The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

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B.L. Robinson

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James, gotta love that fan quip there, LOL!

Lindylou, when you go to visit the stooges in Leavenworth, gimme a call and I will meet ya there, I've got a military ID and a DOD sticker on my car, we can drive right in!

Still no response from PA regarding my request for my rights back, wonder if they are ignoring me? Hmm... :Soapbox:

Bruce
 

Boob

Hi everyone

Hi everyone. I just became a P.A. banned-it. It was a self-inflicted wound I must add, because I banned myself. However, I must be a masochist because I thoroughly enjoyed it...LOL!
 

Eric Summers

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I've been spending a lot of time on PRWeb recently tracking down ideas for stories and I've noticed that there is an awful lot of press releases about PA books. Most of these releases are in the $30 category, so I am assuming that the authors are buying these things on their own.

Does anyone in the book buying industry even read releases on PRWeb? I might be wrong, but if I were a bookstore owner (large or small), then there would be a lot of places I could get info about new books but PRWeb wouldn't be one that would spring to mind.

- Eric
 

mdin

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Forgive me if this is old news, but has anyone noticed that PA has gone from PublishAmerica, LLLP to PublishAmerica, Inc.?
 

M. Story

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Boob said:
Hi everyone. I just became a P.A. banned-it. It was a self-inflicted wound I must add, because I banned myself. However, I must be a masochist because I thoroughly enjoyed it...LOL!

Hi Boob?? (Is it one or two...Boob(s)? blush...)
Emotewelcome.gif
Glad you're here!

I've also been banned from the PAMBs, and don't miss it at all. Hope you will stick around and join in the conversations.

Marlene
 

Gravity

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Once you've heard the truth, everything else is ju
Oh yeah, if anyone would like to check it out, last night, when I'd done about all the work I was able to accomplish on my WIP for an evening, and my eyeballs felt like they were hanging out on stalks, I drifted into a fantasy about PA's last day of incarnation. It was mighty sweet, and ya'll can check it out on Night of the Living Shemp thread. Dang, haste the day, Lord...

John
 

NicoleJLeBoeuf

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James D. Macdonald said:
AuthorHouse (formerly 1stBooks Library) is another vanity POD. They aren't associated with PA (other than by similarity of business plan).
Thanks--now I know! ("And knowing is half the battle!")

You've probably had to make that clarification on this very thread before (hey, look! Google is my friend!) Sorry to make you repeat yourself.

That this is a screamingly bad idea for an author to buy into should go without saying.
At least I was right about that one!
 

realitychuck

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XThe NavigatorX said:
Certainly squeezing a bit of money out of this is Waterstone's primary motivation
Not necessarily. They also set the high price so they won't be bothered. Most self-published authors are going to walk away from the deal, but if someone is willing to pay that much, they'll do it.

It's like the old joke about $100 lemonade stand: they only have to sell one.
 

AnneMarble

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Dolan said:
Look at PAMB page??????????

http://www.publishamerica.com/cgi-bin/pamessageboard/view.pl?board=genera

"PublishAmerica is enjoying an unprecedented period of growth and popularity. Consequently, we've outgrown our message board and are in the process of migrating to more robust message board software that can handle more users."

Translation: We found software that will make it easier for us to ban authors who dare speak the truth!

Sigh.
 

James D. Macdonald

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[font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][/font]

[font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif]New Message Board Coming!![/font]

[font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif]Thank you for being one of the many thousands of registered authors who regularly use our message board.[/font][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif]

PublishAmerica is enjoying an unprecedented period of growth and popularity. Consequently, we've outgrown our message board and are in the process of migrating to more robust message board software that can handle more users.

[/font]
[/font][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif]Current users of the private board are already registered for the new public board.[/font][/font][/font][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif]

Users who have been using only the public board will need to register on the new board.
[/font]
[/font]
[/font]
[/font][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif]Soon we will turn off the ability to create new threads on the current public board, so we encourage you to create your new threads on the new board.[/font][/font][/font][/font][/font][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif][font=Arial,Helvetica,san-serif]

The old public board will remain public and accessible, but will soon be made read only.
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The new public board will be publicly viewable by all, but the ability to post will, as always, be restricted to those PublishAmerica authors who register.
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Again, we encourage you to create any new threads on the new board.
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lindylou45

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Sher2 said:
That would be some awfully expensive toilet paper, though. Maybe they should be made to eat them for breakfast instead.

Well, they'd be getting their fiber, if nothing else. We could make them use pine cones for TP :scared: yeah, that'd work! :D
 

James D. Macdonald

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AnneMarble said:
Translation: We found software that will make it easier for us to ban authors who dare speak the truth!

The private board passwords will remain the same, and will work on the new board.

Means to me that they're going to have a public section of their private boards.

I suspect that it's to avoid the embarassment of people who were banned on the public boards still being able to read and post on the private boards. From now on, banned one place will be banned both places!

(Also, as PA's number of new authors and revenue shrinks they'll need to save on manpower, so they need to consolidate board monitors. The new software may also be easier to monitor.)

==========

I suspect the chance from LLP to INC is to shield Miranda, Larry, and Willem a bit better, and to make it easier for them to leave Jessica, Janet, and Michele holding the bag.
 

Kevin Yarbrough

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New PAMB?

Dolan said:
Look at the PAMB page??????????

Wonder if Shemp designed all the new changes on the PA site.

I just love the new Press Room and the author profiles. My, my, how they harvested those anti-PA articles. Yeeeee Haaaa.
Did it Dolan. Taken from PAMB. ( ) are my quotes.

"New Message Board Coming!! (Why do they need one?)
Thank you for being one of the many thousands of registered authors who regularly use our message board. (Don't know about you, but I never seen thousands of users on there regularly.)

PublishAmerica is enjoying an unprecedented period of growth and popularity. (What kind of popularity is left blank. Most popular publisher to be ridiculed and cast out in the open?) Consequently, we've outgrown our message board and are in the process of migrating to more robust message board software that can handle more users. (Why more users? They are kicking everyone off so they need a smaller board, not a bigger one.)

Current users of the private board are already registered for the new public board. (Why only private board members? So if you were on the public but kicked off the private you can't post unless you register? Wonder why?)

Users who have been using only the public board will need to register on the new board. (Why again?)

Soon we will turn off the ability to create new threads on the current public board, so we encourage you to create your new threads on the new board.

The old public board will remain public and accessible, but will soon be made read only. (Then why keep it at all?)

The new public board will be publicly viewable by all, but the ability to post will, as always, be restricted to those PublishAmerica authors who register.

Again, we encourage you to create any new threads on the new board." (As long as they are pro-PA and don't ask questions, that is.)
 

Kevin Yarbrough

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James D. Macdonald said:
Q. How is vanity publication like an electric fan?

A. If you get behind it, it sucks. If you get out in front, it blows. If you stand beside it, it won't do a thing for you. And if you get into it, it'll chop you up.

People, men mainly, if you do this please, I say Please!!! Don't stand there naked.
 

Eric Summers

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Looks like they're "upgrading" to phpBB 2.0.10, which is at least 2 versions behind the rest of the world and still has some nasty security flaws in it.

Oh well.

- Eric
 

book_maven

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Eric Summers said:
Does anyone in the book buying industry even read releases on PRWeb?

Eric, I am a book reviewer rather than a bookseller, but I can tell you that I would never go to this place. I keep up with new releases through PW, catalogs and, to a lesser extent, book festivals and BookExpo (when it is in my neck of the woods).

What I find sad and continually annoying is that these authors are always looking at opportunities through their eyes only. They never seem to ask themselves if carrying their book is in the best interest of the bookseller trying to make a living; if trying to bypass the "traditional" methods of getting books from the publisher to the reader is a good thing for anyone other than themselves; who a reviewer actually writes for; what the point of editorial space is.

Their posts often comes across (at least to me) as selfish, with a "me, me, me" attitude. For god's sake, I sometimes want to shout, why don't you put yourself in the reviewer's/bookseller's places and look at what you are asking for from their perspective. It might look a trifle different. It might even give you an appreciation for what they do and what they need (and don't need). How could learning this be bad?
 

realitychuck

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A very interesting PA Thread is starting:

http://www.publishamerica.com/cgi-bin/pamessageboard/data/lounge/9235.htm

"What would you like to see changed?" (about PA -- in a nonbashing way, of course)

First three suggestions:

1. Dropping "no return" policy
2. Getting a marketing department
3. Doing more thorough editing.

Gee, haven't I heard something like that right here on AW? :crazy:
 

lindylou45

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B.L. Robinson] Lindylou, when you go to visit the stooges in Leavenworth, gimme a call and I will meet ya there, I've got a military ID and a DOD sticker on my car, we can drive right in!

You got it!

Still no response from PA regarding my request for my rights back, wonder if they are ignoring me? Hmm...

Now Bruce, you know it's hard to respond to authors while packing suitcases with money! The stooges haven't learned how to multitask yet. Maybe their time at Leavenworth will teach them how, what with having to shower, not drop the soap, and search for future "business partners."
 

lindylou45

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Boob said:
Hi everyone. I just became a P.A. banned-it. It was a self-inflicted wound I must add, because I banned myself. However, I must be a masochist because I thoroughly enjoyed it...LOL!


Welcome! Grab a beverage, sit back, and enjoy the reading material on this site. Not just this thread - there are many others to delight and inform you.
 

lindylou45

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Eric Summers said:
I've been spending a lot of time on PRWeb recently tracking down ideas for stories and I've noticed that there is an awful lot of press releases about PA books. Most of these releases are in the $30 category, so I am assuming that the authors are buying these things on their own.

Does anyone in the book buying industry even read releases on PRWeb? I might be wrong, but if I were a bookstore owner (large or small), then there would be a lot of places I could get info about new books but PRWeb wouldn't be one that would spring to mind.

- Eric

Unfortunately, this is one of the many useless marketing tips PA authors are given. They write up the release -- having never done so before -- pay to have it placed nearer the top and don't realize until later that no one really pays much attention to them.
 

lindylou45

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XThe NavigatorX said:
Forgive me if this is old news, but has anyone noticed that PA has gone from PublishAmerica, LLLP to PublishAmerica, Inc.?

Would that be because of the new general partners?
 

Memphis Ed

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realitychuck said:
A very interesting PA Thread is starting:

http://www.publishamerica.com/cgi-bin/pamessageboard/data/lounge/9235.htm

"What would you like to see changed?" (about PA -- in a nonbashing way, of course)

First three suggestions:

1. Dropping "no return" policy
2. Getting a marketing department
3. Doing more thorough editing.

Gee, haven't I heard something like that right here on AW? :crazy:

Yikes....how long do you think THAT baby's going to be there?
 
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