The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

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keltora

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Aconite said:
I suspect the writer meant--or the person at the bookstore meant--that the cost of the book (PA books start out about $5 more than comparable books, then are short discounted--only 5%) plus the shipping on the book raised the bookstore's cost for the book above the cover price, meaning the bookstore loses money on each book sold at the already inflated cover price.

Okay...so..

Just playing with figures here.

One average PA book with a cover price of say $27.95 discounted at 5% (approximately $1.40) would be $26.55 at its discount price.

And considering the depth of the discount bookstores usually get, they would have to sell the book for way more than $30.00 to get any profit at all.

Hmmmmm...

Maybe I am wrong, but it would never be worth a bookstore's time to carry a PA book at those rates.
 

mdin

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I don't know the cover price of the book in question, but I suspect it's something more like this... They need a 40% discount to make a profit. So a 19.95 book discounted 5% is 18.95 + (?) 3.00 shipping = $21.95 cost to store. If it costs the store 21.95, and they want to self impose a 40% discount, they would have to charge $36.59.

Even without a charge for shipping (so the book costs them $18.95) they would still have to charge $31.59.
 

Aconite

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POZKIN reports that a second PA author (Phil Dolan was the first) has won in arbitration against PA. There are no details, as the author signed a non-disparagement agreement as part of the settlement, but POZKIN says that "rescission of the contract was awarded."
 

SC Harrison

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From the PA FAQ page

I don't know how new this is, but I don't remember seeing it the last time I scrolled through the propaganda:


Today's author must be active, and he must be innovative. As is the case with all objects of art and creation, there are hurdles to be scaled: there's 190,000 other authors out there whose new book will be released by the nation's 50,000+ publishers this year, there are bookstore managers who are reluctant to stock unknown books even if they can return copies that remain unsold, and, plain and simple, there's jealous peers to deal with, folks who don't want you to be successful. So what else is new? Nothing at all, but it's good to back up words of caution with a reality check.


Actually, it's there are jealous peers to deal with, although it doesn't contract well (there're?). Anyway, their FAQ page seems to have morphed into a CYA page, with a nod to AW and our ilk.

Um, 50,000 publishers?
 
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Martin J Ross

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SC Harrison said:
I don't know how new this is, but I don't remember seeing it the last time I scrolled through the propaganda:


Today's author must be active, and he must be innovative. As is the case with all objects of art and creation, there are hurdles to be scaled: there's 190,000 other authors out there whose new book will be released by the nation's 50,000+ publishers this year, there are bookstore managers who are reluctant to stock unknown books even if they can return copies that remain unsold, and, plain and simple, there's jealous peers to deal with, folks who don't want you to be successful. So what else is new? Nothing at all, but it's good to back up words of caution with a reality check.


Actually, it's there are jealous peers to deal with, although it doesn't contract well (there're?). Anyway, their FAQ page seems to have morphed into a CYA page, with a nod to AW and our ilk.

Um, 50,000 publishers?

Well, if you count each person that self publishes a book as a publisher ...
There you go, 50,000+ Technically true, but misleading.
 

mdin

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SC Harrison said:
there's jealous peers to deal with, folks who don't want you to be successful.

It's been there for a while, but it used to say "[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]jalous peers."
[/font]
 

Ken Schneider

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Um' PA, if as you said, 190,000 other published authors out there, why would they be jealous? They are also "Published authors." You should change that to "Stiff competition."

And no one wishes ill will on your stable, or any other house's writers. We wish ill will on shoddy and deceptive business practices within the industry.

Keep trying, your words are as see thorugh as a sheet of rice paper.
 

James D. Macdonald

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There're somewhere around 4,000 publishers listed in Writer's Market, and that includes both book and magazine publishers.

Who the other 46,000 publishers are I couldn't begin to tell you. Even counting church groups that print up cookbooks, museums that do reproductions of maps, and the guy up the road who prints pamphlets on how to avoid paying income tax, you'd be hard-pressed to find 15,000 publishers in the US and Canada combined.

The 150,000 titles is also misleading: it includes textbooks, reference books, scholarly monographs, the bound report of the state fishery board, and many other items that were never intended for trade sale.
 

DaveKuzminski

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If you know any PA authors going into arbitration, please urge them not to sign anything with a non-disparagement clause. Don't help PA cover up their crimes!
 

Ilovepensandpaper

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Another PA casualty

Hello everyone,
As you can tell by the title, I am another PA casualty. I thought PA was a real publisher and they it would have my books in the major bookstores. I thought it would atleast do a little promoting beyond that tacky press release/order form. When I got my author copies, it was trying to get me to buy more copies and order some other book. I didn't see my media release in the newspaper, so I wrote my own and emailed it in. I emailed a public library and three bookstores. I haven't heard from the library or two of the bookstores yet. One would only shelve books from that city's authors because the other self-published books caused it to lose money. And having to buy my own books for book readings and signings? What?
I am incensed, insulted, irritated, embarrassed, ashamed - you name it. I worked hard on my poetry and wanted it to be published and some con-artist took advantage of that!
I have friends who wanted free copies, and I can't give them copies. Family will probably want some too. People saw my self-made release in the paper - people who knew me from school and all. What am I supposed to say?
While I do want my friends to have a copy of my work, I don't want PA getting any money.
I don't know what to do with my website. Stuff is just overwhelming, and simple stuff is overwhelming when you have a nervous disorder. I feel like the anger is simmering, waiting for a time to explode out.
This situation sucks royally, and for PA: Karma is a you-know-what.
 

aruna

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Ilovepensandpaper said:
Hello everyone,
I am incensed, insulted, irritated, embarrassed, ashamed - you name it. I worked hard on my poetry and wanted it to be published and some con-artist took advantage of that!

Welcome to this thread! We can't undo the done, but you'll find good company here and that might help lessen the pain.
 

James D. Macdonald

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It's very difficult to sell poetry collections. Many poets do self-publish.

The differences between PA and self-publishing are that self-publishing is cheaper, and you don't give up your rights for seven years.
 

Mac H.

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Hi 'Ilovepensandpaper',

People saw my self-made release in the paper - people who knew me from school and all. What am I supposed to say?
Just say the truth. That you're happy with your poetry, but aren't happy with your publisher. There's nothing to be embarrassed about just because your publisher offers a bad deal for you. They accept good books just as readily as others, so it doesn't reflect on your poetry at all.

Remember, James D knows what he's talking about. It's no shame for a poetry collection to be self-published -- that's just the realities of the industry.

Curiously, is it possible that your poems AREN'T locked up for 7 years by the contract? After all, the work that PA holds is the COLLECTION of poems, not necessarily the individual poems themselves.

That MIGHT mean you could publish the individual poems in later collections ??

Good luck for the future !

Mac.
 
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MacAllister

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Curiously, is it possible that your poems AREN'T locked up for 7 years by the contract? After all, the work that PA holds is the COLLECTION of poems, not necessarily the individual poems themselves.
That's a really interesting question, Mac H.--I don't know as it's been discussed here, before. Short story collections, too, might be in a gray zone--I don't know enough about copyright law to even guess at whether this is a potential loophole for folks.
 

Duncan J Macdonald

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Mac H said:
Curiously, is it possible that your poems AREN'T locked up for 7 years by the contract? After all, the work that PA holds is the COLLECTION of poems, not necessarily the individual poems themselves.
MacAllister said:
That's a really interesting question, Mac H.--I don't know as it's been discussed here, before. Short story collections, too, might be in a gray zone--I don't know enough about copyright law to even guess at whether this is a potential loophole for folks.
I'd be very careful of that thought. Of such hair-splitting are legal careers made. Checking the nearest anthology at hand, I note that while the work as a whole is copyrighted, so too is each individual story.
As in all things Jawish, "It Depends". Seek professional IP/Copyright counsel.
 

Mac H.

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As in all things Jawish, "It Depends". Seek professional IP/Copyright counsel.
For the record, I agree entirely.

Just to make it clear - I was wondering if it was possible, not suggesting that people assume that it was true !

Mac
 

MacAllister

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Oh, definitely. :) I expect someone will be along at some point, though, who can shed some light on the question.
 

DaveKuzminski

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So, the copyright holder is gonna sue himself for using one or more of the short stories or poems in another publication? PA doesn't hold the copyrights to the individual stories or poems. They have the right to publish only that specific collection.
 

Christine N.

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IIRC, look at the copyright paperwork. Somewhere I read on the copyright site, maybe, I saw that an anthology/collection can be registered as a collection, or as individual pieces. If it's registered as a collection, only that collection falls under the copyright.

I have a story in an upcoming anthology - and the deal is that they hold copyright to the collection, but each author holds the copyright to their story. So if I wanted to publish it somewhere else, or excerpt it, I can.

Again, ask Jaws.
 

DaveKuzminski

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Christine N. said:
I have a story in an upcoming anthology - and the deal is that they hold copyright to the collection, but each author holds the copyright to their story.

But in this case, the collection is copyrighted by the author and PA holds only the publishing rights they purchased.
 
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