The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

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Lady of Prose

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Ah, yes. Thanks Ann. I remeber it was an interesting case. I couldn't remember the name Deering, but knew it was part of Sovereign Publication.

As I recall all the authors got their rights back about 2 years after the judgement and sentence was handed down.
 

Dawno

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Delivery estimate: December 13, 2005

* 1 of: Ten Percent of Nothing: The Case of the Literary Agent from Hell

I think it's because one of the other books I ordered doesn't come out till December that my order is pending.
 

JohnJStephens

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aruna said:
John, I know you deny it but are you sure you are not the John Stevens?
Unfortunately not. You have no idea how difficult it was for me to even get such basic info as Wee Willie's date of birth. I suspect my illustrious namesake would have no such problems, as would any current or ex-policeman.

I do have some interesting contacts, though :)
 

underthecity

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Recent Goliath Reviews

There are a couple of recent "reviews" of the Goliath book up on Amazon. One is by the author of Las Cruces, which mentions his book twice. He draws parallels to Lewis and Clark's expedition and their book which they apparently paid to get published. What does that have to do with modern book publishing and PA? I'm still scratching my head about that. The "review" reads more like his discussion on why PA isn't all so bad, and has very little, if anything, to do with Goliath. And yet, Jenna's review was edited in four places.

The other review, put up on September 18, is an author's discussion on why he doesn't recommend PA. Goliath is not mentioned at all.

Positive or negative, the reviews aren't helping Goliath's sales, with its current ranking of over 2 million.

Jenna bought a copy of Goliath with the intention of circulating it among AWers. How's that going?

allen
 

Jaws

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Lady of Prose said:
As I recall all the authors got their rights back about 2 years after the judgement and sentence was handed down.
That's not quite right. The rights were returned upon the judgment. It took some time for some of the writers to get their manuscripts back, but that was just the return of the physical copies. It also took (and continues to take) time to get the restitution to the writers.
 

Lady of Prose

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Thanks Jaws, for that clarification.
 

Bufty

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http://bb.publishamerica.com/viewtopic.php?t=7904

Boy, is Ronald getting a load of encouraging replies here! And this young lady from cuckoo-land is really determined to display her ignorance.

hi there,

my book is in process of being published too! its called Flame, Prince of Accerion and is a childrens or adults adventure fantasy. i have been writing it since i was eleven years old, and two years ago decided it was finished and sent it to about twenty publishers all around the UK, every one of them told me they only accept published authors. catch 22 or what. PA give people like you and me a chance, they are that big and succesful that they can afford to gamble on unpublished authors like us, in a hope we will sell our books, as they get quite a large amount of the profit each book sells - i personally think this is a fantastic relationship.

As for self promotion, i also think its going to be good, but hard work. just write a list of everywhere you want to sell your book and go from there. Best of luck with everything! xx
 
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priceless1

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http://bb.publishamerica.com/viewtopic.php?t=7904
PA give people like you and me a chance, they are that big and succesful that they can afford to gamble on unpublished authors like us, in a hope we will sell our books, as they get quite a large amount of the profit each book sells - i personally think this is a fantastic relationship.
I daresay that PA finds this relationship equally fantastic. The author promotes, distributes, buys and sells the books and PA kicks back and rings up the charges on the author's credit card. Why do people think this is okay? After all, one wouldn't work for free and allow their boss to take in all the profits.
 

Aconite

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priceless1 said:
I daresay that PA finds this relationship equally fantastic. The author promotes, distributes, buys and sells the books and PA kicks back and rings up the charges on the author's credit card. Why do people think this is okay? After all, one wouldn't work for free and allow their boss to take in all the profits.
*gasp* But this is about Art! This is about the supreme kewlness of being Published! Chicks just love that Published thing. Work is not sexy. Chicks do not dig you for working and getting paid. That's so normal. Art is about suffering by schlepping your own books around in your backpack and trying to sell them to people at stoplights and people rejecting you because you are too innovative and radical. Chicks dig that, because suffering for Art is kewl.
 

Lady of Prose

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The whole thread makes me ill.
 

xhouseboy

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Bufty - that probably should have read as follows:

PA give people like you and me a shafting, they are that slimy and amoral that they can't not afford to gamble on unpublished authors like us, in a hope we will buy and keep buying our books, as they get the only real profits each book sells - i personally think this is a fantastic relationship as I'm absolutely blinkered to reality.
 

Canada James

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Answers for a PA Author

1. Does Publish America except everyone? I thought it was weird that they excepted me right away.

Their selection process is a bit of a mystery, but if you want to see an example of the quality of book they'll accept check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Nights

2. I know everything they told me, but once my book is released, how many places online will be selling my book?

Your book will be listed everywhere online. But so is Atlanta Nights.

3. Also I live in Boston; I plan on sending out emails to every major city news media and radio stations, (why not?) But what is the best way to get my book into book stores? And do lots of writers walk into books stores and ask to be on the shelves of the store as well?

Lots of self-published authors walk into book stores to sell their books. The best way to get your book stocked nationally is to get your publisher to develop a catalogue and hire a sales team like other publishers have.

4. If a book store decides they want my book, can the book store order the books from Publish America (whatever amount they need) and at no cost to me will Publish America send my books to the book store?

They can order the books from PA, but they will be charged nonstandard shipping fees that will lower their profit margin considerably. They will also be expected to provide a credit card number, which a lot of bookstores are leery about doing with a company they don't normally deal with.

Also from that thread:

3) Shelf space is often sold (rented) to publishers (just like your grocery store). Thus, don't expect to get on a shelf unless you do bring attention to yourself. Don't think it is a problem with PA however, as I know a few who are published with small publishers that also have to fight to get their books in stores.

Shelf space is not sold or rented. Display space is sold and rented.

Shelf space is reserved for books that have standard returns policies, competitive pricing, and high editorial standards.

4) Oh, yes. And a bookstore is more likely to do so since the books are now returnable.

Is your book returnable?

7) It depends on the bookstore. Some might order copies of your books, and others might ask you to bring copies (it depends on a number of factors).

The factors are as above:
Standard shipping fees, standard return policy, competitive pricing, high editorial standards.

C. James
 

LloydBrown

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No peep from our troll Peekay for six days now. I guess that settles the issue of his true intentions. The last was his silly claim about royalties only showing up once a year. Maybe he actually *read* his contract and realized that he'd been shafted.

Or he might only get a check once a year in his contract--maybe that's why he got five free books instead of PA's normal two. He thinks he pulled one over on 'em.
 

mdin

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For some reason the latest new releases on PA's homepage include 20-30 books from the previous batch of new releases. Weird.

Anyway, I think the covers are getting worse. This batch is obscenely mediocre, even by PA's standards. I suspect the cover artists are being pinched for time.
 

SeanDSchaffer

Now this just makes my morning!

I went over to the PA page for the first time in who knows how long, and what should I see on the Author Information Page, but the words "#1 book publisher in the nation."

How on Earth do they come up with that? Unless they figure a large number of PO'd authors among their ranks, I don't see how that can be right.

Then again, we have to consider exactly who we're talking about, here....

:Headbang:
 
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Gratian Gasparri

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SeanDSchaffer said:
I went over to the PA page for the first time in who knows how long, and what should I see on the Author Information Page, but the words "#1 book publisher in the nation."

How on Earth do they come up with that?

Simple. I am told that most of their titles sell 1 copy! :idea:
 

James D. Macdonald

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Sparhawk said:
This may not apply to the non-professional or the casual submitter of prose. I would love to be able to write for money. My royalty checks have allowed me to purchase two blueberry muffins, a $1.50 cent rubber ball, a pocket camera (disposable), two French Vanilla Iced Coffee's and a hotwheels car for my daughter. My book has been out for two royalty periods. <<OK, stop laughing now : ) >>;)

The reason we talk about money is because money is easy to count.

Writers want to be read.

There's a positive correlation between how much you're paid and how many readers you have.

No money = no readers. No readers = no money.
 

Jean Marie

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Yeah, apparently it is a war out there, which is why we don't need one in here. *ahem* this is the nepat aimed at PA not the authors. Why oh why can't some get that through their heads. Can't quote someone anymore...let's just leave the individual author attacks out of the commentary. I believe, we as a group are above that, are we not?
 

James D. Macdonald

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SeanDSchaffer said:
I went over to the PA page for the first time in who knows how long, and what should I see on the Author Information Page, but the words "#1 book publisher in the nation."

How on Earth do they come up with that?

They don't have the greatest number of sales, the greatest number of authors, the most award winners, the widest distribution, or the highest advances.

They claim to send out more contracts per day than any "traditional" publisher.

No, I'm not making that up.
 
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