The Old Neverending PublishAmerica Thread (Publish America)

[Dawno]

Originally Posted by Ann

Ah, but the flu became epidemic after July 23, 1957! All your fault!! LOL

It's time to take this to the Take it Outside Board cuz I have some words about that as well!

[Literary Lola]

Originally Posted by JennaGlatzer

I'm not even wagering a guess on Pacific time. Ed?

Meanwhile, I shall try to further tempt Kevin with the punching bag I've just made for him. (Yes, you can all have turns with it.)

That is about the funniest thing I've seen in weeks. Jenna, you're brilliant. Um, I gotta question to ask. Can I take a punchie, too?

[JennaGlatzer]

All yours, babe. Let 'er rip!

...That's why I've not been posting all that much these last few days. (And the fact that I've been dead tired for awhile now kind of adds to it a bit.)


But I'm writing again, and I thought you all would like to know.

Now, I suppose you're wondering what this has to do with this particular thread?

Simply put, I'm writing about my PA experience, although it's in the Fantasy Genre and it's not about an author. (Hey, Fantasy is the only thing I really know how to write.)


But I'm taking my PAin and turning it into a good story, and I thought you'd all like to know about it. Since this is the PA thread, I figured this was the best place to put this post. It's good to know that though this Thread is Neverending, the PAin in my life isn't.



Like someone once said, there is life after PA. And I'm going to enjoy that life.
:Cheers:

Talk to you all later.

[JennaGlatzer]

Proud of you, Sean! You go rock the literary world! We'll be here when you need breaks.

[lindylou45]

Originally Posted by Ed Williams

Here's some interesting verbiage from a Massachusetts based newspaper concerning an upcoming PA release:

Not exactly a ringing endorsement, huh? It's getting pretty bad when PA authors are hit with stuff like this before their books are even released.

You can read the entire article here:

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily...5/c01li413.htm

We'll see how they feel next February.

[Diana Hignutt]

Jenna, that punching bag is the funniest darn thing I've seen in some time. ROFLOL. Have a great interview today (or, if you prefer--break a leg)!

Nancy, Thanks for saying that nice stuff about me (several pages ago). I could say the same about you.

Diana

[Aconite]

Originally Posted by Gratian Gasparri

What is sickening about the whole thing is that being molested is one of the most traumatic experiences anyone can suffer, particuarly a young child. The trauma is lifelong as one never fully recovers this side of Heaven.

A hopeful word: We human are resiliant creatures. There is no trauma we cannot fully recover from ("fully recover from" is not to be confused with "forget about" or "be unaffected by"). This woman can indeed fully recover from that horrible experience, and I strongly urge her to get professional help in doing so. Surviving trauma need not leave us "broken people" all our lives.

[Sher2]

Originally Posted by Ann

So, we are talking 11:15 PTfor Jenna's broadcast, for us on the west coast?

Phooey, I'm going to miss it. After today my life becomes my own again, which doesn't help me out a bit at 2:00 today. Somebody fill me in when it's over?

[Ken Schneider]

quoted:PA is doing a wonderful job and i thank them so much. However, i am having a terrible time getting any kind of press. I released a press release through prweb, and still nothing. I was wondering if anybody here works for a paper, or any kind of press, and would want to help me out a little. Here's my info-
From Poz this morning:

http://www.publishamerica.com/cgi-bi...neral/2283.htm


Ahh, wonderful posted info. Which includes an e-mail addy. He should be venturing this way for information.

Evil hollow laugh.

[Ed Williams]

...here are some PA authors with answers...

I gave her a copy to review and based on it, ordered 20 copies for a signing.

I ordered fifty books and got them in ten days. Someone else ordered three from Borders in Madison, Wisconsin,
and got them in a week.

I received confirmation on 4-18 for 100 books and they arrived yesterday.

But fortunately when I ordered 50 and others I know have ordered several at a time they got them promptly.

In the "let's talk about bashers" category, we have these nuggets:

The attacks won't stop until these bashers all file backruptcy, which is the next phase of this thing.

and he wanted to know which Publishing Company....I told him PA....and he attempted to Bashed PA...and I stopped him dead in his tracks....

Brother Ed, Jenna, give those "mothers" up at PA a special radio gift on this Mother's Day!

[James D. Macdonald]

Originally Posted by changling

Ahh, wonderful posted info. Which includes an e-mail addy. He should be venturing this way for information.

Poor guy. He says:

Hoping to attend XXX College in XXX, and to become a full time novelist.

If anyone can help me...

Yes, I can help you.

First, if you're planning to be a full-time novelist, you have to sell your novels to people who might, possibly, bring money to you rather than the other way around.

Next, on your publicity problems: Your book isn't even scheduled yet. You shouldn't be sending out press releases. You shouldn't be doing anything except a) writing your next book, and b) sending it to real publishers and honest agents.

[Sher2]

Originally Posted by Ann

Hi Sherry,

Ed will probably archieve it like he did last weeks' broadcast and you can hear it later. That's how I got to hear it.

Have a Happy Day.

I'll do that.

Happy Day to you, too.

[bluwinteryfox]

Originally Posted by Gratian Gasparri What is sickening about the whole thing is that being molested is one of the most traumatic experiences anyone can suffer, particuarly a young child. The trauma is lifelong as one never fully recovers this side of Heaven.

Originally Posted by Aconite

A hopeful word: We human are resiliant creatures. There is no trauma we cannot fully recover from ("fully recover from" is not to be confused with "forget about" or "be unaffected by"). This woman can indeed fully recover from that horrible experience, and I strongly urge her to get professional help in doing so. Surviving trauma need not leave us "broken people" all our lives.

I haven't read what that woman wrote, so I don't know how good or bad it is. I also don't know the extent of her abuse, or how much therapy she received before writing her book. I would hope she did have some therapy before deciding to have a book print about her abusive.

I speak from experience. I endured horrible abuse. If you want to know PM me. I wouldn't have thought about writing about it until I knew I was ready to deal the good and the bad that the general public would say. I wrote a story Forgotten Promise after I knew I could accept honest input about what I wrote.

PA doesn't know if that woman had enough therapy behind her to do print her book. Those on the pamb don't know that either. If this woman was only beginning in her therapy, this mess could set her back. PA should be ashamed of themself. I know, those at pa don't know the meaning of the word shame.

How do the legimate publishers deal with these types of books? That question just came to me. People say on the pamb that they can't get one of the big publishers to look at their books because it's not what they are looking for. If a book about childhood abuse is well written, how does the publisher or agent know the person is really emotinally able to accept what the public at large may say about the book?

Memphis Ed I'll be listening to you and I can't wait to hear Jenna too.

And remember go to Cover Poll and VOTE. Mine is #3 Green knight

[Ed Williams]

"It was a lot of work finding a publisher," he said. "I sent tons of query letters to publishers and I actually got more positive feedback than anticipated. Right before I chose a publisher, I had four with genuine interest. One of them was a New England publisher, but it had some concerns about competition because another book -- one written from a very different angle -- came out in 2004. Another was interested, but didn’t want to go to print until 2006. I eventually chose PublishAmerica, and literally two days after signing a contract with them, I received another contract offer.

"I was excited about getting the ‘yes’ from PublishAmerica, but I was constantly wondering, ‘What if?’ I knew nothing about them and they were clearly the (least) known of the others who showed interest. PublishAmerica, however, has done everything I wanted to come out of this. Simply print the book without me paying to have it done."

What this tells me is that either these other publishers are vanity, or else this person has made a huge, huge mistake. Will be interesting to see what he says about six or eight months after his book comes out...

(Link for the entire article: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?n...d=353135&rfi=6)

[Ed Williams]

...to get your name out there combined with committing publishing suicide all at the same time PA style," we have this:

A PUBLISHING SCANDAL INVOLVING RANDOM HOUSE AND COPYRIGHT CLEARANCE CENTER, INC. A fair use/permission overcharge scheme. Also an excellent primer for journalists on fair use/permissions law.Shawn Thorton has written a 2,500 word article about the fair use/permissions scheme and offers the whole article or the right to simply extract the facts from that article to all journalists at no charge. See the press release for details.


/24-7PressRelease.com/ - April 13, 2005 - During the first quarter of 2005 PublishAmerica published Shawn Patrick Thornton's non-fiction book, IN DEFENSE OF THE CHRIST: WHY JESUS WOULD DISOWN CHRISTIANITY, ISBN 1-4137-4613-6.While seeking permission for republication of various excerpts for this book Shawn encountered a fair use/permission overcharge scheme at both Random House, New York and Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
Any journalist may request an article written by Shawn Patrick Thornton about that overcharge scheme setting out the law, the relevant facts, the application of the law to the facts and then a proposed solution to what may be a wide-spread publishing industry problem. Simply contact Shawn at www.shawnpthornton@aol.com and he will E-mail a print-ready copy of that article, as well as grant its cost free use.
As an alternative, any journalist may extract the facts (E-mails from Random House, legal items, etc) from that article and then write his or her own version, provided that a summary of In Defense of the Christ: Why Jesus would Disown Christianity (similar to the one in the article), the books ISBN number and the author's name is included in that article. And, that a copy of the newly written article, or of Shawn's original article, with the name and date of the publication is E-mailed to Shawn Patrick Thornton at the above E-mail address. The legal discussion, although very carefully done, can be easily compared with various legal summaries of fair use/permissions law on the Web. Journalists may also request an Adobe 6 Reader copy of Shawn's book at no cost.

Interestingly enough, I did email Mr. Thornton for a copy of his article, and the email itself bounced....

[James D. Macdonald]

Originally Posted by Ed Williams

What this tells me is that either these other publishers are vanity...

One "...had some concerns about competition because another book -- one written from a very different angle -- came out in 2004. Another was interested, but didn’t want to go to print until 2006."

That doesn't sound like vanity to me. The first one was clearly concerned with bookstore sales to readers, while the second was giving a reasonable timeframe.

=======================

Meanwhile, here we read:

NOW I question why so many of us received these e-mails? I sure hope this is not a new approach to the basher campaign?

Drat! They're on to us. We'll have to regroup at Basher Central and come up with a new scheme. Those clever PA authors have figured it out.

It's true: If you're a PA author and get an e-mail from a stranger asking about PA, it's really a basher in disguise, writing under a false name. Give it to him with both barrels! He deserves it.

[Ed Williams]

What I have found is that since bookstores don't readily take POD titles with a no-return, they don't typically buy the books for the signing. They also may not agree to having them on consignment. That takes up precious bookshelf space.
If you have a friendship or working relationship with a bookstore person, then you might be in a different situation.

In other words, PA books and reputable bookstores don't go well together, how interesting!

And if you had your book in, let's say B&N or Borders, and they brought your book in and ran out during the event... you brought extras, what do you do then. What kind of agreement is "the norm."

Simply put, and with no malice intended, the odds of an unknown author selling out at a booksigning is pretty minimal.

If you were to bring your own books to a signing and the bookstore were to have some on hand, you would need to negotiate with them on what their cut of the profit would be.
Just be really sure that books have plenty of time to get to the store so you aren't handed a big snafu!
Also, check the books to be sure that they all look OK. Things happen in production. At least they did with me.

PA books don't have a professional appearance? Surely you jest!

when I had my first signing at Hastings, I furnished the books with a 60/40 split. My part being the 60.
I only sold one book, but did receive enough to pay for the book, with the 60%.
It may not be all that good a deal, but at least it's better than nothing.

Frankly, a PA book deal is nothing, you're just experiencing the manifestations.

I`m having my first signing on Friday. Ottaker`s (UK) have bought approximately 30 books, but I said that I shall bring some copies along, in case a miracle occurs and they sell out. It is important to strike a deal with the shop manager before the signing; try to agree a price (percentage) between yourselves. I have no idea what it`s going to be, but I suggest that the 60 / 40 % split is a good general guideline. Anything above that is a bonus.

Let's say you buy your own book from PA - it retails for $20, and PA generously sells it to you for $10 a copy. You take this book into this bookstore, and the store wants 40% of the cover price. The math would dictate that you'll make $2 a book ($20 retail, less $8 bookstore profit, less $10 personal investment in the book). Unless you sell massive quantities, what's the point from a "dollars in your pocket" standpoint? Is it the exposure potential? If a purchaser reads the book, refers it to a friend, and that friend decides to go purchase it in the bookstore, all your exposure hopes go right down the drain.

I would talk with each manager and find out what they expect. If they run out, that means they made their money anything over that should be yours, especially if you supply the books. We don't get them for free and need to make money as well

Mam, they won't run out, ask Bonnie Gibson how fast most of the PA titles in her bookstore sold...

my last two signings were a 70/30 split and 60/40 split, with me getting the larger share. As stated earlier in the thread, the store is paid for their building use and their staff's time in ringing up the sale. After the signing, they tabulated the total sales and gave me my share...cash! It was not so bad; I made more than I would have in royalties.

For most PA authors, anything in their pocket more than $2 or $3 would exceed their royalty checks...

Sorry if I am being a tad sarcastic, I have my in-laws with me today, and I would rather suck crap through a straw, to be honest about it. Looks like lots of posts for me today....

[Ken Schneider]

Originally Posted by James D. Macdonald

It's true: If you're a PA author and get an e-mail from a stranger asking about PA, it's really a basher in disguise, writing under a false name. Give it to him with both barrels! He deserves it.

Jim....sly....funny....workable.


Sad but true. http://www.publishamerica.com/cgibin...neral/2312.htm

Further evidence that P.A. wants to sell books to family only.
What other reason could one have to put out books with glaring typos and shoddy workmanship?

Would a publisher expect to sell to a bookstroe chain with this kind of product?

Where would the target audience be for such a product?

First time authors.

No editing.

No returns.

No bookstore placement.

Mienaclodmohopper. Who do you intend to sell books to?

[mdmkay]

I just wanted to apologize for my temper tantrum the other night, normally I have a better riegn on my emotions. Thank you so much for all the support. I love each and every one of you and have no idea what I would do without you and this site. B.t.w. Yes, the best revenge is to keep writing and I just finished a YA novel, and getting to the end of middle grader, that I'm real proud of (gee, do think PA will publish them...get a grip...I was only kidding...hahahaha). The great thing about writing for children is most of them don't have an expiration date and as soon as my seven years are up I'll be sending Maxwell (the good rendition of it) out to publishers. In the meanwhile, I'll be selling both Cindy and Maxwell as pdf electronic downloads on my site at a heck of alot cheaper than PA. What are they going to do?...sue me? (I didn't sign thier stupid ammendments to my contract.......non-exclusive my butt). They were trying to tie up their electronic rights tight.

[JennaGlatzer]

Just stopping in to say don't forget Ed's radio show! I'm sipping tea and singing scales to warm up... couldn't sleep last night, so pardon me if I sound particularly "sexy."

[bluwinteryfox]

I hope others can listen, because I've been trying for the past hour to get to the web site and it's telling me it can't be found. What I find strange is, I had been listening to it up until Ed's show was to begin, now I can't get the web page to load. Husband said could be a DOS denial of service attack, since pa doesn't want any more embarassment.

[Dawno]

Originally Posted by JennaGlatzer

Just stopping in to say don't forget Ed's radio show! I'm sipping tea and singing scales to warm up... couldn't sleep last night, so pardon me if I sound particularly "sexy."

I'm trying to connect now and the 'operation timed out' keeps coming up. Do you think everyone on AW is trying to get a listen and we're stressing the bandwidth?

[James D. Macdonald]

I've been getting timeouts for the past hour too. No access.

Did we clobber the system?

Looking forward to the archived version.....

On topic: PublishAmerica ... where dreams go to die.

Originally Posted by Dawno

I'm trying to connect now and the 'operation timed out' keeps coming up. Do you think everyone on AW is trying to get a listen and we're stressing the bandwidth?

With Ed's interview with Ed Williams on the PA issue, he posted it up on his own site. That's how I got around to listening to it. I'd imagine -- though I'm not certain of this, only Memphis Ed would know for sure -- that he'll probably post this one up on his site too.

BTW, Ed, nice site. Very classy. Good reading.