| Author |
Message |
    
priceless1
Awareness Member
Post Number:
8
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 06:28 pm: |   |
Okay, I've spent some time updating the New Lending Library to reflect required changes. Until Paul has the time to add the site to The Cutting Edge, I'll get the website address out there in case anyone is interested.
The site is http://pa-lendinglibrary.com
This is NOT for PA books only, but for anyone who would like to donate a book. Same goes for readers. Anyone may borrow a book for the price of $1.85 each way. No hidden agenda, folks. It's the same deal it always was; just want to get our work out there. There are so many terrific works on this list that I could go on forever.
Lynn |
Chico McChico (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: 12.19.230.80
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 09:46 pm: | |
Why, just out of curiosity, has no one created a website with specfic grievances against PA? Like, something with specific problems people have run into and misleading or inaccurate statements on their behalf?
I would prefer not to have my real name put here. |
Anonymous PA Author (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: 68.64.208.14
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 11:04 pm: | |
I have considered putting together a site like Anti-PA but i am afraid of a lawsuit.
I will remain anonymous because PA authors are attacking each other like crazy. |
Chico McChico (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: 12.19.230.80
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 11:37 pm: | |
See, there's the cool part of it, I think. I'm not saying to put up half-truths or anything. If you can get people who have had issues with PA to go on record with it, then you could put that up. Maybe have sections like Lies PA Told Me or Royalties? What Royalties? You know, something like that. Can that be used as something to be sued over? I mean, if it's true, then it's just free speech, right? |
Todd Hunter
Unity Member
Post Number:
1242
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 05:10 am: | |
There was a list of grievances people could use in writing to the Maryland AG over at another board (I don't have the link right now).
However, the trouble is that so many of those grievances are ones that could be construed...
Since that may seem confusing, I'll give an example...
'PA claims they edit, but they don't' (I'm going off memory, and believe this was what was said over there).
Unfortunately, PA may edit their books...they may go through and see if any of the words are underlined with little squiggly lines in Word, just like most authors do. The problem lies in the fact that books I've heard of (or seen) have come out of PA with vast amounts of errors...a few may be overlooked, but there's a point at which you ask yourself, 'what happened?'
I imagine it would be up to a court (or an arbitrator) to figure out whether the editing done was enough to meet to contract wording...however, when it reads "If, in the Publisher's opinion, the manuscript of the said literary work requires substantial editing..." I have my doubts about the success of any type of a suit.
This is but one example...
I'm curious as to how a thread on the Lending Library ventured into this line of conversation... |
Nancy Mehl
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1546
Registered: 08-2001
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 08:01 am: | |
Frankly, as far as an Anti-PA site, Absolute Write (www.absolutewrite.com) has some space set aside for PA conversations. They're quite interesting.
I think I can speak for all the regulars here, even though some people foolishly like to say Mindsight is an Anti-PA forum, (we're not) we have no interest in making PA the number one topic here.
We are writers, interested in becoming better educated about the craft of writing.
Nancy |
Victoria Strauss
Awareness Member
Post Number:
26
Registered: 11-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 08:47 am: | |
There was a site like this, run by Ward Kendall (I can't remember the site's name). PA basically hijacked Mr. Kendall's book--they would no longer make it available for purchase, but refused to give up the rights--as a way to make him take the site down, which he eventually did. Unfortunately Mr. Kendall's politics were somewhat unsavory, which PA lost no time in exploiting to explain why they jumped on him so hard (as opposed to wanting to shut up a critic). PA does not hesitate to take action, both direct in the form of threats, and covert in the form of rumor campaigns/slander, against those who criticize it.
I'd encourage people who feel dissatisfied with their PA experience to write to the Maryland AG. Single complaints don't mean very much, but a volume of complaints might spur some action.
I'd concentrate on issues of misrepresentation--for instance, PA saying "we are not a POD publisher" when people ask if they are--rather than things like the editing question. Yes, in the accepted publishing industry sense of editing, PA does not edit (it copy edits, which is something else). But since there's no ironclad standard definition of editing to which everyone can point, it's enough of a gray area that I think law enforcement officials probably wouldn't see this as a valid complaint. Of course, if your book was published full of typos and errors imposed by the PDF conversion process, and PA refused to work with you to correct them, that'd be another matter.
- Victoria
www.victoriastrauss.com
www.writerbeware.com |
Publius2 (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: 65.54.97.143
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 09:36 am: | |
They do that too en masse. Not a POD: That's the part I concentrated on in the complaint I filed at both offices.
"We have a full time staff that works hard to promote our books."
They have a staff but they don't promote books save to the authors themselves.
"Our books are sold in brick-and-mortar stores."
For this to be legitmate it would have to be viewed in totality, not a rare exception where the author paid first and begged a copy in. These are all deceptive claims and backed up by a cloudy ambiguous contract.
At the publisher's "discretion." That means never, but who would supect that ahead of time from the language?
The claim has been assigned to an ivestigator. We'll see how it goes. |
Publius2 (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: 65.54.97.143
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 09:40 am: | |
"rumor campaigns/slander, against those who criticize it." I know about this first hand. I don't know about the unsavory politics, but they'll stop at nothing to discredit any public critic. This is why they give rights back when the authors signs the gag order so they won't.
|
Tony (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: 24.31.215.202
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 12:38 pm: | |
Instead of stating "...books sold in brick-and-mortar stores..." I wish all old and new publishers would simply state who their distributor is. It would make it a little clearer (to me, at least) if they really can get books into physical store locations as the rule and not the exception. |
priceless1
Awareness Member
Post Number:
13
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 04:21 pm: | |
Um...let me just sneak in here...the LL site has an official link up at The Cutting Edge if anyone is interested(http://www.cutting-edge-ezine.com/). Okay, back to business...
Lynn |
Chico McChico (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: 12.19.230.80
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 05:54 pm: | |
Sorry for hijacking your post, Lynn... It was the first thing I put in here and I wasn't sure how to start a new thread... |
Todd Hunter
Unity Member
Post Number:
1245
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 06:19 pm: | |
I think the best questions to pose to any potential publisher you may be going with, would probably be:
1. Do you have a paid sales force whose purpose is to convince stores to order books? (because if not, I imagine they're going to leave it up to the author)
2. What regions do they cover? (One city isn't going to cut it)
3. How much success do they have in placement?
The follow-on to #3 would probably need to be some sort of verification that the stores they say they've placed books in actually have those books listed in stock...
Of course, I'm just coming up with this stuff out of my butt, so hopefully someone with more wisdom than I will venture along and correct me... |
priceless1
Awareness Member
Post Number:
15
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 07:00 pm: | |
"Sorry for hijacking your post, Lynn"
LOL...I don't mind in the least. I found it to be pretty funny, actually. At the bottom of the screen is a tiny little link that says 'start a new thread'. Best of luck to you, Chico.
Lynn |
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