I have to admit to being readily impressed by company names.
Maybe it's an age thing. You see, I was around when we had
nationalised industries here in Britain, you know, British
Railways, British Gas, British Steel, British Road Services,
etc., etc. Those companies may have been over-staffed and
under-efficient but you always knew you could trust them, and a
product marked "Made in Britain" had class - in those days. Even
after they became privatised the word "British" in a company
name still, in my subconscious at least, gave that firm a stamp
of approval. Those were the heady days when we had some
traditional industries and workers could rely upon union
protection to prevent their jobs being shipped out to third
world countries.
When a company called PublishAmerica
(http://www.publishamerica.com/index.asp) agreed to publish my
small collection of short stories, I was delighted. This wasn't
a 'tuppence ha'penny' outfit but an organisation that boasted
"America" in its title. I've never been to America but I have
made some good "virtual" friends there and know how patriotic
Americans are. How could you not feel safe doing business with a
firm that so proudly flew the flag of that famous super power?
When I checked out PublishAmerica's website, all red, white and
blue with the slogan "We treat our authors the old-fashioned way
- we pay them," I felt truly blessed. A publisher of high esteem
(I believed the testimonials) recognised the reader-appeal of my
stories and my potential as a writer.
Further encouragement came from the "Why PublishAmerica?" page
where I was told "The majority of our books that are sold retail
are sold in physical brick and mortar bookstores" and
"PublishAmerica can remove the stigma of paying to be published.
With PublishAmerica, you will have the very important
distinction of having your book ACCEPTED BY A TRADITIONAL
PUBLISHING COMPANY."
Yet something about the company name puzzled me. I mean, why not
"The American Publishing Company" or similar? As it stands
"PublishAmerica" could be interpreted as an ambition to publish
anything and everything that was ever written in that country.
Amazingly, that interpretation very much sums up their
objectives.
In my enthusiasm I had been studying PA's Author's Message
Board, following links to previously published author's websites
and reading all the reviews and book excerpts I could find (not
realising that authors with anything pertinent to say are
instantly barred from posting). Then I read one of their books
from cover to cover. Now, my own education at an orphanage
school in the Highlands of Scotland was very basic, so my grasp
of English Grammar left something to be desired. Nevertheless,
convinced I had stories to tell and the ability to tell them, I
had joined Internet critique groups to learn how to present
them. When I read my first PublishAmerica book my feelings were
a blend of embarrassment, anger and disbelief. The writer had
obviously worked hard to put the story together and it had the
makings of an entertaining read. It reminded me so much of my
own first and only attempt at writing a novel - abundant
clichés, suspect word selection, contrived scenes and wooden
characters existing in a plot that lacked cohesion. It was in
fact a story barely at the first draft stage, complete with
spelling and grammatical errors. How could an ethical,
self-respecting publishing house allow this to happen, I
wondered?
PublishAmerica/ScamAmerica are most definitely NOT traditional
publishers whatever their slogan implies. Recently interviewed
by Steven Zeitchik of Publishers Weekly, PublishAmerica
executive director Miranda N. Prather admits that her company
DOES NOT EDIT FOR CONTENT, only for grammar and spelling. For
readers and writers everywhere this has to be the most worrying
statement ever made on behalf of a publisher. But it gets worse.
Simultaneously Ms Prather announced the creation of an
affiliation between PublishAmerica and Online Publishing
Bookstore - Tome Toaster
(http://www.onlinepublishingbookstore.com). Quote "Authors that
generate sales and create a track record showing that they are
able to promote as well as write a book will be referred to
PublishAmerica by Tome Toaster." So we have a situation where a
writer's ability to self-promote supersedes everything,
including the ability to pen a readable story.
I find it a frightening fact that PublishAmerica already have
10,000 published books in the marketplace (recent announcement).
Since they don't edit for content it is safe to assume that the
bulk of these are badly written at best. By choosing
PublishAmerica, genuine AUTHORS who have worked hard at
sharpening their writing and storytelling skills find their
works irretrievably associated with some of the most inane
rubbish ever written, for the period of their contract - SEVEN
YEARS! Meanwhile READERS have the dilemma of finding a readable
piece of fiction (or non-fiction) in an environment awash with
literary garbage.
The scam is brilliant in its simplicity. Instead of asking for
money up front, PublishAmerica solicit a list of up to 100 of
the author's friends and family whom they bombard with
pre-publication flyers offering discounted copies. The sting is
in the book's cover price - anything from 25-50% above the going
rate for a similar book - ensuring that the friends-and-family
discount does not effect the publisher's profit. My own 136 page
"tome" was originally priced at $19.95 then reduced to the still
prohibitive cover price of $16.95 when I expressed my disgust.
Print-on-demand format allows the publisher to recoup publishing
costs almost immediately on just a few such sales which are
followed up by a "special" bulk purchase offer, irresistible to
the author who has received only two free copies for review
purposes. I invested three to four hundred pounds sterling and
countless frustrating hours that I could ill afford on a
marketing project that was doomed to failure from the start.
PublishAmerica's lack of author support, only answering phone
calls for book orders and ignoring almost all email complaints,
is legend, as is the nigh impossible task of finding a
bookseller willing to stock PublishAmerica non-returnable
titles.
PublishAmerica have a branch called PublishBritannica and I now
realise how naïve I have been to believe that a company would
necessarily show respect to the country whose name they
cynically exploit. Maybe such business practices are par for the
course in today's dog-eat-dog, winner-take-all world. I know
there are "authors" prepared to buy huge quantities of their
books then sell them on to sympathetic, unsuspecting
acquaintances, mug gullible punters at book fairs and the like
or just sell them to each other. I just enjoy writing stories,
being neither a super salesman nor a confidence trickster. Is it
too much to expect that a writer's work might succeed on merit
rather than misrepresentation and deceit? If companies like
PublishAmerica are allowed to legally flourish while exploiting
new authors, deceiving the reading public and stifling writing
talent, apart from GENUINE TRADITIONAL HOUSES, the book
publishing industry will surely drown in a dumbed-down literary
quagmire of its own making.
NOTE: Many authors who value their work and who have fallen
victim to this disreputable company are campaigning to have the
sole rights to their material restored. To those who threaten
legal action PublishAmerica offer a release agreement containing
a gagging clause. Authors who feel that they have been misled or
defrauded by this company are advised to write to -
Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division-Beth
Silverman 200 St. Paul Place Baltimore, MD 21202
and
BBB of Greater Maryland 1414 Key Highway, Suite 100 Baltimore,
MD 21230 -5189 WWW: www.baltimore.bbb.org Email: info@bbbmd.org
Phone: (410)347-3992 Fax: (410)347-3936
Eddie Bruce © 23.11.2004.
|
