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- Mar 18, 2005
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Crystal Rivers said:Anyway, here's another stinkin' thinkin' link . http://www.publishamerica.com/cgi-bin/pamessageboard/data/main/11898.htm
Not being a published author, I can't be sure I'm right about this but...
It seems that many PA authors have the very unhealthy habit of viewing themselves as PA Authors. I don't think published authors, in general, have any great loyalty to their publishers; if they did, you would never see them changing publishers (sometimes for specific issues with a particualr product). Even POD authors switch companies from time to time. What would seem to be a major difference between PA and everyone else, in my limited experience, is actually the existence of the author message boards at PA. Their very existence serves to create the unusual solidarity the afflicts the authors there. New authors jump on, throwing up (no pun intended) marketing ideas and other suggestions. Other new authors say "Great Idea" or "Thanks" or "Count me in", none knowing that the ideas have been hashed and re-hashed by the old-timers who, when they begin to break ranks, are banned. An ugly pattern, but one that seems difficult to break. Why? No matter how much info is out there about how bad PA is, these boards continue to run; it's not that they are necassarily populated by people like our old friend who spout the company line; rather, it the fact that they create a communal feelings among the authors-simple friendship, in the end, can override common sense.
Rob