Anyone Regret/ Miss the Pulbishing Wars We Used to Have?

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The publishing wars were mainly because of a few, disgruntled, would-be authors, who learned the hard way that there is no easy way to become a successful, published author. The evidence was always there, but new writers did very little, if any, research into how the publishing world works. 

A few days ago, I set up the "In Memoriam" board. The first member to die, Jess Parker, had three books published through PublishAmerica. He travelled around Washington State selling his book at fairs. For Jess, it was an enjoyable way to spend his retirement. When he died after a short illness, he had accomplished a life-long dream that he would not have been able to achieve through a mainstream publisher. 

The bashers, who would have killed the joy experienced by Jess and many others,  were only concerned about themselves, and blamed their own foolishness on the publisher. Life is about making sensible choices. Those who thought they could become successful authors with a POD publisher clearly did not understand how the real world of publishing operates.

Now, literally anyone can publish through Amazon Kindle. The playing field is level; the hardest working will succeed and the rest will fall away.

I wish Carol had had her book  published through PA and she could have given it to her hubby's friends.  She was intimidated  by the PA bashers.  Too bad.

Nothing good came out of bashing PublishAmerica. The bashers targeted the authors, despite their claim to be only concerned with the publisher's business practices. The many false reviews that still remain on Amazon are a lasting legacy of their bullying activities.

2/2016

                 Shelagh..

                              My third books is due to be 7 years and I have to notify
Publish America that I own the rights now not them, I heard they were sold or
changed their name, do you know what name there using now and where they
are ? Thanks...

                                                                Cheers.........Joe.......

They are America Star Books, same address.

http://www.publishamerica.com/

They weren't sold, just a name change with added translation services.

Books are the trip of a lifetime. They can take you wherever you want to go and even to places you have never been. They can cause you to smile, cry and even get angry and they are always there when you need them.

2/13

                                Would anyone ever re-publish again with Publish America ?

                                                             Cheers  Joe............

I would.

alice wrote:

I would.

You still can. They are still in business.

Never.

As I have often said, the experience with Publish America gave me gifts that were not part of the book or whether it sold.  They were the gifts of courage - I dared to think I was an author and went forward selling books like mad at book stores, gift shops and restaurants at $35 for a paperback - until I learned that Publish America was a vanity publisher and my book might not really be any good at all.  That year or so in ignorant bliss was a great run - and I met most of the wonderful people still posting here on the Publish America message board where 24/7 there was someone to talk to about just about anything.  Unfortunately, I also learned that I wasn't really published - that I simply paid for printing by buying their exorbitantly priced books to sell myself.

My worst experience with Publish America was the high prices for the books and the discovery that they were not a benefit to my writing career - and did nothing to promote my book except figure new ways to sell me copies or invest in broad marketing schemes with Oprah Winfrey, etc.

My best experience was a great editor who helped me cut major sections and hone the book from about a thousand pages to the hefty 488 that were left.  I don't believe there was one typo in that book but maybe a grammatical error or two.  I still love it myself as a record of places I have traveled and might have forgotten without writing the book.  It now preserves the travel experience.

If I had a book that I wanted as a printed copy without dreams of selling any, I would print with the new Publish America.  However, my experience might not be as good.

The real bonus has been the authors with whom I have shared so very much since 2006, when I was still trying to figure out how we could be "friends" when we had never met.

I'm with you, DK, about the wonderful opportunity to meet new and interesting people. Since signing with PublishAmerica, I have published stories written by more than seventy authors from all over the world in three separate antholgies. Without PublishAmerica, I would not have been in contact with any of these writers, and this forum would not exist. My writing is not marketable enough to attract a commercial publisher, which means my work would have remained unpublished. Self-publishing was in its infancy in 2004, when I sought a publisher for my first children's novel, and I had insufficient knowledge to pursue that avenue of publishing. Everything I have done stems from my first publication by PublishAmerica, which gave me the opportunity to learn more about the publishing business and, eventually, led to the setting up of Mandinam Press. PublishAmerica gave me more than just my very first published book.

2/14

             I went into the New Publish America site, I noticed they now will do 
illustrations for children's books ? I was thinking of re-publishing " Dusty, "
which is close to my heart but I would want it illustrated as a children's book
so I could aim at a younger crowd , does anyone have an opinion on this ? 
What should I do ? My idea is you have a page as an example of Timmy finding
Dusty in a sack and beneath it states what is going on but a short version, does
that make any sense ?

                                                     Cheers.........Joe...........

I share the feelings of DK and Shelagh.  It was a learning experience.  A large part of that experience was learning that repeating mistake doesn't change the outcome.  The best part was meeting people who shared in the experience.  Many of them became good ciber friends and remain friends to this day.  Some have passed and their memories live on.  The zeal/inspiration to write is not the same.  Should I be inspired to write I have an abundance of infomation at my disposal to make a dicision that is right for me.

Like you Abe, I am losing my zeal as well. My writing energy goes into the newspaper articles for which the pay is paltry but steady.  I've had no increase since I started in 2011.  They advertise for more writers and do have some laid off newspaper people that write longer columns than I am assigned. Journalists are apparently a dime a dozen. 




Shelagh used to keep me inspired with her anthologies - at least to write a story or two.

2/16

                             I think it's time Shelagh created a new anthology, maybe on pets
everyone loves animals and it would sell, I could see the front cover full of pet photos.

                                                 Cheers...........Joe..........