Publish America
Treats New Authors Right

I highly recomend Publish America to new authors. This firm treats authors fair and square and never charges them a dime to have thier works published. There are no hidden gimmics. They've made many exciting changes in the past year that I found appealing, such as offering economically priced editions to the public of author's original higher priced edition. The authors are required to make a minimum purchase to have these lower priced editions posted on line with Publish America, but these offeres ussualy have a nice discount and makes it worth while for an author to accept. Lately, however, Publish America went back on one of their deals.

Publish America pulls Hardbacks off Line

    I have been using Publish America in Fredericks, MD to have my books published. They are an excellent source for new authors to consider in getting their books publish. They do not charge authors any money to become published, and there are no hidden elements that you might find with a number of other publishers tricking novice authors into forking over money in some form or other.
    However, Publish America has proposed a number of sales gimmicks on their already published authors to buy extra books. I agree that most of these are simply good marketing tools and great deals. At one point all books were placed on sale at only $4.99. Great deal, but I already stocked up on the $7.99 deal offered a couple or so weeks earlier. Check out my “BUY” page and you can compare that with regular prices of $24 - $39 per book. It was a juicy deal indeed. I can get a 40% discount because we have a bookstore here at the Society of St. Paul, (Alba House Bookstore). Of course I by passed the retailer’s deal and went for the $7.99. I recognize a genuine real deal from a cheesy deal.
    My use of the word gimmick comes into play on some of Publish America’s tacky and a bit misleading deals. They promised to send Opra Winfried a free copy if we purchased a minimum of five of our own books. Heck, any author can send a celebrity a free book anytime they want to. Authors are not required to buy extra books from any publisher in order to give a book away free for any reason.
    Publish America put out an offer this past August stating they’d send a free copy to the school library of our choice if we bought a certain minimum number. How very silly of them. I give away books to libraries every year without the need to buy a minimum number.

PA’s Rip-off

    Their most recent gimmick, however, is just about on par with the term scam. Publish America introduced a new edition called “Bargain Hardbacks.” If I bought a minimum of five (5) copies of any or each title, then Publish America would make those titles available on line for only $14.95 on books over 300 pages, and $12.95 for those under 300 pages. (The exact price and page count might vary slightly from this report). So I coughed up $79.95 for five copies of Cloudburst as the required “fee” to have that title available as a $12 or $14.95 Bargain Hardback copy. I saw such a hard back for my 3rd book, Birch Clump Portfolio and I admit it is a very handsome looking book and at a very affordable bargain price. Unfortunately, they didn't offer to make BC Portfolio a Bargain Hardback when I bit the deal.
    Then, on August 30, 2010, Publish America announced to all of us authors that Publish America will discontinue making and offering these Bargain Hardbacks and along with any other form of hardback book they made before the Bargain Hardback form was offered. I feel this is a very rotten deal. I spent $79.95 (a dollar more than list per book factoring in shipping and handling) in July and I haven’t received my first shipment and already they are pulling this edition from the market. I could have saved my money for something more sure, such as turning that same title into a PAperback edition to sell for only $9 pr $10.95. (I hope they stick with PAperbacks and not pull that after I have paid them).
    The new edition of our original soft cover books is called PAperback editions. The upper case “PA” is like a trade mark identifying Publish America paperbacks, and distinguishing their lower priced Paperbacks from the original and still available “soft cover” editions. By the way, Publish America told all authors by official memo earlier this year that they are discontinuing ALL soft covers and will manufacture all their books in hardcover and lower the price. That never happened. They are still offering the high cost soft covers; and worse, reversing their promises and stated policies by pulling all versions of hardback in the August 30, 2010th memo. I have copies of all these emailed memos issued by Publish America if you have a need to verify my claims on this matter and some telling receipts.
    I called, and then wrote to Publish America soon after receiving the August 30th memo expressing my disappointment with them for pulling hardbacks off the market. I also asked Publish America to consider making it up to us authors in some manner; perhaps they can make all our books available in PAperback at the far lower prices posted on line as I write this (8-30-2010) of $9.95 and $12.95 without requiring us to buy any books for this change. It was Publish America that squelched on this deal, not us authors. We paid the agreed on price (as in ordering minimum copies) to have our books made into Bargain Hardbacks and into the new low priced PAperback. I’d like to see what I paid for continue as a benefit to you the readers, us the authors as well as for our publisher, Publish America.
    Email me with your thoughts on this, and please, call Publish America or email them. Please be polite with Publish America – I’m not mad at them, just really put out on a small number of their recent marketing ploys. Links to their website and contact information is available by following my links on the “BUY” button page. I think they just got kind of carried away, backlogged and are looking for a way to catch up. Thus far, the publisher has not gone back on their original contract or offer to get published - - they’ve only gotten cheesy on their later post-publication deals with authors concerning new editions. You, as the potential customer for Publish America books, can have a lot of influence. (You don’t have to buy a book to contact Publish America.)
    Meantime, take a look at their bookstore. If you see something you like in Bargain Hardback before they pull the line (no date ending the deal was given) - - jump at the deal. They have children’s books, novels, everything at great prices in the PAperback and Bargain Hardback section.

A bit of history to my books and Publish America.

Hawk Dancer was published in December 2004.

It listed orignally for $34.95. The price went up $5 this summer. I placed a $41.82 order for 3 copies of the new PAperback edition on July 7, 2010. This books was promised to sell for $9.95 as a PAperback, but Publish America realized that was too for books over 300 pages. This is a 519 page book and so now sells for only $12.95 in the PAper back form saving you $27 dollars.

Cloudburst, the follow up to Hawk Dancer listed for $27.95 when it first came out as a soft cover in mid-2008.

I placed a $79.95 order for five copies thus authorizing a Bargain Hard back edition for only $14.94 from the publisher's online bookstore. Publish America backed out of this deal by annuncing on Agust 30th 2010 they will discontinue all hard back books. No date was set in the August memo to the authors as to when these Bargain Hardbacks will actually be disconinued.

↑ Click the cover above and follow links to the publisher to see if it is still available in Bargain Hardback.

Birch Clump Portfolio came out this past March (2010). I have not been able to afford a special purchase of the required minimum amount that would authorize Publish America to offer a reduced priced edition. The current list pirce for soft cover is $29.95.

I hope I will get the chance to have this lowered to $9.95 or $12.95 as a PAperback soon. I've written the publisher asking them to make concessions with us authors so that our books can have PAperback editions available without beign required to pay for this priviledge or making a minimum purchase in liew of the fact it was Publish America that backed out of the Bargain Hardback deal.

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