author

Roberta's story

I could write a book about PublishAmerica and their treatment of their authors. Wait, I did, I wrote a book for PublishAmerica. They accepted it and published it and that is when my problems began, although I did not know it at the time.

In June of 2003, I submitted five stories - modern day fairy-tales - to Miranda Prather at Publish
America. My volume of short stories was accepted within the month. I subsequently added another six stories bringing my submission to eleven stories in total.

I was ecstatic that I was going to be “an author” because my little volume of stories had been given “the chance it deserved”. Until that moment I had not seriously considered becoming an author. I received, signed and returned my contract in a timely manner. Yes, I read my contract but, from my uneducated perspective, it seemed quite straightforward. Publish America promised to send out a press release on my behalf and, if I became successful at the local level, they promised to take me to national recognition. I was prepared to work hard. I contacted newspapers, arranged signings, set up readings at local schools and libraries, printed up posters and made book marks and business cards on my computer. I was excited.

By February of 2004, warning signs were popping up, but I ignored them. I was in the “honeymoon” stage. Everyone at PublishAmerica was pleasant and helpful. My queries were answered promptly. I found ten mistakes in my book, including a major one where I left a sentence unfinished. It was not caught. I re-edited my own book many times until I was satisfied. I then returned it to them. I was so pleased with everything up to this point that I queried submitting my second book and was told by someone no longer with the Company that I should wait until I saw how my first book was doing. That was sensible advice and I will be eternally grateful to that wise person.

My book came out officially in April of 2004 with a major mistake I had overlooked. The title of my first story and the title in the Index did not match. I was also very disappointed at the cover price and at the rather importunate letter, which PublishAmerica sent to my friends and family. It was embarrassing. I had expected a tasteful announcement, not a “grab” for money. No press release was ever sent that I know of. I was bombarded with offers to buy more books. They overcharged me on my first order. All “red flags” which I ignored.

In September 2004, I received my first royalty cheque. Aside from friends and family, I had supposedly only sold two books. I had just submitted my second volume of short stories because my first book had then been out for almost five months. I immediately withdrew my second submission on the grounds that my first book was not selling, so there was no incentive to send in a second one. I was importuned on three different occasions by three different people to re-submit. At this juncture, I started to ask a lot of questions, but no answers were forthcoming. In fact my e-mail to Miranda Prather was “lost”.

In October of 2004, they admitted owing me five percent on my first and only order of books. All reminders were then ignored for approximately six months. In April of 2005, I finally got an answer saying that my cheque was being dispatched. I never received a cheque and the e-mails became extremely rude. I received comments like: “we did not ignore you for six months”, “to what 5% are you referring”, you are not “coherent”, you need to “chill out and catch your breath then wash out your mouth”.

Added to this, local bookstores would only accept my books on consignment for a limited time. I had to supply them and they wanted their 45% discount. I would lose money on any books sold. The final straw came when, while doing a book signing, a self-published author told me that she would never buy a PublishAmerica book at any cost because of their poor reputation and badly-edited books. She had attempted to read one and had not been able to get past the first seventeen pages. That was when it finally hit me that the deck was stacked against me and my book at every level. The “honeymoon” was over. There would be no wedding. I was through with PublishAmerica and when they added insult to injury by sending me a useless “amendment “ contract when I asked for a rights reversion, I decided to go public with my story.

In February of 2005, I received a royalty cheque for “0”. I created a disturbance and in April 2005 was sent a small cheque - no explanation given. They may hold my book prisoner for seven years, but they cannot hold me, nor will I wear a muzzle.