Return of a Man Named PAMB and its Quotes

Gillhoughly

Grumpy writer and editor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Messages
5,363
Reaction score
1,761
Location
Getting blitzed at Gillhoughly's Reef, Haleakaloha
when you call the company you get nothing but attitude from the person that answers the phone
Isn't it adorable that Miranda is still hands on enough to work the phones?

Or perhaps, after over a decade with those creeps, she's still not gotten a promotion.

Miranda, get a job with the racing industry instead. You love horses and they don't lie. At least the horse shit you'd shovel there would smell better than what Larry and Willie the Wanker spew at you every day.

And oh, hey--self respect. You'd have that. It's a good thing.
 
Last edited:

Marian Perera

starting over
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Messages
14,332
Reaction score
4,576
Location
Heaven is a place on earth called Toronto.
Website
www.marianperera.com
Just saw this on PA's Facebook page:

To all potential authors anywhere hoping to have their book published, DO NOT! under any circumstances choose Publish America to do it for you. Everyone knows that no-one gets anything for free these days, so please don't fall for the advert offering to publish your book for free. In truth, anyone with a printer and the gumption could do what they do. I sent my little children's book in to be published, like a fool, and even got a $1-00 cheque to welcome me in. Eventually I was told my book was ready, and were on sale at $11-00 each, even to me. I couldn't buy the 5 that I wanted to hand out to my family, I had to buy ten to enable me to get a free one for myself. Even so, I was over the moon just thinking that after all the years of trying I had finally succeeded, so it was worth the $11-00 each, but then my book came.

I waited for my daughter to call in from her teaching job as she did all the illustrations and I couldn't wait to show her. When I did she was as excited as I was, but then her husband looked at it, and told me how bad the printing was. it grammatically a mess. Comma's and full stops, everything was a botch up. There's a very good reason for this, due to severe pain, I was high on morphine and could barely recognise myself what I was writing. My loving companion helped me to put the pages in the order that P.A. wanted it, and we sent it off. It had never been proof read, never been edited, in fact, I don't think it had ever been looked at.

Before my son-in-law pointed out the errors I had already paid £130-00 to have my book go on Google, Nook, some other site too, as well as P.As. own Ebay site, but knowing what I now know I wrote P.A. telling them not to put my book on these sites and to please refund the money I paid.
That's $233 (in Canadian dollars) she'll never see again.

And PA claims to be selling books from its Ebay site? What's next, charging authors to put their books up on Etsy?

After my third attempt at getting through to them, three times and after being ignored all three times I feel it only right to warn all of you that has worked hard and long to write a book in the hope of having it published. Everyone knows that to have a book published in the U.K. certain criteria must be upheld, or, the writer needs to know someone that knows someone that knows someone that knows the publisher. But rather than have your dream shattered, stick to your guns and give the U.K. publishers a go.
 
Last edited:

aliceshortcake

Wilde about Oscar
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 4, 2010
Messages
1,633
Reaction score
258
Location
Oop North
My heart goes out to this writer, but...oh, how many times have we heard this:

Everyone knows that to have a book published in the U.K. certain criteria must be upheld, or, the writer needs to know someone that knows someone that knows someone that knows the publisher.

If "certain criteria" means "well-written and likely to interest readers" I suppose he or she may be correct, but I'm so tired of being told that to get published you have to know someone in the industry.
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,616
Reaction score
7,289
Location
Wash., D.C. area
I'll take it for granted that negative posts on the FB page are getting deleted as soon as they are posted.

I'll give it to PA, however, in an evil genius kind of way. They sure know how to play on a writer's frustrations and misinformation to rope them in.
 

allenparker

Naked Futon Guy
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Messages
1,262
Reaction score
234
Age
63
Location
Virginia
Website
www.allenparker.net
I'll give it to PA, however, in an evil genius kind of way. They sure know how to play on a writer's frustrations and misinformation to rope them in.

This may sound harsh, but I bet I could advertise on here and glean people with the same exact methods, evil and all.
 

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 16, 2010
Messages
16,441
Reaction score
1,529
Location
between rising apes and falling angels
Website
www.cranehanabooks.com
I would bet you money there are people right now - members and lurkers - who are hitting the ad buttons above the toolbar, despite the careful warning 'A publisher or agency using Google ads to solicit your novel probably isn't anyone you want to write for.'
 

emsuniverse

Back to freelancing again...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 23, 2006
Messages
521
Reaction score
43
I haven't commented or even looked at anything PA related for a very long time ... I come back and absolutely nothing changed. Damn.
 

Marian Perera

starting over
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Messages
14,332
Reaction score
4,576
Location
Heaven is a place on earth called Toronto.
Website
www.marianperera.com
I haven't commented or even looked at anything PA related for a very long time ... I come back and absolutely nothing changed. Damn.

One thing that has changed is the PA message board, which is no more. I know hardly anyone was posting on it, but that still seemed like the end of an era. /nostagic

Still, I found this on the Facebook page.

...what I see is that an company that made this happen is growing but needs support and help. There are many things such as those saying its an scam or ripping others off from thier money; However, I have not felt that I was scam or had been rip off. This is they way I see it:

1. America Star Books *A.S.B* (Formerly known as PublishAmerica) Agreed to publish my book. They covered the publishing package that other publishing companies will ask for.

2. America Star Books, paid for my book to be on Amazon and other online retailers.

Yet as far as I see on Amazon is that only 6 has buyed <title> Yet I do not blame them, the reason is that no publishing company nor author can truly say thier work is best seller. Its hard work everyday. When you write one book and sent it to America Star Books and they paid everything, than you should not get upset that money is not coming your way. Why, its because America Star Books has to give money to Amazon, Books-A-Million and other online bookstores. YOu are last on the list. When you write an story, your not writing for yourself. You are writing for others. And if you want to get paid than you need to write an story that is wroth it. Sometimes you must invest in making your work bigger. Now I address what I said early about scam and rip off, yet true it did not happen to me. I still think them for publishing my story. Yet I hope that America Star Books does grow as an key player in helping those who are trying to be an author. America Star Books must keep reaching out to all its authors and those that is loyal to it. Its easy to have many coming to an publishing company, but its hard to keep them. I want to keep such trust with America Star Books. The more I have that and see how they are changing the way they are doing things. I hope that America Star Books will display all its books at book fairs without charging its authors to do so. But I do think America Star books has millions of books. So all I can ask is that A.S.B can keep on entertaining the world but being fair towards us authors. And as for us authors. Let us keep on telling good stories and try to understand those we are with. What I am saying is that you can't think your getting anything if you don't put up nothing. Whatever book we are writing we need to know who to reach out. Never said your book is for all age. Because not all can read what we type. Let us get real at what we are doing. Above all that I support America Star Books and all fellow authors who write good books, but do not support any author who teach vile and hate to others.
 

DreamWeaver

Shakespearean Fool
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 11, 2005
Messages
2,916
Reaction score
403
I can see that this author has put a lot of effort into thinking about the PA situation. I have hope that one day they will transfer that effort into working on the mechanics of their craft, because that gives any author a great return. Spending that effort supporting PA and its questionable practices provides little if any positive return.

Well, many people see the light eventually so there is hope.
 
Last edited:

Gillhoughly

Grumpy writer and editor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Messages
5,363
Reaction score
1,761
Location
Getting blitzed at Gillhoughly's Reef, Haleakaloha
I feel sorry for that poor writer. There's so much that's wrong with her innocent defense of a disgusting predator that I can't even begin a refutation. It's a wasted effort. She'll have to reject the Kool-aid on her own.

I can only hope she does some basic research and comes to see they're a pack of hyenas and uninformed writers are their preferred prey.

I feel ill now.
 

Marian Perera

starting over
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Messages
14,332
Reaction score
4,576
Location
Heaven is a place on earth called Toronto.
Website
www.marianperera.com
America Star Books Publishing: new name, old tricks. From the Facebook page:

Book sales are down, not that they were really up in the first place. I don't blame myself, I have a really good story. I blame America Star Books Publishing. They have sucked the life out of my book. It's over priced and under available to my target audience. I wish I could go back to August of last year and forget they even existed. Sorry, I have to vent, they just tried to extort 199.00 from me to drop my book price by one lousy dollar. so fed up, wish they would just give up and release me from my contract, oh wait, I can for 299.00.

...the e-mail I sent before that, one that they did respond to, informed me that my e-mail had not been read, partly deleted, and that I needed to get a dictionary and look up the meaning of "Discretion". is this how a professional organization is supposed to treat their clients?
 

Jill Karg

So many WIPs which one to work on
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 21, 2010
Messages
994
Reaction score
120
Location
oh
the e-mail I sent before that, one that they did respond to, informed me that my e-mail had not been read, partly deleted, and that I needed to get a dictionary and look up the meaning of "Discretion". is this how a professional organization is supposed to treat their clients?

Actually PA needs to look up "Scam Artist". They will find their old and new organization names under it. Like refer to PA and America Star Books Publishing for definition of Scam Artist.
 

Marian Perera

starting over
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Messages
14,332
Reaction score
4,576
Location
Heaven is a place on earth called Toronto.
Website
www.marianperera.com
This is something I hadn't seen before. Found it on a PA author's Facebook page, where she was thrilled about it:

Dear <author>

As promised, I have passed your book on to Diana, the Montreal based in-flight entertainment producer. Her response is in: she now wants to offer <title> to the 100-plus airlines her Nasdaq-listed company regularly works with. Among those are American Airlines, United, Air France, Lufthansa, and Singapore Airlines.

She gave us two options to choose from: just one or two chapters, or the entire book as an ebook. We have opted for the latter. So now your book is expected to become available very soon for sale and reading as an ebook in the sky!
Airlines now sell ebooks?

We're now in the process of working out the details and signing the agreement, but all signals look green. What this means is that you may expect your book to become available for purchasing during flights all over the world, for travelers to read on those screens in the seatback in front of them. The benefit of having your entire book available in the air is that it pays royalties. Showing only one or two chapters would not have generated payments.

Congratulations! This comes at no additional charge for you.
Which means there was probably some initial charge.

We will soon begin the process of converting your book to what we internally now call an "airbook". It is our expectation that before long air travelers will be able to find, select, buy, and read your book while they cross the nation or the globe!
The author said on her Facebook page that her book is also going to be listed in the in-flight magazines and "the airline catalog". I... I don't even.

Thank you for trusting me when I made you this offer upon my meeting with Diane during Book Expo America In New York.

--Kerrin Wuchter,
America Star Books Special Services
Anyone who has to thank someone for trusting them can't be trusted.

PublishAmerica, of course, can't be trusted no matter what they say.
 
Last edited:

Gravity

Seen 'em come, seen 'em go
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
3,942
Reaction score
965
Age
71
Location
Once you've heard the truth, everything else is ju
Apropos of nothing, I often wonder whatever happened to HB Marcus, PA's chief thug/enforcer. Back in the day he was hell on wheels there, and let everyone at AW know it.

When his time as PA's main "useful idiot" was over, of course, they kicked him straight to the curb, and he sank out of sight.

I don't know if his forays were archived here, but if so, they'd make illuminating reading.
 

aliceshortcake

Wilde about Oscar
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 4, 2010
Messages
1,633
Reaction score
258
Location
Oop North
This is something I hadn't seen before. Found it on a PA author's Facebook page, where she was thrilled about it:

Airlines now sell ebooks?

Which means there was probably some initial charge.

The author said on her Facebook page that her book is also going to be listed in the in-flight magazines and "the airline catalog". I... I don't even.

Anyone who has to thank someone for trusting them can't be trusted.

PublishAmerica, of course, can't be trusted no matter what they say.

Is the mystery woman's name Diane or Diana? Does she have a surname? Does her "Nasdaq-listed" company have a name? This story makes no sense to me. Spafax is the only Montreal company connected with in-flight entertainment programming I could find:

http://www.spafax.com/
 
Last edited:

Marian Perera

starting over
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Messages
14,332
Reaction score
4,576
Location
Heaven is a place on earth called Toronto.
Website
www.marianperera.com
Is the mystery woman's name Diane or Diana? Does she have a surname? Does her "Nasdaq-listed" company have a name? This story makes no sense to me.

The sad part is that none of these questions seem to have occurred to the author. Then again, she was delighted about getting a call from Tate Publishing about her latest book, so...
 

PVish

Cat hair collector
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
1,641
Reaction score
263
Location
slightly off center
Website
peevishpen.blogspot.com
Apropos of nothing, I often wonder whatever happened to HB Marcus, PA's chief thug/enforcer. Back in the day he was hell on wheels there, and let everyone at AW know it.

When his time as PA's main "useful idiot" was over, of course, they kicked him straight to the curb, and he sank out of sight.

I don't know if his forays were archived here, but if so, they'd make illuminating reading.

He appears to have a page on Pinterest, but there's not much on it. Ditto for his Twitter Account.

One of his books, published by PA in 2001, now with America Star listed as the publisher on Amazon is currently ranked 9,915,796. Another is ranked 13,346,629. Both are "only available from third-party sellers."
 

Bicyclefish

Pedaling Pescado
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 15, 2009
Messages
473
Reaction score
51
Location
PNW
Is the mystery woman's name Diane or Diana? Does she have a surname? Does her "Nasdaq-listed" company have a name? This story makes no sense to me. Spafax is the only Montreal company connected with in-flight entertainment programming I could find:

http://www.spafax.com/
It may also be Diana Tapia who works with a company called DTI Software. They claim to work with the companies mentioned in PA's mail. That being said, I have no idea how big or influential they may be, and I've seen a lot of software startups come and go.
 

darkprincealain

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
3,379
Reaction score
1,925
Location
Nowhere. Now here.
Is the mystery woman's name Diane or Diana? Does she have a surname? Does her "Nasdaq-listed" company have a name? This story makes no sense to me. Spafax is the only Montreal company connected with in-flight entertainment programming I could find:

http://www.spafax.com/

She sounds made up out of thin air to me. I doubt a surname was created, if the above is their template for sending out this attempt at grubbing for more money. :-(