You know, something hit me while reading this particular PA thread...
....and I'm going to use just a few quotes to illustrate my points:
I came to PublishAmerica for two main reasons. One, I did not want to spend five years submitting and being rejected, only to self-publish anyway.
I love to have fun as well, but, I do want to make writing a career. It's been a long time goal. I love the neighborhood, but, I'd like to expand my readership.
If tomorrow morning you woke up and found out that PA had been forced to shut down due to unsavory business practices.
Just where do you think that would leave you, me and the thousands of other authors who have books under contract with them?
But I can't respect anyone who makes it their life's work to shut down one publishing company especially since that company holds a contract with my name on it.
I will offer this:
1. I don't think there's anyone in this thread who, if PA announced tomorrow they were changing their method of operation in order to be fairer to their authors, wouldn't applaud them. Uncle Jim has stated here numerous times in the past that the goal is not to shut PA down, but to make them reform some of their practices. Of course, if they don't, they should go down. It's as simple as that.
2. If PA closed tomorrow, there are numerous avenues their authors could take to get their books out, and just about all of them would prove far more favorable to said authors than the current PA set-up.
3. I don't mind opposing viewpoints in the least, but I do mind having basically the same post shoved in my face over and over and over again. Say what you have/need to, make your points, but then either say something new or give it a rest. It's like watching the same episode of Gilligan's Island a hundred times in a row, except Gilligan was far more entertaining.
4. Re the newspaper column being mentioned, and people responding to it in a negative way, I can say this much - the day you put a column out with your name and email address on it in a public forum is the day you'd better expect responses. I do it every week. Newspapers provide email addresses for such responses, and any columnist promoting PA as a viable publishing choice is inviting multiple opposing responses. Writing to the guy's boss? The truth is that in most cases the boss is going to see the responses whether they come directly to him/her or not. Personally, my suggestion would be to either write the columnist directly, or use any other email addy suggested by the paper as an appropriate vehicle for response. The people who need to see it will, trust me.
And with that, I've got a hot, hot date with my lawnmower - later!