I hope someone contemplating having their book published by Publish America reads this before signing a contract with them. Or…if the contract is signed, stop dealing with PA and write a new book.
Because this is a new thread I decided to tell my story again…the ending is different or I wouldn’t take space on this thread. If some one wants to move it else where please feel free to do so…some things just need to be said…over and over.
Those that recall me storming across this thread know I had a close call with Publish America. To make a sorrowful story short…when I first submitted my query letter to PA I was amazed at the quick response asking me to send in my manuscript. Within a day I was overjoyed that they, PA, were “willing to give my book the chance it deserved.” I made the grand announcements to every one that I was soon to be a published author. Lucky me it was Christmas time and I enclosed a note with all my cards letting all my friends and loved ones know I was stepping up to the big time. I truly with all my heart believed someone read my manuscript and decided it would be a best seller. I honestly believed I would be assigned an editor. I believed this was the answer to a prayer and the ego part of me just knew my manuscript was just that good. All my friends and family I had shared my manuscript with over the years encouraged me to complete it…it was awesome. So I thought.
There was a slight problem with my manuscript…it is a true story the core of my book was the loss of my grandson, the never ending battle to hold dear to faith when faced with inconceivable loss. Publish America sent me a list of things I would need in order to proceed with publication. Along with this, my manuscript was riddled with quotes…I was informed I would need permission to use them…they PA was kind enough to send me helpful links. There were also documents I needed signed from every person I had mentioned throughout my labor of love. I also received their contract to sign.
Within a few weeks (thanks to some concerned family and friends) links to some negativity surrounding Pa was sent to me. As I read the information I noticed all the dates for this corruption was dated up to…2005, and ended. I wrote the person PA put in charge of my publication and voiced many concerns (I had read on the never ending Publish America thread here at AW no e-mails were answered and when they were, they were rude) Much to my surprise I received a quick response disproving all my fears. I wrote again about more negativity I had read about…once again an e-mail came and everything was explained…Ha! I thought…AW site was wrong and as I had read about everyone here I believed they/you were just a bunch of disgruntled X-PA authors whose books didn’t sell. I was reading the authors open forum over at PA…every post was positive…these were some happy PA authors. So I thought.
Still more negative links were sent to me. I would come over to AW site and read for hours, I found the updated never ending thread when I Goggled, “Publish America scam 2009”…I was getting more nauseated with every post. I wanted to delete this site…it was my worst nightmare. I started hopping from PA message board and back to this one at AW…deciding I should take a closer look I started to follow links from posters here at AW…crap the truth was coming out…so many writers on this site have published books…from reputable publishing places. There were real life editors, writers for magazines and published authors. Some were X-PA authors and told their stories; I was shocked to read many were banned from the message boards. Was this for real??? I wondered.
I could no longer dismiss all this information and went back to PA message board and took notice how few people were posting. If there were hundreds of “happy authors”…where were they?? Why were so many questions not being answered…just a Hi, enjoy the ride kind of posts. “Promote” was the most used word on the message boards. When important questions were addressed no one answered. To my amazement once while I was reading a slightly negative message…poof!...it was gone right before my eyes.
All the while PA was waiting for me to sign and return the contract…I in the mean time was talking to a lawyer about the contract. Warning signs were all through it…the wording could be twisted…seven years they hold your rights, not a good thing, I knew then it was the end to my dream. Royalties that were paid were in question, when anyone goggled in PA scam there was an unbelievable amount of links filled with warnings from PA authors, Bloggers, the list of infractions against Publish America written under
Predators and Publishers.com was mind boggling. It just took a quick internet search and everything you didn’t want to hear about your publisher…was right there in flashing lights.
I finally signed up on this site and tried to re-group by telling my story. I couldn’t write any more, the words wouldn’t come…I was embarrassed feeling victimized by my stupidity. Thoughts about my self were all negative…I tried to draw strength by knowing I was one of the lucky ones…I dodged the bullet. But still…it didn’t help my feelings of failure. When people grew weary of me on this thread (even if it was only my over active paranoid mind) I slid over to “share your work,” then over to poetry…I spent hours critiquing other peoples work, and weeks, writing poetry. I realized I was building a wall between my desires to write and trying to find a nitch I would fit into…I was afraid to trust again, to believe in myself or others. One day it dawned on me, PA was winning…they stole my desire to dream again…I decided this was not going to happen.
I went over to threads concerning self publishing and a thread filled with the how’s to get a traditional publisher. I ran many checks for guidelines for publishing a memoir of sorts. What I found was my manuscript was too small to be called a novel…and true stories are difficult to get a publisher to run with…non-fiction most difficult to submit or sell the idea.
I knew without a doubt I truly wanted to put Publish America’s nightmare behind me…I would not allow them to destroy my desire to be published or to self pub. If anything my anger and hurt begin to light a fire under me and the desire to put my story out there was stronger than the heartache I felt when finding out the truth behind PA’s ghastly mask.
I stopped posting here at AW and went in search for inexpensive places to self publish. I continued to read the PA thread on AW but never signed in or made comments…I would just shake my head and thank God I didn’t fall victim. When I received a message from someone here at AW it sparked a desire to come back around payment time and hope another writer would think twice about letting PA get their greedy fingers on their manuscript, or just maybe some one would read this and learn a bit more about the similarities between Publish America and self publishing.
I found a small self publishing place and had a lawyer friend of the family do some digging. It paid off; the choice I came up with was like an answer to many a prayer. After all that time wasted having my private little pity party I knocked myself in the head and spent months reworking my manuscript realizing it was a far cry from being ready to be published. I then hired an
editor and my
mother did an oil painting for the cover.
For less than $200.00 within a month after basically rewriting my manuscript and working with an editor, I had my book in my hand.
My publisher is Avid readers Publish Group owned by
Eric Patterson who has proven to be one of the kindest people I have had the honor of getting to know. I can order one book or a thousand, no limit. He continues to communicate with me when I question sales on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. His expertise was a blessing for me. He has given me hope once again knowing there are honest and caring people in the publishing world…my negative thoughts were not justified because of one rotten apple.
I was able to give copies of my book to family, friends, donate to the libraries, which I have done and they are shelved. My book is in a book store and more of them in a little country store on consignment. The Christian book store in our area is having the book reviewed to see if they can shelf it; it didn’t cost me a dime…all they needed was the ISBN number. I have been busy going to my first two book signings and I have two more coming up this month. The article written in the paper about my book was amazing, I have a copy of it on my web site…it cost me nothing.
Promoting my book has been a fascinating experience and I am not pressured to sell hundreds of books to break even or even begin to turn a profit. I am so wickedly close to making a profit and I smile more than ever. I know I am not going to get rich…I also realize I didn’t get an advance (missing that one dollar advance has me often in tears)…but my book is out there. I have two offers to have my book reviewed to see if it qualifies for helping those in grief counseling. If it meets their qualifications it will be placed on a recommended reading list, and put up for discussion.
When I order books, for example, if I e-mail my order to Eric on a Friday they are delivered by the following Tuesday, I ordered 30 books for under $160.00 shipping included. My shipping cost for 30 books was some change over $12.00.
I can sell my book for an affordable rate and I can give discounts and pay for shipping when bought from my personal web site. I have total control and am not treated like a piece of crap like I read about when dealing with PA.
What I am thrilled about is my book is so affordable I have not hesitated in donating or handing them out to family members. I don’t have to hope family will pay twenty some dollars for a book because I have spent an ungodly amount apiece plus shipping.
When deciding to go with a sell publishing place I did try LULU…I do not understand formatting and would have had to buy the complete package…I checked out several others but also knew my manuscript needed serious editing and grammar check.
Eric Patterson at AVPG offered it all for his unbelievable low cost. If you knew his story you would know why he does this. Before I chose him for sure I ordered a book off his site…it looked like a professional book, cream color pages…nice cover art that the author designed himself and the binding tight. When left lay the cover did not curl up.
The title of my book is “Red Hair and Freckles”: (Sub titled) “Running barefoot through the Storm.” I have a
web site that I continue to work on.
My book is also listed on
Eric’s book store,
Barnes and Noble,
And,
Amazon,
When I decided to post this message on the NEPA thread it was not to encourage anyone to self publish but to let others know there is other ways to have a quality book in print and feel good about your work instead of hiding from the world when the truth is exposed about Publish America. When I have a question I get a polite answer within the day, I can have my books offered as returnable if I chose to pay a bit extra per year...I am not that gutsy yet.
I am aware my book is self published and I am still extremely proud. I didn’t think I was going to have an editor like they make believe on PA website, I knew I needed to hire one long before it went to print. I knew without a doubt the book was supposed to be published…I felt it. The comments from the readers, some are on my web site…are amazing. So many people that I don’t know are finding a connection through the pages of my book…some are finding peace for the first time.
Had I published with Publish America it would have been dead in the water right from the beginning. I could not have asked my family to pay a high price for a book I wrote as a labor of love. I have two sets of parents, five siblings, 3 children, and numerous grand children. (19) At last count. My husband has two sets of parents, seven siblings, 5 children, and numerous grand children. I would have gone broke attempting to pass out that many books, plus the ones I had the honor of donating to the libraries, it would have been impossible.
I was able to offer a two dollar donation to the library for each book sold, and that increased sales and got me and invitation to return. I also have a request to have a second book signing at the little book store that I just had one at. I had too many offers for book signings so I had to push some back. One week I had two signings within a three day time slot.
And think about this…the extremely high price Publish America charges for shipping is down right immoral…that alone shows me by their actions what thieves they truly are. It isn’t enough they prey on their authors, their families, their friends…they rob their own authors; legally…I often wonder how they can sleep at night. They are monsters…they are in business to rob people of their love of writing and their wallets. Publish America might state they publish for “free” but the moment they have the contract in their greedy little hands the “honey moon” is over and it is time to open your wallets. The money then flows to the publisher until the writer is all dried up. And then the bell rings and Publish America is off and running searching for their next Author/victim…
“Next please…we want to give your book the chance it deserves,” shouts the wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Writers Beware, Publish America hides behind a smoke screen of glitter. Don’t let them fool you and rob you of your dream…Gather ALL the facts before sealing a deal with the devil.
Written from the heart,
Sandyz