Publish America Again!

[safetypro]

I, too, am a PA author for book #1, found another publisher for book #2. My
second publisher has attempted numerous times to contact someone from PA to
become a distributor for my first book so we can package the two and, as of this
date, STILL has received NO communication from anyone at PA.
This is just ONE example of MANY of no service to authors, no marketing, no
review copies, nothing. I have no way of knowing whether they are even filling
orders and requests for purchase since they don't communicate anything of sales.
Once I suggested that since I had no way of knowing how
many books sold that I could not guarantee that I was getting the correct
royalty amount, either. Someone there took that personal when I at least got a
reply, somewhat seething, though.

Any feedback on how to break the contract so I get the publishing rights back
for my own book is greatly appreciated. Anyone with info can contact me
directly at yessir3@msn.com. Thanks. RD

[lucyishome]

I am also wondering how I can get out of my contract without having to hire an lawyer. I cannot afford one. After seeing so many posts about PA's true side I am disgusted and would rather find another publisher or self-publsih my own book. I am extremely upset that I signed with them and feel they were deceptive. I do not know what to do. My book is still in an editing phase. Any suggestions. Thanks.

[skylo]

Wow. I have not heard much bad about PA before. You two seem really upset. Did you read paragraph 2 of your contract where it states that when you receive a royalty check you will also receive a break down of sales and such. If you have any dispute they will look into it for you, all you have to do is ask. I remember seeing your post and I understand the feeling of receiving a 'seething' response. I've had some not-too sensitively written responses myself. It only reminds me of how human we all are and how careful writers need to be in the wording.

I have not had problems with PA. Our book is now available. People, libraries and bookstores are already ordering it. PA has made our book is available in Canada, USA, Hong Kong, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Britain and Germany through 14 on-line stores (including their own). It is listed with both Bower's Books in Print and Booksense.com. They send out press releases to our local newspapers and directly contact one hundred of their authors' personal contacts. I have written their support team numerous times and have nearly always had a timely response.

PA tells us that once we prove the book has an audience by either selling 500 copies or getting international response or having the media wire pick us up, the book will be placed in a program called Independence (I think). They say at that point, PA can back us with advertising & such. They want to see that the book will do well. they want to see how much effort the author is willing to put into marketing the book. And they want to see how the media is responding to it. PA is not a huge company with an unlimited budget - understandably, they have to be choosy about who they will back.

Review copies, too, are not lightly handed out. They must be choosey as to who should get one. We were really surprised at how many hands will reach out for a free book, in our own marketing endeavours. Truely, if it is for a reputable magazine or bookreviewer, then it would be worth sending one to. But for every little newsletter and e-zine... you'll never make a profit! We usually offer a sample of the book as an emailed attachment to reviewers. For most, this is an acceptable package. Some prefer hard copy, so we have sent a few of those out. Others want a complete galley, but we always ask to send it as a pdf file. It saves trees, time and money. We sent PA only a few names for review copies and included our email conversations as well. They confirmed sending one of the reviewers a copy. They are, however, unable to keep their authors up-to-date as to who has received a copy or not. So we ask people to contact us if there is any problems.

This is just our experience...

[Persephone]

Dave and Lillian, this is the first time I have weighed in on PA. (By the way, I am a legitimate newspaper book editor and magazine book reviewer.) I have watched your posts here and elsewhere for a long time, and found them to be articulate and thoughful.

PA has a terrible reputation. You might want to check out the forum Absolute Write. Be sure to go to the "Bewares and Background Check." There is one thread for PA, but it is so long you could spend days reading it. Dave Kuzminski of Preditors & Editors, Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware and James MacDonald are regular posters, and are the most honest, knowledgeable and trustworthy sources of information you could ever hope to have. Someone named HapiSofi is obviously a veteran of the industry; she or he is someone who should be given very serious attention.

You will find all the information you need on their contract (particularly in the last ten pages or so) and how they are perceived by those outside the PA world if you read it. Try to overlook some of the unprofessional posts. Be aware, too, that posters who are initially disillusioned with PA need to work out their disappointment and anger before they can move on. Look past those and try to see what others see. It doesn't mean you need to change your mind, but it will give you quite some insight that is worth knowing.

[wvwriter]

I NEVER have problems with PublishAmerica. The company is now working on an arrangement with the New York Times as a partnership.

I always get someone when I need to talk with a person.

I will continue to support PA because they have done well with me.

My book, "Club Fed Living Inside a Woman's Prison," has even been featured as their book of the month on their website.

[fredab]

I can't say I have had any difficulties with PA but then again I never have any contact with them either. To my knowledge they have done nothing to promote my book or at least nothing has been mentioned to me by any one. I know one thing though. They'll not get another book of mine. There has to be some glimmer of truth to what I've read Everybody is not out 'to get PA'. I'm taking no chances with my next one. I love to write, but a book is too much work to let anybody in the industry treat your hard work lightly or unfairly.
_________________
Freda B Douglas

[Martinscholes]

I was not very impressed. Some of the attacks on PA seemed genuine. But far, far too many seemed to be "sock puppets"

Basically, you get weird people who, for no valid reason decide they hate someone or something (a celebrity, a breed of dog, whatever) and then make it the work of their entire life to denegrate or attack them. A variation on stalker behaviour.

A word of advice. If someone thinks they have a legitimate complaint, theu should consider using the law to its full extent. I.E., see a solicitor to find out if you can sue for breach of contract, or whatever.

IF someone thinks they have a legitimate complaint, that is.. and do not suffer from Stalkeritis... :wink:

[Parson]

I have two books published by PA, I have had no problems. True I do most of my advertising, but I am a new author, a few publishing houses will pump alot of money into advertisment unless they are certain you are the next writer of the year. As with most business situations I think we have to work our way upward. We must promote our work, as the famous writers promote their work. True they may make more money at it than we do, but is that any reason not to do our part. I notices someone mentioned self publishing instead of PA, if that is the way you want to go and already have a contract, you can purchase copies and sell the book just as if you had self published. If you go to the PA site you will see messages from many of the writers that are happy with the publishing house. True there are complaints, but most publishing houses have complaints occassionally. PA is not a big publishing house, but it is working it's way up and expanding.
_________________
Author Kim Parson and Belita Keaton

[dbsherri]

I just received an email from publishamerica telling me my manuscrirpt has been "accepted" for publication. my instincts were screaming all over the place, but since it was my former agent who directed me to them,. i thought they were legit.

I'm so glad I visited this site. And I'm so sorry for eveyone who had a miserable experience with them. My first clue was when they gave me a two week deadline for my manuscript....my former agent said three to six months is what publishing houses generally give.

And after reading their sample contract, I was really bewildered. it doesn't look like I'd make a dime. and just who and how do they promote one's work?

Anyway....lots to digest...I'd like to see someone say something positive about them....

[AngelBlueEyes]

I submitted my first book of poetry to several on-line publishers. Publish America responded and offered to publish my book. They were the only one that did not require any money from me. I was thrilled, but am now having doubts. Nothing has been signed at this time. HELP!!

[HapiSofi]

Angel, Sherri: Don't sign anything. Run away fast.

The web is full of writers who've signed with PA and are happily awaiting publication, and much sadder writers -- many of them miserably dissatisfied -- whose books have come out from PA but haven't gotten the editing, marketing, distribution, or bookstore placement the authors expected.

PublishAmerica promises it'll edit your manuscript. Never happens. They just have some freelancer (who isn't guaranteed to be particularly literate) run a spellchecker and grammar checker over it. Once your text is set up in pages, they never look at it again.

The books are overpriced for their length and content. PA doesn't have a sales force or a proper distribution deal, aside from "if someone orders a copy of your book, Ingram will ship one to them." It doesn't bother to apply for CIP data to put on its copyright pages, which means its books can't get any library sales. It doesn't offer standard bookseller discounts and doesn't take returns, which means its books aren't saleable through brick-and-mortar bookstores. When an occasional PA title turns up in a bookstore, it's because the author is local and has begged and pleaded for the store to please please please stock one or two copies of the book. That's the entire extent of PA's brick-and-mortar distribution.

When authors try to promote their own books, they discover that though PA claims to be a traditional publisher, the rest of the world knows that isn't true. You hear over and over again about PA authors who've asked a local bookstore whether they'd like to do a signing, gotten an enthusiastic "yes," then had it cancelled on them when the bookstore realized that it's a PublishAmerica title. That's a bitter disappointment. So is having the bookstore not cancel the signing, but having it fall through anyway because PA doesn't ship the copies the author has ordered and paid for weeks or months in advance. Granted, the books eventually show up; but that doesn't help the poor author who (in one instance) winds up sitting there at the "signing" with a dogged smile pasted on his face, handing out business cards to bookstore customers because that's all he's got.

If you object or complain, PA will become emotionally abusive. That's the only area where they're genuine experts.

How it really works: They do too charge you for publishing your books. They're just subtler than most about how they do it. PA knows wild horses couldn't keep authors (and their friends and relations) from buying copies of their own books. They do the cheapest possible production job, then sell copies at a steep markup.

There are a couple of reasonably respectable small presses that are known to use exactly the same technology and supplier (Lightning Source International) that PA uses. These publishers' prices run about five bucks a copy less than PA's for books of comparable length -- and these guys put out catalogs, have sales and distribution deals, take returns, and pay standard royalties on cover price. It's estimated that PublishAmerica is making over a thousand dollars of unearned profit per title. Almost all of that is coming out of the pockets of the author and the author's friends and relations.

Given that all PA does is spellcheck your text, pour it into an interior type design template, and slap a perfunctory cover on iit, you could just as well hire a nice local designer and have your book printed by a regular printer. You still wouldn't have bookstore placement or a distribution deal, but you'd get your copies on schedule and they'd be much, much cheaper.

Everything I've said here can be substantiated. I am not a disgruntled former PA author. I have never submitted anything to them and had it rejected, either. I am certainly not in a line of business that competes with theirs. My only interest in making this post is to tell beginning authors a few things that PublishAmerica will never tell them.

Sherri, let me add in your case that I'm glad the agent in question is former. Proper agents don't sell their clients into vanity houses. I'm not saying your former agent is crooked. It could be the he or she is just clueless. Either way, you're better out of that relationship.

[AngelBlueEyes]

Can someone steer me to a reputable publisher that I can submit my work to. I write poetry only.

[Willow]

Angel--buy a Writers Market and research the publishers who take poetry. There is no shortcut on research.

[John Allen Jaynes]

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[John Allen Jaynes]

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