world.

They've put a new spin on the phrase lower acceptance barriers.
I'm getting dizzy. Bleh!
 

PVish

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They applaud that PublishAmerica's acceptance barriers are considerably more author-friendly than what has historically been the norm in the traditional publishing world.

Didn't PA used to tout itself as a "traditional" publisher? Like, not all that long ago?

What is the sound of 20,000 happy PA authors applauding? I can't hear anything.
 

brianm

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As I recall, Uncle Jim explained in this or another PA thread, what PA had purchased for their "printing facility."

The buzz over on the PAMB is that they think PA will lower the price of their books. Me thinks PA will temporarily increase the price justifying the increase to cover their costs of the new "printing facility."

I may be wrong, Lord knows I've been wrong before.
 

e.dashwood

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15,000,000 divided by 20,000 equals $750 per book, which does not compute I doubt that they could get their authors to average sales that would clear $750.
 
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