PA author gets fired from job because of book

Susan Gable

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Now, at 4:50 EST, it's at a sales rank of #17,547 in Books.

But what does that roughly translate to in sales per day? Or can we even tell?
:Shrug:

. :)

2.5.

I'm sort of serious. You CAN'T tell by watching the Amazon numbers how many copies have been sold. It may be that since yesterday she's sold 5 copies, and thus her number has shot way up like that. (Or down like that, however you like to look at it.)

You CANNOT judge a book's sales by its Amazon numbers. Believe me, many authors have tried, and made themselves CRAZY in the process. LOL.

I like the idea about the book about PA Authors. A Cautionary Tale. <G>

Susan G.
 

IceCreamEmpress

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By the way, there have been two "Wacky Library People!" memoirs published in the past couple of years by reputable publishers: "Quiet Please" and "Free-For-All."

I'm not sure whether the authors were still working at their libraries when those books were published...

The author of Free for All was, if I recall correctly. It's an excellent book, and he goes to quite some trouble to disguise the identities of library patrons and staff members who didn't consent to be portrayed identifiably. It's also not at all mean-spirited--though he does discuss patron and staff foibles, it's not with a "Gotcha!" attitude.

Re: the Amazon.com number: A one-day purchase of anywhere from 20 to 40 books could produce that kind of jump.
 
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BenPanced

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Yeah, but by page four the discussion is disintegrating.

As for PA, they:
a) sure do give every self-proclaimed "author" the chance they deserve.
b) don't care what's in the manuscript. Just get it printed and get friends and family to buy it.
c) right now are probably looking up the word "libel" in the dictionary.
Interesting point on that page:
i heard it wasn't because of the actual book - but the fact that she used the libraries mailing/email list to self promote it.
Has anybody else heard anything about this? If this is the case, this could be additional grounds for firing and she might just trying to hide behind the "whistleblower" smokescreen.

Of course, if she was expecting to remain anonymous, she really shouldn't have relied on PA's standard operating procedure and had fliers mailed to friends and family around town.
 
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Pagey's_Girl

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Interesting point on that page:

Has anybody else heard anything about this? If this is the case, this could be additional grounds for firing and she might just trying to hide behind the "whistleblower" smokescreen.

"Misuse of company property" was how people at my old job got fired if they got themselves in trouble with management but it was something that might not stand up to a potential wrongful termination lawsuit.
 

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I'm just racking it up to pure speculation right now. I couldn't find anything else on the issue beyond the article upthread, and nobody else has raised it on the forum stormie quoted.
 

kristie911

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Just wanted to add (without reading the whole thread...sorry) that this firing has created quite a stir here (Yes, this is happening in my hometown!) and that lines are firmly drawn. One side says, "Hey, free speech!" the other side says, "It's offensive as hell and marketed as true from day one."

I'm just standing back and watching it all play out. I'm just sorry that someone that should be educated about publishing and books choose to use PA to publish her rubish.

And yes, there are quite a few copies being bought by local residents curious as to what the big deal is. From what I've heard most that read it flop over to the "it's offensive" side.
 

Richard Martin

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Maybe you could borrow it from the library. If anybody here reads the book, it would be interesting to hear if the reports about the book reflect the book itself.
 
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BenPanced

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Now, at 4:50 EST, it's at a sales rank of #17,547 in Books.

But what does that roughly translate to in sales per day? Or can we even tell?
:Shrug:

2.5.

I'm sort of serious. You CAN'T tell by watching the Amazon numbers how many copies have been sold. It may be that since yesterday she's sold 5 copies, and thus her number has shot way up like that. (Or down like that, however you like to look at it.)

You CANNOT judge a book's sales by its Amazon numbers. Believe me, many authors have tried, and made themselves CRAZY in the process. LOL.
And considering her competition is Breaking Dawn (the next book in the Twilight series) and The Last Lecture (#1 and #3 on Amazon's "sells" chart, respectively)? She's going to have to "sale" a LOT of books and there aren't enough people in Ludington to help her "sells".
 

kristie911

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She's going to have to "sale" a LOT of books and there aren't enough people in Ludington to help her "sells".

You never know...we're very helpful around here. :)

And there's nothing like controversy to get us all stirred up.
 

Neurotic

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Honestly, I see stuff like this and I wonder, what did she think was going to happen? Setting aside the sex offenders thing for a moment, it sounds like it's mostly just a compilation of all the bitchy thoughts she's had while she was at work. Maybe I'm wrong.

So I suppose to be fair it's quite short. I know if I made a book of all my bitchy thoughts it'd be more than 150 pages worth. ;)
 

EriRae

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The library won't carry the book, will they? Kristie, can you give us any insight on that? And I'm sure it's been checked out, if they do carry it. Or the library confiscated their copy in lieu of a lawsuit: prosecution's exhibit one.
 

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The newspaper was approached for a review, then she told them she'd been fired. The editor of the paper mentioned in the initial article their lawyers are looking at the book, so there's probably very little chance of it getting a critical review beyond the drubbing it's taking now.
 

kristie911

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The library won't carry the book, will they? Kristie, can you give us any insight on that? And I'm sure it's been checked out, if they do carry it. Or the library confiscated their copy in lieu of a lawsuit: prosecution's exhibit one.

I'm not sure. It's not my usual library, so I haven't been in there lately. I've got to assume it's not there. Most people that are discussing it have gone ahead and bought the book. I would highly doubt it's in the library available for checkout. But hey, stranger things have happened...especially around here! :)
 

Sparhawk

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Maybe she'll be the new PA all-time best seller. I wonder how this whole thing would look on the "PA up in lights" section of their web site?

...calling Dr. Phil
 

Gillhoughly

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If she worked at a grocery, was an office drone or hair dresser, the owner would be within his/her rights to fire an employee who pulled a stunt like this.

Maybe the rules are different at a lending library. If she PO'd the people in charge of its budget I can see they'd have a point in getting rid of someone who could cost them funding.

Apparently she PO'd a few cranks who may not be in a financial position to hire a local Denny Crane to read her the riot act.

As it is, I think her firing is likely a panicked knee-jerk reaction that will cost the library more in the long run if she files an unfair dismissal suit.

She showed little wisdom in making herself so traceable, but she is more likely to have bags of burning dog poo on her doorstep than lawsuits.

It was something to do with, I believe, a husband writing a nasty tell-all about his ex-wife, if I remember correctly. She was a romance writer.

That was with AuthorHouse, starring Rebecca Brandewyne and the ex from hell.

Be it noted that I just signed a contract with one of my publishers, and for the first time had to sign an insurance rider in case they found out later I was being naughty. Original post on AW.

"The broad areas of coverage are libel, invasion of privacy, plagiarism, copyright infringement, and certain forms of unfair competition"

The insurance pays for court costs, but my publisher will *generously* share those with me--up to $125K worth per occurrence--if I've gotten stupid with my words.

I wonder if PA has anything on that in their contracts? If not, then their uncovered arse could be hanging out there just waiting for a lawsuit to happen. We can but hope.

Of course, they could get out of it by claiming ignorance about the contents of the book.

Everyone knows they don't read 'em.