PublishAmerica: A Real Publisher
Many people out there are under the mistaken impression that PublishAmerica is either a vanity press or some form of self-publishing. On the contrary, they are a regular publisher. The Wikipedia definition of a vanity press is as follows: A vanity press or vanity publisher is a book printer which, while claiming to be a publisher, charges writers a fee in return for publishing their books. PublishAmerica does not do this. Self-publishing is defined by Wikipedia as "the publishing of books and other media by the authors of those works, rather than by established, third-party publishers." PublishAmerica is a third-party publisher. They take care of all of the cover design, editing (if the author requests editing), printing and distribution to major booksellers. They also handle taking orders for the books through their own website and the shipment and billing for those books.
I write for PublishAmerica. There, I've said it. I'm not ashamed of it. In fact, I want people to know that I am a published writer and that I did not buy my way into being published. I wrote a book, I sent it in, they published it. End of story. Well, end of that part of the story. My obligation to PublishAmerica is simply that I will not sell the rights to my book to anyone else for a period of time as specified in my contract. My obligation to myself as an author is to promote my book to the best of my ability.
PublishAmerica provided me with the cover art and an electronic file that can be used to create my marketing tools. It is up to me to set up book signings, interviews, and any other marketing events that I can in order to sell more books. They do not promise to do this for the author and I did not expect them to take care of this. They do not require that I sell a certain amount of books, nor am I required to purchase books from them. In fact, they provided me with two free copies of my book when it was finished printing.
PublishAmerica absorbs the cost of printing and distributing and in so doing; they choose to be a print-on-demand publisher. This is merely a cost-effective way of doing business. It should not be a reflection on the quality of the books or the authors they work with. They are a newer publisher and they have a new way of doing business which is in keeping with today's fast pace and need for efficiency.
In looking at the reviews given to some of my fellow PublishAmerica writers, I can't help but feel badly about the abuse they have taken simply because they aren't writing for a different publishing house. One reviewer said,
"The secret messages in - - should be how to get your book to a real publisher who gives advances, puts your work in catalogs and sets up booksignings in real stores! and doesn't have to beg for more novels to pay for arbitration lawsuits!"
I have taken out references to the title of this work to protect the author. When I read this particular review, I was shocked that someone would have so much to say about a publisher when reviewing a book. I thought the idea was to review the book and possibly, the writer. What different does the wrapper make? The point is that this writer finished a book and was able to get it out there for people to read and review. This writer has every right to be heard, no matter whether the story was good or bad. There are many writers out there that I don't particularly care for, but I don't think I would attack them based on their choice of publisher. That's like smacking someone around because you don't like the shirt they are wearing. It just doesn't make sense.
Fortunately, I was also able to find positive reviews of PublishAmerica writers. Several books I found were given high marks and the writers were praised for their ability to write good stuff. Not once in these reviews was PublishAmerica mentioned. It didn't appear to matter where the book came from, the stories were good.
I would just like to point out that even though I am defending PublishAmerica against accusations of not being a "real" publisher, I have absolutely no problem with someone using a vanity publisher or even self-publishing. Sometimes, you have to take the road less traveled to reach your destination. We can't always follow the well-defined path. Some of my favorite books have been self-published. The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield, What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Nelson, and even some of the original writings of Virginia Woolf, Walt Whitman and James Joyce. Would we dare say that these individuals were no-talent hacks who weaseled their way into the writing world? I doubt it.
For the sake of being decent to one another, I would just ask that readers not place so much emphasis on where the book came from. We are all intelligent enough to know good writing when we see it. Good writing touches us and makes us better understand who we are and why we are here. It can come from anywhere and doesn't have to be wrapped in pretty paper to have value.
Published by Rebecca Benston
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32 Comments
Post a CommentVery, very well said.......
Rebecca Benston
(Guest) 05/13/2010
Thank you so much for the information, Spiderboy
I agree with both of yall. PublishAmerica is a good place to start but if you want to have a real career as a writer. You should leave them after your first or second book.I really didnt have to many problems with publishamerica. My main problem that I had with PublishAmerica was that they didn't do enough marketing and promotion for me.Most of the marketing and promotion came from me. And secondly my books is only availble onlne.But considering how technology is today I don't really have a problem with that no more.
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I agree with both of yall. PublishAmerica is a good place to start but if you want to have a real career as a writer. You should leave them after your first or second book.I really didnt have to many problems with publishamerica. My main problem that I had with PublishAmerica was that they didn't do enough marketing and promotion for me.Most of the marketing and promotion came from me. And secondly my books is only availble on.But considering how technology is today I don't really have a proble with that no more.
My first book was published by Prentice Hall. It was a resource for teachers and sold really well. My second book is being published by Publish America and the experience from my perspective as author has been exactly the same. People who think they merely have to write a book and wait for the cash to roll in are delusional an should read the dedication in John Grisham's "Ford County." He had to market "A Time to Kill" in exactly the same way as new PA author's do. It's largely "how it's done." My book with PA has not cost me a dime -- find a self-publisher you can say that about.
I am a self published author ..two books with Publish America and one with iUniverse inc. I only wish they would get better distribution into the average book store. Unfortunately, some people will not be able to read my books ,which I think are good books with good stories,considering they were my first attempts at writing. The reason is the prejudices and bad publicity of some companies ,like Publish America. iUniverse is more accepted, but because I am self published the big stores don't order them. I have since written other books but am seeking an agent this time.
As long as people's eyes are wide open, I have no problem with what they do. Here's an unbiased article by the Washington Post (though 5 years old) about PA. If you read this and still go with them, no worries. all the power to you, I wish you mountains of success. After all, I really do want authors to succeed. Cheers - SB
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A25187-2005Jan20
I'm not necessarily offended. I am, however; tired of going over and over this. I'm just not sure what your objective is here. I've already published with PA and am now writing for Stonegarden Publishing. This is why I said that PA was a good starting point. I had no intention of staying with PA for the rest of my writing life. It was a place to begin.
I've done lots of research and I know all about the terrible things PA has done. I haven't had any problems with PA, so I have no real complaint about them. If anything, the only issue I have had with them in the last year or so is that bookstores tend to snub them and so it has become more difficult to get in for events. Not impossible, just a bit more difficult.
Whatever their reputation as a publisher, it shouldn't reflect on my reputation as a writer. In the same way that PA is not responsible for my behavior, I am not responsible for theirs. If my writing is good enough, eventually, I will be where I want to be.
Heck, there are even some decent POD/E-publishers that would be a good starting point (again, choose wisely). So I'm sorry you're so offended.
Yeah, get defensive. great. look, if you go to the other forums I mentioned, you'd see that there are heaps of people who so regret publishing with PA that they are truly devastated. The feel like the months (in some cases years) of writing a manuscript were wasted. Now, you've painted PA as a viable option, so you've opened yourself up to criticism. I know about PA because I did my research when I was looking for a publisher. When I stumble upon a site like this, that other struggling authors might stumble upon, I feel the need to offer an opposing view so people will do more research.
Oh, and you think I was referencing Random House? my figures were of the small commercial press variety. We're talking Snowbooks, Sourcebooks, Orca Press, Lobster Press, Flux . . . etc etc (the list goes on and on). All these guys have managed to sell single titles +40K copies and pay industry standard advances and get books on shelves. And they're small! these are a great starting point for authors.
Thank you so much for the information, Spiderboy. You know, I never would have known all of this if it hadn't been for your comments. Obviously, you're a best-selling author and you have nothing better to do with your time than to run PA authors into the ground for making a choice with which you personally do not agree. I'm guessing that you've had a run-in with PA at some point and that you were dissatisfied with the way they did business, otherwise, why bother with all of this debate?
Basically, I really don't care what you think about my decision to go with PA. I'm writing because I like to write. For some reason, you have it in your mind that I haven't read up on PA and that I'm some moron who can't understand the difference between PA and Random House and you can't help but try to "fix" my way of thinking. My response to this is that I didn't ask for your advice and I certainly don't need your criticism. Everything you have said here just proves to me that you are not di