PublishAmerica

PublishAmerica is a Maryland-based print-on-demand book publisher founded in 1999 by Lawrence Alvin "Larry" Clopper III and Willem Meiners. It has been the subject of controversy because it has been accused of being a vanity press or author mill by some writers and authors' advocates,cite news | first = Hillel | last = Italie | title = "Critics and supporters debate success of fast-rising PublishAmerica" | url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05022/446283.stm | publisher = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | date = 2005-01-22 | accessdate = 2007-08-28] despite its claims to be a "traditional" advance- and royalty-paying publisher.

History

The current executive director of PublishAmerica is Miranda Prather. In 2004, Prather claimed that 80% of authors who submitted manuscripts to the house were rejected, and that the house had "30 full-time editors" with plans to expand.cite news | first = Steven | last = Zeitchik | title = "Authors allege publisher deception" | url = http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA481863.html | publisher = Publishers Weekly | date = 2004-11-22 | accessdate = 2007-08-28 ]

In August 2005, PublishAmerica was sued by Encyclopædia Britannica for trademark violation over PublishAmerica's PublishBritannica imprint. The matter was settled out of court, [ [http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6252581.html On Vanity Press, Now It's Not Just America - 8/30/2005 - Publishers Weekly ] ] with PublishAmerica agreeing to stop using the "PublishBritannica" name. [cite news | author = Staff writer | title = "Britannica breaks copycat's spell" | publisher = The Times | page = 26 | date = 2005-10-03 | accessdate = 2007-08-28 ]

In late September 2005, PublishAmerica announced its books would be returnable by the bookseller if they failed to sell, a standard practice among other commercial publishers. The announcement stated that this applied to "all" of its books, though it noted that there would be "a few exceptions initially" and that the offer would apply to United States booksellers only. [http://www.publishamerica.com/return/index.asp]

Criticism

Critics charge that PA's contracts and practices prove the company is a vanity press. PA pays a nominal US$1 advance to its authors, provides minimal editing and provides few of the services handled by trade publishing, including retail distribution, marketing and media relations. Disgruntled authors told Publishers Weekly that PA did not pay royalties owed to them, sold books it no longer had the rights to sell, set unreasonably high list prices and lower-than-average discounts for authors to buy their own books and either neglected or failed to place books into bookstores. [ [http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA481863.html Authors Allege Publisher Deception - 11/22/2004 - Publishers Weekly ] ]

PublishAmerica's Prather dismissed authors' criticisms, saying book prices reflected "what the market would bear" and that "we don't control the bookstores in the country." [ [https://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/archives/confirm.htm?StoryID=48811 The Frederick News-Post Online - Frederick County Maryland Daily Newspaper ] ] [cite web
title=Paperback writer
author=Susan Paganini
url=http://www.sacurrent.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12073075&BRD=2318&PAG=461&dept_id=484045&rfi=6
publisher=San Antonio Current
date=2004-06-24
accessdate=2007-06-06] Other PublishAmerica authors have spoken out in support of the publisher, denying it is a vanity press and highlighting the opportunities it gives to unpublished authors. [cite news
first = John
last = Keenan
title = No vanity, author provides own press
publisher = Omaha World-Herald
page = 10AT
date = 2005-10-09
accessdate = 2007-08-28 ]

Acceptance of hoax manuscripts

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 which featured the same 30 pages repeated ten times. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20050217092254/http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?category=0&id=30389 Sci Fi Wire - The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel ] ]

Arbitration

In December 2005 PublishAmerica author Philip Dolan, who had spent between US$7,000 and $13,000 promoting his book [ [http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/publish.html Aspiring Writers Trash PublishAmerica ] ] only to find that no book stores were able to order copies of it, took PublishAmerica to arbitration for breach of contract. Mr. Dolan also alleged accounting irregularites; 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. [ [https://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/archives/confirm.htm?StoryID=56535 The Frederick News-Post Online - Frederick County Maryland Daily Newspaper ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.publishamerica.com/ PublishAmerica's home page]
* [http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/pebp.htm Preditors and Editors scam warning about PublishAmerica]
* [http://www.sfwa.org/beware/vanitypublishers.html Writer Beware page on Vanity Presses]
* [http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6252580.html?q=publishamerica Encyclopedia Britannica lawsuit]
* [http://www.wizardessbooks.com/html/PA_stories.htm True Stories about PublishAmerica]
* [http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue409/news.html Publisher Defends Hoax Charges]
* [http://homepage.mac.com/zizban/pa.html PublishAmerica: The Truth Hurts]
*Span, Paula. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A25187-2005Jan20 "Making Books"] , "Washington Post", January 23, 2005.