Press Release Summary = Timothy N. Stelly, Sr. is seeking to organize unhappy authors at \"author mill\" PublishAmerica. He is seeking to get the company to pay their authors on time and accurately.
Press Release Body = Like many PublishAmerica authors, Timothy N. Stelly, Sr. is unhappy with their tactics and is attempting to organize these writers and brainstorm.
(PRWEB) January 3, 2006 -- PublishAmerica (PA), the prolific publisher in Freederick, Maryland, has several unhappy authors. One of them is Timothy N. Stelly, Sr. who cites the number of complaints he has received from his fellow PA authors and is convinced some changes must be made. He is seeking to organize these writers so that they might resolve this issue with the publisher. \"We will consider our options,\" Stelly says.
Stelly is the author of the PA-produced books "Tempest In the Stone" and "The Malice of Cain." He says the authors believe the company misrepresents itself and may even be guilty of breaching their contracts with these unhappy writers. \"It should not be up to the author to track his own sales,\" Stelly says. \"You trust that your publisher will live up to their claims and pay you what you have earned and do it accurately and on time, per the contract you signed with them."
Various websites have posted comments critical of PublishAmerica's contracts, calling them not only misleading, but one of the most unfair in the industry. Internet sites such as Linda Roberts' "PublishAmerica Sucks," Preditors and Editors, AbsoluteWrite.com, Writer's.net and Writing.com have posted hundreds of tales of woe in regards to PublishAmerica authors. If the word "PublishAmerica" is typed into the Google search engine, one will find a slew of horror stories from authors voicing their displeasure.
"Authors need to do more than complain about PA, we need to organize," Stelly said. "I want to save hard working authors time and heartache. But when authors mention their complaints to PA, the company takes on an adversarial stance.\"
"They offer to help the author only if they change the tenor of their complaint," Stelly says.
PA calls itself a "traditional publisher," but is actually a POD (Print On Demand) company. Their books are seldom found in the bricks and mortar stores as insinuated in their contract. Furthermore, orders for PA books are difficult to fill and the customer must often wait several weeks before receiving their book. Most stores will not allow PA authors to host an author's signing unless he or she purchases a set amount of their own books in advance.
The company promised to issue press releases to local papers and Stelly says they never did. They also promised to make the books available for review, but the only reviews he found were on Amazon.com and Forbes.com, that had been submitted by friends and relatives. When Stelly requested five copies of his book to send to black reviewers (he is a hip-hop author), the company declined. Instead, Stelly sent out more than 1400 e-mails and flyers to black college bookstores and student organizations, book clubs, writer's groups and afrocentric newspapers and bookstores around the country. He also mailed out 300 letters through the USPS. Stelly says he has received e-mails from as far away as Montreal, Canada and the UK from people who have purchased "Tempest In The Stone."
Stelly was astonished when he discovered PA authors cannot join the Writer's Guild of America for two years. Stelly contends unhappy authors should have their publishing rights returned so that they can shop their work elsewhere. \"They should also deal with the other concerns their authors have, such as being paid accurately and on time.\"
For more information, contact Timothy Stelly by email: stellbread@yahoo.com
Web Site = http://stellbread0.tripod.com
Contact Details = Timothy N. Stelly, Sr. 317 W. 11th Street Pittsburg, CA 94565 stellbread@yahoo.com (925) 473-0741
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