Posted on the AW board

I posted this today on the "Alternatives to Publish America" thread on the AW Water Cooler:

IF YOU ARE FED UP WITH PUBLISHAMERICA, WHAT NEXT? Try to get your rights back? Let it ride, forget about it and concentrate on writing something new? Tell the world you’re heartbroken and never write another word?
If you are a writer or have what it takes to be a writer, quitting isn’t an option. Rejection and disappointment are an everyday part of the business.
Remember this is about you. It isn’t about PA, it isn’t about friends, family or people on a message board, it’s all about you. You must first decide what is best for you and no one else.
Here are a few points to consider:
YOU GET YOUR RIGHTS BACK, THEN WHAT? The book has been published. It’s all over the internet so you can’t keep that a secret. That means no one else will be interested in publishing it. Your options are few. You can stick the manuscript in a desk drawer and forget it. You can cannibalize it and use the basic elements to write an entirely new book.
But what if it was to be the first book in a series? You can start it again from a fresh viewpoint. It has been done many times before by writers who experiment until they find the characters and format they want to use for the long haul.
YOU CAN CHALK IT UP TO EXPERIENCE. For some people, just letting the contract run its course is the preferred option. What’s best for you and no one else? Will you be better off with the book out there even if it goes nowhere or is one of the above courses best for you? Whatever decision you arrive at will have no affect whatsoever on PublishAmerica. You may come up with a different course of action than those listed. Whatever you decide, never forget it’s all about you. Please yourself, not anyone else.
__________________

Very well said, Dick!

Perfectly said, Dick.

Far too sensible, Dick.

Dick, I thought your post was well written.

Jeez, won't somebody please tell me I'm a complete idiot so life will seem normal?

Not me.

Dick Stodghill wrote:

Jeez, won't somebody please tell me I'm a complete idiot so life will seem normal?

We will leave that for Shelagh

How can I resist? Never one to do things by halves, you are a complete idiot, Dick.

Deleted

Dick Stodghill wrote:

Jeez, won't somebody please tell me I'm a complete idiot....

Sure. Stodghill, you're a complete idiot.

It's worth noting, however, that now and again your seasoned wit strikes a chord that ought to be heard across the board.

Let me third or fourth that complete idiot thing. However, as your post makes entirely too much sense, there is no way the anti PA fanatics are going to buy into it.

I think PA served the purpose that some of us intended when we signed with them, and as you said, Dick, we've now moved on. My third and fourth book is with another publisher, and my next one will be with another one still.

I'm just trying to get as many words on paper each day as I can, hoping to one day finish another one. I don't have any trouble writing, but if I could find one of those muses that would let me about double my daily word count, I'd sure be thankful.

Yeah, the muse makes the different. Mine is gone; and the writing has dribbled to a near stop.

Banned


Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 11
To All,

Thanks for your "help." I certainly have self-control. I can walk away--the point is my name is on a list of members. I do not want it there.

Who, in their right mind would want to be associated with such unimaginative people that they can post about the same old thing day in and day out?

Look around you, "by beholding you become changed." If you want to be writers--try reading something worthwhile. There is nothing original here. Page after page of the same old same old.

I guarantee you I could walk into most any mental ward and find better conversation than I see exhibited here.

You make such points about your rights--I want mine. I do not want my name on your list of members.

This is America--remember?

By the way, I am not a writer, but I certainly know some great ones--published by PA too.

Don't let that eat you alive, but who,here on, this thead has won any great literary awards?
I doubt they got them here.

Start thinking--you have a mob mentality.

Dick,

You made me lonesome. You are a full genius--I am the idiot.

You do not want your name on the list of members? Tough.

Dick,

Anyone who thinks that AW members would follow such good advice has to be an idiot.

Just wondering, if being published by PA is so useless, how come these people see it as such a threat?

Ann

"I’ve been accused of being too attached to the traditional model – which is ironic because I hate the traditional system. It has repeatedly disappointed me. But I also think it’s a potentially beautiful thing if done correctly – it’s just become totally corrupted by greed and short-term thinking."

This statement is not about PublishAmerica. Traditional means commercial or trade:

http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/2009/05/17/the-two-wings-of-self-publishing/

Greed is obviously relative: it's okay for commercial publishers but not for PA. Yet, there is nothing stopping anyone setting up their own publishing company and following PA's business model. They would stand a much better chance of making a great deal of money than they will as an average writer. Whether they like to believe it or not, most PA authors are average at best. Even those who are better than average lack the determination/motivation to make it onto the NY Times bestseller list. Those who do are ruthless and would sell their own grandmothers if they had to. Can you imagine Carol or Marie or Helen doing that? Maybe Alice would.

Alice is joking Marie! You can't ban yourself. Alice is going to visit her grandchildren. She left us on our toes until she returns when, no doubt, we will all be in need of a new recovery thread.

Yes it was.

There has to be a way for me to insult somebody here but I can't figure what it can be. Frustrating.

The problem I have with Alice is she says she is not a writer, but she writes some fantastic imaginative stuff on this board. Sometimes it is overwhelming and I have no idea how to add to it.

Good article, Shelagh.

Carol

x

x

W. Lane Rogers wrote:

It's a new word I bumped into recently.

I'm amazed it survived.

I'd call Lane docile if I wasn't afraid he'd beat around the bush instead of giving me a direct reply.