The Newer Never-Ending PublishAmerica / America Star Books Thread

Gillhoughly

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If they are moving, chances are good those boxes are full of 40,000 contracts, since all their manuscripts and books are on computer files.

It's not like they'll have a print copy of any of those books lying around.
 

merrihiatt

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Selected titles may qualify for future deep discount offers.

Nice disclaimer. So the next time you get a solicitation from PA and respond, "Hey, I thought you weren't offering any more 'special offers,' they can quote their disclaimer and tell you you're one of the "lucky ones" who will continue to receive them.

Oh, and I think it was in a tweet where PA said they would be moving their offices.
 

Eirin

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*As indicated earlier, our regular phone line will be discontinued in the near future, and will be replaced by a premium-rate (1-900) line. Deeply discounted call-in offers may continue through the future premium-rate phone number.

I'm not familiar with US types of phone lines and rates and such. What does "premium-rate" mean in this context?
 

Eirin

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Of course. I should have known, considering this is PA. No free customer line for ordering goods there.
 

DeadlyAccurate

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As an aside, I've been reading The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man. Fascinating look inside the heyday of the con, when the really good con men could not only take tens of thousands of dollars from their victims (and this book was written in the late 1930s), they could make sure the mark never even knew he'd been scammed to begin with. All the cons described in the book require marks as greedy and dishonest as the thieves themselves, and it's really amazing how much effort the thieves would put into their scams (more than just getting a job).
 

bhall87

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Hello, my name is Brian and I had my book published in 2006 by PA. I have currently received about $10 in royalties and paid $0 to them. Until now, I have just coasted along, reading things about PA but not really doing anything about it. What got me upset and basically disowning my book (I'll reuse the characters and storyline in another novel) was the implement of a 1-900 number. I don't know why but that was the final straw.

I currently follow them on Twitter and they are talking about moving into their new headquarters. Then they twittered the cryptic message: "question is: are they moving out of town? or will they stay in frederick maryland?". Does anyone know where they are moving? For some reason I'm picturing an underground bunker in an abandoned missile silo...
 

circlexranch

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Hi Brian!

I'm south of you in Fort Scott, Kansas and go to Lawrence a couple of times a year for events at KU.

Welcome to AW. Have some popcorn and nose around, there is more good stuff in here than you'll know what to do with!

Most importantly, there is life after PA.
 

merrihiatt

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I was having a looksee around the PA site...

It sure is empty in PA's Press Room. They must not have a bar.

The latest item in their "What people are saying about PublishAmerica" is from February of 2005. Um... why isn't there anything from the last four years in there? Maybe because what's being said isn't very positive.
 
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Six years and counting!!!

Since this is the beginning of the Newer NEPAT, let me state the reasons why I am dissatisfied with my PublishAmerica experience:

* The price PA set for my book is not competitive ($24.95 softcover, $29.95 hardcover).
* The bookstore managers I spoke to would not stock print on demand books and looked at me and my PA book as if I had the plague.
* Without the look inside feature on Amazon, no one can read any part of my book and get an idea of my style of writing. PA denied me the digital rights when I asked them for them for the express purpose of posting them on Amazon.
* I have received a ton of solicitations (PA calls them "special offers") to purchase my own books, yet PA never sent the notification to my family and friends, nor did they send out a press release. In the PA contract these items fall under the wording "at PA's discretion."
* I was banned from the PA message board. When I asked PA why I was banned, I received an e-mail stating that they didn't owe their authors an explanation.
* I didn't like the cover art for my book, but when I said as much, the other option I was offered was a red rose that looked like clip art. I chose the first option, it was better than the red rose, which had absolutely nothing to do with my book.
* The line-by-line edit that PA said they would do was nonexistent. They put a disclaimer in the front of the book stating that it was being left exactly as the author wrote it (I'm actually glad about this now, since I have heard horror stories about PA inserting errors into books!). I wanted a line-by-line edit. I wanted to know what areas I needed to work on. A quickie spell check is not editing.
* I was under the mistaken impression that PA read submissions and published works based on their merit. I have learned that this is not the case. PA will publish just about anything.

Those are the main reasons, although there are more. Suffice it to say, I am done with PA and can't wait until my rights are returned to me -- six years and counting.

I too have the same 6 years. And sadly, before knowing all of this info, I signed contract number 2. UGH!!! Where was this group when I needed you? LOL

Ok, my gripe... I got my press release, yeah, the one I put on the back of my book. Woohoo. No, PA never did contact my list of people who should be buying my books. That isn't even my biggest gripe.

Though the book price is awefully high, it is comparable. Though, omg, it isn't worth the price.

First round of printing, they put more errors in my book than were actually there, and trust me, I had my book edited by two professionals, and a group of buddies... So... Then, when they sent my first order of books, it cost me $80.00 for shipping of 20 books. OMFG!!! Well, to make matters worse, I got the books, the first book was cut up, looked like it may have been opened before I got it. The next couple of books had bent covers and pages, some of the books were wet inside. And books in the middle, not the top or bottom... When I contacted PA they said, that I had to send the books back, at my expense, and then they would decide to reprint them. Yeah, ok... Worse yet, there was no title on the spine. How the heck do I shelf these books?
Second printing, ok, ok, not even second printing, my second order, hardbacks, with "free" changes, came with no advertisements, and less pages than in the paperback. Hard backs looked way worse than the paperbacks, how sad.
Then to top it all off, I purhcased all of my own books on Royalty specials. That was a total of 50 books. I still haven't received a royalty check.
Know what they told me? Unless your check is $49.00 we will not bother to send you a check.
Now, how the hell come everyone else is getting a $1.57 or less, or a few bucks more? No fair.
Though I haven't been banned from the boards at PA, I have had almost all of my questions deleted, with no one even trying to answer them. And none of them were bashing PA in any way...
I have sent repeated emails to PA with various questions, no one has EVER responded. Then they tried to charge me extra to order my books. Hell no. I guess I won't use them to order my books. If I must, I'll buy them at towercom and re-sell them. ugh...
I don't understand why we keep letting these freaks do this to us...
 
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Class action lawsuit???

So, I am guessing because it states in the contract we can only go to arbitration, that there is no chance of getting a class action lawsuit going?

Just wondering if anyone knows.

Thanks
 

tlblack

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Welcome to AW writergirlindistress!

The next time you send PA an email about those books, make sure you quote the paragraph in your contract that says something about book quality. Also point out what part of your contract mentions royalties and how they will be paid to you. If there is a $$ amount that you have to reach in sales before PA mails you a check, your contract should mention it. In fact, anywhere in your contract you see where PA has not done what that contract specifies, mention that too. IANAL (I am not a lawyer) but that contract isn't just binding to PA authors, it should hold PA accountable for the things stated there.

That's what I would do. I'm sure others may have different suggestions.
 
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Thanks much!!!

Welcome to AW writergirlindistress!

The next time you send PA an email about those books, make sure you quote the paragraph in your contract that says something about book quality. Also point out what part of your contract mentions royalties and how they will be paid to you. If there is a $$ amount that you have to reach in sales before PA mails you a check, your contract should mention it. In fact, anywhere in your contract you see where PA has not done what that contract specifies, mention that too. IANAL (I am not a lawyer) but that contract isn't just binding to PA authors, it should hold PA accountable for the things stated there.

That's what I would do. I'm sure others may have different suggestions.

You know, I am hoping that once I start pointing out their errors, that they will just drop my contracts. Not that I have another publisher lined up, but at least my stuff will be treated better somewhere else.
 

Cyia

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You know, I am hoping that once I start pointing out their errors, that they will just drop my contracts. Not that I have another publisher lined up, but at least my stuff will be treated better somewhere else.


If PA's already published it, you can't take it anywhere else. First rights are gone.
 

tlblack

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As I said, that is what I would do. That contract is legal for both you and PA. The others are also correct, that first rights to your book are in PA's slimy hands, so other publishers won't likely touch that book for future printing.

Regardless of how it goes with PA from here on out, you should not let it keep you from writing your next work. Good luck!
 

Marian Perera

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You know, I am hoping that once I start pointing out their errors, that they will just drop my contracts. Not that I have another publisher lined up, but at least my stuff will be treated better somewhere else.

As others have said, it's unlikely that anyone else will want the first book. Don't think of publication as the publisher giving you a chance by printing your book; think of it as a transaction where you sell the rights of first publication. Once they're gone, they're gone for good, so you want to sell them for as much as possible.

About your second book, which may not have been printed yet... PA tends to be tenacious about holding on to contracts/books/authors these days. You may be able to get out of the contract by paying them (either a lump sum or buying another order of fifty or so books).

I know it stinks, but unfortunately that's the reality of dealing with PA, which is one reason there are warnings all over the web about them.
 

Eirin

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...Don't think of publication as the publisher giving you a chance by printing your book...

This is really important. Real, commercial publishing is all about the readers, not "giving new authors a chance". After all, when you, as a reader/consumer, walk into a bookstore, is your objective to help new authors or to find something that fits you? Readers are selfish. For our money, it's all about our satisfaction.

Of course, finding a new author to love is delightful, as I need lots and lots of writers to feed my ravenous habit :D

Slogans like "We Give YOU a Chance!!!" and variations thereof, while not proof of snookery, are definitely signs to be careful. Teresa Nielsen Hayden of Making Light has written a very useful essay on the linguistic markers that scammers rely on.

Another easy way to evaluate a publisher is simply to look at their website. Who do they aim at? Is their site geared toward the general reading public or toward new writers? Companies spend their marketing efforts where the customers are. The fact that PublishAmerica has, at the very top of their homepage, the slogan "We treat our author the old-fashioned way - we pay them" is a howler. You think readers care about that?* Do Penguin or Randomhouse or Harlequin say anything similar on their websites?
No, that's all about reassuring and drawing in new marks.

*Beyond thinking in a general way that of course writers should be paid for their work, that is.

 
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Marian Perera

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Then, when they sent my first order of books, it cost me $80.00 for shipping of 20 books.

This made me think of the contract I recently signed with a small press. It provides for twenty free copies (and of course shipping).

That's just the tip of the iceberg of what real publishers do for writers... and what writers lose by going with PA.
 

merrihiatt

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Welcome, writergirlindistress!:welcome:

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with PublishAmerica, but folks are giving you good advice here. Keep writing and focus on your next book.
 

bhall87

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I got this email today:
Dear Author:

Want us to change your book's retail price?

Go to www.publishamerica.net, find your book, click on softcover listing, see what today's retail price is. What you see is the price that all book vendors use as your book's list price, because we told them so. List price and retail price are the same thing.

If you're fine with it, we agree. If you'd prefer a different price, talk to us.

Tell us what you would like the retail price to be instead. Respond to this email by simply putting your preferred retail price in the subject line, and write your name and book title in the body of the text.
If you are the author of more than one book, you need to respond for each title separately.

We will react to all reasonable suggestions. We will accept it, or refuse it, or negotiate with you.

After we accept your new retail price suggestion, here's what happens:

*we will change your book's price in our online bookstore for the next 48 hours;
*the book must sell 19 or more copies during that time, at the new price that we have accepted;
*after it sells the 19 or more books, the new price becomes the official list price;
*we will inform wholesalers and bookstores about your book's new retail price, AND;
*we will send a news release to your local media, and local bookstores, AND;
*we will send an announcement to your most favorite readers.

19 books is a pretty tough pill to swallow. I think my book would be worth $11.95 to 13.95 but getting people to order 19 copies in two days seems impossible. Plus it makes me wonder about the quality of the books lucky enough to be printed.

I wish the price the author chooses would become the permanent price then maybe their authors would promote and feel prouder of their work.
 

merrihiatt

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"We will..." always makes me suspicious with PA. If it isn't in the contract, I'm not buying that they will actually do anything that they say in an e-mail or on their website. Been there, done that, got burned in the process.
 

bhall87

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Yeah, they will figure out some way not to honor it. I love the "because we told them so" line. Like anyone is really all that threatened by PA.