• Preface
• Things to Consider
• Q/A
• My Experience
• Conclusion (what being published means)
Preface:
I don't like whining. I don't like bashing. Neither are tasteful or appropriate, especially on a blog of mine. So I won't do either. However, this does not mean I will refrain from telling the truth. I used to like PublishAmerica (PA) and even defend them. Now my energy is spent defending my own name as an author and my books, despite PA.
If you're going to take time to read through this page, great. If not, the one thing I want you to take away from here is that PA is in a business strictly to make money - not promote or encourage or help their authors. They have been known to be rude, deceptive and manipulative. A scam? In legal terms, probably not. But their deceptions have brought about many a frustrated author who have been dealt with quite unfairly to say the least. If you are an author considering PA, please take my advice and go another direction. PA will print your book - yes. But there's a whole lot more going on underneath than meets the eye. If you cannot find a commercial publisher that will accept your work, I suggest self-publishing. While this may or may not require money upfront, you will spend less in the long run because your books will be cheaper to purchase than through PA.
I have several books published through PublishAmerica and several that are not. I have dealt with them both as an author and as a manager of a bookstore.
Things to consider:
- PA does not charge their authors for their printing services. However, it has been confirmed that PA will take advantage of authors who need minor changes made to their text or covers pre-production and charge them. If authors want copies of their books, they will pay high prices for them.
- PA books are automatically added to several online retailers. There is much debate about tardiness and accuracy on both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. Also, despite these locations, average customers will rarely find PA books because they are not promoted otherwise, unless by the authors themselves.
- Authors are under no pressure to develop rigid book signing schedules. Nor are any other authors, even with commercial publishers, unless they are "big name" writers who will be making a lot of money with a career that the publisher is able to profit from as well.
- Authors are not required to purchase any copies of their book. While this is true, PA often pressures authors with special deals, discounts, unrealistic promises of promotion and gimmicks, some even with "or else" consequences to not buying into the deals (eg: if books are not purchased, it may affect future prices/formats).
- Authors receive a 20% - 40% discount on their own books... if a certain number of copies is ordered. Compared to self-publishing, this is reasonable. Compared to commercial publishing, this is not reasonable. Even if these discounts are good, the prices of the books are so high that it still makes purchasing copies very difficult for authors. Shipping prices have been $3.99 per book, which also raises the cost immensely.
- Royalties are paid to authors after receiving a token $1 advance. Compared to self-publishing, this sounds pretty good. Compared to commercial publishing, it means nothing. A $1 advance really has no meaning, though it does make some authors feel good. Royalties are very small, often delayed and decreased through any discounted sales.
- Most first-time authors can see their books in print within one year... if their contract states they will receive a free copy or if they purchase copies themselves.
- PA prints on demand, which means 1) they only print when orders come in and 2) bookstores will not automatically be carrying copies of books as soon as they are on the market. From a self-publishing standpoint, this is nothing new. From a commercial publishing standpoint, it's a method to be avoided.
- An online forum enables authors to interact with each other. This can be encouraging, however, the boards are so closely monitored by PA that any posts that may question PA's methods, or question any developments over pricing, formatting etc, may be deleted without notice, or authors may be banned from the boards altogether. PA has been known to delete legitimate, polite questions regarding book pricing, which arouses the suspicions of dishonesty.
- Customer service is very poor. PA has been known to be openly rude and critical of authors in seek of answers. Numerous emails may result in no response or a response too late for whatever the original issue was. Phone calls may be met with an answering machine, after which a call may or may not be returned. The customer service responding to authors via the online forums, again, are often very rude, patronizing the authors in public, then sometimes locking the thread so that others may see but not reply.
- Low-quality editing produces many books with typos and errors. This is mainly due to their process of running books through spell-checkers and maybe giving the text a quick glance but nothing more.
- Promoting of books to actual bookstores is left entirely up to the authors. While this is not new to anyone who has self-published, or some who have been commercially published, PA's advertising wording to authors makes it seem as though they offer much marketing, both online and off. In reality, many bookstores may turn down stocking some books simply because they have been published through PA, and said books may or may not be returnable, also affecting a bookstore's response.
- Book prices have been severely raised without any notification to authors. Sometimes these are connected to the aforementioned promotions and sometimes not. Book formats (eg: paperback and bargain hardback), may be controlled by how many books an author is willing to purchase, even though the same format may already be available under a different name (eg: softcover and hardback).
Q/A
Am I glad I signed on with PublishAmerica?
I am very glad to have seen my first couple books in print when no commercial publisher would accept them and I did not yet have the skills to self-publish. I am glad for the opportunities that were spawned from being published. I wish it would have been through a better company.
Will you submit another book to them?
No. I have learned a great deal about self-publishing and will either stay on that path or continue searching for a commercial publisher. To submit another book to PA would be supporting them and I can no longer do that.
What is their book quality like?
The quality of cover, paper, ink etc. is satisfactory. I found nothing wrong with it when considering my books. The quality of editing/text is very poor as already mentioned.
Would you recommend PublishAmerica to another author?
No.
Why or why not?
PublishAmerica was not the most reputable company when I signed on with them for my first book. But I was satisfied. Since then, they have gone downhill, becoming much more money hungry. Their customer service has digressed immensely and they now manipulate authors with the slick talk. I read somewhere once that PA's primary goal was to help authors who were having a tough time breaking their way into the publishing world. While this may have been an original goal, it is apparent that the only goal now is money.
Is PublishAmerica a scam?
Probably not, in legal terms. They do not have hidden fees, directly charge authors (except for known cases stated above) or breach their contracts as far as I am aware. They surround themselves with loopholes by using words such as “most” and “probably” when speaking of books or results of marketing.
What would be your advice to anyone considering PublishAmerica for their book?
Be careful, thorough and wise. Read your contract all the way through and know that they will do no more than what they state. Things will probably change after you sign your contract (book prices etc). Check out their website thoroughly but remember not all information is listed. Visit the message boards and see the other authors interact and see how PA responds to issues at hand. Be ready to do all your own promoting/marketing. And last but not least, my bottom-line advice is to choose someone else. Your time, money, sweat and tears deserve better services elsewhere.
My Experience
After submitting my first novel to PublishAmerica, I was very pleased when it was accepted. Though I knew their prices for books were higher than the average bookseller, it was worth it to me to see my book in print. I had a very pleasant experience and the quality of the final product (cover, paper, ink) was very satisfactory.
With the good experience as a platform, I submitted my second novel and it was also accepted. The process was generally the same and I was just as pleased with the outcome.
My third novel was ready and after some thought, I submitted to them again. By the time I had already signed my contract though, it was very evident that things at PublishAmerica were changing. With three different editing options, I was not even given the option of having them do a full edit. I had a lot of difficulty communicating with my assigned “editor” about certain changes in the text. A conversion error occurred on the editor’s end, yet I was forced to comb through my manuscript and find all of the mistakes to submit. I was also not treated professionally when dealing with the book’s cover design. Shortly after publication, a new price increase was introduced (without warning), making my newest paperback novel almost $28 plus shipping. I spoke out against this on the private message boards and was promptly banned without notice.
Soon, PublishAmerica began introducing frequent sales (via email) on books (eg: 50% discounts, free shipping etc). This was very helpful, because books were so expensive otherwise, even with the regular author discounts. The prices of books went down a little, then up again, and again with no warning or notification to authors. Then the company announced that they would no longer be offering special deals - they pressured authors to buy more books now before the sales would end forever…
Not long after that, the emails started up again, continuing the same patterns. The deals became promotion gimmicks (eg: buy so many books and we will send a certain number of them to such-and-such celebrity). Unrealistic ideas were presented, trying to get authors to buy even more books (eg: buy so many books and we will send a copy to such-and-such movie producer). Over and over and over, new deals, discounts and outlandish gimmicks were introduced.
Then they announced that most “softcover” books were going to be discontinued and only hardback would be available. Authors were pressured to purchase a certain number of books at discount to stock up on softcovers if they wanted any before there were only hardbacks available - no authors were told whether their particular book(s) would be included in the change or not.
Soon after, many authors were told the good news that their book was one of the few that would remain in softcover (after many had already made purchases based on the belief that their books would no longer be available in softcover - including myself).
Within a week, PublishAmerica announced a new format - paperback. These “paperbacks” would be much more affordable than the “softcovers” that were previously discontinued… for some authors. The catch was that authors needed to purchase a certain quantity of softcover books in order to “activate” the new paperbacks. Many authors could not respond because they had just ordered their books, thinking they wouldn’t be able to anymore.
Soon, another deal was introduced, offering authors the same thing, but they didn’t have to order as many of their softcovers in order to activate their paperbacks. And again, soon another deal was introduced the same way, and again offering the sale of fewer books for activation. I could afford the very lowest offer they had for only one of my three books.
While that went on, PublishAmerica made another announcement - they would be discontinuing all “hardback” books. The replacement? “Bargain hardbacks” - hardbacks that were exactly the same but more affordable than their outrageously priced ones. Again, in order to make it possible, authors were pressured to purchase their own books so that they could have cheaper hardbacks in order to replace the regular hardbacks (the same hardbacks that were going to replace the aforementioned softcovers that were going to be discontinued).
The newly introduced “paperback” books are exactly the same as their “softcover” books with different ISBNs. Since then, "softcovers" have undergone another severe price hike, either forcing more authors to purchase copies in order to activate the cheaper "paperback" versions, or not be able to afford their books at all.
Perhaps no actual lie has been told - but they have truly mistreated their authors with these most recent developments.
If PublishAmerica had stayed the same as when I first signed on with them, I would not be dissatisfied now. I am saddened by their digression and I hope that other first-time authors will not be disappointed. Perhaps I have simply outgrown PublishAmerica as I have matured and realized exactly what they are about.
Conclusion
According to dictionary.com, to "publish" is to issue for sale or distribution to the public. Therefore, PublishAmerica is a publisher, vanity houses are publishers and self-published authors are indeed published.
I am proud of my achievements and proud of my books, both those through PA and those through other efforts. I am proud that I am an author and I am continually pursuing my writing through more books and various other opportunities. While PublishAmerica is looked down upon by many and often not even accepted in bookstores, my books have still been published and they still are my works that I can hold in my hand, promote and sell like any other books.
My name is Rachel Burkum and I am a published author.