Timothy's story I was simply overjoyed when I received an e-mail, in March 2004, informing me that: “PublishAmerica has decided to give ‘Tempest In The Stone’ the chance it deserves.” I was on my way! Later I would learn that the way was fraught with a labyrinth of lies, deceit and shattered hopes. However, at the time I received this letter I was under the belief that at long last, I would be a published and credible author. For one, I would not be relying on or paying for the services of a “vanity publisher.” Later I would learn that PublishAmerica might be a half step above such companies and the POD (Print On Demand) publishers they claimed not to be. It was as simple as ABC, for their claims of legitimacy were based on artifice and chicanery. I believed everything they stated in their follow-up missives, for at that time I had no reason to distrust these discerning “editors”. They assured me that my book would be made available through their website and various on-line bookstores. But they added, “and through the 50,000 corresponding bricks and mortar stores [sic]. Your book will be available through all of these channels within six weeks from the time you receive your complimentary copies.” The metatag for their website read: PublishAmerica, Inc., a traditional publisher, accepting and publishing manuscripts and books at no charge to the author. Royalties paid to writers, books sold in stores… [emphasis mine] This was an outright lie. I learned that most bricks and mortars booksellers would not deal with PublishAmerica because of (1) Their reputation as a POD, and (2) Their refusal to buy back the copies of their books that don’t sell. This would also affect the number of book signings I could do, which meant refusals from the better known “chain” booksellers like Barnes and Noble, Waldenbooks, B. Dalton, et al. On top of that, PA had the guts, gall and gumption to recommend their self-serving tome, The Published Author’s Guide to Promotion. That should have been a big enough hint; after all, why would I need to promote the book outside of my locality when there was a major, legitimate publisher willing to make my book available nationwide? Don’t get me wrong. With this first book I did not expect to be rubbing elbows with Stephen King in the rich author’s lounge. All I really expected was a fair opportunity to present my book before the world. This would establish name recognition so that when I went to bigger publishing houses, people would already know who I was. Instead, I did both local and national promotion. Any benefits thereof were due to my diligence and dedication. Worse, when I got my authors copies—a measly two—I was dismayed by the lack of editing. After all, PA was supposed to do “line by line” editing. Five months after signing the contract for ‘Tempest In The Stone’, I submitted a second manuscript, "The Malice of Cain". In December 2004, just six weeks before Tempest was scheduled to be released, I received PublishAmerica’s acceptance of this second book. Now I was double happy! I would be promoting not one, but two books in the same year! My name would certainly get around and I didn’t care whether reviewers (the few who opted to critique a POD book) were kind or not, just as long as I could prove that the first time was no fluke. But reality would soon kick me in the teeth, for around this time I discovered several critics of PA. They were not all, as PA suggested, “disgruntled” authors. Some were people who had been published by PA and were displeased with the editorial quality of their books. Several others changed their minds after reading PA’s “one-sided” contract. All had received acceptance form letters identical to mine! Their complaints held a common theme: the duplicitous wording of the contract, the failure of PA to promote their books and the measly one dollar advance, which as I mentioned on the PA message board was, “just enough to buy two stamps and a pack of gum.” I did not return my contract for “Malice” to PublishAmerica until March 11, 2005. I made a few changes in the contract and initialed them. The first change I requested was five free copies of my book. I knew from reading on-line sources that most major houses offered between 8 and 20 copies to their authors. I didn’t think my request was asking too much. My second and last request was for a $250 advance, which was measly by industry standards. If PA balked at my request, then that would be proof positive that they wouldn’t even provide $250 worth of promotion. This meant they only wanted to sell enough to recoup their investment, and would only “promote” to the people on my mailing list. And if they rejected my counteroffer outright, it wouldn’t be much of a loss. I would shop my manuscript elsewhere. However, there was a problem. My websites and press releases had already announced that the book was due in the fall of 2005. I rethought my position and decided that I would go ahead with PA publishing the book. As with “Tempest,” the real promotion would be left up to me. Second, I would have to rely on “second tier” review services. Knowing that, I vowed that PA would never see another of my manuscripts. On March 15, I received the following response from Tania Grab of PA’s Acquisitions Department:
As I mentioned earlier, I thought things over and decided to give PublishAmerica the benefit of the doubt. I wanted the second book to reach the public as quickly as possible. If all went well, “Malice” would be on Internet sites less than a year after “Tempest” was released. But I was unsure as to whether or not this was a good thing. I knew I didn’t want to wait twelve to eighteen months to see results from another company, especially with my having already submitted an anthology (“Coming In Threes”) and with a third novel, “Darker Than Blue” ready for submission. Two days later I received a response from the appropriately named Ms. Grab:
I decided that I would, from now on, advise anyone signing with PA to change the initial contract, especially if it were their first book. On June 26, I received a letter from PA stating that my new novel, “The Malice of Cain”, could be available as early as the first week of September. Being that I didn’t have Photoshop on my computer, again I left the cover design to PA’s graphic arts department. Again, the result was a mediocre cover that could have been designed by an eighth grader on crack. I made some changes in the coloring of the type and insisted they spell my name the same way on the spine of the book as they had on the front cover. (They had left off the “Sr.”). When my first royalty payment was due, (per the contract, in August), I was surprised by the convoluted system of lies PA came up with for NOT paying me “quickly.” I assumed one of three possibilities: This outfit did not have an accurate method of tracking book sales (doubtful); I had sold such a paltry amount of books that they felt they could keep me hanging (possible); or I had sold more books than they anticipated and they didn’t have enough money to pay me (possible, being that they had to mail out 4,999 other checks). Let me reiterate that the average “author” at PA sells a measly 71 books, with the all-time high being 5,200. While I didn’t expect to sell five thousand, I figured with my extensive advertising campaign I could sell at least 20% of that. That still wouldn’t amount to much, but it would be 1,000 opportunities for people to recognize my name and my work. Then I could submit my stronger works to legitimate publishers who might be more inclined to give me a break. They would see what I could do on my own and perhaps ask, ”Why not? I should have been paid on time and when I wasn’t, I had to declare war on PA. I would seek financial recompense for my time wasted, request that the rights to my book be revert to me immediately and that PA refrain from selling or “promoting” either manuscript. In this way I could rewrite the manuscripts and submit them to new and more legitimate publishing houses. Second, a victory would keep my name in the news, on the internet and gain me some much-needed publicity. My method of attack would be four pronged: 1) Contact state Attorney Generals in California and Maryland, plus other political representatives that might be able to aid an investigation; 2) Put the word out via my website, e-mail the writer’s groups I belonged to and every black book club in my file system—some 200; 3) I would write several articles on Useless Knowledge (a five-part series) and on E-zineArticles.com about the phoniness of PA’s “mission”, and find as many pertinent writer’s sites and blogs that I could. I also had an ace in the hole—The Black Commentator and African American Newswire connections. Furthermore, PRWeb and internet radio networks would be interested; 4) Write to several news shows (“Dateline NBC”, “60 Minutes”, et al.) and bemoan PA’s lack of ethics. Such an attack would provide widespread publicity that would be good for me, and further expose PA as the bloodsuckers that they are. I am currently seeking PA authors who would like to participate in a class action case against PublishAmerica. If you would like to be involved in this class action lawsuit, please contact me at Stellysr7@aol.com. In the subject line please state: PublishAmerica class action suit. I am hoping to get at least 40 authors interested. Copyright © 2006 Timothy N. Stelly, Sr. |