The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

Literary Lola · Apr 7, 2005

Originally Posted by orraloon
Yes, as we revolutionize the industry, we're vaguely aware of the false
statements and misconceptions that the Internet contains. We pay very
little attention to it, however. Fortunately, it has recently increased the
number of authors wanting to join PublishAmerica by over 40%.

Also, we think that you should know that there is no problem here at all.
We've recently hired additional staff and moved into larger
quarters. There is no lawsuit pending at all, class-action or otherwise,
no threat of any lawsuit, and no problem whatsoever. What happened was that
a small group of detractors contacted every "authority" that they could
find, and each authority, without exception, found no problem at all with
what PublishAmerica is doing. The result was a boost in our popularity.

Urp. I feel a regurgitation convoy creeping up.

Come on, good buddy...

lindylou45 · Apr 7, 2005

orraloon said:
Dear Mr Bruce,

Also, we think that you should know that there is no problem here at all.
We've recently hired additional staff and moved into larger
quarters. There is no lawsuit pending at all, class-action or otherwise,
no threat of any lawsuit, and no problem whatsoever. What happened was that a small group of detractors contacted every "authority" that they could
find, and each authority, without exception, found no problem at all with
what PublishAmerica is doing. The result was a boost in our popularity.

Your lawyer apparently agrees with us, and with all of these other agencies
that you mention, as we have not heard from him/her. Please read our
boilerplate national news response below for a better understanding of the
industry.

And again, instead of spouting off in such a fashion with nothing of
substance, please identify what you think we have said or posted that is
not true. We'd be interested to see it! The screen shot you mention
probably says that your book will be available through all bookstores
nationwide, and discusses bookstores' policies on bookstore stocking, right?

Thank You,

PublishAmerica Author Support

[/size]..................................................................

Questions -
1/ Why did they bother to reply at all? They don't normally although I email them regularly asking to have my contract cancelled. I sense some panic in the ranks.

2/ What is a "boilerplate" national news response? I could post it (usual PA waffle) but I think I've taken up enough space on the board already.

Eddie, didn't you know? When you ignore your problems, they go away!

Hey Larry, Curlem, Moe-randa, and the POD princesses, come on over to my house, I've just added some new stuff. I think you'll like it! :guns:

Sher2 · Apr 7, 2005

Ed Williams said:
Armed with truth, justice, and my Classic Vlassic Green Weenie Death Ray, I'll turn those 8% of net jack-offs into defunct mounds of plasma that'll resonate with complete and total defeat! Imagine The Pickler face-to-face with Moe-randa - the battle goes back and forth, but when The Pickler sprays some "Whine Brine" into her eyes, arrests her, and sets her bail at $5 to $10 above the normal bail amount, then she'll appreciate what justice Pickle style is all about....

If I were Moe-randa, I'd be gettin' on up outta town. That Whine Brine is some nasty $$it. Remind to stay on your good side, oh mighty Vlassic. :ROFL:

Literary Lola · Apr 7, 2005

WhisperingBard said:
I thought pickles came in barrels? :Smack:

Bard, Bard, Bard, dontcha know that pickles come from Spell-Check?

arrowqueen · Apr 7, 2005

ProfitAbscenely.

(Okay, so I chose the 'no editing' option!)

astonwest · Apr 7, 2005

lindylou45 said:
(Highway 54 was renamed the Yellow Brick Road several years ago, don't ask me why)

The bricks come from everyone illegally dumping construction materials on the side of the highway...

I'll leave it to everyone's imagination on how the bricks become yellow...

Literary Lola · Apr 7, 2005

James D. Macdonald said:
For the new General Partners: How about calling 'em Larry Pickles and the PODettes?

Yes! And Curlem can be cast as The Resonator, complete with red cape and plastic rain boots.

lindylou45 · Apr 7, 2005

lucyishome said:
I have not said this here before so I will say it now. The reason I hate PA is because I really thought my first book was good. Although I knew the chances of being accepted by the first publisher I had submitted to were about nill. So when they offered to accept my work I really thought wow I am so lucky or maybe it really is a great book. Yes I am moving forward with my writing. I just really hate PA for what they did to me and to so many other hopeful authors. I cannot stand the fact that I was misled into thinking I had a good manuscript due to their acceptance of it. Normally I tend to stay pretty darn quiet on this thread but I got another rejection today and it just stings. Although I have not given up yet I am constantly wondering if I can actually write or is it just some silly dream that I should let go of. Thanks for letting me vent.

Anne

Anne,

Keep your chin up because you CAN do this! We'll get you there. Don't let PA do this to you. They're scum, total and complete scum! Keep working at your writing and submitting. We've talked about this before and we're both scared to death that we aren't going to make it, but we can't let that stop us!

Chin up, and until we get the pickle smilie, I guess the dancing banana will have to do. Just imagine it's green and looks a little like Ed, okay? :banana:

James D. Macdonald · Apr 7, 2005

reph said:
The second message follows the PA party line (We've done nothing wrong) but lacks the sadistic element, the attempt to humiliate the author. Did one of the new partners write it?

I think it was trying to dig for information. "Holy [bleep!], we could be in trouble. What evidence does he have?"

lindylou45 · Apr 7, 2005

Ed Williams said:
...will not know what hit them. Should they cause problems for anyone here, I'll simply duck into a nearby Jiffy Lube and change into the first ever AW Superhero, that traditional, purely American crime fighter known as:

The Pickler!

Armed with truth, justice, and my Classic Vlassic Green Weenie Death Ray, I'll turn those 8% of net jack-offs into defunct mounds of plasma that'll resonate with complete and total defeat! Imagine The Pickler face-to-face with Moe-randa - the battle goes back and forth, but when The Pickler sprays some "Whine Brine" into her eyes, arrests her, and sets her bail at $5 to $10 above the normal bail amount, then she'll appreciate what justice Pickle style is all about....

:faint: What a man, what a man, he's The Pickler!

Now, where's that smilie? Ann needs a good laugh! :ROFL:

lindylou45 · Apr 7, 2005

I'm outta here. It's almost time for Survivor Palau -- (sigh) What Tom and his machete could do to the New Three Stooges and the POD Squad! See ya'! :hooray:

NancyMehl · Apr 7, 2005

Ann....

Ann said:
. . . that the "name" has been mentioned a couple of times on today's post. Let us remember that is "he who lives no more." We don't want to favor him with more google power.

I knew I shouldn't do it. But I couldn't help it.

Have patience with me. It's hard to adjust to the complete disappearance of those insane comments fueled by that unbelievable, self-aggrandizing ego. The majority of my daily dose of incredulity came from the "name." If only he had been taken away gradually...in small increments. Sigh.

But - the medication helps - and I'm in counseling.

Have some compassion, okay??????

YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND MY PAIN, MAN!!!!

Oh, wait a minute. Where's that letter from "nonsupport" at PA? Hey! It will be okay!!! It's just as bad as anything the "name" ever came up with!!!!

Yea!!!!! :hooray:

Nancy

MacAllister · Apr 7, 2005

Linda posted to Anne (LucyisHome):

Keep your chin up because you CAN do this! We'll get you there. Don't let PA do this to you. They're scum, total and complete scum! Keep working at your writing and submitting. We've talked about this before and we're both scared to death that we aren't going to make it, but we can't let that stop us!

Oh, look. We're ALL scared to death we don't have what it takes. It seems to be part of the writer's condition.

Don't think for a moment you're alone, there. I know I can string words together well enough to get paid for doing so...but I don't know that I can tell a story anyone wants to read. *shrug* If I sell one, who is to say I can ever do it AGAIN?

From some of what Uncle Jim, Victoria, and the other published writers here have said--even after you're publishing regularly, you're afraid that the NEXT book will reveal you as a no-talent fraud who somehow slipped through the vetting process.

But we keep slugging away because we're writers. We write. PA can't take that from you. You were a writer before you ever heard of them, and will remain a writer long after they fold up their tents and steal away. As long as you keep writing.

ArrowQueen has a great message in her sig line that gives me a lift every time I see it: Rejection is Nature's way of telling you to write better.

Hang in there.

Christine N. · Apr 7, 2005

PA pisses me off!

This has to be the biggest, baddest, thing that PublicApology does. THE lie.. not that your books will be overpriced, or not stocked on shelves, or not edited..those things are easily changed on their website, and put in a contract.

But the one that says they reject 80% of their subs. This is the one that pisses me off the most. Even the people who shout "read your contracts" can't get around this lie. It's a FACT, cold and hard, that they accept everything that comes into their inbox. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Why is this the worst? Because it plays on the hopes of the author. It tells them "I'm good enough!" when they really may not be.

Then again, they may be, look at Diana and Dee. They got their proof that they were good enough by going to real publishers. Anyone who sticks with PA will never know the truth. These slimebuckets play on the delicate egos of artists. It's horrendous.

Ok, done ranting. PA SUCKS BIG SWEATY TOES!

James D. Macdonald · Apr 7, 2005

Congratulations are in order! Miranda N. Prather has sold another piece.

"In putting the zobmi to rest, Prather explores a speaker who must face a lifetime of bad choices which have corrupted the child she once was."

Good luck with your novel, Miranda! Hey, there's this traditional publisher in Maryland that would probably give it the chance it deserves. Why don't you submit it to them?

DaveKuzminski · Apr 7, 2005

James D. Macdonald said:
Good luck with your novel, Miranda! Hey, there's this traditional publisher in Maryland that would probably give it the chance it deserves. Why don't you submit it to them?

Or you could try American Book Publishing Group. Say now, isn't that a patriotic name? You can't go wrong with a company that states it's American, now can you?

Sher2 · Apr 7, 2005

lindylou45 said:
:faint: What a man, what a man, he's The Pickler!

Y'all do realize that once Curlem and Larry get wind of this cucumber fetish, it's going to quickly devolve into a huge case of pickle envy. A real vegetable battle could e -- erupt. You could call it the Boor War, the Picklepenesian Wars, The Hundred Heinz War, or Jar Wars, featuring Gherkin Solo and Darth Dill. The crowds will go wild! They'll relish every drop of brine let. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. :hooray:

arrowqueen · Apr 7, 2005

Their spellchecker might even catch that 'zobmi' for you.

Sher2 · Apr 7, 2005

Christine N. said:
But the one that says they reject 80% of their subs. This is the one that pisses me off the most. Even the people who shout "read your contracts" can't get around this lie. It's a FACT, cold and hard, that they accept everything that comes into their inbox. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Why is this the worst? Because it plays on the hopes of the author. It tells them "I'm good enough!" when they really may not be.

Ok, done ranting. PA SUCKS BIG SWEATY TOES!

I agree, it IS the worst of the lies, because it implies that they really gave your work some due diligence and deemed it one of the 20% that's good enough to clear the hurdles and be accepted. It gives people the false sense of satisfaction that they actually achieved something.

Shoot, rant on, Christine. Who better deserves it? PA sucks big sweaty HAIRY toes!

Sassenach · Apr 7, 2005

Zombi meets the zobmi

Speaking of 'incoherent': When bad press releases happen to bad people --[highlighting courtesy of Sassenach]

http://press.arrivenet.com/ent/article.php/616392.html

Miranda Prather Earns Another Publishing Credit Peaks^ Literary Journal will publish Miranda Prather's poem, putting the zombi to rest. Distribution Source : PRWeb

Date : Monday - April 04, 2005

(PRWEB) April 4, 2005 -- In putting the zobmi to rest, Prather explores a speaker who must face a lifetime of bad choices which have corrupted the child she once was. Whenever any of us travels down the road to our past, we are confronted with a variety of emotions and feelings. The speaker in putting the zombi to rest, find the child she once was to be "sweet" but too fragile to exist in the cruel world she now finds herself in. As that innocence attempts to surface, she is summonded to return and once again kill off the kindness she once had in order to survive.

Written in free verse, the poem would have the reader ask the same questions of him or herself as the speaker must face. In a world which is increasingly less personal, more fast-paced and more competitive, putting the zombi to rest is a timely and easy read.

Miranda N. Prather has been recognized as a modern writer in the long tradition of Southern Gothic writers, stretching from Poet to Faulkner. She has completed one novel and is at work on several more in addition to her poetry and short prose. Her work has been featured in the Potomac Review and small journals and reviews.

###

Miranda Prather
2406269849

Ed Williams · Apr 7, 2005

What I don't understand...

Miranda N. Prather has been recognized as a modern writer in the long tradition of Southern Gothic writers, stretching from Poet to Faulkner.

...is how someone who apparently loves writing and literature ends up working for the biggest scam in the literary business?

Sassenach · Apr 7, 2005

'Poet' is Poe's cousin, I think.

DaveKuzminski · Apr 7, 2005

I'm disappointed in Miranda for not having her novel published with PA. After all, they're a traditional publisher and they offer an advance from $1.00 up to $1,000.00. Surely her work is so cutting-edged that it would receive the highest PA advance ever!

Come on, Miranda! Show the other PA writers that PA's not a scam. Get your book published by PA... That or tell the truth.

James D. Macdonald · Apr 7, 2005

I've figured out the 80% thing!

PA gets 20 submissions a day from the outside world -- and Miranda submits her book 80 times a day. It's rejected every time (it really is wretched, but the poor girl keeps trying). Voila! Only 20% of the manuscripts that are submitted to PA are accepted!

====================

Her work has been featured in the Potomac Review and small journals and reviews.

Just how small are those small journals that the Potomac Review is the biggie that gets mentioned by name?

Literary Lola · Apr 7, 2005

Sassenach said:
Miranda N. Prather has been recognized as a modern writer in the long tradition of Southern Gothic writers, stretching from Poet to Faulkner. She has completed one novel and is at work on several more in addition to her poetry and short prose. Her work has been featured in the Potomac Review and small journals and reviews.

Yeah, yeah, but does she and her zobmi resonate with an audience?

The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

The Stooge Slayer

Auroraless ExPAtriate

RIP, our sarky besom

2 WIP? A glutton for punishment

The Stooge Slayer

Your Genial Uncle

The Stooge Slayer

The Stooge Slayer

She Who Resonates...

'Twas but a dream of thee

haz a shiny new book cover

Your Genial Uncle

Preditors & Editors

Auroraless ExPAtriate

RIP, our sarky besom

Auroraless ExPAtriate

5 W's & an H

5 W's & an H

Preditors & Editors

Your Genial Uncle