The Newer Never-Ending PublishAmerica / America Star Books Thread

merrihiatt

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Remember when we read that PA's newer contracts stipulated that no royalties would be paid until they reached $49? I'm wondering now if authors who signed that contract received the return of rights buyout option. Essentially, an author would end up paying $99/$49 (depending on which rights return offer they received), not receive a dime of royalties, not receive an author's copy of their book for free (this was discontinued shortly after I signed with PA in late 2008), not see their book online at Amazon or B&N, and not be able to communicate with PA via the author support form (which is the form they tell their authors to use). It's all nuts.
 

Chris P

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Remember when we read that PA's newer contracts stipulated that no royalties would be paid until they reached $49? I'm wondering now if authors who signed that contract received the return of rights buyout option. Essentially, an author would end up paying $99/$49 (depending on which rights return offer they received), not receive a dime of royalties, not receive an author's copy of their book for free (this was discontinued shortly after I signed with PA in late 2008), not see their book online at Amazon or B&N, and not be able to communicate with PA via the author support form (which is the form they tell their authors to use). It's all nuts.

Good question about outstanding royalties. And yes, it's all nuts.
 

kaitie

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I'm guessing the reason we haven't seen anything about the rights reversion stuff on PAMB is because the people receiving it are getting it because they haven't sold a single book in the past year. Who would want to go on a public message board and admit that they haven't sold any books at all? Especially if you think these guys are legit and the other authors are more successful and it's your fault for not marketing yourself enough. I kind of imagine if someone did it, you might see others coming out of the woodwork, but who would want to be that first person? It's humiliating.
 

Chris P

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I'm guessing the reason we haven't seen anything about the rights reversion stuff on PAMB is because the people receiving it are getting it because they haven't sold a single book in the past year. Who would want to go on a public message board and admit that they haven't sold any books at all? Especially if you think these guys are legit and the other authors are more successful and it's your fault for not marketing yourself enough. I kind of imagine if someone did it, you might see others coming out of the woodwork, but who would want to be that first person? It's humiliating.

Or anyone who hasn't sold a book in a year isn't likely to post? Or they've already been blocked from posting? It would be interesting to see how many people are active on the PAMB over one weeks time (maybe I'll get bored enough this weekend to do some trolling). Most of the people I see there have well under 50 posts and have been members of that board for less than a year; in other words, people who haven't been there long enough for the books not to sell for a year.

It's more strange to me nobody has said anything about Independence Books.
 

kaitie

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That is weird. Are we sure they're not just being deleted before any of us get a chance to see them? Or maybe they saved the IB emails for people who weren't currently buying their own. They could be waiting until people use up their honeymoon period buying to send it and then try to milk people for more.
 

Chris P

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Or maybe they saved the IB emails for people who weren't currently buying their own.

That's the only thing that makes sense, short of having more mods than usual watching PAMB and being quicker with the cornfield button.

I know my book sold one copy in the past year, which is why I didn't get the buyout email. Perhaps zero sales got one email, and 1 - 5 (or 10, whatever) got the IB email to tempt sales? Either way, I'm sure some people at PA are enjoying watching us try to figure it out.
 
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B.L. Robinson

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I got two emails on the $99.00 buyout, one at my original email that I used seven years ago when I signed on with PA and one that I had changed to sometime in the middle. All emails I had sent from the second one requesting my rights to be returned had been ignored over the past year or so, I figured they had blocked and deleted it.

Received a marketing email today from them, newest tactic is "Put your picture on the cover, celebrities do!" I sent them an email back, told them I only had two teeth left, no hair and small children run screaming from me, not a good idea to put that on the cover of anything that wasn't a horror novel...
 

Elisabeth Bruce

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I found this site today while surfing the net. I'm not sure if any of these PA authors post here at AW, but I thought it was another source of getting the word out about PA.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Publish-America-scam

Merrihiatt, I've seen many pages like this all over the Internet. This is where you and other PA victims can do a lot of good by going, introducing yourselves and telling of your experience.

They're isolated in little pockets - we just have to find them.

Bring them back here.

I can't, I never joined PA. My friend did though. I'm just speaking for her.

I'll search some places I can remember. Oddly enough, AW was a complete fluke for me, I found it by way of Writer Beware, which I found late on in my search.
 

Neil Larkins

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How about that latest email (Thur. 07-15) from PA, the offer to put your photo on the front cover of your book, just like the celebs do? The reasoning is totally backwards. Celebs' names and images are instantly recognizable; it makes sense to put their photos on the front of their books. But you, my PA author friend, are not a celeb and not recognizable by anyone...except by you and your pals of course.
The most interesting part is that this offer is "absolutely free"...if you place a minimum order for 5 of your books. Hmmm. OK, give us some money and we'll do it for free, absolutely free. Guess I don't know what "absolutely" and "free" mean...or in the shape-shifting world of PA it means whatever they want it to mean.
Neil
 

Marian Perera

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How about that latest email (Thur. 07-15) from PA, the offer to put your photo on the front cover of your book, just like the celebs do? The reasoning is totally backwards. Celebs' names and images are instantly recognizable; it makes sense to put their photos on the front of their books.

On the other hand, given that so many PA covers are stock images with a couple of lines of text slapped on to them, there's no cover art to clash with the photos. There's plenty of blank space where the photo can be inserted.

Now all PA has to do is combine this with the offer to have the front cover of the book personalized for Oprah and they could create truly unforgettable covers. In every sense of the word.
 

Don Davidson

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An act of desperation by PA?

I received the $99.00 release email as well, and I too had requested the return of my rights (again) just a few days ago, so not sure if it is linked to that or not.

I don't believe so. I haven't requested termination of my contract since June 2008, and I got the $99.00 offer, too. I think they probably sent it to anyone whose two most recent royalty statements showed no book sales.

It strikes me as an effort to try to squeeze some money out of people that PA is no longer making any money off of. But the fact that they are willing to let us go for $99 instead of $300 or more, as previously demanded, strikes me as an act of some desperation on PA's part--desperate for money, perhaps?
 

Sepisllib

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Interesting developments, indeed.

From what I have set into motion and what hundreds of you all have done I would not be surprised that the DOJ just might become interested in what is going on.

The Attorney General in that state certainly isn't interested in protecting their "own" citizens, however that isn't the case here. I propose that he is guilty of malfeasance and should be removed from his office where he is vastly overpaid.

Wait and see - I have received no reply to my formal offer, nor have I received an e-mail settlement offer.

God Bless

Bill
 

narcolepticgi

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lost in thought

:Soapbox:
I have not received any buyout offers!:cry:
Oh what am I do do?
Dig deeper into my coffers,
and send more money to you?

Nay, I say!
Not one more dime,
nor will I spend
anymore time!

Did anyone notice the price jump when the PAperbacks came out. My book went from $19.95 to $24.95. The shipping has jumped to $4.99 per book.

I'm so tired from this ongoing Probate matter that reading the rediculous offers from PA is actually entertaining. I haven't sold a book since I bought my hard covers.

I'm content to publish SURVINING VIETNAM: TALES OF A NARCOLEPTIC HANGARRAT and leave 295-4 as a bad memory.

I have a very good chance of getting 3 reknown Neurologists to endorse the new book and I've found an agent that lives near me who is the Health Producer for FOX News. I've began the task of putting together a proposal to send her.

When this Probate matter is settled I will most definately send out the complaint to the Kentucky Attorney General and perhaps to Oprah or Huckaby.

God bless all of you and God bless America!:snoopy:Time for another nap !
 

ResearchGuy

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. . . From what I have set into motion and what hundreds of you all have done I would not be surprised that the DOJ just might become interested in what is going on.. . .
Interested in what PA is doing? Or in what some of its disgruntled authors (or other antagonists) are doing? If the former, can you cite specific federal statute(s) that PA has violated? (Or should that be, "statutes" that PA has "violated"?
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) If the latter (disgruntled authors/antogonists), on what grounds? Conspiracy? Extortion? Or . . .? Given limited resources on the part of the DOJ, do the assertions rise to a level justifying use of those limited resources?

--Ken
 

James D. Macdonald

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They may very well have set their message board software to automatically block any post with the word "Independence in it.

And using author photos for the covers (just like celebrities!) could be to save on the price of those cover artists and those stock images. If the author supplies a digital photo the covers will be even faster and easier.