The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

Status
Not open for further replies.

mdin

The late, the great XThe NavigatorX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
2,376
Reaction score
539
Location
Seattle, WA
Website
www.mattdinniman.com
James D. Macdonald said:
Say what?

Can someone find out the name of this station?

Last time I was on the radio (WBZ, Boston) for an hour, no one asked me to pay anything. (I did give the DJ two copies of my latest book, but since my publisher had sent them to me for free, that wasn't money out of my pocket).


This is just a hunch, but have you ever listened to the local morning show while they're broadcasting live from the corner Jiffy Lube/Burger King/Indie Record Store, etc.? Those are special promotions, and radio stations do it all the time. I used to work at a video store, and my boss was looking into something like that. IIRC, it was about $750 for them to set out there for two hours.

My guess is he contacted the radio station and got transferred to the advertising department. "Sure, we'd love to help you promote your book..."
 

underthecity

Finestkind
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
3,126
Reaction score
768
Location
Near Cincinnati
Website
www.allensedge.com
XThe NavigatorX said:
This is just a hunch, but have you ever listened to the local morning show while they're broadcasting live from the corner Jiffy Lube/Burger King/Indie Record Store, etc.? Those are special promotions, and radio stations do it all the time. I used to work at a video store, and my boss was looking into something like that. IIRC, it was about $750 for them to set out there for two hours.

My guess is he contacted the radio station and got transferred to the advertising department. "Sure, we'd love to help you promote your book..."

This could be what happened, but if he was transferred to sales, the salesperson should have transferred him to the show producer who would have booked him for nothing. But, yes, radio station promotions do cost money for CLIENTS, not show guests.

He needs to call that station back and talk to the right department.

utc
 

Renee

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
1,339
Reaction score
341
Location
Texas
Website
www.reneebagley.com
Crunchy Frog said:
Hmm, do you think it's possible for some teenager to sign the contract, not knowing their parents are supposed to do that? I wonder if PA could get in trouble for not making that clear. Wouldn't that be great if we could nail them from that angle somehow. (Probably not though. Poetry.com has probably snared a whole lot more children, and they haven't got in trouble. Oh well. Just a thought.)

Oh I think it highly possible that a few of them have signed their own name. And I wonder how many of them didn't want to tell their parents and signed their parents name haha..

Oh PA will get what's coming to them..eventually. ;)

Oh and Kevin: you're older than me..ha ha ha ha ha ha..I'm a young 27 LOL.. ;)
 
Last edited:

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
VPX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
25,582
Reaction score
3,785
Location
New Hampshire
Website
madhousemanor.wordpress.com
Ed Williams said:
....would you please enlighten everyone on what it means if you send a query to a publisher and they ask to see your entire manuscript?

It means that you now have a "solicited manuscript."

Send them the manuscript, mention in your cover letter the previous correspondence, and carry on writing your next book.

More than that's off-topic here. Join me up in the Uncle Jim thread?
 

Kate Nepveu

Vacuumer of Cats
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
130
Reaction score
40
Website
www.steelypips.org
Bonnie Gibson said:
If someone, like me, owning a bookstore, tries to order a PA book from Ingrams, then I only get a 10% to 20% discount on the book and it is non-returnable. Now, wouldn't I be an idiot to order this book? The shipping would eat up what little profit I could make and if the books don't sell, then I'm at a complete loss because I cannot send it back.
Bonnie, what discount do actual publishers give to bookstores?
 

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
VPX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
25,582
Reaction score
3,785
Location
New Hampshire
Website
madhousemanor.wordpress.com
XThe NavigatorX said:
My guess is he contacted the radio station and got transferred to the advertising department. "Sure, we'd love to help you promote your book..."

So you're saying he was quoted the rate for an Infomercial?

Well, that makes sense. (Still, there are vanity radio shows out there, and vanity TV, and vanity everything else, I'd guess.)
 

WhisperingBard

Wary...and weary
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
350
Reaction score
239
Location
In a far-off land of make-believe...
I hope you'll forgive me for having posted on the Private Boards what I believe now to be a travisty on my own part.

Sean, that was a very decent thing to do.

I've read a lot of your posts over on the PA boards. Stick around. I think you could add a lot to our conversations here.
 

Gratian Gasparri

Grand Inquisitor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
307
Reaction score
194
Location
Northern Ontario
Website
www.surprisedbycanonlaw.com
A Rose by any other name...

AngelEyes said:
DaveKuzminski I'm here to tell you that you were 100 % correct. I'm the first person to admit when I'm wrong. You may ban me from this forum after I post this as I'm sure I'm the last person you want as a member but I felt the need to say you were right.

Rose, I don't know what happened between you and Dave, and I cannot speak for Dave, but just from our interaction on this board I find him a good guy with a big heart who sincerely seeks to help other authors. I also know than Jenna isn't into banning people except as a last resort and only when absolutely necessary. Therefore, would you be willing to settle for a group hug in lieu of banning? :welcome:
 

Kevin Yarbrough

Will write for peace of mind
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
1,249
Reaction score
415
Location
Hiding. Try and find me.
Renee Bagley said:
Oh I think it highly possible that a few of them have signed their own name. And I wonder how many of them didn't want to tell their parents and signed their parents name haha..

Oh PA will get what's coming to them..eventually. ;)

Oh and Kevin: you're older than me..ha ha ha ha ha ha..I'm a young 27 LOL.. ;)
Renee, you won't be a young 27 for much longer. I see you have a birthday in October and then you will be an old 28 like me. It's all downhill from there, right Ed?

And, I want to join in on the Kripsy Kreme Cult. Just think, if things got to bad you wouldn't have to drink the Kool-Aid, they would poison the donuts. Ahhhh, what a nice, peaceful, tasty way to go.

Donuts, arhhhhhh (drool).
 

Patricia

California Dreaming
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 28, 2005
Messages
1,657
Reaction score
364
Location
Doing Serious BIC
Website
www.freewebs.com
Sean

Hi Sean,

May as well welcome you to this board too! If you surf the AW boards further and I bump into you again-- consider yourself welcomed by Ann! :Sun: So glad you joined us.
 

momwrites

Queen of 80's Music
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 8, 2005
Messages
165
Reaction score
18
Location
fly-over country
Website
www.xmission.com
STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!

I am/was a disgruntled author of PA and want to shoot my eye out for being so blind as to what PA does!!

I signed a contract last year; I had everyone check it out and it all was well and good, until when I got my book, it had more mistakes then when I first sent it in. They do NO editing; they don't know how! If they did, I wouldn't have had to correct numerous mistakes, and I freelance for the local paper!

At this point, PA has not made one dime off of me, because I refuse to try and market something that will NEVER get in bookstores! I have e-mailed them I don't know how many times and only once got a reply that said how dare I ridicule them for doing what they said they would do. What a crock!

I have a question though-has anyone resubmitted their PA book with a different title and changes made to the manuscript, to another publisher? Would it be breaching your contract by doing that? Think about it: its under a different title and the contect has been changed, albeit small changes, but changes nontheless.

I am seriously thinking of doing that, since I have the second novel in the series under consideration with another publisher.

I thought of also e-mailing them back and saying, 'since you didn't e-mail me back, I'm going to assume you don't care if I take back my rights.' Maybe then they will actually respond, and if they don't, then oh well...guess they didn't care what I did with THEIR book. :)

From reading all the posts and realizing just how PA sucks in people, its a wonder that there aren't more pissed off authors threatning to sue! I think if we can get a class action suit, maybe they will have to answer to the courts.

Regardless, I'm thinking of hiring my own lawyer.
 

Sheryl Nantus

Holding out for a Superhero...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
7,196
Reaction score
1,634
Age
59
Location
Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Or New Babbage, Second
Website
www.sherylnantus.com
first, welcome to all the new PA authors!
:hi:
second - YOU DID NOTHING WRONG.

I feel this needs to be said because at some point you will sit there and stare into the mirror and wonder what sort of idiot you were to allow yourself to be scammed. After all, who gets taken in by a junk outfit like PublishAmerica, right?

YOU DID NOTHING WRONG.

except, perhaps, to trust in a company to keep their promises to you and to deliver what they had said on their website and in their forums.

YOU DID NOTHING WRONG.

and now you're here, among friends. Been there, done that, been banned and now gotten a few paltry royalty checks.

grab a Krispy Kreme and an Icee, curl up on the fat old comfy couch and stay a bit... plenty to chat about here with other PA authors and published professionals who can give you tons of advice on how the REAL publishing world works.
:kiss:
 

Sher2

Auroraless ExPAtriate
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
1,400
Reaction score
396
Website
freewebs.com
momwrites said:
I am/was a disgruntled author of PA and want to shoot my eye out for being so blind as to what PA does!!

From reading all the posts and realizing just how PA sucks in people, its a wonder that there aren't more pissed off authors threatning to sue! I think if we can get a class action suit, maybe they will have to answer to the courts.

Regardless, I'm thinking of hiring my own lawyer.
Don't shoot your eye out, Momwrites. PA ain't worth it and, besides, you'll need it when you write your next book. PA does, indeed, suck in people, which is not the only reason PA sucks. If you haven't already read this entire thread, please do. It's an education in and of itself. If I'd known of its existence before I signed with PA, I never would have gotten myself into this predicament. And listen, if you can afford a lawyer, please, get one! :welcome:
 

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
VPX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
25,582
Reaction score
3,785
Location
New Hampshire
Website
madhousemanor.wordpress.com
momwrites said:
I have a question though-has anyone resubmitted their PA book with a different title and changes made to the manuscript, to another publisher? Would it be breaching your contract by doing that? Think about it: its under a different title and the contect has been changed, albeit small changes, but changes nontheless.

That woudln't be a very good idea, Mom ... if you're going to make changes, make them substantial changes, and tell your new publisher what's up. Honesty is the best policy.

I have to ask, how tight a series is this you're talking about? I mean, are the two books stand-alones that happen to share a couple of characters, or is it a continuing story?

You might talk with a lawyer well-versed in publishing law about how to break your contract.

(If anyone has resubmitted their PA book with a different title and changes made to the manuscript to another publisher, they'd be a fool to admit it.)
 

keltora

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
212
Reaction score
68
Location
East Tennessee
Website
www.sff.net
Moondancer said:
If you have webstats, you might be able to get a decent "guesstimate" from the number of people hitting the download. It won't be highly accurate, but pretty close.

Well, the closest I can come is that there have been over 2000 hits on my website since Travis Tea was born.

OTOH, I think a large part of those are there because a) I was a guest at a convention recently (and attendees tend to want to see what the writer is about) and b) a writer I have admired for years and now count as a friend has added me to her links page, and she probably gets far more hits than I do...

But again, I would not say all of those had downloaded or even visited the links.

Laura J. Underwood (A Little Bit of Travis Tea--My ATLANTA NIGHTS can poke out your EYE OF ARGON any day!)

DRAGON'S TONGUE forthcoming from Meisha Merlin in the Summer of 2006. Preview a copy at http://www.embiid.net.

 

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
13,952
Reaction score
1,745
Location
Coastal Desert
AngelEyes said:
...I request you leave this message up so that all may see that I was published in October and four months later I'm here among the same people I argue with while defending Publish America to say you were right
Welcome, Rose. I'm sorry you had to learn the hard way.
 

momwrites

Queen of 80's Music
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 8, 2005
Messages
165
Reaction score
18
Location
fly-over country
Website
www.xmission.com
Thanks Sheryl and the other posters. I had turned down three other publishers because of their strict contracts. Don't ask me why I didn't do the same thing with PA.

So, do I just chalk up this book or better yet the entire trilogy because of PA? I invested years in these books and now that a TRADITIONAL publisher is interested in them, I can't get my rights back with the first one!!

I seriously am thinking of changing the title, revising it and sending it to another publisher. After all, its not the same book. :)


Sheryl Nantus said:
first, welcome to all the new PA authors!
:hi:
second - YOU DID NOTHING WRONG.

I feel this needs to be said because at some point you will sit there and stare into the mirror and wonder what sort of idiot you were to allow yourself to be scammed. After all, who gets taken in by a junk outfit like PublishAmerica, right?

YOU DID NOTHING WRONG.

except, perhaps, to trust in a company to keep their promises to you and to deliver what they had said on their website and in their forums.

YOU DID NOTHING WRONG.

and now you're here, among friends. Been there, done that, been banned and now gotten a few paltry royalty checks.

grab a Krispy Kreme and an Icee, curl up on the fat old comfy couch and stay a bit... plenty to chat about here with other PA authors and published professionals who can give you tons of advice on how the REAL publishing world works.
:kiss:
 

AnneMarble

Nefarious Ghost Fan
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
2,922
Reaction score
3,044
Location
MD
Website
gorokandwulf.blogspot.com
CACTUSWENDY said:
I live in the Phoenix Metro area and in today's paper, 3-7-05, a Tempe area girl of 14 became a 'published' author. At first I was excited, until I read down at the bottom of the page,-- "publish america". The little girl found the Publisher all by herself. (sigh) Her book, Fairy Kisses and Pixie Dust, was written when she was 13.
It breaks my heart. :Smack:

That is sad. And it makes me angry that PA would do that. This is me, doling out punishment ---> :whip:

I seem to remember reading (somewhere in this thread) that PA is one of the only printers of this sort that allows minors to sign up with them. Maybe the only one. The vanity presses (that is, the ones honest enough to admit that they have a fee instead of hiding their fees) don't do this.

A year or so ago, I saw a post on an SF publisher's message board where a teen-aged girl was upset because she had sent her fantasy novel to a publisher, and was offered a contract. But when the publisher learned she was 13 years old, they turned around and rejected her. It turned out to be PA, and boy was she lucky. It looks like they've changed their policy -- maybe they realized that relatives are more likely to fork out money to buy a teen-aged relative's books. Or maybe in the other case, they were able to get the girl's parents to sign the contract for her. :(
 

keltora

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
212
Reaction score
68
Location
East Tennessee
Website
www.sff.net
Now, now, now... Didn't your Mom ever tell you it's not nice to shoot your eye out.

:Sun:

Welcome.

Laura J. Underwood (A Little Bit of Travis Tea--My ATLANTA NIGHTS can poke out your EYE OF ARGON any day!)

DRAGON'S TONGUE forthcoming from Meisha Merlin in the Summer of 2006. Preview a copy at http://www.embiid.net.


momwrites said:
I am/was a disgruntled author of PA and want to shoot my eye out for being so blind as to what PA does!!
 

Sher2

Auroraless ExPAtriate
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
1,400
Reaction score
396
Website
freewebs.com
Kevin Yarbrough said:
And, I want to join in on the Kripsy Kreme Cult. Just think, if things got to bad you wouldn't have to drink the Kool-Aid, they would poison the donuts. Ahhhh, what a nice, peaceful, tasty way to go.

Donuts, arhhhhhh (drool).
Kevin, I'm thinking we could start our own cult. There would be no Kool-Aid in the Kult of the Krispy Kreme. Your eyes might glaze over from sugar OD, but it won't poison you. Oh, and we'd have some of Christine's brownies, too, just to keep things lively. There will be absolutely no book peddling! No mortgaging the house to buy, buy, buy the book you can already quote in your sleep. And no Enforcers. 'Ya think? ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.