The New Never-Ending PublishAmerica Thread (NEPAT)

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allenparker

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I disagree

sanremoave, PA books, for the most part, appear to be first drafts. They're worse than the slushpile. They're the slushpile before editing and revising

I disagree. PA books are the slush pile. No more. No less. There are some good books among the crowd. There are some fixable books among them. There might even be a nudist among them. And then there is the gawd awlful, can't be fixed, never should have been written books that every slush pile contains.

All slush piles contain mud and other earthly fertilizers. In them are some rare gems, nice hardwoods, food, and an occasional roll in the hay.


Perhaps Nomad, Lynn Price, or some other wonderful publisher person will set us straight.
 

TracySutterer & GaryRogers

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DSM Poster On PAMB

DSM. I am calling you out. Apparently you have not seen the light or have chosen to ignored it. Wind-bag? Yes, indeed. When you have received at least one or two royalty statements that are a mere pittance of what you should actually be receiving and or a few $0.00 checks, then maybe every negative word that has been written about PublishAmerica will sink into that calcified brain that resides in your scull or south of the boarder down your back; you know, the place on your body that you sit on...

Gary Rogers
 
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Claudia Gray

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I disagree. PA books are the slush pile. No more. No less. There are some good books among the crowd. There are some fixable books among them. There might even be a nudist among them. And then there is the gawd awlful, can't be fixed, never should have been written books that every slush pile contains.


I think that PA is comparable to, but less than, the slush pile at a reputable agency. Why? Because writers who have taken the time to do their homework -- i.e., the people who are investing the most in their writing, in terms of time, energy, and research -- probably aren't going to bother with PA. That investment doesn't guarantee quality of writing, of course, but as a general rule, careful, thoughtful authors produce better work than impatient ones.

There are good-to-fixable works that come through PA, but that's PA taking advantage of people's newness to the industry, I think; it's a point against PA, not for it, IMHO.

ETA: There ARE teenage and even child authors who have written memorable books -- The Outsiders, for instance, or even one of my favorites when I was a kid, She Was Nice to Mice. Like most things, writing improves with practice and perspective, but that doesn't mean that younger authors can't have real talent and inspiration.
 
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Rolling Thunder

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Interestingly enough, many of the points made about PA are summed up in the book by Pat Walsh; 78 Reasons why your book may never be published & 14 Reasons why it just might.

Chapters 38 and 39 spell it all out; right down to the fact that the POD never takes any risk on signing a writer to a contract.
 

Tina

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Absolutely

Interestingly enough, many of the points made about PA are summed up in the book by Pat Walsh; 78 Reasons why your book may never be published & 14 Reasons why it just might.

Chapters 38 and 39 spell it all out; right down to the fact that the POD never takes any risk on signing a writer to a contract.

I'm so glad somebody mentioned this book. I'm reading it now for the second time. It's funny and direct, telling the kind of truths PA twists like a pretzel.
 

James D. Macdonald

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By the time he was 30 John Keats had been dead for four years.

Which is all off-topic for PA.

More on-topic: PA has a long history of not paying royalties that are owed. I've seen reports dating back years of authors who bought large numbers of books through bookstores (and thus should have been due royalties) who were never paid those royalties.
 

e.dashwood

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By the time he was 30 John Keats had been dead for four years.

Which is all off-topic for PA.

More on-topic: PA has a long history of not paying royalties that are owed. I've seen reports dating back years of authors who bought large numbers of books through bookstores (and thus should have been due royalties) who were never paid those royalties.

PA customers have to agree to arbitration, right?

But does this prevent them from becoming a class for a class-action suit?
 

Tina

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Does a great service for PA

DSM. I am calling you out. Apparently you have not seen the light or have chosen to ignored it. Wind-bag? Yes, indeed. When you have received at least one or two royalty statements that are a mere pittance of what you should actually be receiving and or a few $0.00 checks, then maybe every negative word that has been written about PublishAmerica will sink into that calcified brain that resides in your scull or south of the boarder down your back; you know, the place on your body that you sit on...

Gary Rogers

If you're speaking of whom I'm think, he continues to mislead and misinform.

Isn't that complicity?

When PA does finally see the day that their business practices (and maybe even their business) is curtailed by gov't at the state and/or federal level, do these cheerleading masters of b.s. really want to have to answer a LOT of questions?
 

Sassenach

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I wonder if the PAMB posters--especially its long-term denizens--are representative of the average PA author. I hope not, since their unwillingness to acknowledge the truth about PA is more than troubling.

Pipe smoker is a relative newcomer, but French grandma's been there for years. I notice that Mr. I Can Cure You [of being gay] isn't around much anymore.
 

James D. Macdonald

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PA customers have to agree to arbitration, right?

But does this prevent them from becoming a class for a class-action suit?

The contract specifies that authors have to use arbitration (which is actually cheaper and easier than many realize).

I'm told that PA authors don't form a "class" for the purposes of class-action suits.
 

Sparhawk

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"There's a sucker born every minute" -PT Barnum

Sadly the above quote is very true. As long as there's a populace to be scammed Publish America will remain in existance. Sadly, local law enforcement and the governmental agencies designed to protect the consumer seem to have fallen short regarding this establishment.

The best we can do is to continue to spread the word. I sincerely beleive PA is feeling the pinch and cite the action against Ms. Norris as proof. PA reads this forum, they know the players here and I'd assume they know most of our real names. THey know who'se an ex PAvidian and who isn't. They have an idea of who'se bulletproof and who may be able to be intimidated.

They'll unleash thier bought and paid for legal mouse when threatened with the facts as presented by an outspoken member of this forum. If they had any real fortitiude, they'd post here and refute everything. What better way to silence the critics than to step into the fray and state their case. Sadly this will never occur, PA knows they'd lose. It's easier to simply keep the scam going and lob a bomb here once in awhile to upset the ant hill and distract us form our goal.

As long as there are writers to scam, there will always be a Publish America. Hopefully we can minimize the damage they cause and the hurt they inflcit on new writers.
 

e.dashwood

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...they know the players here and I'd assume they know most of our real names.

I sincerely hope not, and don't see how they would unless a poster included indentifiable material such as name of PA book, for example. You don't have to provide your name to register at AW.

So unless PA is doing some serious illegal hacking, I'd like to presume I'm at least as anonymous here as my screen name, firewall, antiphishing, and other security measures will make me.

Do I have to sign up for anonymizer to feel secure?
 
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James D. Macdonald

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Many of us use our real names.

Many ex- and like-to-be-ex- PA authors mention the titles of their PA books (by way of establishing their bona fides).

Truly anonymous posters have a bit of a credibility problem.
 

Sparhawk

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Many of us use our real names.

Many ex- and like-to-be-ex- PA authors mention the titles of their PA books (by way of establishing their bona fides).

Truly anonymous posters have a bit of a credibility problem.

My point exactly Uncle Jim. PA knows the players here; the ones who cause them the most indigestion anyway. I know, for a fact, that Publish America knows me. "Willem, Larry, Mo... WAAAAAAAAAAASUP!!!"
 

ResearchGuy

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PA customers have to agree to arbitration, right?. . .
PA authors have to agree to that as part of the contract. Not so for customers.

A PA author is in a business-to-business relationship with PA via a contract. That is why consumer-protection agencies will not deal with PA author complaints. (Like it or not, authors as such are businesses, and having signed a publishing contract, even with a shabby outfit like PublishAmerica, they are in a business-to-business relationship. I know some folks here want to dispute that, but it is a plain fact.)

A customer might be, for example, Jane Doe, who has ordered a copy of a PA book by her cousin John Doe. That is a whole different matter. If PA does not deliver the book, then THAT is a matter for a consumer complaint.

--Ken
 

DaveKuzminski

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I'm certain PA knows about me since I'm probably one of their earliest critics, maybe even the first. In the meantime, I've done my best to let them know they're being watched. In fact, every time I learn of a copyright infringement and report it, I tell the copyright owner(s) that they're more than welcome to mention my name when they correspond with PA to halt the violations. So, if they didn't mention me, PA, you're probably right most of the time if you credit me with turning you in. Now if I can just find an email address for Disney's legal staff, I'll be reporting another real soon. Then I'll sit back and enjoy the show.
 

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While laws vary, I believe that generally the most Jane could recover would be the cost of the book.
That sounds exactly right. Jane might also be able to put a ding on PA's record with BBB by filing a complaint of non-delivery of ordered/paid merchandise. Enough of those should add up (not holding my breath, though . . . ). But poor John (the hypothecated author) is out of luck with his complaints about lack of visibility of the book in the trade, crummy editing, cruddy dealings with bookstore signings, etc.

--Ken
 

allenparker

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I couldn't stop myself...

That sounds exactly right. Jane might also be able to put a ding on PA's record with BBB by filing a complaint of non-delivery of ordered/paid merchandise. Enough of those should add up (not holding my breath, though . . . ). But poor John (the hypothecated author) is out of luck with his complaints about lack of visibility of the book in the trade, crummy editing, cruddy dealings with bookstore signings, etc.

--Ken

What about Spot? Doesn't anyone care that the poor dog that doesn't have any reading material for those long sessions in the back yard.

And then there's Dick. If he has already separated from Jane, then that's one thing. But if they are still together, and she is telling the kids that John is their "Uncle," shouldn't we do something for him?



Off topic? No way. It is the plot to the newest PA book offering, "Darfing with Dick, Jane, and John."

<Allen ducks as he leaves the room, followed closely by Uncle Jim's lead-lined hard cover copy of Land of Mist and Snow.>
 

Glenda

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Many of us use our real names.

Many ex- and like-to-be-ex- PA authors mention the titles of their PA books (by way of establishing their bona fides).

Truly anonymous posters have a bit of a credibility problem.
__________________


I used my real name, because I wanted everyone that read to know what a scam that PA is. What they promised me and what I got was two different things. When I signed up with them I didn’t know about the publishing business. They have changed up their website a lot since I let them have my rights, thinking my book was being published and it would be in book stores from shore to shore and border to border and if it did well, across the ocean and different language it would go. When I first heard about PA I went into denial, because who wants their dream crushed, bubble popped, everything they worked hard for coming crushing down around them. I had rather got a rejection than to think I was going to think I wrote a book that was so good a publisher wanted it. It was like I was high in a hot air balloon that started falling in spurts as I came crashing down. First I found out they published anything, which took the special right out of my book. Than I found out they put such an outlandish price to an oversized book, that nobody would buy, me being an unknown author. Then when I got the cover art and didn't want it, they would not change it. And the two books I got had so many mistakes in it and they refuse to fix them. Some that was not there with the original submitting. They do not work with the authors in the publishing or the promotion. Printing and selling to the authors is all they do. Ok, I’m getting off my soap box now.
 
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BeeBomb

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Ya, Dave! I just found the legal address to Disney. Yahoo-->Type in Disneyland Corporate Office. Scroll down to #5. Dear Disneyland.
Hope it helps.

Joyce Rapier
FULL CIRCLE, Champagne Publishing
www.authorsden.com/joycelrapier

P.S. It gives fax numbers
 
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