PublishAmerica responds
My name is Shawn Street and I am a representative of the Public Relations Department of PublishAmerica in Frederick, Maryland. The purpose of this email is to respond to the interview with Linda L. Rucker entitled Writers, Readers and Self-Publishing. When questioned about her experiences with PublishAmerica, Ms. Rucker’s answers were not truthful and I would like to set the record straight.
Her first misstatement was that PublishAmerica offered no editing. Our Text Production Department edits books for grammar and spelling corrections. We do not change the content of the book. When the Text Production Department edited her book, Ms. Rucker had two opportunities to review the work and approve any changes that were made.
Her second untruth was that PublishAmerica does not market our books nor assist authors in doing so. PublishAmerica sends out press releases announcing a book’s release, as well as announcement letters to the author’s family and friends. We also send review copies to legitimate reviewers daily. Further marketing is a joint operation between the publisher and the author.
Paragraph 17 of the PublishAmerica contract states, “Sales promotion, advertising and publicity shall be at the Publisher’s election and discretion as to the extent, scope and character thereof and in all matters pertaining thereto. The Author agrees to actively participate in promoting the sales of the said literary work in his home town area and elsewhere, by making himself available to media interviews, book readings and/or signings, and other public sales promotion appearances.”
We also make our books available to bookstores across North America through the wholesalers Ingram, Brodart, and Baker & Taylor. Orders may also be placed through PublishAmerica. We offer excellent discounts based on the number of copies ordered by bookstores. Retailers constantly take advantage of these rates, as we place numerous orders each and every day with bookstores, including retail giants such as Borders, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, etc. In addition to brick and mortar stores, PublishAmerica books are also made available through amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com and chapters.com.
The interview with Ms. Rucker linked with Wikipedia’s article about PublishAmerica, presumably to give credit to her baseless attacks against us. This move is unfortunate as Wikipedia’s article is full of errors and outright lies. Wikipedia, as you may know, has come under considerable fire, not only from PublishAmerica, but from numerous companies and individuals for entries containing false and libelous information, so much so that one of the founders of Wikipedia is starting a rival, legitimate online encyclopedia.
Ms. Rucker’s complaints against PublishAmerica are extremely rare, as we are the home of 20,000 authors, many of whom have multiple books with us. Our authors are invited to take part in our author’s forum and thousands have elected to do so. A sample of their observations gives you the real story: http://www.publishamerica.com/testimonials/.
Thank you very much for your time.
Shawn Street
Public Relations
PublishAmerica
http://www.publishamerica.com
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[…] “Like a great many of the un-initiated, I too went with Publish America for my first book. At first, I was elated that a so-called traditional, royalty paying publisher wanted to publish my book, but when I held the finished product in my hand, I was horrified. […]
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Leicester Review of Books 
I went with Publish America after a friend recommended them, his work was fine. Mine left with me with a few grammatical errors and mistakes in, I too assumed that all would be sorted in the proofing, but when came back as a pdf, it had so many mistakes and errors in it, that both my daughter an I thought it was a joke.
When I dared to complain, I was cut off from their notice right away and when I eventually got my reply from them, I was told, that it was my manuscript that was sub-standard and they were not responsible.
Perhaps, yes the authors of Publish America, have been misguided from the litterary postings on how PA deems in little or no validity, on the legitimate purposes in which can, possibly, point only to the sincere attempts of the publishing company, to draw in what could be the next best selling book. All good things have been doubted, in the beginning, before a true concept could ever be tested and perservere in the amount of becomming a successful organization in the chess matches of monster companies that require a doctors degree or star staus, the small pecentage of which litteratly sell, just by having a certain attained paper or bank account, and social inclinment. So, is it true to say that one is better than the other or is it really just a shot in the dark that people are going for? Is the work done by the people who wish to be published authors, really original and creative in a personal display of talent? Perhaps, yes it is true that to be valid is to be honest and as all things that come to be known, the people in focus and invovled are the real test of what is a revealment, towards a growing and evolving audience, that is in effect the only real judge of merit.
I am very pleased with the work done by PublishAmerica. I love the cover and the fact that they allowed me to say what I wanted to say. I am pleased that my book can be found online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble etc ,We live in a changing world and I am glad PublishAmerica is the leader not the tail in a rapidly evolving industry
Authors clubs are a bit stuffy and if they cannot allow an author in based upon what they wrote and not who published it, then who would care to belong to such a group? I am very pleased with my decision to have PublishAmerica do my book and I am very sick of the naysayers. If there are mistakes in their books, maybe they should have written a bit better.
The fact that PublishAmerica continually has to defend its business practices should tell one all they need to know. Just do a Google search on them and see what you find. They are the biggest joke in the literary business, I’m a professional author and have been to some large book publishing conferences/trade shows. PublishAmerica is mocked by the professionals who attend them, it is basically a university for wanna-bes and those ignorant of how book publishing actually works.
Interesting responses. But I have a question. With so many Literary Agents and publishing houses that make it a policy to not deal with any first time or unpublished authors, where does one go to get the opportunity to be published? That seems to be the big beef with Publish America. They are at least offering the opportunity to unknown authors whereas the mainstream literary agents seem to think that only bestselling authors should be published.
Can someone name a Literary Agent who will actually give a first time author a chance and request the full manuscript for consideration rather than responding with an amateurish form letter rejection after reading only the query or a few chapters? I’d like to know that agent’s name so I can submit my work to him/her.
Almost all of them.
That ‘no first time authors’ is a fallacy that vanity houses like to spread around to gain greater access to your wallet.
The only catch is, you have to write a good book. No agent or publisher ‘owes’ you anything for having written your book.
They’re looking for product to sell, not selling you your fantasies.
I have had a book published by publish america. I think the authors complaining about spelling mistakes is in your hands. My book like any other had spelling mistakes, I was given every chance for either publish america or myself to fix anything I did not feel was right. The end result was very good. It was myself and not publish america who insured that my book was everthing I wanted it to be. Get real you wrote it not them. I think Publish America is a new company. It will improve as it grows. As for those Authors who are so full of themselves because they happen to have a different publisher. Judge the work not the publisher. Ed Williams claims to be a “professional Author” How many books have you sold. Mine is doing very well thank you. Not bad for a “wanna-be”. I worked four long years on my book. I found your reply extremly insulting to anyone who has taken the time and devotion it takes to write a book. Could Publish America improve. YES. Is it getting better YES. There are many enjoyable well written books put out by publish america. ED come down off your high horse and join the real world.
Patrick Notestine
Author- Paramedic to the Prince
Just one more word to a “REAL” author and writer. I looked up your book Ed, on Amazon it was ranked # 1,567,234. Wow not what I would call a best seller that’s for sure. Mine although not a best seller by any means was #74,682. Alot better than one millon five hundred thousand. What is it they say. “Those in glass houses”
Thank You
Patrick Notestine
Author- Paramedic to the Prince
Hello. My heart goes out to those who have had a not-so-good experience with Publish America.
However I would like to say that Our Experience with PA has been Exceptionally WONDERFUL. Its true we were given plenty of time to check for errors and our book was checked many times over. by both parties. We have written a Self-Help Inspirational book called . “Don’t Just Talk About It…Be About It:making positive changes in your life.” The book is about 104 pages long and we found 5 typos, which is Ok with us because we just finnished reading Russell Simmons book called “Do You” He is the Famous Music Mogul whos book was presented on Oprah. And in that book we found 9 typos. Which goes to show this can happen to anyone..Even Stephen King’s book “Bag of Bones” I found about 10 typos..I purposely looked for them to prove my point. It happens to the best of us.
Publish America is getting better and better Every day..Please cut them some slack. When we here decided to go with PA we did not have any unrealistic expectations..We were just happy to get our book put together for free.
Let us all appreciate our blessings and be grateful for being Published Authors. The book is doing absolutely great!!
Darien K. Marshall CTM
Darius L. Jones CTM Authors of “Don’t Just Talk About It…Be About It:making positive changes in your life.
Just in case someone tries to go there and be vicious our book at the moment on Amazon is in the one millions…but the rankings change every hour about a month ago we were in the six figures and a month before that five figures either way for just word of mouth its doing for me quite well. When we start our national advertisement for our book…the sales will surely go up…God Bless Everyone ….Don’t Just Talk About It…Be about It:making positive changes in your life
Darien K. Marshall CTM
Darius L. Jones CTM
please visit us at http://www.darimarentertainment.com You will be Inspired and listen to our online Radio Talk show at
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/itsallaboutyou Be inspired 24/7 Learn more about the Secret or Law of Attraction
Publish America skirts on the fringes of publishing legality. After several years of watching my book slowly suffocate under the quicksand of PA’s “promotion”, I tried to get out of my contract with them, only to be practically belittled by their caustic response. The only people they contact about your published book are the people you provide them with. That goes for newspapers as well as friends. As far as being available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or any other bookstore, this extends only to the actual ordering of the book. You will not see it on the shelves, and since this type of representation for a book is responsible for around 80% of a book’s sale, you don’t have to be a math wiz to calculate that you are already at a disadvantage when a person has to know about your book before purchasing it.
PA likes to tell half-truths, but is like a spin on the roulette wheel. If you bet on all the numbers, you are bound to win. With so many authors under contract, PA is bound to hit on a few that will go somewhere even without PA promotion. Of course unknown authors are expected to play a vital role in their book promotion, and I was totally prepared and ready to be available for any book signings or other promotional activities. What I didn’t expect, was to be the sole initiator of my book’s promotion.
As far as editing goes, they hide behind the “we leave your book as you intended” principle. My computer’s spell check does better! Why should I have to re-read what they send back (after supposed editing), only to have to fix more errors in grammar and spelling? Obviously, if I missed it the first time, I will the second time around.
Pricing is a rip-off, too. I would never pay as much as they charge for my book even if I had the advantage of perusing it on a bookshelf (which of course isn’t there).
And since when does a writer have to pay for their own copyright? You would think that a publisher would want to make sure that their “property” is protected under copyright before releasing it, but PA never checks back to ascertain that the author has indeed copyrighted it.
Of course, they will tout your book’s success with signings and interviews, but this is something the writer must achieve on their own. PA is never responsible for setting any of this up for the author. I have gone several quarters now without so much as a single sale because I have neither the financial resources, or PR savy to set up promotional activities.
If you just want a pretty little book cover, and the feel of claiming you are published, then PA is the outfit for you. But if you are looking for a serious publishing company that treats its authors with respect even after the ink on the contract is signed while expecting to gain respect from other writers and publishing companies, then avoid PA! PA’s people will spout their “sour grapes” diatribe over and over to cover their own misconduct. Too bad they don’t realize, or seem to care, that if they put as much effort into promoting a writer’s book as they do with rebuttals of pissed off clients, they wouldn’t have to worry about defending their reputation in the first place!
This was part of my response to another writer who wrote to me criticizing my “Why Publish America?” essay on my http://www.poeticat.com web site…
**********************************************************>
I like your origami idea for your rejection slips! I hope that some day you’ll be able to get the flock out of there!
Being a poet, I honestly don’t expect big numbers in my sales, no matter who publishes me and I have had no problems with quality or cover art. Perhaps you saw my covers while you were at my site – if so, you can probably understand why I have not been disappointed.
Of course, I can’t say that my experience with PA has been typical, either – I’m only one author out of something over 20,000? That’s about six times what it was when they first took Poison Pearls under contract. Family and friends never really entered into the equation, since I don’t have much of either. Basically, I’ve gotten what I expected and they’ve upheld their end of our contracts. Perhaps I’ll go with another publisher when I’m ready to do another book, but that will have to do with whether I have an agent at the time and what they can do for me.
My personal experience as a proofreader (Pre spell-check!) for the Palm Beach Post has stood me in good stead along with writing, art and editorial positions in my college papers at PBCC and FAU. After that I edited a number of newsletters and was a contributing editor for the Canary and Finch Journal out of Puyallup, Washington. I was also the bindery foreman for Social Issues Resources Series (A publisher in Boca Raton, Florida) for eight years.
The abilities (or not!) of PA’s editorial staff never became a factor, because these manuscripts had to meet my standards before they even got to look at them. I do think that I have one typo that slipped through in my first book.
Have you visited my http://www.scaredsafe.org site? Courtesy of the Internet, my work has been read in over a hundred countries and I’m happy that any of those readers can obtain hard copies of my books if they want to.
Good luck with your book!
>^.Karl!
And, yes, I’m hanging onto my day job
Too Bad!
I left a notice on the PA bulletin board telling their authors about Mr. Street’s response and letting them know that the letter had been posted here.
I told them that the letter itself was some months old, but that there was some ongoing commentary, including my own, and that, if any of them cared to weigh in with their own opinions, I had provided a link to this site.
That was last night – this morning my posting had been deleted without explanation.
>^.Karl!
The idea behind the Leicester Review of Books is to promote writers and publishers, especially self-published authors and small press publishers.
We are aware that there is a lot of controversy around Publish America and the way it operates: A lot of writers have complained, here and elsewhere, about the way Publish America treats the writers it publishes and about the way it conducts business. Late last year, we also emailed Shawn Street with the intention of hearing P.A.’s views on the complaints that the writers have raised. Initially, Mr(?) Street agreed to the interview and we sent the first set of questions. However, Mr Street did not respond to these nor to the follow-up email.
That said, the Leicester Review of Books will not take sides. We are keen to hear from everyone who is involved with Publish America and we will give each one of them the space and the floor that they need to share their views and experiences of publishing with P.A.
So, if yours is a success story, or if you are the publisher or work with or for PA, do get in touch. We are as keen as ever to hear from you.
The same is also true, if you have had a bad experience with PA. Do get in touch and tell us all about it.
I’ve met Willem Meiner and Larry Clopper (PA’s founders) and I can attest to the fact that no horns or tails were in evidence.
I give them credit for creating a successful business and I consider that as their first priority, since a failed business does nobody any good.
I’ve bought and resold a couple of hundred of my own books besides what has sold over the internet with no complaints over the price or quality. I generally let folks know up front that I’m comfortable with anything within 20% of suggested retail and let them pay me what they’re comfortable with. More often than not, they will give me the full price and sometimes a little extra…
(I give Great autographs!) ;)
I sold about forty books over a weekend last year and one Italian gentleman was running low on US dollars and asked me if I’d accept Euros on a one for one exchange on two of my books – no problem!
One thing that is generally better than it has to be is their cover art and if you’ve seen my book covers, you can probably appreciate that.
Of course, the crux of the matter is what goes into the book and that is going to vary drastically from one author to another. A lot of people just don’t appreciate the fact that it really can take forty years to become an overnight success! That the professionals in this business really aren’t going to accomodate someone who doesn’t want to put forth the effort that it takes to create a quality product. Unfortunately, I think that some of the people who complain most are the ones who failed to oversee the quality of their own books. (Or lacked the ability…) I’ll hardly even mention the possibility of unrealistic expectations…
Since my third book was published, most of my efforts have been going into my web presence with poems and excerpts from my books that can be seen on both my web sites as well as poemhunter.com. They’re not necessarily buying my books, of course, but I am getting something on the order of a hundred new readers every day!
One reason for that is another aspect to the quality of my writing… in the web sites that I’ve created! Try searching for “Rape for Hire” (one of my poem titles…), without the quotation marks on either MSN or Google and you will find that it is not only on the first page out of hundreds of thousands or millions of possibilities – It’s Number One! I’ve gotten similar results with other poem/page titles, so it’s no fluke!
It’s all baby steps, one after another, but I have made progress and feel that I am enjoying some small measure of success. Hopefully, I will continue to do so.
>^.\/.^<
Karl Stuart Kline
I’m don’t know much about Publishe America, but I will say this in being a Self-published author.. Don’t place your hard work in the hands of others. Do all the work yourself. I’m not really don’t understand why they treat us self-published authors so harsh in the first place. I believe and I know that anyone that took the time to write, help edit, and compose his or her own work is dynamite. We shouldn’t be called self-published, but instead independent writers.
The media never turns it’s back on the independent film artists. So we need to make a stand and become more demanding to those who call them selves self pulishing companies. “We” as independent writers are just as or more so important than those writers picked up by chance through by literary agents and publishing companies.
Let me reiterate. “Check your work for errors. Don’t leave it up to the publishing company.”
If Published America is not a good company, go to the others and talk them. There are several Self-publishing companies other than Published America that will give you a better deal, but with all companies you will have to do the work. We need to push our work as independent writers not the self published. I’m presently working on a project to promote the “independent writers”. Please be sure to periodically check my website http://www.iamdark.com for information that will help you become a better independent writer and how to choose the correct publishing company without the drama.
I’m not selling you anything, I’m just speaking out as an independent artist and we should not point the blame on Publish America, but look at the fine print.
Kudos to all that are independent writers because it is a hard lonely road. And whomever takes this road has what it takes to be a true writer.
I have been recently published by Publish America, and I love the cover and I noticed some errors too, but I also have noticed errors in many of the “big known authors” books as well. But even though I was still satisfied. At least their contract stands true, and so what if you have to work as well to get your book out there. At least you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to do so. I went to several publishing companies to get my book out there one wanted 1800 dollars from me just to get it published. I am not rich, but I do have a job, and it would have taken years for my book to get out. So I went to another, and they wanted 2500 dollars. So I backed off quickly, and went to several more that wanted so much money. I am sorry but when you don’t get paid much money and you see a publishing company that is willing to get your book out there without having to pay so much money, you would be willing. If you really love the work on your book you would do anything to get it out there, including going to stores and presenting it to them, and not relying on the company. Sometimes you have to pull your weight too to get what you want. I had several people buy my book so far. On amazon only two are left in stock. I have people buying them from Barnes and Noble, and Borders. Only because I talk to customers that come to where I work at. I have flyers hanging up and am not afraid to stick my neck out and make my book noticed. So if you want to pay an arm and a leg to get the most awesome book you have ever written then so be it. But I would rather work to get my book out there instead of taking everything for granted. When you have nothing you have nothing to lose. You know I actually got to speak to a friend of a great author, and she is known around, and I asked her a question about paying to get your book published, and she relayed the question to this author and you know what she said? “You shouldn’t have to pay to get your book published. If they are a true publishing company they would want to publish your book no matter what.” And Publish America is the only one who would publish my book without me having to pay for it. So if you want to bash Publish America, then you are bashing most american writer’s dreams. Read the contract fully, and fully understand it before you go blaming. I understood it fully, made flyers, and went into stores and made phone calls. And you know what else? I have a sequal to my story. I also have two reviews on my books so far. I am so not going to complain about that. I read them, and those people loved it.
Where do you go to see how well a book is doing? I have tried looking up different sites but no luck. As far as any publishing company it is like a song on the radio, if you do not like it then turn the station but do not take the song off the air because someone else might like the jam. If you get your paper handed back to you to correct mistakes and you are to lazy to do so then whos fault is that, not the one that handed you back the paper. Any way I was looking for a book and wanted to see how well it was selling but I got caught up in all of this reading.
Thanks,
Mary
Re: Mary’s question
That’s a tough question here because this site deals mostly with small publishers and short runs. Many of the books that are sold are sold through the efforts of the authors themselves through signings and personal appearances, but those sales are not necessarily reflected in any statistics anywhere.
The occasional statistics on B&N, Amazon or Borders only reflect recent activity (“how well have you done for us lately?”), showing nothing of any activity through other sites and so are not a true indicator of actual sales.
My own publisher does not require any purchase by the authors of the books that they publish, but it makes sense to always keep some copies on hand for those people who might request them autographed.
There’s an additional benefit in that books actually sold by the authors themselves bypass the middleman and they can actually make several dollars per copy instead of the 8 to 12 % of the wholesale price that they might get otherwise.
>^.\/.^<
Karl Stuart Kline
http://www.poeticat.com
Thank you Karl, I bought a book called The Philosophy of a Thought and thought it was wonderful, it talks about everything and does not hold back. I found it on Amazon.com
Respectfully,
Mary Brown
I am so glad that I found this site. After sending off a query letter two days ago, I received an acceptance today. I was thrilled. When I had calmed down from my excitement, I realized that it was a form letter.
Either they had not read the query, or they had read it and they did not care to write out a custom reply to something which could so valuable. Most publishers consider each book which gets to this stage very profitable. The warning signs were everywhere, so I decided to research. From “The Washington Post”, “Writers Beware” and “Wikipedia” complaints seemed to be everywhere. I considered date importance and the reliability of sources. Overall I am so glad that the internet exists. Thank you for this article, and may God bless you.
—
Sarah
Mary,
I just wanted to say from my heart thank you so much for enjoying the book “The Philosophy of a Thought” my hope is that it helps anyone find their legs and stand tall on them. You made my day when I came across this site and found that, thank you. If it helps you in anyway please help me to tell others because in this day and age I think we all need to feel stronger in our faith, in ourselves and in each other.
Respectfully,
Lyn Petit`
Author of
The Philosophy of a Thought
I was wondering if you would help me with the information for how to search for the amount of books sold on Amazon, or Barnes&Noble, and Borders?
Thank you,
Jeffrey Miller
My book, also published through PA, is due out this month.
I did not research the company, but took it for face value. It is my sincere hope that my book, and those of the other writers and novices like myself, does well.
Thanks for the postings. Some were frustrating to read, while others left me cautiously optimistic.
Thank You,
R.H Schermer
Author of
Incessant Winds
Walt whitman published leavesgrass himself and then peddled it door-to-door. Goethe and Andre Gide also published their first books themselves. I’m sure they would have aprrecaited a place like Publish Amnerica.
Geneva:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/142419184X/ref=cm_plog_item_link
Yeah, they ALWAYS trot out those successful self-pubbed writers from over a century ago.
Bet your house that those writers would have been thrilled to have a publisher pay them for their words the way we have it now.
Self-pubbing used to be the norm, No longer.
PA is what’s called a “reverse vanity” print mill. ALL the expenses are on the back end and you find out only AFTER you sign the contract. (Unless you’re smart and heed the warnings of others.)
That’s when you learn bit by bit that your book won’t be in ANY store unless you personally go in and beg the manager for shelf space.
That’s when you find the only person they market your book to is YOU.
You want the stories, just google Publish America + scam.
It’s not failed writers complaining about rejection–published pros in the industry are warning neos against going anywhere near their tar pit.
If PA was a car dealership or a restaurant you’d listen to warnings about scams or food poisoning, but there’s always a few who will think “But MY book is special! MY book will beat the odds!”
Maybe it is, but taking it to PA is like throwing it into a black hole.
You want a publisher or agent? Go to a bookstore and look for books like yours. Check the publisher websites for submission guidelines. Ask the writers who their agents are. Most are glad to help a newbie.
But the biggest tip off that PA is a rip off is the fact they have a TESTIMONIALS page.
No legit publisher has that.
But EVERY vanity site does.
Board the clue train and get out of Fredrick Maryland–stat!
It’s funny how all you [people] who claim to be satisfied authors with PublishAmerica assert that a writer should not trust their own publishing company to proofread and fix errors, yet your own posts here are riddled with errors, not to mention fragments, run-ons, comma splices, and so and so forth.
Yeah, your book is definitely one I’m going to buy…
There is a lot of negativaty out there. All these people who are being negative and putting people down for just wanting to get a book “PRINTED”. YES, I SAID PRINTED NOT PUBLISHED. they dont care if its Barnes & Noble or on the factories list for POD. They would just like their scrappy old pages to be put together onto some decent paper with a cover and their name for a sense of accomplishment and self being(oh and someone is willing to do it for free, PA thats is). I see allot of other authors putting down others who have elected to sign with Publish America. all they do is throw names, say they are making mistakes and not a real author. Why dont one of you be constructive and give us the names of your publisher or others if they are so much better. The best way to convince someone that PA is wrong is to give us first timers some names and contacts so we may see for ourselves these amazing publishers you have not mentioned once. Maybe you dont have one? Maybe PA rejected your manuscript or possibly you are not near as good as you talk and are afraid of the competition? Go ahead look through this for mistakes and tear it apart. Fact is im not writing for review by you PA or any other publisher. I just want to say we are all in the same business and should be helping someone if they are truly making a mistake and not just throwing stones. If your kids dont get their homework correct you dont call them an idiot and move on. You show them the right way and help out. I am in the midst of waiting for my first contract to arrive in the mail for a Poetry Book I have written. I will sign it when it arrives unless someone decides to give me credible advice and another option that will perform this at no cost. Now that I mentioned I am going to sign with PA, I will say your welcome to the people who needed to hear that so they have something negative to write about. ENJOY CHEERS
I wrote the book called The Philosophy of a Thought and the publisher is Publish America. They have been more the helpful in every way that I asked them to be and in some ways that I did not know I needed. When they sent me back my manuscript for me to correct, I had no problem with it because how are they to know what I was going for or trying to say. When I saw the cover I liked it, however when they sent me the authors copies it looked better then what was on the web site. I have one of them and my Mum has the other and even she loves it.
If you are new to writing try Publish America, after all it will not cost you anything. As far as everybody dogging a new company for trying to give anybody a chance to get their story out, why. If something goes wrong, the easiest thing in the world to do is blame everybody first, the smartest thing in the world to do is see how you can improve on it.
Did I correct my book all by myself, no, I had help from Gail Van De Mark who wrote A Warrior’s Journey. She said that reading my book and helping me to correct my spelling errors inspired her to write hers. (No, I did not help her to correct her spelling mistakes but I did listen to her as she read it and gave my thoughts on it.) See,her helping me helped her out too!! If you do not ask for help then how is anyone to know that you need it. Both The Philosophy of a Thought and A Warrior’s Journey are published through Publish America and they look great and both of us are getting positive feed back from the ones reading them.
You never know until you try and even if your first try failed, try again, the only way you will ever loose is if you stop putting yourself out there.
New authors, good luck to you and to your book.
Respectfully,
Lyn Petit`
Oh, if anyone would like to look at our web sites they are
http://www.publishedauthors.net/warriorsjourney1 for
A Warrior’s Journey by Gail Van De Mark
and
http://www.publishedauthors.net/lynpetit Email address is lynpetit@rock.com
for The Philosophy of a Thought
Again good luck to all the new writers and do not let or allow anyone to get you down.
Respectfully,
Lyn Petit`
One hears pros and cons about everything, including publishing houses. Publish America is the only one, after trying quite a number, who is willing to give my book a chance. Their contract is in the mail and I fully intend to sign it. I think some authors are upset at a lack of sales because they think their books are awesome when in fact they are probably mediocre, at best. A good book will find it’s legs, no matter how it is produced. Publish America is trying to make the publishing process easier for new writers in a 21st century manner by publishing on demand. Given the incredible costs of printing and binding books, they go out on a limb to produce one’s books. It is all a hit or miss business, really. The only way to see results is to give it all an honest effort and not be lazy about it.
I have high hopes for, A Pirate’s Tale and expect it to come out perfect, as I intended. Having produced 8 drafts of it, I think very little else needs to be done except a couple of more proof readings. I expect to do that myself, and not leave it for someone else. After all, it is my book, PA is simply making it a reality by printing and binding it with an ISBN number, which legitimizes the work and makes selling it internationally a real possibility.
I just want to say that I been published by PA and have been reading comments made by disgruntled authors; I must that say that some of the allegations are true in regards to editing but if PA does give you the opportunity to correct them and have it re edited; also my book Confessions of the Soul is available throughout major bookstores via internet and shelves; so i would appreciate people keeping their negative comments to themselves; PA gives new author an opportunity to have their work seen so now its up to us to help in making our work and even a greater success by thanking PA for publishing and getting tools together to help promote and make it a success.
In this world there will be negative and positive to thrive on the negative will never bring you success focus on the opportunity you have of being published and run with it, and remember life is what you make it; PA started it now its up to you to finish it.
Raxon Phoenix
Confessions of the Soul
My manuscript was excepted by PA, and other scam filled ‘agents’ and publishers…lol. I then sent them a ‘query’. Told them the manuscript was 45000000 pages long, and it was about a blue frog wishing he was a slobbering rabid dog. I said it was a nonfiction love story and a ‘killer mystery novel’, also a childrens book. I got an email a couple days later…they wanted my ‘book’. Give me a break, get real…think. If they are going to except this…you are all in a real sorry state. If you can write, then you can research research research. Ever hear of Writer’s Market? Get off the internet and pick up a very reputable book.
Hey, wait…I’ll publish everyone on my printer/scanner/fax/copier and we’ll all be…poor. I can do the cover too…I have crayons! Ban together for the love of godiva chocolates.
Publish America prints your book for about $2.50 and sell it back to you at $10.00.
THAT IS HOW THEY MAKE THEIR MONEY.. Plain and simple. They do little or no editing, zero marketing.
They say they are a traditonal pulisher.. LIES LIES and more lies. Wake up people to the fraud that is publish america.
To you few who think PA is great because they printed your book so you could hold it in your hand. You could of done that yourself for alot less effort. Then every book you sell would go into your pocet not PA.
Also the Royalty payment is a scam. They say they pay 8% of sales price.
What they pay you is 8% of their net profit after printing and discount which brings your % to about 4% of every book sold.
These crooks need all to be in Jail. You along with them Mr. Street.
Patrick Notestine
Author “Paramedic to the Prince”
Patrick Notestine has recently contacted me, asking me who my lawyer was, as I am looking to sue PublishAmerica for breech of contract and deceptive practices. His main contention was that his book was a high number on units sold at Amazon.com, and he believes that PublishAmerica has stolen revenue from him. It was something like that.
There is no doubt, PublishAmerica has no editing for the literary author. A piece of literature takes a certain kind of editing that requires a longer process where the editor lives with the book in a way that PublishAmerica can’t with their editing programs and so forth.
My book came back, each time in the process, with more errors than it went back with. My book finally came back with yet more errors. It was obvious to me that they were using a program since all the “but(s)” were with comma and in some instances, comma is not correct. The second edit came back with comma mistakes and all of the word “district” as “dstrit.” Why this happened, I dunno?
The main thing that bothers me is that they profess to be a “traditional publisher,” that lured me in, and in the final analysis they are a traditional publisher like I am a fish.
I want all you who sign with PA to get back to me in one year, when you realize that you have been scammed. Yes they will print your book. It is overpriced and no book store will carry it. The buisness model for PA is to sale books to it’s authors. That was addmited in court by PA managment. If you go with PA few will buy your book. No matter how hard you market. The high price and poor return policy and the fact that no book store will put it on their shelves, the deck is stacked against you. My boo was the number 2 seller on Amazon in the UK and number seven in the USA yet I only sold 147 books. That tells you they sell next to no books on-line. Now that is out of 24,000 titles availible.
PA refused to let me out of my contract. Then without notice pulled my book from their site and stopped selling it. I called them and was told my contract was terminated. YEA I was so happy. I have my book back. I have not recieved the gage order yet in exchange for my release, but I was told it is in the mail.
I just want to know is my book now so tainted by PA the no honest publisher will touch it now? You tell me. For all of you who think PA is a good choice. Get back to me in a year and tell me how many books you have sold.
I’m floating around the Internet, looking at PublishAmerica’s references, disgruntled authors and the general gist of this company.
They are Universally hated. There are a few authors that praise them, but the hatred is almost solid like lunchmeat. So far I have 12 pages of links to their detractors. I am not of the mind to find links to people who praise them. Why? Because look at all of the other publishers out there, do an Internet search and you will not find page after page of detractors. Basically, the more traditional the publisher, the less detractors. If anyone wants this list, please email me. It grows longer every day.
Oh, I am a disgruntled PA author.
I must say that I have to take back what I said about PA. I think there are the worst I am thinking of suing them for breech of contract my book was re-edited 3 times and after going into print it was edited twice for errors and was printed with the same errors I corrected in the initials stage. Also where royalty is concerned my first check was $1:70 I contacted them and they say that it is what is. I know they are lying my book was sold out at target twice and the prices went up so I know the book is being sold. Could someone please contact me with a good lawyer that will represent me.
I am published through publish america, and there is truth to all of these perspectives. Yes, they will publish your book when no one else will, maybe that would look good on a resume. My book is therapeutic book for hospitalized children. The contract says that the book will be printed “appropriate for its audience”. It is not. The pictures were stapled down the middle, the paper is too cheap
to last in the hands of a child, it is too small, and costs the consumer
19.95. I can’t promote it, the cost of doing so would exceed the royalties of 1.00 per book! So I would have been better off self-publishing. I hope to get out of the contract and do it myself. I do believe my book should be in the hands of all children who go to the hospital.
For all you authors that ditch PA, I got one thing to say “Do your homework,” In my 18 years of studying the craft of writing and the business side of it. I have learned that 8% up to 12% in royalties is the correct margin in book sales – unless you have an agent who shoots for more only to line their own pockets. Compared to another book publishing contract – PA’s book contract is right on the money- maybe you should of looked into it before you signed it. Any professional writer knowns to review and compare and research any contract before signing it, even a magazine publisher covers their own butts by drafting in their contracts a kill fee – $10.00- $50.00 to the author if they decide to terminate your contract for no particular reason. This is the low blows of writing. In any contract from any publishing company you have your good and bad, but most of all your responsibilities are outlined and agreed upon. Those who scream breech do so because they do not want the responsibilities they’ve been handed, but yet they want their name in print.
Also $19.95 is not unreasonable for a book, I have come across books that cost more. And if you prefer to get technical, add up all the money you spend on how to write books, dictionaries, and reading books. Books on the craft of writing cost a lot more than $19.95 and you buy them just the same. Any devoted reader will pay the cost of a book no matter the price. So maybe you should be scanning your local bookstore more often before using that as an augment. If you took the time out to search Barns & Nobles, Amazon and Chapters you’ll find a wide selection of books published by PA and they are not going for $19.95, nor were they bought at that price – all bookstores buy their books in quantities at a discount.
Did you really expect to make a million being a first time author and with such little effort? Cheap paper, and shabby book covers is just pettiness – you’re grasping at straws here. And as far as editing goes, it’s not the publishers responsibility to polish your work, it’s yours. No matter what publishing company you deal with, you will find the same thing. The publisher points out your mistakes and you fix them, and since no one is a complete expert in English a few typo’s is bound to surface. As long as the entire manuscript is not full of errors a reader will ignore the few that are there and continue to read. You’d think as a writer you’d know this already considering that reading is part of the job?
The same with promotional sales – any writer that has done their homework knows that writing is not a 9-5 job it is a professional career – you are your own captain of your ship – so steer it. The publisher is only a ship mate, they assist you in where you want to take your ship and help you to keep it in shape. Any writer that wants to be known has to put the effort into making themselves known, if you’re a writer that expects the publishers to do it all for you than you are lazy and uneducated in the field of writing. Maybe writing isn’t for you, maybe it’s not your calling?
In response to Electra i just wanted to say that its not that we are ditching publish America; I think its great that they are giving first time authors a chance at being published. The problem is they sell you a dream in the sense that they tell you your books will be available in stores knowing that they will never be on shelves without you personally devoting time and effort in doing it yourself,which is really not fair if you have to devote all this time an effort to do this you might as well do it yourself and reap the benefits; because PA is collecting undeserved money for work not done. As far as editing is concerned I am a victim of that; no one is perfect and I know that I sent my manuscript with little or no errors and ended with a lot more and that was not expected and it goes to show how thorough they are they corrected it three times and it still came out the same way.
I must agree that we should have done some homework but I guess thats what happen when influenced by money grabbers/scammers, they go out of there way to sell you a good story…..
PLEASE FORWARD TO PA – MR. T. RATLIFF
*hAVE NEW EmAIL ADDRESS AND UNABLE TO LOCATE A CONTACT NUMBER.
S.E.Elkin “Cabrini’s Child”
Thanking you.
RE: Previously unpublished writers having no chance with large publishing houses:
False.
RE: PA’s royalty scale is “right on the money…”
True, but only in the proper context. Here’s a topic for you…research the number of PA authors who’ve received checks.
RE: Agent negotiating a higher royalty rate “just to line his own pockets…”
Duh! Same reason people sale bread, make cars, or wash windows… It’s called “business.”
RE: $19.95 not too much for a mass market paperback?
Maybe. Maybe not.
If the book is a special niche piece, or if the author has no intention of volume commerical sales, perhaps $20.00 is fair market value. After all, as a commodity, a book is only worth what someone will pay for it. However, when the buying public is faced with a purchase decision, a $6.95 paperback is a tad more appealing than a comparable novel priced at $19.95.
RE: Cahin bookstores purchase PA books in volume…
Prove it.
I have written an Author Alert on my home page which describes my relationship with PublishAmerica. It is terminated with “It is my opinion based on my experiences and with the experiences of several other PA authors with whom I have been in communication”. I believe my experience is well described.
If you wish to link to my book’s web page from yours please do so. I hate seeing anyone succumb to this greedy group.
http://www.thechallengeofjhwh.com
Symm H. McCord
Waynesville, NC
smccord@cbvnol.com
Yes, PA is greedy and deceptive. Yes, they overprice the books and charge an exhorbitant price for shipping their overpriced books. The list price for my 61 page book 16.95. Anyone want to buy a 61 page book from an unknown author for 16.95? I bought 15 copies of my book and got 15 copies for free, however, I paid 91.70 for shipment. That is way too much for a 9 pound box that costs 10.11 to ship UPS Ground. I can see marking up the shipping, but not by %800. I had to buy the books so I could provide my readers my book at a fair price and lose money on them.
Look PA up on the BBB Maryland site and you will see a C- rating due to the number of complaints filed against them. They have a BBB Online logo on their site, but they are NOT BBB accredited due to the number of complaints against them.
Note: PA does not provide justification for their prices and when I asked I got a form letter from them saying their costs increased. I asked for proof and got: “Stop the Nonsense” as a response.
PA is a rather poor publisher and most PA books do not sell. I’d estimate the average # of copies sold out of the 30K books available from them is 0.
Publish with PA if you wish, just know these facts. If you don’t care about the issues I’ve presented here, by all means go through them.
By the way, PA does have an author message board, but if they don’t like you, they will ban you from participation AND NOT TELL YOU WHY.
How can I contact Raxon from phx.
There is no Shawn Street at PA. They use fake names when reponding to e-mails and letters. They are the biggest scam in book publishing today.
“There is no Shawn Street at PA.”
There may once have been. PublishAmerica has very high turnover among their employees.
But let me respond briefly to Shawn’s comments:
“Her first misstatement was that PublishAmerica offered no editing. Our Text Production Department edits books for grammar and spelling corrections.”
Running a text through a computer spell-checker is not “editing” as it is commonly understood in publishing.
“Her second untruth was that PublishAmerica does not market our books nor assist authors in doing so. ”
The “marketing” that PublishAmerica does is both minimal and ineffective, if selling books to the general public is the goal.
“Paragraph 17 of the PublishAmerica contract states, ‘Sales promotion, advertising and publicity shall be at the Publisher’s election and discretion as to the extent, scope and character thereof and in all matters pertaining thereto.'”
This is to say, if they feel like it.
It’s hardly Shawn’s fault that PublishAmerica never feels like doing it.
“We also make our books available to bookstores across North America through the wholesalers Ingram, Brodart, and Baker & Taylor.”
That is the very minimum definition of being for sale. Any book with an ISBN gets as much.
Technical availability, if a prospective customer walks over to the Special Orders desk, is very different from being stocked.
“This move is unfortunate as Wikipedia’s article is full of errors and outright lies.”
The Wikipedia article is fully referenced and footnoted.
“Ms. Rucker’s complaints against PublishAmerica are extremely rare….”
On the contrary, they are extremely common. Merely Googling on the word “PublishAmerica” brings up hundreds, if not thousands, of similar complaints.
Following up on those testimonials that Shawn mentions, you’ll find that many of the people quoted in them have gone on to repudiate their favorable comments.
Bottom line: PublishAmerica is a vanity press. They rely on sales to their own authors to stay in business.
There are many better alternatives to PublishAmerica. Please, do your research.
What is amazing to me is that PA can continue to deceive and steal from their “clients” as they clearly do, seemingly with impunity. There is abundant evidence — publicly available — to indicate that PA is nothing more than an elaborate confidence scheme. They misrepresent themselves by redefining publishing terms and practices to suit their purposes, and are very careful to establish the trust of their victims (relying on their ignorance of standard publishing practices) until these poor people are contractually obligated to follow through, at which point PA points to their statements of policy, this time making the true intent clear. Then when criticized they aggressively defame and prosecute. This is the textbook profile of a fraudulent operation. And yet…
Has the local or state AG launched any sort of inquiry or investigation? If not, can someone here help me understand why not?
To Shawn Street,
Wow – You have to be kidding –Just look at the emails my daughter has been trying to communicate to your company.
Yes while she was able to make needed corrections it was going to cost her $99.00. WHAT that was NOT in the contract!!
After many rude emails from NICKIE she decided to live with the mistakes and make the needed corrections herself in each book SHE sold.
Now onto the cover design – She received her design – A COPY photo of Mountains and trees? You have to be kidding!!!!
This is a book to attract a younger audience. She explained that UPFRONT in her bio!!! So much for anyone reading her book – If you did you would have been able to design a cover that fits the writing!!
SHE HAS JUST BEEN TOLD THAT ANY CHANGES WILL COST HER $99.00!!
They have totally left her out of any decisions on her book as to MISTAKES as well as her COVER DESIGN UNLESS she pays $99.00 per department!!!!!
NO WHERE in her contract does it state these charges.
In fact we have emails from your staff saying that they NORMALLY do not even offer to make changes so the 99.00 was only offered as a in her case????
This is so horrible. We will pursue the publishing of her book elsewhere with full disclosure of what your company has done to HER book and you can decide what course you will take.
WE WELCOME IT !!!
Complaint to Maryland is forthcoming.
SHAME on ALL of you !!!!
I made the mistake of using PA to publish my novella Northern Sky. The typos that made their way into the finished book were caused by Publishamerica. When I brought it to their attention, I was sent a form letter saying if 10 hardcover books were ordered, they might re-consider the decision.
This is not to mention the $100 they tried to charge me for the cover art. The woman on the front of the book looks like a babooshka with a paddle for a hand…really bad! They wanted me to pay them to correct it!
I will not let friends or family buy my book. The only way they will ever get money out of me is to pry it from my cold, dead hands.
I hate these people.
PublishAmerica is a joke. They are hostile toward the writers.I made the mistake of using PA to publish my novella Northern Sky. The typos that made their way into the finished book were caused by Publishamerica. When I brought it to their attention, I was sent a form letter saying if 10 hardcover books were ordered, they might re-consider the decision not to fix it.
This is not to mention the $100 they tried to charge me for the cover art. The woman on the front of the book looks like a babushka with a paddle for a hand…really bad! They wanted me to pay them $100 to correct it! Apparently I didn’t “follow the rules.”
I will not let friends or family buy my book. The only way they will ever get money out of me is to pry it from my cold, dead hands.
I hate these people.
I have told PA point-blank that I am cancelling my contract with them. They would not address the fact that my book was designed to published with color illustrations when I had offered to pay for the color production since they supposedly “only publish children’s books in color.”
Additonally, I received e-mails trying to get me to pay a $49 Rush fee to “move the book to the front of the production line,” and another e-mail offering my book for $9.95 plus 5 hardcopies free. The e-mail stated that my book was in production even though I was not given a final proof or communicated that the final editing was done!
At this point, I sent an e-mail to Kristine in Acquisitions, Jennifer in Production, and to their so-called Author Support Dept. There is also an Emiy in Acquisitions and a Michael who the company uses to call people on the telephone to let them know their book has been accepted.
I am starting to believe that 90% of the manuscripts they receive are accepted with a cursory glance. I do believe that their so-called “employees” have fictitious names since they seem to not know each other. The company has gone so far as to establish e-mail addresses with these fictitious names if this is true.
Additionally, if anyone tries to call the company at (301) 695-1707 you will only hear a recorded message saying “mail box is full” or “you are unable to leave a message at this number.
Incidentally, the only reason why I have their phone number is because Hanna in (who knows what Dept.–let’s say, Scam them for money dept.) called to ask for my credit card# for the $49 rush fee.
When I inquired with her about producing my book in color and first seeing a final document with the color illustrations, Hanna feigned ignorance and said she had no idea who Jennifer was in Production, and that those questions need to be addressed in Production, and further, that there is no phone in the Production Dept. Then in the same breath, she again asked whether or not I will pay for the RUSH fee!
PA has proved to be incredibly unprofessional and I do believe, at this point, a total scam-company, more so in recent months and years than they might have started out. They have honed their skills at scamming authors and would-be authors all over this country.
If an attorney is reading this blog and can give all of us who have complaints against this company ADVICE in legal terms, particularly a “Class A Action Suit” or similar type of suit that can be filed against this company, that is what I would really like to see.
Companies like PA are a disgrace to the book publishing industry!
PS:If anyone who has signed a Contract with PA and have not recieve a symbolic $1.00 from them upon acceptance of your manuscript, know that PA is in Default of its own contract, Section 8, among other things.
Someone named Darien Marshal posted on July, 2007 how wonderful PA is and how it’s getting better and better. I boiled for about an hour and realized that I had to post this reply:
—————
You must be a PublishAmerica minion.
I couldn’t let this b.s. go without rebuttal.
I was given 48 hours to proofread 650 pages (160,000 words) of THEIR errors. Prior to submission, two editors had fully proofed my manuscript for grammatical errors, story line, punctuation, but when I got my proof I had almost five pages of corrections that their .doc to .pdf software and their “editor” created. I stayed up 48 hours straight. I asked for an extension and was told that “per our contract” only 48 hours was allowed for corrections. I did it.
Then.
They sent the second proof back in two weeks with MORE errors. I did the same again, 48 hours of coffee, cokes and no sleep.
Then they told me that they would not make the corrections, “per our contract”, until I showed them that NONE of the errors were present in the original manuscript.
So Darien, or whoever you really are, you either got off light, or you are not being truthful – bald face liar is what I really wanted to say…
My experience happened in 2009 (and is still happening), so screw the “getting better and better” lie also.
The only thing they did right was the cover art, which I SENT them.
Please, please, if you are considering using them, don’t throw away your hard work and dreams. Get a literary agent, self publish, anything but PublishAmerica.
…
PA is the worst experience I have ever encountered with publishing. The company is totally unprofessional, and uses “alias” names because they are so full of deception they have to hide behind fake names. PA “published” my book, which was supposed to have illustrations in full color, which they promised to print in color with a rush fee and additional fee for color. All of a sudden, without even approving a final galley or pdf, PA sent to hundreds of e-mail addresses in my database that the book was published. Upon clicking on the link, one can see that it is indeed published, in BLACK and WHITE, and they even go as far as to note that the book is “a B/W version.” Who in the world bothers to print a black and white version of a book that is supposed to be in full color (the book contains 12 images or color plates that are digital images of original paintings)?
I have advised all my contacts to NOT order the book; it is an unauthorized publication as far as I’m concerned.
I have since rewrote the book under a different title and name.
Therefore my horrible experience with PA has been somewhat redeemed–a brand new book with a DIFFERENT PUBLISHER.
Justice shall be served for all those who have been wronged by PA–one day soon this company will go belly-up for good–for taking advantage of so many authors and exploiting the hard work of others, including tarnishing the reputations of otherwise decent & honest authors.
Authors victimized by Publish America must UNITE!
Authors, if you’ve been victimized by Publish America and in addition to feeling violated, misled, cheated, bullied, ignored, taken for granted, exploited, and/or approached with extortion, and you feel powerless to right the wrong perpetrated against you, take heart. You are not alone!
Bullies are cowards who prey upon the unsuspecting, timid, and weak. They also operate in the dark. TOGETHER, WE will aggressively and unrelentingly take the fight to them. WE will expose them, individually and severally, very publicly and ultimately kick their ass! Refuse to be their victim! Become soldiers in the army against the Publish Americas victimization of yourself and aspiring authors everywhere!!!
Following is a step by step approach to unite victimized authors and to involve powerful agencies for their assistance and enforcement. Many of these agencies are already aware of Publish America, their rotten reputation, their negative press, and how they prey upon the unsuspecting. It is very important that you do everything outlined below and name the deceiving Publish America individuals that you dealt with. Follow up with each organization to your satisfaction. VERY IMPORTANT – copy/paste this letter to Publish America related blogs and websites all over the www.
1. Call, write, email, and fax Publish America daily, expressing your issues with them. They can be reached at: 111 E. Church Street – Frederick, MD 21705, P.O. Box 151 – Frederick, MD 21705, 4510 Metropolitan Court , Frederick – MD 21701, Phone – 301.695.1707, Fax – 301.874.4793, and emails – support@publishamerica.com, Support2@publishamerica.com,
shawns@publishamerica.com, christopher@publishamerica.com, sydney@publishamerica.com, gail@publishamerica.com, jeannetteg@publishamerica.com, pr@publishamerica.com,
carriel@publishamerica.com, acquisitions@publishamerica.com, jenny@publishamerica.com.
2. File complaint with Maryland’s Attorney General Doug Ganzler at 410.576.6300. http://www.oag.state.md.us.
3. File complaint with Maryland’s Senators Ben Cardin at 410.962.4436 and Barbara Mikulski at 410.962.4510.
4. File complaint with Maryland’s Congressman Roscoe Bartlett at 301.694.3030. Fax – 301.694.6674. Seek out Ashley Collier who will coordinate with the Frederick MD police, as well as with the local FBI.
5. File complaint with Maryland’s BBB at 410 347.3990
6. File complaint with Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley at governor@gov.state.md.us.
7. File complaint with Maryland’s Mayor Randy McClement at 301.694.1380.
8. File complaint with Maryland’s Assistant City Attorney Rachel Depo at 301.600.1391.
9. File complaint with Frederick, Maryland’s police Sergeant DeGrange at 301.600.2118
10. File complaint with your own states Senator.
11. File complaint with Maryland’s Volunteer Lawyer Service at 800.510.0050
12. File complaint with Frederick County’s Bar Association vs. Publish Americas attorneys at 310.663.1139.
13. File complaint with Maryland’s local network television news crime tips, crime watchers, and investigative teams.
14. File complaint with Baltimore, MD FBI at http://www.ic3.gov. They are aware of Publish America and want victims to post their stories and complaints on their site.
15. File complaint with the Maryland State Police at 301.600.4151.
16. File complaint with Maryland’s State Attorneys office at 301.600.1523, 301.600.2026, and 301.600.2993.
17. File complaint with the US Attorney General at 950 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC 20530-0009. 202.353.1555.
18. File complaint with the FBI at Federal Bureau of Investigation – J. Edgar Hoover Building –
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20535-0001. 202.324.3000.
19. File complaint with ISBN at 908.219.0274.
20. File complaint with Ingram Book Wholesalers at bookbuyer@ingrambook.com. 800.937.8200 and 615.793.5000.
21. File complaint with Baker & Taylor Book Wholesalers at 800.775.1800 or 908.541.7000. Ask for publisher relations.
22. File complaint with Brodart Book Wholesalers at 570.326.2461. Ask for Jim Bobak in acquisitions or email Mindy Engel at mindy.engel@brodart.com.
23. File complaint with amazon.com.
24. File complaint with Borders.com at 734.477.1941 or 734.477.1100. Ask for someone in acquisitions, publisher relations, etc.
25. File complaint with the federal BBB at 202.393.8000.
25. File complaint with Maryland’s FBI at 410.265.8080.
27. File complaint with the Attorney general in your home state.
28. Put your thinking cap on and come up with additional ways to FIGHT Publish America. Share these ideas via blogs, newsletters, websites, etc
See. You are not powerless. It is critical, however, that you do all of the above, follow up with the agencies, and keep the heat turned up fully on Publish America and it’s complicit co conspirators. The might of our right will crush their wrong!!!
I, too, went with Publish America, and I am horrified at my experience with them. Not only did they publish my books with errors, which they refused to correct, when it comes to paying royalties, they tell you “the bookstores have reneged on paying us, so you get no royalties until we settle the dispute. We are taking them to court.”
Meanwhile hundreds of copies of my book were sold through Barnes & Noble since its release. I am filing complaints with local and state government agencies, and would never recommend this publisher to anyone.