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Aug. 12, 2005 Sometimes an individual must sit back and watch while others carry the flag and go into battle. For the past few months my mind and writing time has been consumed with never-ending activities to have my publishing contract with PublishAmerica terminated. I belong to many message boards such as: Absolute Write, Mindsight, and The Mudd Hole which all have hundreds, even thousands of posts which were generated by unhappy PublishAmerica Authors. Yet, PublishAmerica still insists that the company has signed twelve to thirteen thousand happy and contented authors. What are all these message boards chattering about? There are four main issues that have raised the ire of PublishAmerica authors, i.e.: High retail cost of the trade paperbacks, No Return policy, locked out of standard book publishing distribution channels, and national bookseller chains refusal to shelve their books. When an individual sits on their derrière for months – years at a time and creates a viable manuscript, and a "traditional royalty paying book publisher" accepts it, the author expects that the book will be available to be consumed by the general public. An individual does not labor over a manuscript and have it published just for their own edification (the exception would be contracting with vanity publishers). The author desires that the book will be offered for sale at bookstores, and the general public will purchase & read the book. This is not the case with PublishAmerica. Folks, PublishAmerica receives its revenue from friends and families of the author who purchase their work. In addition, they rely on their authors to purchase their own books (at a small discount) to sell on their own. Many authors sell their books out of their automobile trunks. If you are a local author, a bookseller may hold a onetime author book signing. Usually, the authors must supply their own books to sell. If an author is lucky, a few copies of their book will be ordered by the local bookstore from PublishAmerica, and shelved in the "local author, local interest" section. However, once the books are sold out – the bookseller is hesitant to order more books due to the high cost of the trade paperback. PublishAmerica does not offer national chain bookseller exposure. Also, there is the issue of the dreaded No Return policy that PublishAmerica stubbornly refuses to eliminate. There is also the issue of professional reviewers who will not read & review a book published by PublishAmerica. It is a crushing and demoralizing event when an author is refused access to shelf space in a bookstore, being locked out of the normal national publishing distribution pipeline, their books not being considered by professional book reviewers, and having their books linger in cyberspace on booksellers websites. I have stated numerous times, that when a potential buyer holds a book in their hands and reads a few pages of the book, that it is a "meet and greet" opportunity for both the customer and the author. Unless an individual has heard about a PublishAmerica author through word of mouth, and the individual goes on-line or physically walks into a bookstore and ORDERS the book, the author’s work remains in limbo. In a normal author and publishing house relationship, if the author’s book does not sell well, the publishing house will return the rights of the book to the author. Many PublishAmerica authors have requested that they be released from seven to eighty-five year contracts in order to shop their work elsewhere. The authors generally receive a "No! We are holding you and your book to the contract;" Period! How cruel is that? Dear Reader, there are numerous PublishAmerica authors who have produced captivating literary works, based on adversities that they have overcome. However, PublishAmerica refuses to let these true and fictional stories (based on fact) see the light of day. Right now, you maybe going through a situation that a PublishAmerica author experienced. That author is an average individual who wrote about their experiences, and how they successfully over came the adversity. However, you will never see that book in your local bookstore. You will never be able to judge for yourself, by holding the book in your hands – if the book is worthy of your time & money. I urge every book-buying consumer to write and/or call the PublishAmerica corporate offices and demand that PublishAmerica place their trade paperbacks in the normal publishing distribution channels – nationwide. Demand that PublishAmerica send a catalogue of the books published to national and worldwide booksellers, reduce the price of their books, and eliminate the No Return policy. E-mail: authorsupport@publishamerica.com, phone: (301) 695-1707, or snail mail: PublishAmerica LLLP P.O. Box 151 Frederick, MD 21705. The United States is and will always be the "Show Me!" country. Each and every American still has the desire to hold a product in their hand, use their eyes and brain to determine if that book appeals to their interests. On behalf of all PublishAmerica Authors, thank you for your support. ------------ Email Argile Stox: argilestox@gmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ 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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