The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

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Sher2

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M. Story said:
<Unannounced winner of the Banned from Both PA Boards Beauty Contest>
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So, who did win that beauty contest?:eek:

Good to see both Eds here this morning. That means that if I decide to slip off with one of 'em, the other one can post and he won't be missed.:roll:

Okay, I'm going to work now and I sort of halfway promise to behave for the rest of the day.;)
 

Aconite

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T42 said:
Ed, Maybe it would be a good idea if some of us were to write letters to the New York Times to make sure that it is a negative towards pa. They might need a little more ammunition.

Mem, of course you know this, but for the benefit of those who might not, let me point out that letters of opinion will not influence a good reporter, nor sway a good newspaper one way or the other in regards to how a piece will be slanted. Facts will.
 

M. Story

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T42 said:
M. put that thing down before you break your back
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T42, I like the way you snuck that in under a serious post. Pretty slick!
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Advice taken...I put down the trophy, but now I'm working on my acceptance speech.
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Marlene

PublishAnything, PubliSHAMErica, PA, PunishAnyone: however you might spell it, they are still a poor excuse for a publishing company. (Keeping on topic.) New Authors: WARNING--STAY AWAY FROM PA!!!
 

Aconite

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Dear folks, I know I'm a newbie here and it's presumptuous of me to be the one to say this, but could we keep discussions of inflammatory off-topics like the new pope in more suitable threads, and just stick to PA-related issues here?
 
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T42

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Aconite said:
Mem, of course you know this, but for the benefit of those who might not, let me point out that letters of opinion will not influence a good reporter, nor sway a good newspaper one way or the other in regards to how a piece will be slanted. Facts will.
Aconite, of course your right. I would hope anyone who would write a letter would only send the facts. I always try to send a copy of the letter from B&N to show the definite contradiction between them and pa. It was just a suggestion. I'm feeling a bit down today so I wouldn't be one to really write a letter anyway. Sometimes the fight to stop pa is mentally exhausting and the rewards are few and far between. One of those days :eek:
 

M. Story

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Aconite said:
...could we keep discussions of inflammatory off-topics like the new pope in more suitable threads? (I say "inflammatory" because I, for one, do not appreciate the statement that if one disagrees with the man's teachings, one is not authentically Christian. Debate on this belongs elsewhere.)

Where was it written that a person is not authentically Christian if they don't agree with the Pope. God is the Judge not man. Did I miss something here? Please read the post again.

Many topics here can be misconstrued and considered "inflammatory." PA loyalists consider the truths we tell here about PA to be just that.

Sorry you felt offended, but as stated in my post, it was IMHO, and I was replying to a post someone else had started. There has got to be some leeway here. If a post offends you, just skip over it. That's what most of us do as not everyone is going to agree with what is written 100% of the time.

Welcome to the board!
Emotewelcome.gif
 

Aconite

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Thanks for the welcome.

I'm willing to discuss this with you--or whomever--in PM, or another thread. I'm not going to do it here, because it's off-topic. It has nothing to do with PA, and that's my main objection to the discussion here.
 

James D. Macdonald

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Ed Williams said:
....this is one area where I think PA is particularly insidious, they deliberately let their authors fall into the same non-productive traps over and over and over again.

With Google searching disabled, and the messageboard over there only going back thirty days, and the folks who tried those strategies the last eighteen times they were suggested either banned or gafiated, it's no wonder folks keep reinventing the wheel.

Did you expect Infocenter to pop up and say, "Hey, save your time and money; that trick never works"?
 

Memphis Ed

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James D. Macdonald said:
Did you expect Infocenter to pop up and say, "Hey, save your time and money; that trick never works"?

Jim- You are correct, but I would expect MY agent or publisher to tell me that.

If a publisher were interested in selling books, they would work with their authors with ways to get them promoted. However, since that requires distribution in bookstores, it ain't happening at PA.

PA authors...the Christmas Box story is great, but it is like winning the lottery. In every profession...name one...there is an "unknown" who establishes the dream for the others. Some unknown who was discovered from under the bushes and came from nowhere.

Don't give up your dream, but spend your efforts where the water is deeper and the prospects are better. You can learn this from this board, and not over there.

Come over and pay attention. Selling the clerks at Costco is not the way...
 
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Sheryl Nantus

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MMo

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Aconite said:
Dear folks, I know I'm a newbie here and it's presumptuous of me to be the one to say this, but could we keep discussions of inflammatory off-topics like the new pope in more suitable threads?
(SNipped) Debate on this belongs elsewhere.)

Dear Aconite -- I agree with your overall objection; however, because the original poster is Catholic writer of Catholic publications, and because he is a frequent and valued poster to this thread, his stating _why_ he would be absent for a while really is in keeping with the thread. Now if we had gone on to debate his post, _that_ definitely would be off-topic, and I'd be petitioning for it to be stopped, regardless of my religious beliefs.

Mo
 
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AnneMarble

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Ed Williams said:
For example:

Actually, I've sold the tire salesman at Sears,
my optometrist, two dental assistants, the next bed patient in a nursing home with my sister-in-law.
We takes 'em where we finds 'em...

I'm glad that author wasn't on my floor of the hospital after I was recovering from a hysterectomy last year. I would've gotten... hysterical.
:roll:
 

Patricia

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lizziepants

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Ann said:

I replied to this thread over there, and much to my surprise, my password works. Comedy. I still don't know what happened with HB/Shemp, I was absent during that time.

Also -- how the hell're y'all getting two quotes into one post? Just typing out the code yourself, or is there some secret red button somewhere that I need to use?

*grins*
 

T42

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Sheryl Nantus said:
I received that as well - surprising, since we haven't communicated since 2003. He did tack it onto my last communication from the Ohio debacle, of all things.

I didn't want to bring it up here and give the little dipshoot any PR - sad fool that he is.

:Ssh:
Ha, the person we don't speak of is not very popular anymore is he? I guess that will teach him to go off himself:wag:
Message: from pa board~
Well, its negative when you get attacked for no reason other than your opinion is different then someone else's opinion. Or, for no reason at all.
Otherwise, people are a part and parcel of what they write. Look, I don't like the free use of the word 'Bashing' here, but people use it all the time and will continue to do so. All we can try to do is to be OPEN to others opinions and ideas.
(Maybe he will come here where he can have an opinion.)
 

Arkie

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Skyrocket

I think Sky is referring to this board and those similar. Discussions of writing have pretty much disappeared from the PA Boards. I started coming over here about three months ago. I feel like James MacDaniel lays out good advice for writers, novice and advanced.
 

Gratian Gasparri

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Aconite said:
Dear folks, I know I'm a newbie here and it's presumptuous of me to be the one to say this, but could we keep discussions of inflammatory off-topics like the new pope in more suitable threads? (I say "inflammatory" because I, for one, do not appreciate the implication that if one disagrees with the man's teachings, one is not authentically Christian. Debate on this belongs elsewhere.)

Hi Aconite, I don't think anyone intended to make a theological statement. Rather it's merely a note stating that I would be dropping off the board for a while, as might other writers who write predominately for Catholic markets -- especially those like myself who have built up some expertise about our new pope. This isn't so much a theological comment as a business one. An editor calls; I write.

Keep in mind that PA has deliberately targetted people of faith for their operation. Naturally, this means that a number of people faith will make their way over to this thread. Some of these folks write for a secular audience, whereas others like myself write for a predominately religious audience.

Thus If you go back and read this thread from start to finish, you will see a lot of commentary from Christian writers. As a Catholic writer, I would fall into a subcategory of the Christian genre. But we Christians are not alone on this thread. You will also see some commentary from writers of other religions and spiritualities, writing from a faith or belief perspective.

Naturally, in seeking to help other PA authors who share our faith but not our audience (for the same reason that PA's sci-fi writers don't share Uncle Jim's audience or PA's non-fiction writers don't share Jenna's audience -- marketting, or lack thereof), we are gonna touch upon the principles of our belief system in conversation. This cannot be helped. After all, this is how we reach other Catholic/Christian/Jewish/Hindu/Aboriginal writers who are thinking of signing with PA.

With that, welcome to the board! I hope this note puts most of the religious discussion on this thread into perspective for you. It comes down to the Golden rule, namely, Love thy neighbour as thyself. In this context, "thy neighbour" is one's fellow writers whereas "thyself" would never sign with PA. All religions share this principle to a greater or lesser extent, and so do many people who have no religion. So while this is a theological principle, it is pretty universal.
 
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AnneMarble

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lizziepants said:
I replied to this thread over there, and much to my surprise, my password works. Comedy. I still don't know what happened with HB/Shemp, I was absent during that time.

You didn't miss much. ;)

lizziepants said:
Also -- how the hell're y'all getting two quotes into one post? Just typing out the code yourself, or is there some secret red button somewhere that I need to use?

You mean like this? Copy and paste. I copy the "[ QUOTE = lizziepants ]" or whatever code (without spaces).

And if I'm quoting something else, like a PA board quote (those darn copy-&-pasters), I use the generic "[ QUOTE ]" and "[ / QUOTE ]" codes instead.
 

James D. Macdonald

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Ed Williams said:
...Land of Poz are discussing a self published book that hit it big...

After many rejections, he & his wife took their savings & "self-published" it on their own. The book went on to sell 8 MILLION COPIES.
But gosh, you're not self-published, you're published by a known traditional publisher who's growing in both numbers and stature every day!

From the same post :

I'm sure that he had no idea that a story of only 87 pages, meant for his family, would become a blockbuster....especially since it was not signed with a mainstream publisher!

Simon & Schuster isn't mainstream? That's where the 8 million came from.

Here's the publishing history of The Christmas Box:

Evans writes a Christmas story. Runs off 20 copies at Kinkos. Gives it to family and friends as a Christmas present.

After those 20 copies are passed from hand to hand to about 160 people, and 10 orders come in from a local bookstore, Evans wonders if perhaps he could sell this thing. Tries several local/regional presses. Not too much interest in a Christmas story when it isn't Christmas, and the book is alread self-published. Evans takes $5,000 and prints 8,000 copies (N.B. A PA author with the same $5,000 would get fewer than 500 copies). He sells these through local bookstores (and bet he offered a standard discount, took returns, and had 'em reasonably priced for an 87 page book, too).

The 8,000 copies sell out; he goes back to press. Eventually sells 20,000 by the end of the next Christmas season. S&S buys hardcover, translation, audio, and other rights. Evans keeps paperback rights.

In the subsequent years, Evans prints and sells around 400,000 copies in paperback. The rest of the 8 million in print worldwide are printed and distributed by S&S.

Evans goes on to write seven more adult novels and four kids' books. All of them are traditionally published (IOW, he didn't love self-publishing so much that he wanted to do it again).

He seems to be a good guy, donated a lot of money to charity, and I'm very happy for his success.

His success is very rare among all authors. It's even rarer among self-published authors. It's unheard-of among vanity-published authors.
 

Sheryl Nantus

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Gratian Gasparri said:
Keep in mind that PA has deliberately targetted people of faith for their operation. Naturally, this means that a number of people faith will make their way over to this thread. Some of these folks write for a secular audience, whereas others like myself write for a predominately religious audience.

I must admit that this is one of the things that burns my britches every time I see another PA victim go down. They assume that because PA is a "Christian publisher" that PublishAmerica will do the right thing for them, since the Lord led them to PA and all that... and then they're caught up in the scam.

it's really, really sad to watch some good Christian writers bogged down in the mire that PA splashes all over them and their novels. Might be good, might be bad but we'll never know since they can't get their books out to the audience that they're targeting.

sad.

:Headbang:
 

Ed Williams

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Excellent point....

Memphis Ed said:
PA is Amway.
...Brother Ed, PA is the Amway of Publishing, only thing is the comparison does a lot of harm to the good name of Amway...

Sheryl, I hear ya, history is full of nefarious schemes that used religion to further their own ends, it shouldn't surprise us in the least that PA would try this tactic. The people that run PA are bottom feeders, and nothing they do should surprise us.

On another subject, folks, just let the dead stay dead...
 
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Sher2

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Memphis Ed said:
PA is Amway.
God only knows what it actually is. It's not quite MLM. It's not quite a pyramid scheme. Whatever it is, the key is VOLUME. Whatever it is, it takes 11,000+ non-selling authors to keep the skids greased.
 
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