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 By Argile Stox Mar. 7, 2006 To tell you the truth ladies and gentlemen, I’m exhausted. If you are a regular reader of U-K, you’re aware that I am in an e-mail verbal battle with PublishAmerica trying to get out of my seven year contract; I only have five more years to go, and have sold about 23 books. From the publishing Grapevine, I have heard that PublishAmerica has been releasing author‘s everyday, in droves. In fact, Tracy Sutterer received three publishing contract releases for her books –The Contingency of Power, Reap The Whirlwind, and a poetry book that was just about to be released –titled: Dancing Naked In South Dakota. A few days ago, Tracy received two statements with checks attached that were in the amount of 0.00 dollars. I received a royalty check in the amount of $1.19. The thing that really aggravated me is that Tracy has been with PublishAmerica for about three years (Tracy was also crowned at one time, as a PublishAmerica diplomat. PublishAmerica would give prospective authors her e-mail, so these aspiring authors could write to Tracy, and get her opinion of PublishAmerica. She has lost count of how many individuals she had convinced to join PublishAmerica’s stable of signed authors). I have been with PublishAmerica for a little over two years and a couple months. Tracy had been attempting to get out of her contracts for the last six months; and I have been attempting to get out of my publishing contract for about five months. It completely blew my mind that PublishAmerica would send out two statements with a $0.00 checks attached. It was a big surprise to her that PublishAmerica suddenly decided to terminate her three publishing contracts; and to add insult to injury, they send her two worthless checks in the amount of the $0.00. Another amazing thing is that her third book contract was canceled just as the book of her poetry was going to be released in April, 2006. PublishAmerica gave her a $100 advance (unheard of!) edited the poetry book, created a PDF file for her to correct, she sent in the corrections, and she selected the front and back book cover art (which contained a picture of Tracy and her two sons). Tracy was advised by e-mail that her book of poetry would be released in April, 2006. Then, out of the blue–she received a notice of cancellation of that poetry book contract. I just cannot figure out the business mentality of PublishAmerica. When Tracy received the checks in the amount of a $0.00, I was livid; Tracy just laughed. I am a patient guy. I explore all areas of situations and problems and try to find solutions. So, I wrote PublishAmerica the e-mail below: “Dear Ms. Prather, and Author Support, I am writing this e-mail as a courtesy to you. I was really disappointed by the certified mail I received yesterday. The only thing I wanted was a clear and amicable separation and uncomplicated cancellation of my publishing contract. I have sent back the contract you had sent me with the objectionable sections of the contract - crossed out. I will not have my freedom of speech negated by PublishAmerica. I am very grateful that your company printed my memoir, and I met Tracy on the old message board. Tracy and I are very happy and hope to spend a lifetime together. There is no truth to the rumor that Tracy and I are going to be married. I do not know who started that rumor; and frankly, I don't give a damn. The important thing is, Tracy and I are of “like-minds” and enjoy each other's company. However, your company has not lived up to what it promised on your Web Site, during the years of 2001-2004. In addition, the fiasco that occurred on the old message board concerning HB and his death hoax really opened my eyes and shocked Tracy. Tracy was a longtime supporter of your company and encouraged others to submit their manuscripts to be considered by your company. Tracy and I are very upset that we have to terminate our association with your company. We consider ourselves intelligent adults and feel very limited by the marketing plan of your company. I believe it is time for me to move on, rewrite my memoir, and submit the book to other literary agents, who can then shop it around. In addition, I plan to change the title of the book, and will not mention the fact that the original memoir was printed by PublishAmerica. In the future, if anyone were to ask me what my opinion of your company was, I will say; "If you want your book to be printed at no cost to you, and read by your friends, relatives and others - then PublishAmerica and you may be a good fit. However, do not expect your book to be shelved in nationwide bookstores. You'll have to do all the marketing yourself, and walk into bookstores and ask managers to shelve the book. The reasons why I am no longer with the company are strictly personal.” “However, if your book is accepted by the company, you should read each and every page of the contract. Therefore, when your book is finally constructed printed and released - you will know what to expect“. If the person wants me to go into a great amount of detail as to why I am no longer with PublishAmerica, I will say, “Let's have a cup of coffee - and we can talk about my experience with the company, for about an hour.” If someone were to ask me about PublishAmerica on a message board, I will ask them to please send me their e-mail address, and we can then start a dialogue. Other than the scenarios that are mentioned above, I will not be contacting the media, placing huge billboards on highways, and passing out handbills about PublishAmerica. However, if a reporter was to contact me by e-mail, telephone, or in person, I will have a conversation with them. I have in my possession e-mails, “tone“e-mails and letters from PublishAmerica’s Author Support to back up all of my claims about the company. I will not stand out on the street corner and hand out media packets to every person I see. I have more constructive things to do with my time. In addition, my health is slowly deteriorating, and the stress of this entire PublishAmerica affair has placed a strain on my body. I suffered a slight stroke after my heart attack, and feel that I may not have many years left on planet Earth. In conclusion, it would be in your best interests to send a letter to me, like the one you sent to Tracy Sutterer; a clean and simple termination of my publishing contract with PublishAmerica. After all is signed, sealed and delivered, we can put this entire affair behind us and go on with our lives. Honor & Respect For You, Argile Stox“ A few days later, I received an e-mail from PublishAmerica: “Dear Mr. Stox, It is really very simple: you have requested a cancellation of your contract, and we have consented. It is standard practice, at the mutually agreed upon termination of virtually all business covenants, to include a confidentiality clause that binds both parties. It just doesn't make sense for any party to want to reserve the right to disparage, or even debate, the other. Therefore it seems appropriate for you to reconsider your decision to not sign the termination agreement. However, this is your call to make, not ours. If you insist on keeping the contract for your book alive (which is the effect of not signing the agreement paperwork), we'll be more than happy to continue making the book available to an ever increasing global audience, of course at no cost to you, the author, just as we have always said we would, your unfounded allegations to the contrary notwithstanding. In fact, in that case congratulations are in order because you will continue to enjoy the much-coveted status of being a published author who never had to spend a dime on getting his book in publication! (Please note: I have corrected PublishAmerica’s spelling errors.) We wish you a very nice day. Thank you, Author Support Team“ Knowing me from my articles published on U-K, I was very pissed-off. So, trying to keep my thoughts civil and business oriented, I e-mailed them another letter: “Dear Author Support and Ms. Miranda Prather, I have read with great interest your last e-mail; and I can understand your business philosophy and that all individual situation‘s and conflicts with other authors are unique; and I understand that I am under a contractual obligation to be with your company for the next five years. However, there are a few things I just don’t understand. The royalty check I received today for the period of August 01, 2005 to January 31st 2006 is a grand total of $1.19. It appears on the statement that the one book was sold under a retail discount of 40%, sales price of $14.97, quantity was 1, royalty percentage was 8%, and the royalty amount I received was $1.19. The retail value of my book is $24.95, and was sold at a 40% discount. The statement does not reflect what bookstore sold it. Was it Amazon, Barnes and Noble booksellers, or a bookseller overseas? If you were to look at your records of the sales of my memoir, you will find that my book sold about 23 books over a two year and a couple of month‘s period. Believe me; I am grateful that people are buying my book. However, my memoir is not getting the national and international exposure it rightfully deserves. My memoir is not placed on the shelves of national and international bookstores. The book can be purchased through your company’s Web Site. If the person searches the Internet –they can buy my book off numerous other Web Sites for slightly less than $24.95 – if, they have heard about my memoir or my book was recommended by another individual. What I am seeking is national and international exposure of my memoir. The memoir has good information, it is timely in nature, and may convince lawmakers to make changes in the way that they handle the homeless problem in the United States and other nations. I do not have the funds to send each and every member of the House of Representatives and the Senate a copy of my memoir. Someone has to actually buy the memoir. If the person thinks that the information contained in the book will help the legislators construct and pass new laws and enact new services for the homeless, then the efforts of writing my memoir will bear fruit. However, if my memoir remains suspended in cyberspace, the general public will not be able to hold the book actually in their hands, read a few pages, and then decide to buy or not to buy the book. I am fully aware that I am not the greatest writer to inhabit the planet Earth. I also understand that my writing style can be a little hard to understand. However, since my book has been released, my writing style has greatly improved. I am now devoting a good portion of my day revising my memoir. The revision will correct numerous grammatical errors and contain previously unreleased information. Revising a 325 page book is not the most exciting job in the world. However, I wrote the memoir to be read, and the contents to be absorbed into an individual’s mind – have them think about the horrible homeless situation in the United States and the World, and do something about it. What I am asking for is a few simple reconsiderations from your company. I would like to be released from my contract. However, I do not believe that your company has the right to silence me. There is an old saying in retail, “If a customer is happy with a product or a service, they will tell 100 people. If a customer is unhappy with a product or service they will tell at least 1,000 + people.” It is true that your company has lived up to every aspect of the contract. In addition, your company has initiated a reviewed and quirky book return policy. Since PublishAmerica’s return policy is not being well received by the bookseller industry, this is a complicated obstacle that an author has to overcome. However, I do not feel that your current Web Site is accurate, and does not explain the entire process of having a book printed by PublishAmerica, and the obstacles that a newly minted author faces when they try to have their book shelved in bookstores. Your Web Site does have a disclaimer that states that not all books make it into bookstores. However you do not fully explain the ramifications of having a book printed by a POD publishing company. The customer must order the book off an Internet Web Site or go to your Web Site to buy the book at a discount. The customer cannot hold my memoir in their hands, read a few pages, and then decide if they want to purchase it. At the time of this writing, there has not been sufficient word of mouth to promote my book. I do not have the funds to promote my book in magazines and newspapers. I have also been denied book signings in the three local bookstores in Rapid City, South Dakota, due to PublishAmerica’s reputation, high price of your book offerings, and unacceptable book return percentages. At the time of this writing, I cannot purchase a boatload of my books and leave my memoir on consignment in bookstores. In addition, my memoir is not on the shelves of national book seller chains. Respected reviewer‘s, who work at the New York Times, the Washington post, the reputable book reviewers all over the country and the world, will not review my book - due to PublishAmerica’s past reputation of sloppy editing and book construction. Over the last two years, I have made many phone calls and written many letters, and e-mails to prominent individuals at chain book seller’s corporate offices, and managers to have my memoir shelved in their company owned stores located throughout the entire United States and overseas. Even local Independent booksellers have given me the cold shoulder. However, since my memoir was produced by a POD (print on demand) printing house, and the books are priced at least 10 to 35 percent over established publishing policies and standards –the managers of the stores and the decision makers of the national bookseller chain stores have refused to shelve my book. In conclusion, I am considering going through arbitration. I will follow the route that Mr. Dolan took, pay the arbitration fees, purchase tickets to fly to Frederick, present all of the e-mails, letters, and evidence I have received from PublishAmerica, the letters I have received from national chain booksellers, and copies of your Web Pages that appeared on the Net in the years 2002 to 2004. I will also include the e-mails that I have sent pleading with PublishAmerica to release me from my publishing contract, due to the reasons stated above. A relative has offered to pay for the plane tickets, lawyers, and accountants to go to Frederick to legally depose each past and present employee of PublishAmerica, review your operation, accounting procedures and financial books. I’m aware that companies have two accounting books, one that is true and one that represents expected income. You will have to present each of these financial books to independent tax accountants and CPA’s that will arrive at your office. Is that a knock on the door you are hearing right now? My relative believes in me and my memoir, and has offered to hire a lawyer in Frederick, to get a court order to have all your past and present employees legally deposed, and have your business operation and financial books reviewed. All I have to do is make one phone call to my generous relative, and the process will begin. This is a promise, not a threat. It will happen – if you continually throw that gag order roadblock at me. Do you want me to start dialing the digits, now? Author Support and Ms. Prather, do you really want to have the same fiasco that occurred in Mr. Dolan’s arbitration case, happen again? Do you really want to pay me a significant amount of money? The only thing I am asking for is a plain and simple release from my publishing contract with your company, without any gag orders. Just send me a simple release from my contract, the same way that Ms. Tracy Sutterer’s contract release letter was written. I do not really want to go into a legal war with your company. I do not want to spend time talking to lawyers, booking flights to Frederick, Maryland; giving deposition‘s to arbitrator’s, and everything that goes along with going forward with a legal war with your company. I am disabled, in a tremendous amount of pain, and have an enormous amount of time on my hands. I have one simple request: Please send me a plain and uncomplicated publishing contract release. No gag orders. It is a one page document, and can be sent out today. In fact, after you have read this letter –dictate a clean and simple publishing contract release. Without the usual gag order. My First Amendment Rights will not be circumvented by PublishAmerica. Period – End of Story. Let’s face the cold hard facts; I am not PublishAmerica’s highest grossing author. The 23 or so books that your company has sold to the public have compensated PublishAmerica for the investment that was made in producing my book. Let’s call it square and even, and end our association. Do we have a deal? Please respond by certified mail. I will no longer accept your e-mails. If we are going to go to court and or arbitration, I want a verifiable signature – either Ms. Miranda Prather‘s or someone from Author Support to sign the letter with a verifiable legal name. Send the letter certified mail. I hope that I have made my intentions perfectly clear in this letter. This is the last letter that I will send to PublishAmerica through e-mail. The only communication I expect from PublishAmerica is through certified mail, and a verifiable legal signature on the non-gag order contract release. Have I made myself perfectly clear? It was my hope and desire that our mutual publishing relationship would be friendly and amicable. However, you have placed me in a corner, and I must enforce my legal rights, involve my family, and have them sign over checks to lawyers, CPA’s, and etc; for billable hours. This entire business relationship can be dissolved with a simple non-gag order publishing contract release. Argile Stox/ Author / Computer-End Program / 1-4137-2496-5“ As of this writing, I have not received a reply to my last letter. Dear Reader, if you have been reading my columns about PublishAmerica you are probably nauseated by now. I am not only nauseated, I am completely exhausted. If and when I have fully recovered from my heart attack and slight stroke, you can bet your $1.00 advance, I am going to fly into Frederick, Maryland and get the arbitration process started. It just baffles the heck out of me that PublishAmerica, which claims to have under contract, thirteen to sixteen thousand authors, would want to keep this writer in their inventory. I have sold a measly twenty to 23 books –in two years. PublishAmerica claims that they are signing about a dozen newly minted authors every day. Why would they want to keep around an author who is clearly disappointed with PublishAmerica’s operation, and clearly desires the end of our business relationship, immediately? The reason why I am keeping the readers of U-K informed of my current consternation with PublishAmerica –is very simple; if you, a relative, a friend, or an acquaintance is considering signing with PublishAmerica –please refer them to the articles that I’ve written, pro & con in this forum. As of this writing, you are completely up to date. I will add a few more thoughts. It is so frustrating to have written a memoir concerning my year of homelessness in New York City –and practically no one has read it. Each day, I spend a few hours rewriting and adding more information to the memoir – If I am granted a release from my publishing contract with PublishAmerica, all the mental and physical stress will evaporate from my spirit. It really pains me that I have a 325 page book that accurately details my experiences with homelessness in New York City; how the homeless are treated, the services that are available and unavailable to the homeless; and the hopelessness that can cause a serious case of mental illness and court ordered placement in a State run mental ward. PublishAmerica, if you are reading this article - please take a moment to rethink your business stance concerning that gag order which you require before I am released from my contract. It is not my intention to hurt your business. It is my intention to educate individuals who are considering signing with PublishAmerica, all the pitfalls and limitations that are associated with your company. Look at it this way; supposed there was not a publication called Consumer Report’s and individuals purchased products that were inherently dangerous or did not live up to their sales pitch. The only way that the consumer would be able to find out that these situations/ problems were inherent in the product, was to talk to others who had purchased the product. Well, I am not a walking and talking consumer reporter for the publishing industry and PublishAmerica. However, as a United States citizen protected by the First Amendment, I have the right to express my views, association, and experiences with PublishAmerica. As I sit here reading and editing this article, a flood of memories come to mind: The day that I received the e-mail confirmation that my memoir was accepted by PublishAmerica for publication –was the happiest day of my life. The day I received the contracts from PublishAmerica, signed them and mailed them to PublishAmerica in Frederick, Maryland – I was elated. After working with PublishAmerica and editing the memoir from the PDF file, selecting and approving the front and back cover art - I still could not believe that I was going to be a published author. As I held the two author copies in my hands, I was on top of the world. It is now two years and a couple months down the road since my memoir was printed by PublishAmerica. I have sold a handful books. The reviews of the book have been good. An avid U-K columnist purchased my memoir, read it, and gave it a good review. I was very grateful for that. A few other individuals have taken the time to write reviews about my memoir; and they are very favorable, as well. However, the general population of the United States and inhabitants of countries around the world cannot read my book. The reason is very simple, they can’t find my book anywhere in a bookstore! I did not expect that my memoir would be printed in a trade paperback format, which is slightly smaller than a hardcover book. I thought that my memoir would be printed as a regular paperback book, reasonably priced, and available in bookstores, airport concession stands, and the local Wal-Mart. But that is not the case. My book is priced at $24.95. If you go to PublishAmerica‘s website and you purchase the book, the purchaser will buy the book at $19.95 plus a $5.00 shipping charge. If the purchaser decides to buy more than one copy of my memoir, there is an additional 50¢ shipping surcharge tacked on to the purchase order. That brings the book up to the original selling price of $24.95 plus 50¢ extra in shipping charges for each additional copy. My wish is that the rights to my book be returned to me. My publishing contract with PublishAmerica canceled without a gag order. I would like to then shop the book around via legitimate literary agents, have the book printed by a well established publishing company, printed in a normal paperback book size, have the memoir reasonably priced, and have the memoir shelved! It would be great to see my memoir at Wal-Mart or Target retail outlets in towns all across the nation; even the corner drug store! Never in my wildest dreams did I expect that I would have so much trouble marketing my memoir, being refused shelf space in bookstores, and have corporate bookseller chains tell me straight to my face that PublishAmerica books are overpriced, poorly edited, and have a lousy return policy. This entire episode of my life has become too damn stressful. I am beginning to believe that the decision makers at PublishAmerica are holding the gag-order over my head, for spite. PublishAmerica appears to have a short memory. PublishAmerica lost the arbitration case brought forth by Mr. Dolan. It cost PublishAmerica an enormous amount of money to settle the case. I am not asking for any money. I am just asking to be released from my contract without a gag order stipulation. However, if PublishAmerica wants to be that stubborn, I will follow the same tactics that Mr. Dolan used to win his arbitration case. PublishAmerica, take a piece of paper –put it in your word processor printer and type out a contract release without the gag order stipulation, return the rights of my memoir to me, sign the piece of paper, place the signed piece of paper in an envelope, go to the Post Office and have the envelope certified, and mail it to me. When I receive the piece of paper contained in the Post Office certified envelope that states that my publishing contract with PublishAmerica has been terminated, and all rights have been returned to me, and there is no gag order stipulation –this whole controversy will end. Please do not place a guy, who has a cardiac condition and weak arteries in his brain, go through the distress of initiating an arbitration and legal confrontation. It is better to lose the battle and win the war, then losing the war and winning the battle. Every great general in history studied his battle chess board, and knew when he had lost the war. I am not asking PublishAmerica to surrender. I am asking to be released from the remainder of my five year contract, with out the gag order stipulation. That is all I know for now. I will wait PublishAmerica‘s decision to be sent by certified mail, and the letter to be signed by a verifiable legal name. This action taken by PublishAmerica‘s staff will take about five minutes. Getting depositions from present and former employees of PublishAmerica, having tax attorneys and CPA‘s examining your financial records, business operations, having a hearing before an arbitrator, all the paperwork that goes with that process takes an enormous amount of time, and money. Most of the money will be spent by PublishAmerica trying to defend an operation that was deemed sloppy by the arbitrator who handled Mr. Dolan‘s complaint against PublishAmerica. If PublishAmerica has short term memory loss –allow me to remind you that Mr. Dolan won a favorable decision from the arbitrator, and it cost PublishAmerica a lot of money to settle the case. PublishAmerica, how much does a piece of paper, envelope and a stamp cost? The ball is in your court. I’m a patient man. However, my patience is wearing very thin. Don’t test me! I mean what I say, and I do what I say. Just send the termination of my publishing contract without the stipulated gag order by certified mail, and that will be the end of the story. ------------ Email Argile Stox: argilestox@gmail.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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