Complaint Review: Publish America - MARYLAND Other

I am an author of two historical works. My first book, The King's Quinto: the Life and Times of Sir Walter Raleigh was accepted for publication by Publish America in 2003. The book was released in February 2004. The King's Quinto contains historical documentation pertaining to Sir Walter Raleigh the Elizabethan Knight of Queen Elizabeth I's Court of England. He lived from 1552 to 1618.

The book contains Sir Walter Raleigh's trial at Winchester 1603, his Apology to King James I of England in 1618, his Speech from the Scaffold on 29th October 1618, his Letters Patent to discover Guiana on his second journey to Guiana in 1617, his last letter to his wife; and a letter from Sir Ralph Winwood to prove that Raleigh was no traitor to England. The book also contains extracts of Sir Walter Raleigh's work known as "The Great Rich and Beautiful Empire of Guiana 1592".

I entered into the publishing contract with Publish America, Maryland, USA in the Summer of 2003 when I was living in Ontario, Canada. I had commenced writing the manuscript in the year 1995, whilst living in London, England, (having an interest in Sir Walter Raleigh dating back to my childhood), but had been researching Elizabethan history from the year 1989.

The actor Walter Sparrow of Hollywood fame, endorsed my work and promised to turn it into a filmscript and we co-wrote letters to the Mayor of Winchester intially in order to obtain permission to track down and publish Raliegh's trial. We thought it would be of interest to schoolchildren throughout the World.

Through the initial help of Walter Sparrow, Actor (now deceased), I obtained permission to publish the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh from Hampshire Record Office in England and they agreed that it could re-appear in published format from an original publication dating back to 1677. I also obtained permission from the British Library in London to publish extracts of Raleigh's own literary work and various extracts from Sherborne Castle's archives, and numerous other permissions which now rest in Publish America's file archives. Also included in the book are the interrogations of the Ninth Earl of Northumberland of Syon House, due to his implication in the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. The Duke of Northumberland of Alnwick Castle wrote a review on my book and called it "a first class book which deserved success"; likewise Mr Wingfield Digby of Sherborne Castle Dorset called my book an "interesting addition to literature."

I had no idea when entering into my contract with Publish America, that Publish America would offer little in the form of advertising to promote my book. A new book without advertising is never going to be seen and it might as well be locked away in a dark cupboard for 7 years.

I have found that my book has sold approximately 60 copies in two years and that I have received little more than $26.00 in royalties. The royalties are not at issue here, it is the sheer fact that historical material has been published and has received no recognition or exposure.

After 9 years of research on my book, and my own portrayal of Sir Walter Raleigh's life in painstaking detail, I would have thought that it might have achieved some recognition. Furthermore, I, as a child of 11 sought to find the verbatim account of Sir Walter Raleigh's trial, but unfortunately I could not locate it. It was not until the year 1995, when I met Walter Sparrow the Hollywood Actor that he found a way for me to read the Trial of Sir Walter Raleigh. That trial appears in a book that is locked away for another 7 years and I have no means to present it to the public at large.

Barbara

South Wales
United Kingdom

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