For the sake of discussion, you may have some mis-information about PublishAmerica.
1.) They don't accept ALL manuscripts. 2.) They don't charge the author for publication, ISBN, or listing on numerous e-book stores. 2.) Without charge, they provide an editor(grammar, spelling, etc.,) and a graphic artist who creates the cover-design, often labor intensively. 4.) They've paid me hundreds, and I've paid them NOTHING.
5.) "Walden" was self-published, and so was "Thus Spake Zorathustra," books that changed the world. "We're On the Road to Humaternity" does not have the fortune to be in their good company in this respect.
Given these facts, which are true, how is "PublishAmerica" self-publishing? What it is is a different business model: "low-investment, on-demand" publishing. I have no positive or negative feelings about that business model; It suits my needs, partly because my ideas are too controversial for many conventional publishing houses.
My work is top caliber, and my purpose is not primarily to make money: it's to make changes in the world of literature and the world of ideas. And if you won't even consider a book not approved by some bean-counting corporate square, you're not seriously engaged in those worlds. Give it some thought.
Comments
chuck | June 16, 2010 - 15:36
Thanks for the info sean. I'll be checking PublishAmerica out.
Here's a list of authors who self-published...
http://www.simonteakettle.com/famousauthors.htm
seannelson | June 16, 2010 - 19:05
Sawatdee krab, Chuck. What I've said here about PublishAmerica is LITERALLY true. I was, however, too upset to give the whole picture. PublishAmerica ropes in bad moneyed writers because it's not a pay-to-publish situation, which is taboo.
And then, afterward, they market all these extra services to them(ridiculous stuff like "your book sent to John Grisham" or "your book in the white house library.") They barrage their writers with these e-mails, and they also sell authors a lot of copies of their own books.
But for a writer with more brains than money and a desire to get his writing out there in book form, it's a fine deal.
Milieu | July 19, 2010 - 17:55
"my ideas are too controversial for many conventional publishing houses"
"My work is top caliber"
Delusional much, Sean? I've read your work, every page, hoping that somewhere I'd find this controversy, or even a level to use as a rating. Top caliber would not be a an option in any review. Your work is high school level at best, style wise, and the ideas equally sophomoric.
PublishAmerica may be a perfect venue for you; let the buyer bewware.
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10211
http://delicious.com/medievalist/PublishAmerica