The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

James D. Macdonald said:

Worst case, she'll buy the Ninety Day Excuse and it'll take her until September '06 fpr the lightbulb to go on.

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And the Even Worse case, she'll buy a box of 50 books when her book does come out...

Then it'll have cost her $623.75 to have her book published -- just like with her last publisher.

Price of books

There Ain't Enough Front Porches
by Molly Marx Brent

Edition: Paperback

Reviews, recommendations, and more: List Price: $19.95
New from $15.49

Used from $15.50

I guess when the price comes down a bit is when they start sellling more used ones and they don't make any money so they lower the price of the new ones.

Can't tell you how many times they were 'out of stock" or "out of print" or "last one in stock".

Today I checked some others whose contracts had been cancelled. Their books are still for sale too. As far as I know, nobody has been able to get their book removed, even with an attorney.

Getting your contract cancelled means that you don't get a 67 cent royalty check every 6 months. Nothing more.

I'm in favor of getting together for a class action suit or at least several of us going together. Publish America has to be stopped.

If a lot of us joined together and got one attorney, we could split the expense.


Molly

PVish said:

Over on the PAMB board, that author spreads even more misinformation.
http://bb.publishamerica.com/viewtopic.php?t=4371

Sheesh! Get this author a clue! (Oh—the clue will arrive instead of a royalty payment.)

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Yep, with what that author receives in royalties, there won't be enough to buy a vowel.

Gosh Terishd is a big fan of P.A. What a defeatist attitude, "most of us are just happy to see our books in print".

If it's not good enough for a proper publishing house, its not good enough to print.
Please tell me I'll never ever get so desperate I'd use P.A.
At the very least someone from here should put me out of my misery, it's kinder?

eighter said:

There Ain't Enough Front Porches
by Molly Marx Brent

I guess when the price comes down a bit is when they start sellling more used ones and they don't make any money so they lower the price of the new ones.

Can't tell you how many times they were "out of stock" or "out of print" or "last one in stock".

Today I checked some others whose contracts had been cancelled. Their books are still for sale too.
Molly

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You books may be "for sale" but they're not necessarily available. Amazon isn't actually selling your book itself. Amazon merely directs buyers to the resellers ("Available from these sellers"). The "new book" resellers probably don't have your book. They depend upon being able to buy it fast from the publisher at the publisher's bookstore discount. (Obviously from PA, they don't get a good deal.) There's a good chance the "used book" resellers can't get your book either.

Here's what you do before you spend money on a lawyer: Contact each of the resellers and find out IF they do indeed have your books on hand and, if so, how many. Most have an email address given, so they should be quick to contact.

books for sale

Been there. Done that. Even friends on this board have ordered without a problem.

I ordered 20 books. I was told that they had 5 to send immediately but the others would take a little longer to get.

This was some time ago, not recently so maybe not now.

Amazon is not selling my book now. They did order twice AFTER my contract was cancelled. B & N and PA are the only ones which removed my book when the contract was cancelled. B & N was only after my efforts.

I have e mails saying Publish America did not notify the stores after an e mail from PA saying they had been advised. These were forwarded to the Maryland AG.

Ingram had 6 on hand at the time of my contract being cancelled.

I have contacted each one of these stores. Lightning Source and Ingram plus others send my inquiries to Publish America. Amazon claims they are selling for these stores only as "out of print" books.

I don't have all the e mails now, but someone who is helping me does.

I don't know if they have books now or not. I know that everybody who has ordered one did not have a problem getting it.

Molly

To those of you who suspect your royalty payments are not accurate....

Besides writing to the Maryland authorities, did you notify the IRS with documented proof? If not, I suggest you do so. On my first royalty cheque, which I questioned, PA made me the great "you will get a more accurate statement on your next royalty payment date" promise, because of the 30, 60 or 90 day clauses. Guess what? My next statement showed a big fat "0". Then they reneged and sent me a small cheque in April.

Why do you think PA will not let anyone examine their books?

Good luck, Anne Marie, but I think "eighter" has already answered you.

postshy/Roberta

Just wait til they get MY letter Muwahahahahahahaha !!!!!

20 years in the financiai industry performing banking and federal adminstration in the form of.... audits and I subcontract for a law office. I've already drafted my letter requesting a personal audit per paragraph 12 of my contract, and my lawyer is going over my letter giving it a bit more "polish".

I'm going to Prioroty mail it this weekend.

Make my day

Sparhawk, may I say how proud I am that you are taking action against Publish America. We need more like you. Three Cheers. In fact, I know of several taking action which is not posted on this board.

Also, Ann and Dave said they would appear in court for support. Thank you. Although I am not experienced as they are, I will be willing to tell my story and offer my support if anyone needs it.

Molly

eighter said:

My contract was cancelled over a year ago and the books still keep coming.

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It would be ideal for a PA writer to be picked up by a mainstream publisher. Then, when PA continues to sell those books, you just call up the publisher. They have deeper pockets than I do, at least.

I've contacted Amazon about my books and was told they have a few in stock, and as long as they have them they will keep my book pages up. How can they when my books were pod? One of my books is up as 'out of print', so why can't they just remove it?

Lightning Source sent me an email that my books are no longer listed in their database, and when I called Ingram the automated stock system said they were not available. So, at least no one can order them.

I have heard from a few authors mixed opinions about completely taking down their books. One opinion is that used copies are selling and if readers do buy them, then it is a way of that author building their name, no matter if it is one or two readers. The other opinion is, they don't want literary agents or publishers doing a search on their names and finding out they were previously published with PA. (Now, would a lit agent or publisher take the time to do this?) Lastly, if they republish their book, they don't want the old PA version up on the online stores.

Some authors I know are going to retitle their books and change their names.

It is confusing. I think there are pros and cons. I really don't mind people buying up used copies of my books. But then again, I am not sure if it is wise for the advancement of my career to have them on the online stores.

It seems that authors are trying to get removed from Amazon alone. But PA books are placed on other online stores. Such as:

Borders
Barnes & Noble
Books A Million
Alibris
Blackwells UK
Better Books
Buy.com
Powell's Books (who by the way, sold my books for $5 over PA's list price)
Chapters
Best Book Buys
e-Campus
e-Bay

Plus, there is Amazon Uk, France, Japan, Germany, and Canada.

If we want to wipe the internet clean of our names and book titles, the online stores are not the only thing. I aggressively marketed my novels, and there are reviews all over the place from The Historical Fiction Review to Road to Romance Reviews. Should I contact them as well and ask for removal? Or would a lit agent be interested in reading those reviews? The reviews of my books on these pages were not from PA authors, but from the reviews of these sites or from non-PA authors and readers.

Consumer Affairs

If you have not already done so, go to the Consumer Affairs website: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/php/a_report.php and file a report against PA. They have lawyers that will review the complaints, and take action if they decide action is needed. If enough people file complaints, they can't ignore it. Their lawyers are licensed to practice in DC and VA. Yes, I know that PA is in Maryland, but that's still pretty darn close.

Arden19 said:

Their lawyers are licensed to practice in DC and VA. Yes, I know that PA is in Maryland, but that's still pretty darn close.

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I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you mean. It doesn't matter how close VA and DC are to MD; a lawyer either is or is not licensed to practice in MD, and being licensed in a nearby state doesn't change that. Did I misunderstand you?

PA's reply

Dear Ms. Wiesen:

Vendors may continue to offer copies for many years until all books that they had acquired before your contract termination are sold. This includes Ingram who still have one copy on hand. We have printed and/or distributed zero copies since term, and like all other publishers we have no control over copies floating in the market.

Thank You,
Author Support Team
[email protected]



Okay, everyone who believes this drivel, please raise your hand. As I thought, even Kola can count that high

Jean Marie said:

Dear Ms. Wiesen:

We have printed and/or distributed zero copies since term, and like all other publishers we have no control over copies floating in the market.

Thank You,
Author Support Team
[email protected]

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So then, Jean, do you plan on emailing them back and asking "from whom should you expect your royalties?"

If we believe the current statement from them, should we also believe that they have been lying about the 30-60-90 payment for the orders? I'm confused. Maybe I'm not reading eveything correctly? Hummm....(tongue in check, wondering why I'm confused.) Do they pay royalties after "term."

contract

Does Publish America pay royalties after "term".

No.

Not only do they not pay royalties after term, they don't pay for the time period
for books sold before the termination agreement.


Molly

Molly, I knew that and probably shouldn't have posted that "tongue in cheek" post. But it is good for the new ones who may be tuning in, to know what they are getting into, if they sign with PA. I'm so sorry you are having such a bummer of a time with them.

Dee, are you saying if we save all our email correspondence with PA, that those emails are not legal even with the full headers to prove they sent them?

new members

Yes, I understand. I know everyone of the regulars have heard my story but it is important for all of us to keep telling our stories for the new ones just learning what a scam Publish America is.

I really don't care about royalties. What little they pay is very unimportant but I do care about getting my book off the internet. I do care that these crooks are still making money on my book.

It is a matter of time before they pay. Maybe it won't be in royalties, maybe even with jail time but we will win in the end.

Molly

Here's an article about self-publishing that mentions PA.

XThe NavigatorX said:

Here's an article about self-publishing that mentions PA.

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Aside from some editing glitches* the main thing that bothered me was that article perpetuates quite a few things about the publishing industry that, from the education I've gotten here in the last 6 months, just aren't true. It is nice they provided both sides of the PA story, sort of.

But let's just quote AuthorHouse as an authority, from that article, shall we: "[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Good literary agents, the company reminds, are hard to find and expensive.[/font]" *sigh*

There's more, but I'm not the right person to do the critique.

*for example "[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]collections of Bah Mitzvah" and " [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]'I have authors who don't care if it costs money. They want it out there even if everything time they sell a book it costs them,' Shaffer compared." Everything time? Compared?
[/font]

Yeah, they're losing money on each sale, but they make it up in volume.

Somebody had to say it.

If Only I Could Tell PA Authors...

Now that my new book has hit the shelves, I've been working on promoting it. This is the most book promotion I've done since the very early days when I first started out, back in 1983.

I wish I could post on the PublishAmerica board and tell them what it's like for me in promoting my book, so they would KNOW that PA is lying to them when they tell their authors that ALL authors go through what they, the PA authors, are going through.

There is no comparison; it's like night and day. I suppose if I described it, I would seem like I was fantasizing, or bragging, because there is absolutely no relation to what I see the authors on the PA boards going through as they attempt to promote.

Promoting this book has brought home to me, in a very personal way, just how vile PA's lies are, and how much harm and frustration they cause.

Please, folks...if you haven't signed with PA...DON'T!

If you have signed with PA...don't sign with them a second time!

-Ann C. Crispin
Author: STORMS OF DESTINY/HarperEos
www.accrispin.com
Now available!