Complaint Review: PUBLISH AMERICA LLLP

As a niave and first time author I was desperate to have my book published. I had done research on "traditional publishers" and other self-publishing companies, but the cost was prohibitive.

I have been retired on 100% disability from the Social Security Admn, and loose money is just not to be found in my budget. he more I researched, the more depressed I got, figuring that I would never see my book in print.

Then my search efforts led me to the PA website, and the more I read, the more excited I got. I stoppepd my research, and ssent my manuscript in, and my book was accepted. OMG, was this ever a dream come true.

A NARCOLEPTIC IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY ISBN 1-60563-294-5 was written to assist undiagnosed Narcoleptics find the relief I have found through proper diagnosis and treatment by sleep professionals. My book is endorsed by one of the pioneers in sleep medicine.

In the contract they mention "not paying for books printed and sent for review and promotion purposes" and that was okay with me. After all they were going to promote the book by sending review copies to the newspapers and book distributors...NOT!

After waiting from June 2008 when my author copies arrived, I was like a little giddy kid. My book is in print, and I had the proof. In August no check was received, only a letter that no copies had been sold.

I wrote an e-mail asking for PA to give me a list of people they had contacted, so I would not send books to those same people, but no reply. I took out an ad with a local magazine, CINCINNATI WOMAN, which has a distribution of over 35,000, and the magazine is distributed in the tri-state area, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana primariarily in libraries, where I found the copy I used to send the ad to. In early spring I placed an ad that went into the MAY-JUNE issue of the VVA VETERAN, which has a veteran distribution of about 60,000.

I spent a lot of time and energy making a tri-fold brochure to place in libraries, laundramats, and other places where placards cna be left for the public to pick up and read, I made business cards and would go to Walmart and kroger, etc and put them in the books on their shelves, hoping someone buying a book would notice it and buy mine. I made pencils, and pencil cases and gave them away at the local flea market. I built 5 website, except the website provided by PA was not user friendly and if you did not have explorer 6 on your computer you could not build or edit your site.

I sent copies to Regis and Kelly, sent a copy to Larry King, to the local radio station WGRR, and the AM station WDJO.

It's not like I haven't been promoting the book. I regurarly received e-mails from PA enticing me to buy my own book, and I eventually bought 10 copies at a 50% discount.

I received an enticement that for $299 I could add color photos to my book, and was on the edge of doing that, when the notice that my book had been selected to be published in a hardcover.

I received an e-mail offer to get copies of my hardcover book, buy one get one free, however I had to pay full price. That was okay, because it would still cost me 12.95 each. I still have about 12 of them here with me now. I was appauled when I received my credit card statement, and then the books. I was charged $71.82 for shippin, when they could have put these books in two bulk rate postal boxes and sent them for less that $25.

The quality of the book is poor at best. The hard bound copy does not even have the book title on the binding, which faces the person searching the library shelves. Sure, its on the paper Jacket, but what happens when the book is without a jacket?

In August I received an e-mail that no books had been sold, and that no royalties would be paid. I replied to the e-mail that I had purchased 9 copies, and the promo e-mail said that I would receive royalties.

The first check I received in Feb 2009 was for (2) copies sold in England, and the check was for $2.80.

The second check was for 9 copies that I bought myself, after complaining to the support group, for $17.97.

As I returned to my research about PA, I began to see that I was not the only fool in the croud. I've attempted to get my bbook into local booksellers, only to have them say they do not stock vanity press books, or PoD books. This happened at both Barnes and Noble, and Walden Books, which is owned by Borders. All hree of my local stores told me that I was not being considered for any future book signings. The door was closed in my face.

I have received e-mails, after pestering the support group, asking me to supply names and e-mail address of my local papers, so they could send out press releases. They also said that I should make myself available for book signing which thry were going to set up. My hopes rose, and when nothing happened, they fell again.

On Oct 1st I sent two certified return receipt letters, professionally written and politically correct, requesting that my book be released without predjudice, but at of today, neither of these return receipts have been returned.

So in closing, if PA is not a company, preying on niave first time authors, 40,000 of them according to the website, then why did Willem Meiners not use his own company to publish his own book? Because he knew that it would not be promoted and stocked in "brick and mortar" book stores.

This fact alone tells me that he knows he is scamming first time authors, who believed the things they have published on their website.

Willem's book, HOW TO UPSET A GOLIATH BOOK BIZ: PUBLISH AMERICA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AN UNDERDOG WITH A BITE

is sold, published by LIGHTNING SOURCE INC June, 2005 for $23.95

If I settle with PA, I will not sign the gag clause, because they can not buy my right to free speech, like they have with other disgruntled authors.

I'm starting an active campaign to expose them for the people they really are, that includes the leaches who work for them. They take home a paycheck, knowing full well that it comes from the stolen books that they publish and sell back to the authors who wrote them.