Pay Attention-No More PA Attention

CatSlave said:

As you probably noticed, this is a PA forum and I doubt many of us are going to "calm down" and "move on." There is, and has been, enormous efforts and constructive activities geared to publicizing the unethical and misleading schemes of PublishAmerica. We are not here to be "nice," we are not here to bolster sagging egos. The point of this forum is to inform and to seek legal means to put PA out of business. Perhaps if you spend some more time reading the threads instead of attacking one of the foremost scam busters, you will gain a more comprehensive understanding as to what this forum is all about.

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Wow! Yes, that is exactly what I did. I didn't read anything here, and I am standing by PA as that is obvious in all my posts, that you must have obviously ready perfectly and remembered each word and so based on that, you know me and my points.

You must be psychic!

You know what, I still am happy to share my experience which was not a good one, does that make you feel better to continue with your hostility towards me? It's easier to act that way and much harder not to. My point being proven here so thank you for that!

I am happily done in this forum as I am glad to have been able to say what I came in here to say. I wish you all the very best in your NEW novels which I presume you have, and hopefully with a better publishing experience.

Best of luck to you and your attitude as your gonna need much of that!

It is always better to be nice and grateful for what you do have, then the other way around. Hey, I am not the bad guy here so take your hostility to PA and make good use of it!

Later!

Alexandra

Cathy C said:

Unfortunately, no, Kimmi. It wouldn't. The problem that authors come into when they sign with PA is that they've entered a business relationship where the author IS a business. They stop being an individual the moment they sell the product from their mind. So the laws that apply aren't the ones that apply to a company versus a regular consumer. Instead, the laws are the ones related to company disputes, and those laws aren't geared toward individuals. A higher standard of "understanding" of contracts applies so the author loses.



Mostly, they don't make the books available to the public so that the public can find them easily. When the author realizes that readers can't find the books, or can't get them because bookstores won't/can't order them, then the author can't remove the book and move it to a different publisher for seven years--or even longer if the author doesn't follow the contract requirements to end the contract to the letter. The PA contract renews every seven years like clockwork unless the author calls it off in a very specific manner.

I do wish you well, BTW, alexandra6. But I would encourage you to reconsider your neutrality toward the business practices of PA. Silence is akin to approval in today's internet world and without voices of protest every single day, the content drops down on Google/Yahoo/etc. searches. PA pays for their ranking, so every new victim will see it before any warnings if too many people remain silent.

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Thanks for the well wishes but what is the issue here? I am not defending PA people! I got angry and went through all the emotions most of you are spewing still. I choose to turn it around personally and move on. That is good guys, not bad. Isn't there enough bad in the world. It goes beyond just PA people. That is my point and that is who I am. Can you not understand all I am doing here is trying to stay positive and not be constantly dragged through a deep muddied water. When you help people, this is what happens. Some get it and some don't.

I am not PA so take your anger and maybe start a petition. And if you put down those who are trying to re-build PA authors' self esteem that their good and are going to do better, then your not helping anyone. I am one of them, my God. I choose not to let it rule me, that is the difference of who I am and where I come from. That's it, no more, no less.

Best of luck to you.

Alexandra

Thank you!

VGrossack said:

Oh, dictionaries are updated all the time. And nonsensical is certainly a word!

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Thank you!

Best,

Alexandra

Christine N. said:

Welcome Alexandra!
Oooo, the 'loose/lose' thing bugs me to no end! It's crazy how many people don't know the difference.

Anyway, PA has threatened to sue me for speaking my mind on this board. I have never been one of their authors. Never. They've send fake cops to other people's houses, and done much worse.

I've met others like you, though - 'it didn't happen to me, so why should I be upset?'. Because it COULD happen to you. They could start sending nasty e-mails demanding apologies if you question them. They could just refuse to reply at all, or still sell your book after they've returned the rights, or a dozen other things.

It could be you one day.

And I'm all for supporting the authors who want it. But I've met some who are very stubborn, very unwavering and very unable or unwilling to listen when someone mentions any of PA's flaws. And I've met some who are perfectly happy - that works for them. Works for me too, except that they keep bringing in more people, recommending PA to everyone, never mentioning the lack of editing, the introduction of NEW errors to their manuscript, or the high cover prices and almost impossibility of getting a book onto the shelves of any store. The PA definition of 'publisher' and the industry's are vastly different. Some don't care, some are really upset when they find out.

Glad to have you here, hope you hang around

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Thank you for your respectful note. I am not going to hang here only because I came here to help PA authors feel good about themselves after their experience, not further hurt them which seems to be implied with some here. So, what can I tell you.

I don't recommend anything other then personal growth and happiness towards the better things in life. And BTW, that reflects in your writing and what you do!

I wish you personally all the best in your future endeavors!

Alexandra

Thank you!

Duped said:

Nonsensical has been in common English usage for a long, long time. It means nonsense as opposed to making any sense at all.

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Thank you!

Best,

Alexandra

Thanks!

burgy61 said:

I am sorry to see you are leaving, we all have different rolls to play in the fight against PA. Not all PA authors are ready to stand up and be slapped in the face by the reality of dealing with PA. So where they might be scared off by straight forward talk on other threads they might have stop here.

One thing that gets said about this forum is that they have problem with PA authors. I see where they might get that from they way some post get ridiculed on the PAMB and its quotes thread. I also know that they are just trying to point out the flaws with PA through the misinformation being given on the PAMB.

No, I'm not changing my position on PA at all, they are destroying the dreams of new writers everyday. I still beleive that they need to be stopped, and that this forum does a lot of good in that respect. I just think that having a thread that takes a softer approach to informing the more timid PA authors is good. If they don't feel threatened they may take the time to read more of the threads here. The longer they are hear the better the chance that they will learn something. Just my opinion on this thread.

Best of luck to you Alexandra in your future endeavors.

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Please read my effort on the PA part as I need to go. This is not productive and I thank you for your response and respect your words regardless. All that I was asking in return, was just that...respect. I am a non-threating type of gal but hey, whatever ya know. Maybe it's the ghosts! LOL!

Read on and best to you:

" From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Publish America
Date: September 16, 2007 8:59:24 PM EDT
To: [email protected]


Dear Fox News and Mr. O'Reilly,

I am author Alexandra Holzer who fell into the PA Trap and am querying the show if they will do a piece on PA to further more out them.

Aside from the well known website for which I am a member, Absolute Write Water Cooler, there is an exorbitant amount of information proving they are the top publishing scam artist.

I have been trying to help re-build some PA author's self esteem so they can accept and move on to their next project the wiser for it. But, not without feeling that I must do or say something via the media. I am no stranger to that as I grew up around it because of my father's work.

I am the daughter of well known Dr. Hans Holzer Ph.D of Amityville and Ghosts, who has authored 145 books. After trying to find my first teen sci-fi/fantasy novel a home for six months, I stumbled on PA through a friend who heard someone used them. I never researched thus learning my cross to bare and path about scam artists. They come in all sizes, shapes, colors and industries.

Please, see my website as it details who I and my father are. If you would be interested in speaking, please don't hesitate to let me know. I went on Hudson Valley's Local 12 news three times on the Camp LaGuardia problem in upstate NY, which is now shut down since July of this year.

http://www.hauntingholzer.com

Thank you.

Kind regards,


Alexandra Holzer


I took the following headlines and pasted their actual information in the letter. I did not want to re-copy such a long letter in this post.


QUOTATIONS FROM PUBLISHAMERICA'S WEBSITE:

Other miscellaneous reasons:

This is a letter from the director of Barnes & Noble's small press department to Memory McDermott, a member here who published with PublishAmerica and originally believed the claims that PublishAmerica was a "traditional" publisher:

Analysis of Revised PublishAmerica Contract
(in use from early 2002 to present)

General Concerns

Nowhere Near My Points

jamiehall said:

Plenty of people here are also working on the positive side - rebuilding the shattered self-esteem of PA victims and helping them to move on. I don't think any of us are trying to put down those who are trying to build up PA authors. If you poke around in the threads, you'll see plenty of that. We support the writers even as we battle the publisher scammer. I think the reason why people reacted a bit huffy to you was that it seemed as if your posts were pushing the idea that the only way we should react to PA was by ignoring it and instead focusing on the positive. I'm not sure if this is what you intended, but it kind of sounded that way and of course you can see why people would react badly if they felt they were being told to ignore their own opinions.

In fact, if you truly support the idea of each person following their own guidance, then it seems that you should not be upset at those who actively pursue the route of highlighting Publish America's betrayals. The fact that certain others are not following your route of focusing on the positive and ignoring the negative does not impede your own actions in any way. You can certainly continue to focus on the positive while ignoring the negative, and I wholeheartedly agree that this can be an important tactic at times, helping with the healing. However, it is only to be expected that a section of a message board devoted to warnings about a particular scam should continue to highlight the tactics of that scam as long as the scam exists. If this Publish America section stopped talking about the bad things, the number of victims would multiply enormously.

Of course, Absolute Write is a huge message board, and the Publish America section is only a tiny segment of the whole. If your chosen route for now is to concentrate on positive aspects of building yourself up as a writer and ignore Publish America, then it would probably be best to avoid most of the threads in the Publish America section, as they'll probably only irritate you.

I'm sorry that statements here rubbed you the wrong way, and I hope you'll stay at Absolute Write. I can certainly see why you might want to avoid distressing news, as sometimes it can be too disheartening to read. It is like some people who stop reading the news because of all the crimes and violence reported and become much happier - more power to them. But that doesn't mean that crimes and violence should be kept out of the news entirely, let alone mean that the police should start ignoring them.

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I expressed my anger and gave it a few words a spotlight and the rest put all my energies into positive about my work. PA has nothing to do with that and it seems here, on my thread, some words led to PA authors and poor writing. I am trying to just bring that to light as one should be careful on what they say by making their PA points. Yes, it is hard to distinguish when they are so horrible yet at the same time, point being, it further more puts down the author for no reason. Here, let me re-word it for you: FOR Unhappy PA Authors, Not FOR PA! Better?????

You should warn others about anything horrible but you are also responsible for helping them in other ways. A warning is the first step, then how do you move on from that: whether it is to try and stop them, spread the warning to others, lift them up in their next project and so on.

It is very one way here and I don't agree with you as it is more agenda oriented and so where I do agree with you, is no-one here should visit unless it is about ways to stop PA and whatever stories lay behind that. My mistake. There are those here who are positive, I know that as they have written to me but overall, the feeling is towards the other end and I understand that as well. I am NOT debating that, I am trying to help. I know I help many people with my conversations in my own life and for you to read into me as ignoring is inaccurate. In this case, my positive here comes from something negative that occurred.

That is the point my friend. Where did I say ignore PA?

I have seen a lot as my father has raised us in an environment for which I can speak about. I guess my letter to O'Reilly and my remarks about my own discontent aren't enough to really make you feel that I don't feel bad enough about my dealings with PA. I did get a thank you from Ms. Pacha about that letter as it is the only way I know for ME.

Like I said, there is nothing wrong with trying to pick yourself up and move on. I never said stop fighting the fight. Did you even read my letter to Fox News? Let me tell you something, and this goes for the rest of you who have been snarky with me, I am a fighter, a typical Arian hot off the press, steaming quick tempered person. E-mail's do not have tones and one should never read into them and assume anything like a real phone or in person conversation.

Having said that, I am not offended by anyone here or take it personally. So, I am still keeping with my better outlook on even taking a chance and responding here. It actually makes me laugh. I am still better for it as I have seen too many people wallow over many bad choices in their life, and they are suffering. I have my own battle against PA.

IMO: Be cautious when responding to one and make sure you read their comments carefully and sometimes twice.

All I have said was yes PA is this, yes, it happened to me and now what can the author do about it, personally? PA is a two way street. Their way of ruining the author and putting a bad name on the industry taking their money; and secondly, there is the author's way on how the hell to recoup their losses and not allow PA to ruin them, personally. MMM, no room for that I suppose on the PA topic according to your response to me.

I just am not hearing an intelligent retort as what the heck is wrong about helping a PA author to move on, which includes fighting them as well. Just try not to be so nasty about it and assume if one comes here and doesn't bash, that they are for PA or ignoring PA.

You don't know me or any of the battles I have fought including almost losing my first child so back your truck up as I know the important things in my life. And this, my friend, doesn't even come close.

I hope you come up with the magical formula to change PA's ways because that is what is needed.

Nothing has rubbed me anyway unless it is my husband, thank you very much, and what I am doing here is trying to still get a point across which obviously is falling in-between the PA cracks. Some get it, the others just aren't that pleasant and will not get it. I would never win that battle and so I won't even try.

I do not intend to leave the water cooler as I contributed and support other forums here. I am just done with this one is all. Sorry if I have offended you in any way.

Later and best to you as always.


Alexandra