PUBLISH AMERICA HAS NOW CHANGED THEIR NAME TO AMERICA STAR BOOKS. DON'T BE FOOLED! THEY ARE THE SAME RIP-OFF COMPANY.
SEE WHAT WRITER'S BEWARE SAYS ABOUT THIS NAME CHANGE HERE
Publish America is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) HERE
NEW YORK, August 16, 2011— J.K. Rowling is not amused by a publisher's promise that some of its books will be brought to her attention.
PublishAmerica, in a message on its website, is telling authors that a "delegation" will soon meet with her in Edinburgh and tell the "Harry Potter" author about some of their books. Writers are asked to submit 50-100 word notes that the delegation will present to Rowling. The price: $49.
Rowling spokesman Mark Hutchinson said Tuesday that the claim was "completely false" and promised "appropriate action." PublishAmerica, based in Frederick, Md., has long been cited by industry watchdogs for allegedly deceiving authors.
Full story HERE.
READ DETAILS: Publish America is forced to withdraw their claims that if you pay $49 they will send your book to J. K. Rowling (the author of Harry Potter) HERE and HERE
So, is the above ad placed by PublishAmerica a lie?
This is how J. K. Rowling responded:
Rowling has responded through a spokesman. "Rowling spokesman Mark Hutchinson said Tuesday that the claim was 'completely false' and promised 'appropriate action.'"
The ad from PublishAmerica is now GONE! But how many people paid $49 for this lie before PublishAmerica removed the ad?
Read more about this PublishAmerica lie HERE
Why The Horror Zine includes PublishAmerica on our Beware Page:
WHO: PublishAmerica
REASON: Over-pricing books, falsely promising promotion of books, continuous bombardment of authors to request more money, finding reasons to either lower royalty amounts to authors or not pay royalties at all.
WHY THE HORROR ZINE IS INVOLVED: Numerous complaints from our readers who feel they have been scammed and taken advantage of by PublishAmerica.
Read a post about bookstores HERE
And what if you complain:
QUOTES:
"True, too, many major book review sections (including Book World) won't review Publish America (POD) books." Washington Post
"The contract states authors receive 8 percent of the profit from books if fewer than 1,000 are sold. Mr. Stelly received less than $5 by February for at least 50 copies sold." The Frederick News-Post
"Publish America makes money, lots of it, from sales of books to their authors. Not from sales to the public. Not from sales to bookstores." North Country Gazette
"They overprice books compared to industry averages (would you buy a novel by a first-time, unknown author for $24.95)." Absolute Write Editor's Note: These are the prices for paperbacks, not hard covers!
"PublishAmerica will make your book available on various internet sites, but it won’t sell there because it will be badly overpriced and the public will never learn about it." Christianity for Thinkers
"Traditional publishers don’t charge for copyright fees. But PublishAmerica does, so that a new author spends $30 to purchase his or her own copyright." Lisa Maliga
"Bookstores are unwilling to take a chance on unknown authors, and when they hear [print-on-demand], they are hesitant to order 25 or 30 books that they can't return," says Crispin. "So it's also hard for the writers to get readings and signings." San Antonio Current
"I also intend to file a formal complaint against PA with the Attorney Generals office." Jennifer Moore
"I emailed one department after another and yet nobody is taking responsibility, they can't tell me whether they've actually received the email or not, wouldn't tell me where corporate was, and they want me to order 50 copies of my book before they can make any changes." Complaints Board
"I have even gotten emails stating they will send my books to Tom Hanks or Oprah. It all sounds great except for they ask that you purchase copies of your book at a set price to “Activate” the deal." Factoizd
"I emailed PA, and I inquired: so in affect if I do not take advantage of any of your special offers, you will not donate any free books to Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks and Random House? To which I was informed on how I may market my own book." Speak Without Interruption
HERE ARE EXAMPLES OF PUBLISH AMERICA'S ATTEMPTS TO ASK AUTHORS FOR MONEY. THESE COME IN UNSOLICITED EMAILS:
Here they want $249.00:
Here they want $129.00:
Here they want $99.00:
Here they want $69.00:
If you have a complaint about PublishAmerica, please contact Jeani Rector HERE.
HERE IS IS A POST ABOUT BOOKSTORES
DOCUMENTATION ABOUT PUBLISH AMERICA:
Better Business Bureau Rating HERE
Sci Fi Channel HERE
Consumer Affairs HERE
Preditors and Editors HERE
Writers Beware HERE
Washington Post HERE
The Frederick News-Post HERE
Absolute Write HERE
Lawsuit HERE
From a victim HERE
PublishAmerica FACTS:
In August 2005, PublishAmerica was sued by Encyclopædia Britannica for trademark violation over PublishAmerica's PublishBritannica imprint. The matter was settled out of court, with PublishAmerica agreeing to stop using the "PublishBritannica" name. However, PublishAmerica continued to use the website address on letterhead as late as 2008.
In an attempt to demonstrate a lack of editorial oversight at PublishAmerica, several authors have written "sting" manuscripts. For instance, in December 2004, PublishAmerica agreed to publish the novel Atlanta Nights, which was later revealed to be a hoax. PublishAmerica also accepted another author's manuscript that featured the same 30 pages repeated ten times.
In December 2005 PublishAmerica author Philip Dolan, who had spent between US dollars $7,000 and $13,000 promoting his book only to find that no book stores wanted to order copies of it, took PublishAmerica to arbitration for breach of contract. Dolan also alleged accounting irregularities; despite a clause in his contract allowing him to inspect PublishAmerica's accounts, his accountant was denied access, and Dolan received royalties for fewer copies of his book than he was able to account for having sold himself. He was awarded an unspecified amount in compensation for PublishAmerica's breach of contract, and his contract was rescinded.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PublishAmerica
