The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

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keltora

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Speaking of Larry, he apparently chose to drop his drawers again in response to the LA Times article.

A friend shared the article with me. He is claiming that all the publicity has increased his flock by 40%.

Surely, people have more sense.

He also admits: "It is true that PublishAmerica initially accepted the manuscript based on a quick skim of the contents, and just as true that when we actually began reading the manuscript, we set it aside in horror. No matter. Travis Tea's cohorts caught us in the most uncomfortable position of initially accepting a book that would never be printed. "

What a maroon...

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 the novel at Embiid.net
 

Renee

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Ed Williams said:
1. After reading all the comments here over the past couple of days about the use of the word, PAvidian, and after taking some time to think things out, I now better understand how hurtful that term is to some people affiliated with PublishAmerica. I won't use it here, or in my writings in the future - Jenna is right, our job is to encourage, not to say things that could put people down. I guess I just get so damned mad sometimes at what goes on over at PA that passion overrides my common sense, which is not a first for me (and thank God, it's been a great quality to have in some cases
devil-smiley-040.gif
). Anyway, the word won't cross my lips or fingers again, and I'm truly sorry for anyone I may have offended.

2. Bonnie, you are one classy lady. It's an honor to have you here with us, I hope you will post often, and you need to check your inbox, I just sent you a message a little while ago.

3. I just got an invite to speak to the Atlanta Kiwanis Club, they are the biggest Kiwanis organization in the South - YESSSS!

More later...


Well said Ed. It's nice to see you around here. And congratulations on the invitation to speak at Atlanta Kiwanis Club!
 
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DaveKuzminski

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Well, let's face it. If Larry was caught in a trap by one arm, he'd chew off his legs and other arm first before admitting he got caught. ;)
 

realitychuck

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Ed Williams said:
...is eighty-two, wonder if this is a trend that's going to hold up, or better yet, get worse?
Just for fun, let's assume it continues.

82 x 52 = 4264 books per year.

PA says bookstores order 300 books a day.

300 x 365 = 109,500 books per year

Number of new titles ordered per bookstore placing orders: 26

That's one new PA book ordered every two weeks by bookstores that order PA titles.
 

James D. Macdonald

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keltora said:
He also admits: "It is true that PublishAmerica initially accepted the manuscript based on a quick skim of the contents, and just as true that when we actually began reading the manuscript, we set it aside in horror. No matter. Travis Tea's cohorts caught us in the most uncomfortable position of initially accepting a book that would never be printed. "

Where's the dear boy say this?
 

Deleted member 42

While I'm thinking about it, I wanted to make sure people made a distinction between Lightning Source and PublishAmerica.

Lightning Source has, in my experience, been wonderful to deal with -- I've worked with them to print software and hardware manuals, and they couldn't have been more professional.

They provide a service to PublishAmerica, but are not otherwise connected to them.
 

James D. Macdonald

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realitychuck said:
That's one new PA book ordered every two weeks by bookstores that order PA titles.

Do you think that they'll really be able to double the number of books that they sell through bookstores, all without publicity and marketing, with the same cruddy discount and lack of returns, while the word about PublishAmerica is spreading so rapidly?
 

Ed Williams

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Potential contract violation....

Message:
According to my contracts, royalties are to be paid to the author in the months of August and February. Not September or March.

However, with so many authors I'm sure they are swamped. But I think it would be best if PA started earlier so they would be honoring their contract.
</FONT>
If memory serves me correctly, PA is supposed to pay out royalties in August and February, although my guess would be that if the checks were postmarked on 2/28/05 that they would still technically be in compliance.

Wonder how long this posting will stay up? The complete thread for this tender discussion is located at:

http://www.publishamerica.com/cgi-bin/pamessageboard/data/main/11732.htm

P.S. Zaz, what lovely poetry, I am still dabbing my eyes over it....
 

astonwest

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Royalties

Ed Williams said:
If memory serves me correctly, PA is supposed to pay out royalties in August and February, although my guess would be that if the checks were postmarked on 2/28/05 that they would still technically be in compliance.
I think I said the same thing a few pages back...oops, yeah, I did...

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=109912&postcount=8885

Big Daddy West said:
But as I mentioned before, royalty checks will most likely get mailed out on the last possible day...
 

DaveKuzminski

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realitychuck said:
That's one new PA book ordered every two weeks by bookstores that order PA titles.

You mean that store hasn't given up yet trying to get that one book? Man, that's persistence and service above and beyond the call of duty for just one customer. ;)
 

Ed Williams

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Big Daddy, you are dead on, but since...

...it's the last day of February, it's probably not a bad idea to reinterate the point. So, for all you PA authors out there who are reading this, your publisher is perilously close to not paying royalties in a timely way. Y'all might want to contact them and see what the scoop is, or maybe the all knowing "Infocenter" can shed some light on the situation...

action-smiley-035.gif
 

eighter

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PA jokes

Since Dave is making jokes and making me laugh, I will try to say nice things about PA.

Just think of how many incompetent people would be unemployed if not for PA.

What does PA's telephone answering machine say?

Don't take that tone with me.

Nobody will call you back. Why do you keep calling?

If you think our author support team is uncivil, unwilling to help and totally stupid, wait and I'll transfer you to management so you will have a greater appreciation for the author support team.

Molly
 

realitychuck

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James D. Macdonald said:
Do you think that they'll really be able to double the number of books that they sell through bookstores, all without publicity and marketing, with the same cruddy discount and lack of returns, while the word about PublishAmerica is spreading so rapidly?
They're not actually doubling. Instead of using the 10,000 happy authors number, I used the actual number of books published in a year, which is a little less than half that. I figure that a book usually reaches its market in the first year, so the number of books is a better indicator. A happy author of three years ago is not likely to have any books ordered this year.

As far as numbers are concerned, Jim, you probably have single books that have sold more copies than the sales of at least 80% of all PA authors -- combined. I'm also willing to bet that Ann Crispin has a least one title that has sold more copies than all the books sold by PA so far.
 

Ed Williams

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Infocenter just responded re royalties!

Message:
From Par. 12 of your contract: "The Publisher agrees to render and forward to the Author, in the months of February and August next succeeding the date of publication of the said literary work, and thereafter semi-annual statements of account for so long as copies of the work subject to royalty are sold."

All royalty statements and checks were mailed February 28 at 2:30PM EST.

See our motto at the top of this page: "We treat our authors the old-fashioned way -- we pay them." And always in time, we might add.
Wowwww, am I wielding some sort of weird PAranormal power here, re beaming out my thoughts all the way up to Maryland? Or am I tired, old, and letting my fingers walk on this keyboard before my mind is fully engaged? Hmmmm, don't none of y'all answer that!
 

Savannah Blue

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Hi Molly!

eighter said:
Since Dave is making jokes and making me laugh, I will try to say nice things about PA.

Just think of how many incompetent people would be unemployed if not for PA.

What does PA's telephone answering machine say?

Don't take that tone with me.

Nobody will call you back. Why do you keep calling?

If you think our author support team is uncivil, unwilling to help and totally stupid, wait and I'll transfer you to management so you will have a greater appreciation for the author support team.


Molly


Good to see you here. Hope you will be able to come back more often.
:Hug2:
 

mdin

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Ed Williams said:
Wowwww, am I wielding some sort of weird PAranormal power here, re beaming out my thoughts all the way up to Maryland? Or am I tired, old, and letting my fingers walk on this keyboard before my mind is fully engaged? Hmmmm, don't none of y'all answer that!


I'm having total deja vu right now. These exact same threads were popping up left and right this time just six months ago (with the same Logo responses), but these are all different people. This next week is always the big turning point.

It's kinda sad, too. Lots of people go into shock when they get that first check.
 

mdin

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This day in PA's history

Just another post in my continuing series on PA's history (i.e. Bored at Work and They Won't Let Me Write, but They Will Let Me Surf)

Here are some of the original help wanted ads for PA.
 

James D. Macdonald

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realitychuck said:
They're not actually doubling. Instead of using the 10,000 happy authors number, I used the actual number of books published in a year, which is a little less than half that. I figure that a book usually reaches its market in the first year, so the number of books is a better indicator. A happy author of three years ago is not likely to have any books ordered this year.

I wasn't coming at it from the Happy Author side. I was doing number of bookstores and number of alleged sales. That comes out to around 14 books/year/store. To get to 26 books/year/store the authors are going to have to really hustle. But I can't see that near-doubling happen. The number of bookstores who are familiar with PA is increasing, which will decrease the number of places that PA authors will be welcome, while the PA practices of high price/short discount/no returns won't change.

As far as numbers are concerned, Jim, you probably have single books that have sold more copies than the sales of at least 80% of all PA authors -- combined. I'm also willing to bet that Ann Crispin has a least one title that has sold more copies than all the books sold by PA so far.

Very likely, Chuck. Heck, Atlanta Nights is selling better than most PA books.
 

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Notice that PA does not use its company logo I.D. in the solicitation for employess and also mentions that it is in good standing with the BBB. They are seeking "freelance" proof readers to "reliably" proof and edit books. Why are they trying to come off as a huge internet concern since 1989, when in fact they are soliciting for employees to house in their Print Company?

When was this ad on NetCrafters posted?

Tri
 

KellyS.

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I prefer the term print due to the fact that PA didn't actually read my book. No one even knew, as far as I know, whether my book was even decent enough to publish. Yes, someone edited my book with an editing program. I would bet money that person who did edit it couldn't even tell you what my book was about. I think of a published book as one that someone in the publishing business felt deserved a chance because it was a good book and had sales potential. I don't believe PA thought it was good, but that it had a profit potential for them within my circle of family and friends. They simply printed for profit without any care for the content in my opinion.

It's late and I'm not sure if that sort of answers your question at all. I just wanted to clear up my reasoning for the preference. I doubt my reasoning would fit well in general posts about print vs. publish though. lol


NicoleJLeBoeuf said:
For obvious reasons, I'm not in a position to be picky over the words used here, so I'll bow to your preference. But at the same time, I'd hate to even appear to support the "Publish on Demand v. Print on Demand" distinction-without-a-difference to which PA clings so tenuously--and ingenuously.

That said, there may be someone more knowledgeable than I reading this thread now who can offer a technical and objective difference between the terms "print" and "publish" as regards turning manuscripts into bound hard copy. My own instincts would say that the difference is whether the product is offered for sale; thus, Kinko's prints and PA publishes (albeit badly and dishonestly). Would someone with a trustworthy dictionary care to comment?

Which leads me to wonder: is there a single other publishing house out there, be it mainstream or small, commercial or vanity, to which its authors are made to feel that they must declare their loyalty? I mean, I'm betting that if someone out there started trash-talking Tor, then a few Tor authors might politely (or im-, depending) come on over and correct the miscreant's correctable statements, but I can't see Tor-published authors being afraid to speak their minds for fear of seeming "disloyal."
 

NancyMehl

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Oh my...

Ed Williams said:
...is eighty-two, wonder if this is a trend that's going to hold up, or better yet, get worse?

http://www.publishamerica.com/weeklybooks.htm

Next to a religious book titled "Empty Manger and Other Stories" is a book titled "Erotic Confessions." May I say that this is a perfect example of the PA mindset.

If you pointed out that this is probably an inappropriate placement...I doubt they would understand why. :crazy:

Sigh.

Onward and upward PA.

And don't take that tone with ME!!!!! (Wow. That felt good! LOL!) :Clap:

Nancy
 

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James D. Macdonald said:
Very likely, Chuck. Heck, Atlanta Nights is selling better than most PA books.

I wrote two PDF products for a very small RPG company. One is 10 pages; another is 7. They each sell for less than $2. I suspect that I've already made more money in about four months from those two than a lot of PA authors are going to see in their checks next week, and every one of those authors would have worked much harder to produce a book than I did to come up with those small supplements. I am desperately hoping that those royalty checks are a wake-up call for a lot of people, even though I hate that their hard work will be for so little.
 

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JennaGlatzer said:
Ann, I'm so proud of you. :welcome: Oh, and I'm hoping your community will adopt me. I'm in NY, where there are authors on every block, so my local papers/stations/etc. ignore me gleefully.

Jamie Blyth, whose book I co-wrote, has been getting such a fantastic reception in Chicago's media that I'm contemplating moving there instead. The guy sold something like 220 books at his last signing. Can you imagine?

Crunchy Frog, I feel so deceived to learn that you've been using a... a... pseudonym!
Jenna! 220 books? Forget my community--I'm moving to Chicago with you! LOL
 

mdin

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triceretops said:
Notice that PA does not use its company logo I.D. in the solicitation for employess and also mentions that it is in good standing with the BBB. They are seeking "freelance" proof readers to "reliably" proof and edit books. Why are they trying to come off as a huge internet concern since 1989, when in fact they are soliciting for employees to house in their Print Company?

When was this ad on NetCrafters posted?

Tri

Those ads were up there from mid-2000 through 2001 if I remember correctly.
 
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