The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

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Ken Schneider

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Naw uncle, I'm making my own.

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Publishamerica
Banned me
After I paid for my books
Lucky Me
 

akaa1a

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Well...le Esper/Sparhawk/Hero post est c'est la vie!
Great while it lasted...

This whole affair has given me major goosebumps!:banana: And made me feel like dancin' a bit of a jig!
Thar be pirates in the water folks...and they needs a wee bit a coaxin' to come forth from the slimy depths of Larry, Mo, Curley, Janet, Jessica, Shemp et al.'s (Davey Jones' )Locker!

Now WHERE is that Margarita!
 

MMo

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I have noticed that WalMart is incredibly cheap. I have also wondered about these book clubs where you get 12 for .99. If these top sellers and pulitzer prize winners books are going that cheap how in the world do they get the big royalty checks? I know that they only get a percentage and thru the clubs they are only getting something like 7 cents a book. I see all the top names, King, Patterson and the rest being sold that way. Makes you wonder doesn't it?

Sorry for the cut and paste, but this shows some misunderstanding that really ought to be corrected.

It doesn't matter what price WalMart, et al decides to discount the book. When they sell a book by Harper or Knopf or Harlequin at 25% off (which is the discount in my area), the author still gets the contractual royalty on the price marked on the cover when it was printed, not the price at which WalMart et al sells the book.

When a book from Harper or Knopf or any other legitimate publisher goes to a book club, there is a separate contractual payment, not the royalty from general retail distribution. There is money up front. There may also be money from individual sales in the club. But there is money up front. The author does not get only the minuscule discounted royalty s/he would get from a PA sale.

There! Said.

Mo
 

Ed Williams

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I'm just underlining something Uncle Jim said...

James D. Macdonald said:
The only thing worse than remaining unpublished is being published badly.
This is one of the most important publishing lessons you'll ever learn. Remember it, never forget it, and think about the truths inherent in it....
 

Sher2

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WhisperingBard said:
On the contrary, let's be *really* offensive to Denny Hatch. :D
Yes, let's! He merits a major virtual lynching. He creep as low as Larry. :Hammer:
 

Sher2

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akaa1a said:
Well...le Esper/Sparhawk/Hero post est c'est la vie!
Great while it lasted...

This whole affair has given me major goosebumps!:banana: And made me feel like dancin' a bit of a jig!
Thar be pirates in the water folks...and they needs a wee bit a coaxin' to come forth from the slimy depths of Larry, Mo, Curley, Janet, Jessica, Shemp et al.'s (Davey Jones' )Locker!

Now WHERE is that Margarita!
I'll mix the Margaritas if you'll fetch the planks we're gonna make 'em walk. :snoopy:
 

James D. Macdonald

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Gravity said:
And folks, publishing with a real, honest-to-Pete (whoever he is) publisher works exactly as advertised: the advances, the in-store placements, the numerous author copies, the whole magilla.

We haven't been fibbing to you. Honest. And, John -- could you confirm that you weren't a "name," that you weren't a celebrity, when you got that deal?

Am I causing Grisham or King any sleepless nights?

Nor will you, even if you top the NYT best seller list for forty weeks. All writers know that they can't possibly write enough books in their lifetimes to satisfy a reader for his or her lifetime. We love having other writers feeding the readers' habits, so when our books come out the readers will be in the bookstores looking for more. More writers, more books, more readers. It's really great.

==========

On other matters: Harlequin has a monthly list. The last month's list, those that didn't sell, is taken down to make room for the next month's list. (No need to add fifteen feet of bookshelf!)

The distribution system for mass market paperbacks is exactly the same as the distribution system for Newsweek and TV Guide. They even use the same warehouses and the same trucks. Same exact model.

Now Harlequin sells a ton of books, and they have a ton of new titles ever month. That means they need a lot of new titles every month. Please notice that they don't require authors to be agented to submit -- and Harlequin is up in the top twenty publishing houses in the world. If you can write a Harlequin book -- consider it.
 

mdin

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akaa1a

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http://www.publishamerica.com/cgi-bin/pamessageboard/data/lounge/8781.htm

OK...our future posters are coming out of the water right into safe harbor. Come on you guys and gals...it's all starting to make sense now, right? Take that last step...

BUT....
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I have had people contact me saying their orders haven't come from PA for months. Ordering my own books doesn't seem to be a problem so I don't know what the delay is all about for other orders. Most of my books have been either purchased through a book store or I mail them out for the same price plus they are signed. I know that's probably not good business practices since I don't get any royalties but at least I know people are getting them right away. Obviously my orders aren't so heavy that it keeps me running to the post office every hour. LOL

PA doesn't WANT anyone else to order books...they want YOU to order books!
It's no fuss, no muss, no postage hassle, no angry outsiders expecting good service, and no way that PA can slap customers down like they do their own spawn (that's you and me PA folks)..... and there's probably some convoluted tax advantage to PA if authors purchase their own books.

Prostitution comes to mind...I feel so dirty!

Please...for the love of Hot Dogs and Baseball...RUNNNNNNNN...and if you can't run, then find someone to pick you up and help you RUNNNNNNNN!!!!

And finally, before the Prednisone I'm taking interacts horribly with the Margarita I'm enjoying.....RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN fast!
 

Ken Schneider

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Quote- Jim Mac.Harlequin is up in the top twenty publishing houses in the world. If you can write a Harlequin book -- consider it. -end quote

I did. They said, "You're a man."
I said, "I know, but what about the book?"
They said, "Not bad for a man, but this is a good old girls club."

Rejected by a woman again.
 

Sher2

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DaveKuzminski said:
Nope, you don't make pirates walk the plank. You hang 'em from the yardarm.
Guess I don't have a pirate mentality. Thank God! So, will you get the rope and fix up the noose things? I'll get 'em to the yardarm. :ROFL:
 

Sher2

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akaa1a said:
It's no fuss, no muss, no postage hassle, no angry outsiders expecting good service, and no way that PA can slap customers down like they do their own spawn (that's you and me PA folks)..... and there's probably some convoluted tax advantage to PA if authors purchase their own books.

Prostitution comes to mind...I feel so dirty!

Please...for the love of Hot Dogs and Baseball...RUNNNNNNNN...and if you can't run, then find someone to pick you up and help you RUNNNNNNNN!!!!

And finally, before the Prednisone I'm taking interacts horribly with the Margarita I'm enjoying.....RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN fast!
AKA, you make an excellent point. Outside customers do not fit into PA's business model.

PimpAmerica = prostitution, for sure.

You can hand me the Margarita. It doesn't mix with the Prednisone, you know.
;)
 

DaveKuzminski

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akaa1a said:
PA doesn't WANT anyone else to order books...they want YOU to order books!
It's no fuss, no muss, no postage hassle, no angry outsiders expecting good service, and no way that PA can slap customers down like they do their own spawn (that's you and me PA folks)..... and there's probably some convoluted tax advantage to PA if authors purchase their own books.

And they can even avoid paying that 8% royalty except for those few specials where sales are so slow that they have to offer it.
 

AnneMarble

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Gravity

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James D. Macdonald said:
We haven't been fibbing to you. Honest. And, John -- could you confirm that you weren't a "name," that you weren't a celebrity, when you got that deal?

Nope, a definite "non-name" here. What I did was simply write a (in my humble opinion) better book, got myself a sure-'nuff non-fee-charging agent who was open to taking on a newbie (and the transmutation of base metal into gold would have been an easier task than that, I can assure you), and she then started sending the silly thing out. After a bit of time had passed, and many a fingernail had been gnawed (mine and hers), a good house bit.

That's it.

No, "we treat our authors the old-fashioned way", no collaring of reluctant friends and relations to purchase my tome, because "cousin John done went and wrote hisself a BOOK!", no pleading with recalcitrant bookstore managers, none of it. It was like I died and went to glory.

Ain't that something?

John




==========
 

Ken Schneider

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Oh how happy I am to have you on my side now, or to be on your side.

Too funny Jim.
K.A. Schneider
Kelly ann
 

AnneMarble

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Gravity said:
Am I causing Grisham or King any sleepless nights? Not yet, but they can hear me rattling their window latch (assuming they sleep in the same bed; egads).

:faint: :Wha: :scared: Egads indeed!

To keep this on topic... At least you're (even more!) living proof that there is life after PA. :D
 

Sher2

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James D. Macdonald said:
You've heard of pseudonyms? That's what they were made for. (Just like you can't write hairy-chested men's action adventure if you're a girl -- unless you want to call yourself Rip Steelman, that is.)
Dean Koontz wrote a number of his old books under female pseudonyms; it's a definite option.
 

SeanDSchaffer

Oops.

ResearchGuy said:
FYI FWIW, what one does with the Copyright Office is to register the copyright, not buy it. Copyright is automatic when a work takes tangible form. You do not have to pay for it. Registration, which allows one to sue for violation of copyright, is just that: registration. In addition to enabling one to sue for violation, timely registration of copyright (that is, before violation occurs) secures certain other legal rights.

:Smack:
Sorry about that, ResearchGuy. I guess I should have been a little more specific about 'Registering a Copyright' versus 'Purchasing a Copyright.' I can see where others might have been confused by what I had said.

For the others, what ResearchGuy said is what I should have stated. I did not purchase the Copyright itself, but rather I paid to have it registered.

Nevertheless, my point about 'buying back my Copyright from PA' is that PA never purchased the Copyright from me in the first place. The PA contract cleverly disguises a rights grab as a paragraph having to do with the author buying materials, that supposedly were needed to print the book, from the Publisher. (Interestingly enough, Digital Printing Technology does not use the materials listed in the infamous Paragraph 24. Just an extra little thing to chew on.)

Anyway, my sincerest apologies for having mis-represented the Copyright Law. It was an honest mistake on my part. I'll try to be more specific with my wording next time. Thanks.

:)
 

DaveKuzminski

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Okay, we need to create some female (and male) pseudonyms for our folks, so someone start a topic in the Take It Outside board. We don't want to get this off topic. ;)
 

T42

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Sparhawk said:
Thanks :Sun: , but I'm here already... I'm Gherkin the Cabana Boy aka Sparhawk aka Esper (going to seek therapy for so many alter ego's)
Ah Hah, you are the one I am selling Sheri too. Good Lord Hon, I had to throw the brownies away I was so paranoid. I thought I was losing it! You are still a hero mind you....so I'll take you to therapy with me Friday. Be ready at 2:00 pm sharp!:D
 
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