The PublishAmerica Scam

PublishAmerica is back in the news. The Washington Post wrote about the company, and this is author Lynn Viehl's take on it (she says it so much better than I can):

PublishAmerica is also an "advance-paying book publisher" with a company banner motto that reads We treat our authors the old-fashioned way -- we pay them. Except that the old-fashioned way it pays authors an advance is -- hold onto your hat -- a whopping total of $1. Now, I made twenty-five thousand times that as the advance for the last book I wrote, but hey, maybe I'm just ridiculously overpaid.

PublishAmerica states on its web site that its titles "are available through most major bookstores." Except for this one little thing: "Availability is not necessarily the same as bookstore shelf display." Translation: you can't get them in the store, but you can order them through the store's computer. Assuming you have psychic power and can envision the titles, because they're not on the shelf. Have I got this right?

The Post managed to get Larry Clopper, president and co-founder of  PublishAmerica to speak on the record about his company's approach to publishing. He should have kept his mouth shut.

To Larry Clopper, the company, in relying on its authors to largely sell their own books, is "revolutionizing" an elitist industry. It has, he says, "always operated on the highest principles of honor and integrity." PublishAmerica's authors often knew "decades of failure, dozens of rejections and life-changing disappointment," adds Clopper, who twice failed to find publishers for his own books. "Now they hold their books in their hands, and they are sneering down at the publishing industry that shunned them."

It's not the industry they're sneering at Larry, it's you.  The Post article goes on to discuss the pitfalls of Print-on-Demand publishing, the latest evolution of vanity press.

Because there have always been more would-be authors than mainstream publishers are willing to sign up, writers can turn to a variety of do-it-yourself alternatives. The major difference is that, one way or another, those writers wind up paying, instead of being paid, to be published.

POD companies like iUniverse and vanity presses in general don't appear to generate much public rancor, however, because they make it quite clear that the author bears the expense. Besides, such publishers do serve a purpose. The Authors Guild, for example, has an arrangement with iUniverse to keep its members' out-of-print books available. For a PTA planning to sell a cookbook, or a family elder passing her memoirs around to the grandchildren, a vanity or POD press makes sense.      But it's very unlikely to lead to a career. Once in a great while, a highly entrepreneurial author gets lucky.

A few POD books have sold well enough to lead to a deal with a mainstream publisher. But if your  book comes out through PublishAmerica, that's not going to happen to you. You sign over your publishing rights for seven years. So if Random House comes knocking,  PublishAmerica negotiates your deal  and keeps half the proceeds.  Not a bad trade off for your $1 advance, is it?  Larry Clopper says that his detractors represent a "miniscule faction" of the authors published by his company.

But the fact remains that his authors can't join the Authors Guild. Having heard complaints about PublishAmerica for years, the guild doesn't recognize its titles as membership criteria. "There's a long history of vanity presses and others taking advantage of the hopes of would-be authors," says executive director Aiken. "This might fall in that noble tradition." True, too, many major book review sections (including Book World) won't review POD books. "Some of our proudest moments come when authors are not allowed into certain exclusive clubs," Clopper retorts.

Those who petitioned the Maryland attorney general seeking "an investigation into this massive scam" had a different understanding, however. They weren't interested in sneering at the exclusive club; they thought that, at last, they were being invited into it.

Now that the mainstream press -- like Publishers Weekly and The Washington Post -- are picking up on the PublishAmerica scam, maybe people will finally stop falling for Cloppers clumsy con.

 

 

Comments

[Mark A. York]

"A few POD books have sold well enough to lead to a deal with a mainstream publisher. But if your book comes out through PublishAmerica, that's not going to happen to you. You sign over your publishing rights for seven years."

Exactly, which is some PA authors, even when they "move on" as they put it still are under contract to Clopper and Meiners. They take EXCLUSIVE rights. I gave PA a sting book already available from iU and kept it all through the process. It took me over a year to get them to return the rights, by fighting shills all over the Internet. Most sign the gag order to get out and even more remain kidknapped.

I was a source for both stories, but my level of victimization, which since it was a deliberate sting, didn't play as well as Ms. St. Amour and Easton's. I also have them on infringement as I have evidence of 4 sales after reversion. The lawsuit is worth about a nickel.

The 49 copies of stock scam is better lawsuit fodder. They make the more gullible buy this stock to be released. They print them after the check clears. Ka Ching.

[Lee Goldberg]

I dont understand the point of your "sting." You submitted to PA a book of yours published by iUniverse... then you spent over a year trying to get the rights back from PA. What was that supposed to prove?

[Mark A. York]

It was never removed from publication by the first printer. The point was to expose Publishamerica for what they are: a predatory vanity press scam, and entrap them into copyright infringement and deceptive business practices, which I have. The idea is to put them out of business. That can't be done from the outside, and it may not be possible from any direction.

At any rate, an iUniverse book is not a great risk as you know, but at least with that the rights are mine and the work can be resold should that be possible. It's not a novel either. It's a collection of journalistic travel essays. I can see your point from your perspective and positon. I didn't get any credit for working background on your show either try as I might.

Keep in mind the level that Publishamerica plays to. They don't deserve what they're getting, Lee. That's my only motivation as an altruist.

[Lee Goldberg]

It was never removed from publication by the first printer. The point was to expose Publishamerica for what they are: a predatory vanity press scam, and entrap them into copyright infringement and deceptive business practices, which I have. The idea is to put them out of business. That can't be done from the outside, and it may not be possible from any direction.

I still don't understand your "sting." YOU were the one who violated your own copyright... not PA. Even when you sign a contract with a real publisher, YOU warrant that the work is original and is yours free and clear, unemcumbered by any other contracts, etc. If anyone is at fault in this scenario, it's you.

I think PA is a scam and a fraud and should be put out of business. Your sting, at least as far as I can tell, doesn't illuminate any deceptive business practices by PA. If anything, it proves that you intentionally violated your agreement with iUniverse. Seems to me that all you managed to do was sting yourself.

No offense, Mark, but I also don't see what this "sting," and me not understanding it, has to do with working as a background extra on Diagnosis Murder and not be "credited" for it.

[Mark A. York]

It has to do, only as a side issue, with the "unsung" Hollywood warriors that get nothing but the dregs on the floor and no credit for participating. Most aspiring writers are also in this category. Some deservedly so, but others just shut out by the sheer numbers and lack of connections.

If it is indeed me that is at fault, it is nothing more than a misunderstanding and a lack of any checking on the part of Publishamerica. They solicited the book. They knew it was published and did not ask on thing about having it released from iUniverse. Of course I was aware of it, but nobody who deals with PA would be and that's the role I was playing in this script. It's the perfect defense on that charge. I'm well-aware of it and was then.

PA printed the book after they released it. I have the records.

Consider this Hollywood veteran in your PS neighborhood: Stephen Lodge. HE fell for it.

[Mark A. York]

No offense taken Lee.

[Mark A. York]

Here's another sting book. Atlanta Nights

[Saby Rodriguez]

Hi Lee,

I am interested in publishing, but I am not sure where to go and who to talk to about my desire in publishing. I am fully aware of many publishing companies make promises, promises, promises. I have little knowledge in this area and am in dire need of advice.

I also have 60 pieces of poetry posted at www.poets.com
and am very interested in exposing my work. What would you suggest?

Thanks, Saby J.R.

[Saby]

My e-mail address begins with a capital "J". Jasby33@aol.com

[Mark A. York]

Poetry is almost always self-published.

[A. S.]

I'm a PA author, and I have to say I've been SOOOOOOO Disappointed in them. I just don't know what I can do about it but ride out the 7 years on the contract.

I am positive they aren't paying me for the entire amounts of books I sold. I kept track last year of famiy and friends and online reviews I could find, but only got paid for four books and I knew I'd sold triple that.

My emails were never answered inquiring about it. I'm frankly one very pissed off author. My aunt is an author too and led me to researching PA. I would love to be involved in any Class Action Lawsuit agains them, but I myself don't have the funds to pursue one.

I want my book back so I can get it done by a REAL publisher, not a publisher who pretended to be real with false promises and flashing 'celebrity' names at me.

I am going to keep following your blog.

[Paul Collins]

This past month, I actually google searched several book reviewers, got them to request a review copy, I forwarded these requests to PA, PA was nice of enough to send review copies out, and now I got the three star treatment on Amazon.com. And more is to come! PA did a wonderful job of getting out these review copies to the various book reviewers and I thank them for it. My editor did a fantastic job of editing and am very proud of her work. My first book, Prescience Rendezvous, however, wasn't even edited and the publisher will not give it a second round of proofs, but I the amazing thing is this-- a person can google search a publisher, get their work published, google a reviewer, and get a major a reviewer to review their work on which leads to book sales. This is incredible. Only in America this could happen. Yes, there are negatives to every story, but through proper preperation, and planning, maybe a major reviewer on amazon will give you the three star treatment like myself. Now if only 'Prescience Rendezvous' was edited properly, but we all can't get what we want, but get what you need. Who knows maybe a bigger publisher will look at these reviews and take it on. Life is what you make it. Not all of us are overly connected sorts, but please take a look at these reviews and google me! I am always working on another manuscript and am not bitter at all. Thank you PA! If you they could give 'Prescience Rendezvous' a second round of proofs, I now have the connections to get those three star reviews. Google me! All the best!
Paul Collins
author of King without an Empire
August 14, 2005
1)Reviewer: Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
"Highly imaginative sci-fi with complex spiritual aspects. King Without an Empire is an unusual novel, full of exotic ideas and notions from advanced nanotechnology to hallucinogenic spiritual journeys."
2)Reviewer: Lesley West (St James, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
"This is a rich and detailed science fiction novel - quite a feat of the imagination!"

[Edward Saint-Ivan]

To critics of PA read this:
1) I dont care if PA keeps 100% of my royalties because they risked their money on my book.
2) I dont care if my books never appear on the shelve of a brick and mortar book store.
3) I totally understand if PA requires a seven contract because as mentioned before they put up their money for my book,
When PA accepted my book, it was the happiest day in my life.

[frakman]

You, sir, are a moron.

[Chris Well]

"I dont care if PA keeps 100% of my royalties because they risked their money on my book."

I don't even understand what this means. If you pay THEM to print your book (just like paying Kinko's to make photocopies), then what money did THEY risk?

[Mellisa]

Wow! I know a gal who got published with PA last year. She is so excited, she's writing a second book now.
I have some manuscripts and was considering submitting but after working in a university bookstore and trying to deal with print on demand publishers, I know better. People want a book they can hold in their hand while they are deciding if they want to buy it.
I've seen university professors use POD who then make their students buy their vanity books as part of a class.

[Roger Thibault]

I read the PublishAmerica contract carefully before signing it. It is worded to sound like it will fulfill everything a new Author needs. You don't pay them up front, (unless you want to buy some of your own books which is highly recommended by them.) They handle all publicity and shipping to the stores, (as they see fit,) and the Roylaties look very competitive, (If somehow your book sells.)
But look at that same contract in a different light, (the light of reality,) and you will see that it means nothing will be done to help the new Author at all. There are no press releases, no publicity, nothing at all unless the Author does it. Book stores sneer when PA is brought up and my interveiw almost ended when I mentioned PA as the publisher. I have tried to get out of the contract with them for various reasons and was told in effect, "You signed on the bottom line, tough!"
PA has no heart for it's Authors unless they are already well known stars who don't need name recognition.
I regret signing with them and will do everything I can to help others by warning them away from this company.
Larry Cloppers and Willem Meiner should feel shame at how they treat the Authors who fall for their 'contract'. I do.

[Mark A. York]

We've been doing that for years. Meiners and Clopper have no shame. Fooling people is the job.

[Pastor D]

I would like to know a little bit more about
Publish America here in the United States? If
you would be so kind. Thanks and God Bless.
Pastor D

Note: I would like to publish my book with
them???

[John S. Meade]

Pastor D:

My thoughts concerning PublishAmerica:
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves (Matt. 7:15).

Hi Pastor D. Publish America are not the people you should choose. What they do is pretend to be one kind of publisher while actually being another.

There are legitimate publishers, who are highly selective about the books they publish, give the author an advance, publish the book at their own expense, spend money promoting it and making sure that bookshops have copies so that people can buy them.

Then there are vanity publishers, who look to authors to cover all the expenses of publication, AND do all the work of promoting it. What scammers don't tell you is that an author trying to promote a book without a publisher backing them up is a single voice with no authority in a howling sea of competition, and stands almost no chance of getting anybody to listen to them; without the credit of having a selective publisher's endorsement, most bookshops will assume that your book is incompetent and was only printed because you paid for it. Vanity publishers trade on the fact that most aspiring authors don't know enough about how the publishing industry works to know that getting your book printed is really only the beginning of getting it out there. That, and the fact that many people want publication enough that they'll pay for it, even though if you pay for it, it's not what most people understand by the word 'publication'.

Publish America is a company that, I think, grew up in response to the fact that people are getting more savvy about vanity publishers. There are lots of warnings telling you that if a company demands money upfront, they aren't legitimate, but what PA does is move the costs to the author after the book is printed. They charge far more for copies of their book than a normal publisher, so bookshops will be very unwilling to carry them.

The result is that the only people who are likely to buy the author's book are his/her friends and family. But PA produce the book so cheaply and quickly that those few dozen sales are enough to make them a profit. And the author has to buy every copy of their book from PA, meaning that it's an ongoing expense for you if you want to get copies shifted. In effect, they're putting as little effort as possible into producing the books and then holding them to ransom, knowing that you'll buy enough copies to make them some money.

To keep it profitable, they need large, large numbers of authors, as they're only making a few hundred dollars from many, which means that, whatever they claim, they are not selective about who they publish. This compounds bookshops' unwillingness to carry their books, because, while being published by PA doesn't prove your book is bad, it doesn't prove it's good either, and bookshops don't want books that aren't definitely good. It's in their interests, not yours, that they publish so many thousands of people.

It's called an 'author mill'; check out the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Author_mill

If you want to see your book in print, there are two ways to go. The first is to try to get your book selected by a legitimate press, which will mean the odds are against you but if you luck out you'll be making money rather than spending it. If, on the other hand, your book is just something you'd like to have some copies to give to friends, family and parishioners, and you don't mind doing the work of selling it yourself, then you should go to a straight-up printing company that is honest in saying that they are a printer, not a publisher. I've heard good things said about Lulu.com, for instance.

Your call, but I really, really don't advise Publish America. Good luck with finding the right place for your book.

[chris]

I am an author and if you are having trouble getting to traditional publishers, you don't have to go to publishamerica. You can do the exact same thing on LULU.COM. But there's a difference. With Lulu, you won't get ripped off, you may stand a good chance of getting into bookstores, your book won't be overpriced, you have good marketing material within your grasp and you'll retain all rights to the book. Self-publishing is not a bad option, take the move "A Time To Kill," for example. It was a book beforehand and was first self-published. You get out of anything whatever you put into it. Having done an author's work may look good on you when heading for traditional publishers. Get as much under your belt as possible, just don't allow yourself to fall into a scam.

[Larry Cooperman]

Nobody will even pass a glance at a new author as if all the authors were created by Intelligent Design already.
So I gingerly signed a PA contract for my novel, Reaganville. It seemed that I would have that chance I needed. Predation is all over the American landscape and I am now aware that a lot of people are unsatisfied with PA.
In any case, my novel has a character based on a real person who is doing exactly what I fictionalized him to do and it is a political thing so Reaganville may be in demand in a certain city in California.
Kiss of death, I am worried about. Such a closed system this publishing thing is.
www.newmillguitar.com/editor.html
Larry Cooperman

[Chris]

I really think it's safe to say that any publisher is better than publishamerica. LOL. By the way, I didn't find any of Lee Goldberg's books on Barnes and Noble or any major bookstore. Anyone who's trying to find a good publisher, keep a few things in mind.

1- All companies have complaints, even the companies who issue the complaints to the public have complaints, but none like publishamerica, good God.

2- If a publisher has a return policy, descent editors, a good cover design, and does not overprice your book, you should be fine. If you have those basic needs and your book fails, it wasn't because of your publisher.

Anyway, getting back on subject, publishamerica is not the place for serious writers. Period! But if publishamerica would just stop overpricing their books, get themselves some good editors and place a return policy on their books, they'd have no problem. I don't understand why they find that so hard to do.
It's not that hard to see that PAs a scam. They sign you to a contract for 7 years, when no traditional or even ligitimate publisher would sign you for such a short amount of time. Do the research and you'll see that every real publisher signs you for the duration of the copyright of your book, which means it's theirs unless they go out of business or decide to release you. That should be a dead giveaway right there.
Their contract says that they "Print as the market demands." What do you think that means? PRINT ON DEMAND, and no traditional or good publisher works with that.
Letting people know is they key. You probably have no idea how many authors PA has missed because of these reports, so keep it up.

[Mark A. York]

" "A Time To Kill," for example. It was a book beforehand and was first self-published."

This is crap. Wynwood Press was not a self-publishing vanity press. That makes this a false statement and the other would be Lee's books aren't in Barnes & Noble. Au contraire. Signed lost in Lulu.