PA Blows Furious Steam !

[James D. Macdonald]

I too would like to see the letter with full headers.

 

[priceless1]

That's something I mentioned upstream. I, too, would like to see the headers. I notice the OP hasn't returned, so perhaps we've been taken for a ride?

 

[Gravity]

Seems that way.

 

[merrihiatt]

I'm willing to delete the post on the PA scam page on FB; I am the one who posted it. I'll give the OP 24 hours to respond with a screen shot or some other kind of verification. If none is forthcoming, I'll delete the post.

 

[Old Hack]

I've not been sent the email, as I asked.

 

[Gravity]

I think we have our answer then. The OP's email was fiction. Entertaining fiction, but fiction nonetheless.

 

[allenparker]

I think we have our answer then. The OP's email was fiction. Entertaining fiction, but fiction nonetheless.

If this was fiction, and I still offer an "if," then the OP has done more damage to us than to PA. My opinion. Yours may vary.

 

[Gillhoughly]

Larry can sue the OP for plagiarism, then. It sure reads like his style!

 

[Chris P]

I haven't commented yet because I was suspicious about the OP as well. When I asked PA to let me out this spring, I got a reply identical to the first one the OP received saying I could get out for $299; it seems that's PA's for response to people asking to be let out. When I replied and pleaded my case, the response I got was much shorter:

(From my email to PA)>>I am aware there are three prices at which I might purchase my publication rights back from you: $99, $149, and $299.

(PA's reply)No, that is false. The price is $299. Perhaps you are referring to a special we ran a long time ago, just like other companies run specials. If you do not want to pay the fee, your contract remains in place.

I replied with links to their products page to the $149 and $99 options, and asked them how I was to know which options were available to me. I got no response.

When I got the notice in July that my book had no sales and I could buy out for $99, I thanked them for reconsidering their earlier offer to buy out for $299, restated my case to be let out for free, and PA responded:

Thank you for your email.

Please follow the link that is in our previous email to revert the rights for your book.

Have a Great Day!

See my suspicion? I'm not saying I'm sure the OP made it up, but his experience does not match with mine. PA's responses to me got shorter at each step. Of course we know about PA's staff turnover and I'm sure my July correspondence was handled by a different person than the March correspondence, so it's possible the person he dealt with did write this.

One final thought: If this was fiction, wouldn't PA be all over this with a libel suit, as would be their right in such a case? Perhaps that's in the works, but PA's non-response is interesting.

 

[allenparker]

One final thought: If this was fiction, wouldn't PA be all over this with a libel suit, as would be their right in such a case? Perhaps that's in the works, but PA's non-response is interesting.

It takes a few days to write the cease and desist order, which might also explain the sudden quietness from the OP.

I don't know this. It is speculation. But it makes sense to me.

 

[priceless1]

I don't think the OP made the whole thing up. I think he embellished. Much of the email has the signature PA tone, but the abusive name calling is completely out of character, and I don't believe it.

 

[thefallenalchemist]

There are AW members who are published by PA and HAPPY to be so.

I do not lie. I kid you not. I want to cry for them.

Of course, they are newly-published and prefer not to read threads like this.

Can't even lead some horses to water ...

I wised up quick. By the way, I'm new here and even though I'm half on PA (sadly) and half -independent, I'm going to have three novels published by Larry Larson and enovelshop. So I'm glad for that.

But I was so desperate that I went with these horrid folks and they promised me the moon, of course. I got that wonderful little "1 dollar check" which I'm about to burn when I get home. Also, there's the fact that my poor book was 35.00 on Amazon.

Really? I've bought hardcover novels that didn't cost quite so much. Their whole business is probably the worst scam that has ever hit the world of writing. It's quite a shame because I've written some very interesting and original books (I'm tired of the same old shtick) and I was quite sure in the beginning that they would sell like hotcakes. Boy did I feel like an idiot. No one I knew could afford to buy the book except for myself, and my friend in the Navy.

If this really is from Publish America, (which I doubt) I would be quite surprised. I've been battling them for a while, and I haven't gotten anything more than these "tone" letters.

Even though I could think of several choice words to throw at the fine folks of Publish America, I believe that this isn't something that would have come directly from them. I think the guy is treading on thin ice and he'd better be careful or he'll wind up unwillingly in a court room facing a rather devilish lawyer. I mean, he'd have to be part demon in order to back up such a contemptible company.

But that's my take on the matter.

EDIT: Apparently I should've read the entire contents of the thread. I assumed that the OP must've gotten scared and ran off. Good for him. Maybe he'll think twice before playing the rebel card with such a fervor again. As much as we would love to just open up a portal to some ghastly demonic realm and unhinge the supports that hold their offices to the ground, while we watch as the building flies into the abyss; we cannot. The same law that protects us also protects them.

 

[Chris P]

Welcome Fallen Alchemist! Many of us are PA authors and you're in good company.

 

[merrihiatt]

I deleted the post on the PublishAmerica Scam page on Facebook yesterday and provided a link to this thread explaining why I deleted the post.

 

[overfiend]

sorry guys for not getting back to you in time. you know..busy with life. About presenting the letter with letter head, i remind you that it was an email and not a letter i received by post. I posted it as i got it through my email. If you guys want to publish it on FB or take it down or whatever, you are free to see and do as you see fit.I cannot prove anthing but the hard fact is that i got this letter from PA support. Want to believe it...great.Need proff...sorry ain't got any for you except what is written.
My question to those who find this hard to believe..why do you doubt this kind of correspondance from a scoundrel publisher
If you are expecting the guy from support to come forward and say " yup that is my letter to mr x or y" , get real please.
PA or else will not claim this as theirs.
They will surely say it was not them and that the letter is fabricated surely.
Well, i posted this because i thought it would bring something new here, as if we don't know who PA is right. To go and make this up, why???? Do you think i need the attention or do i need to remind who PA is again???
In anycase, this was put for your consideration. If there are credibility issues, fine by me. We live in a free world and belief is a personal thing.

and yeah..if i wish to embelish things, i will write a poem or another novel. Got no time to waste on Support Emails.

Also what makes me laugh..PA will sue me and you for this or that. You act as if PA is the KGB or something. Let me tell you one thing people: i think that people who get suspected men come to them in the middle of the night and threaten them because of their books is super fiction but this fantasy has managed to find crediblity a long time ago .Why would a publisher waste time doing that.They already got you for 7 years and the only way out is to pay for the rights and pay a good lawyer. Either way they win.

 

[Bubastes]

sorry guys for not getting back to you in time. you know..busy with life. About presenting the letter with letter head, i remind you that it was an email and not a letter i received by post.

Um, I think people were asking to see the e-mail header.

 

[amergina]

Actually, if you forward the e-mail to one of the folks who requested it, they can tell from the headers where it came from.

*shrug*

 

[FOTSGreg]

overfiend, You're wasting our time and yours. Either you can provide the headers of the emails or you cannot, plain and simple. It's an easy cut n' paste.

Your commentary regarding the KGB and PA make little or no sense whatsoever. There is a similarity in writing styles noticeable however between that paragraph and the paragraph you assert is from PA wherein you are called names.

Your willingness to be locked into a contract with PA for 7 years, to pay them $299 to get out of said contract, and to go on the defensive immediately when asked to provide proof (and it's spelled "proof", not "proff") of your contentions is an indication that you are disingenuous at the least and possibly attempting to scam AW members at the worst.

Personally, I think you're a scammer and full of both yourself and PA, deliberately hiding behind a pseudonym to take shots and get AW members to rise up and rally the pitchforks and torches against PA.

Prove me wrong. Show the proof you've been asked for or shut up and sit the heck down.

 

[brianm]

Need proff...sorry ain't got any for you except what is written.

Do you still have the original email?

~Brian Parkinson~

 

[Old Hack]

About presenting the letter with letter head, i remind you that it was an email and not a letter i received by post. I posted it as i got it through my email.

We all understand that this was an email, not a letter. But that's good: it means that we could have a lot to go on.

All you have to do is forward the email to me, or to anyone else here who has asked for it. We can then look at the email header (which is usually hidden from view) to find out all sorts of interesting stuff about the person who sent it to you. Along the way we can verify that you really did get this email from PA. It would mean that we could support you in your claims. Which you'd like, right?

My question to those who find this hard to believe..why do you doubt this kind of correspondance from a scoundrel publisher

Because while we're used to PA sending out "tone letters", we're not used to PA being as rude to its writers as you say it was to you.

PA or else will not claim this as theirs.
They will surely say it was not them and that the letter is fabricated surely.

But if you send the email to me, and/or to anyone else here, we can verify that it is genuine and there will be no doubt.

 

[CaoPaux]

Dial it back a notch, please, Greg.

 

[merrihiatt]

They already got you for 7 years and the only way out is to pay for the rights and pay a good lawyer. Either way they win.

Wrong. The ONLY way PA wins is if the writer stops writing.

 

[allenparker]

Wrong. The ONLY way PA wins is if the writer stops writing.

Sing it Sister!

 

[Chris P]

Wrong. The ONLY way PA wins is if the writer stops writing.

Well, actually the only ways PA wins are if 1) they continue to convince new authors that getting published elsewhere is too tough, or 2) existing authors are convinced they cannot be published elsewhere and come back to PA. However, that's probably just a little extra on top; they usually make all the money they want on the author's first book.

 

[priceless1]

Well, i posted this because i thought it would bring something new here, as if we don't know who PA is right. To go and make this up, why???? Do you think i need the attention or do i need to remind who PA is again???

I'm the one who believed the email to be embellished. As to why you or anyone else would do this, the answer is easy: Frustration. With little or no recourse, it's not unusual for someone to produce something provocative in order to create outrage.

Got no time to waste on Support Emails.

Says you.

Also what makes me laugh..PA will sue me and you for this or that. You act as if PA is the KGB or something. Let me tell you one thing people: i think that people who get suspected men come to them in the middle of the night and threaten them because of their books is super fiction but this fantasy has managed to find crediblity a long time ago

You're free to believe what you like. Facts are, a good friend of mine was visited by the police who were called out in the evening based on a call from PA. I agree that it is a fantastic story, but PA was very unhappy with his Pink Pony sting.

They exposed my husband's name and our hometown on their little message board when they discovered we had opened up a publishing company. The act frightened the bejabbers out of me because I truly believed they hoped someone lived nearby and would take matters into their own hands. So I know firsthand how these guys operate.

That said, I have never received correspondence where they crossed over the line to name calling - and our correspondence got about as heated as it gets. Yes, I think you embellished the email from them. I made the suggestion that you provide the mail header as proof, yet you decline to humor us. AW is a Bewares Board, and I don't think they take kindly to being used as a prop to spread exaggerations.

.Why would a publisher waste time doing that.They already got you for 7 years and the only way out is to pay for the rights and pay a good lawyer. Either way they win.

Not an unreasonable question, and no one has the answer other than they might have worried about the truth spreading too far, thus threatening their enterprise.