Got some advice for the PA authors who have their books held hostage, and who have been told to keep writing by the helpful posters on this board:
IT'S EASIER THE SECOND TIME AROUND.
Anyone who has written a second book knows this, but the ones who have only written one may not. And to those who are now having doubts about their abilities because of PA, do what Uncle Jim and everyone else says: write your next book. Start right away. Use the characters out of your first book and put them in all new situations if you have to.
You'll find you're constructing sentences better, remembering the things you did wrong the first time. Dialog is easier to write. Grammar has improved. You catch mistakes as you make them. And editing especially is easier and seems to go more smoothly.
Get a copy of Atlanta Nights and read it carefully, comparing it with your own work. The glaring and obvious mistakes in AN will help you analyze your own manuscript better. I'm serious, it works.
Or consider this: you told the story you wanted to tell in your first book didn't you? Why not try a nonfiction title, like a local interest book or a how-to book? Is there any particular subject you know a lot about? Write about it. Just ask Jenna Glatzer, she's written at least two about subjects she knew a lot about. Nonfiction is easier to write than fiction (but may take a lot of research) and can be a lot of fun. Or write a tell-all book: "How I survived the Clutches of PA and Became a Famous Author." Books like this sell.
Nonfiction authors, even if you say, "I've never done fiction," try it! Write the story you've been carrying inside you all these years. Ask any questions that come up along the way on Uncle Jim's thread. Have some fun with it. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. (Cliche, I know, but it applies.)
You've already written one book. That's a lot of work, but you learned a lot doing it. Whether or not you're fighting to get the rights to your book back shouldn't stop you from writing anyway.
Worst case:
You don't write anything for the next year and work your full time job while fighting with PA, which could go on for a while. In one year: no writing is done. It's just one year later.
OR, you work your full time job, fight PA, and write a little every day in your new WIP, be it fiction or nofiction. In one year: you have a finished manuscript that you are now submitting to publishers. You've beaten PA. Because of them, you will now be published. When you get your book back from PA, rewrite it and submit it to your new publisher. Chances are they'll want it. (You can leave out the fact it was printed by PA. It won't matter.)
I know that your experience is draining, depressing, frustrating, teeth-clenching, tear shedding, and chair throwing. In spite of this, you ARE a writer, and like Billy Crystal says in Throw Momma From the Train: "Writer's write, always."
Don't let this company stop you from pursuing your dream.
Now I should get back to work on my own WIP.
underthecity