America Star Books / Publish America review: Awful company 71

If anyone has received notice that you have sold ZERO books in the 6 month selling period, and has proof that you have sold books, it is imperative that you contact this attorney. I don't care if it's 1 or 100. This is a strong case and we need as many participants as possible to keep our costs down. It's an investment that will pay off. PLEASE contact Jan (pro. Yon) Berlage,
[protected]

"Publish America" has carried my book for over five years and I have yet to be paid "royalties" that remotely represent the sales for which I have provided them ample documentation.

The last straw for me was receiving their "royalty" statement today reflecting zero sales that included no compensation for any of the many sales I have documented in 20-30 emails over the last year, but instead claimed I owe them money because "books were returned" from stores. I have no idea why they consider me liable for what a bookstore orders.

It's impossible to reach anyone at "Publish America" by phone, and emails are met with boilerplate or incoherent replies that rarely address the issue.

I'm fed up with this unscrupulous company, and intend to be part of the proposed class action lawsuit.

I want to set up a class action suit against Publish America, but so many people have told me it is useless to do this. They scammed my manuscript and are holding it "hostage". The thing is, I don't have a copy of a contract, they never sent me one, and it is worthless any way as it is a "cut and paste" document anyway. They are also in violation of several US Postal Laws as well as Interstate Commerce Commission laws, International laws and others. Most are all felonies, most are federal laws, and we could indict and send to court the owners of the company as well as all employees they ever had that helped to perpetrate the crimes they have done.

The problem is we need to unite and organize to form a body of plaintiffs large enough to be worthwhile.
If you are interested contact me at dwasche@live.com

I'm afraid private citizens cannot indict anyone. Only a grand jury can indict someone on criminal charges, and the grand jurors only consider charges brought to them by a prosecutor, such as U.S. Attorney. The most a private citizen can do is to file a complaint. It is then up to law enforcement to investigate and then turn it over to a prosecuting attorney, who decides whether or not to file criminal charges.

Don Davidson is correct. However, if enough people with enough evidence files charges, the Attorney general and the FBI will have to pay attention. it's up to everyone that Publish America has broken the law against to step forward and file the complaint. Don't let them get you becasue you think it will do no good. One voice might not be enough, although it should...but get enough people filing complaints and they'll have to listen. Also, I recommend that you talk to your local senator and let them know that you have filed a complaint against Publish America to trya nd get their help in the matter.

I agree with you all as well. I am very disgusted with PA and their professionalism. Although I have two books published back to back by PA (big mistake) they both have been handled incorrectly by the publisher, the most recent incident involves my second book, A Sinner's Prayer, in which the manuscript was sent to me for proofing. I proofed and sent back the publisher's errors to be corrected. Ryan, employer of PA stated that it was his mistake and will fix it. Time goes by and a free copy is mailed to me with the same publishing errors! I emailed Ryan, yet again, advising him of the error and he apologized again and said he'll fix it. Two months goes by and I email him for an update and he says "Oh, yeah that has been taking care of." My response was WELL WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME! I order a large sum of books ready to sell and promote for the people who have been waiting patiently. Seven weeks goes by before I call PA to find out what's taking so long and they tell me it's due to 'text changes'. I asked Carrie (another PA rep) what text changes were being made because Ryan stated everything was taking care of besides there wasn't any problems taking my money on the order! There was nothing stating on the order screen that the book was still being reviewed for text changes before accepting my payment! I forward Carrie all my emails from Ryan stating that it was his fault, everything's taking care of and guess what...I received poor customer service from Carrie as if it was my fault that I'm calling messing up HER day! The moral to this people is if you have a dream of becoming an author...you do better by RUNNING somewhere else...these people are dream crushers. You will have to be a child of God with ample patience to handle these people! They are a bootleg, rip off company and you'll probably have better luck having Big Bird publish you on Sesame Street!

Your story is not unusual. PA added about 35 errors to my book through their "editing" process, which seems to be nothing more than running it through a spell/grammar check and approving all changes (even those that don't make any sense). I wonder if the delay in sending you the books isn't to allow the credit card charge to clear and get paid so that you will have trouble disputing it if (when?) you are not satisfied with what you receive. I have refused to purchase any books from PA after learning what they really are and how they really operate. You have no chance of achieving any real success as an author through PA because they stack the deck against you, through their absurdly high prices, lack of marketing and distribution, embarrassingly low discounts for bookstores, no-return policy for most of their books, and the generally poor quality of their books. I understand that PA books sell an average of about 75 copies per book--and most of those are sold to the author. They are simply a vanity press dressed up to look like something else, but they cleverly hide that fact until after you sign the contract--and then you are stuck for 7 long years.

I sent a letter to Publish America wanting to discontinue our contract. God's Wrath Postponed was published with them over seven years ago. Although I see used books available all over the internet, I've never received compensation for the sale of them. I was disappointed with the marketing, editing, etc. My complaint was received with the following response. How professional is this? Instead of promoting my views in this book, the company has hindered my ability to share them. You should be able to determine the content of my initial letter from his response.

Dear David Turner:

No, what you say is simply false. Nothing is being terminated, at all. Please consult an attorney prior to sending us such nonsense. Your attorney will tell you that you do not have the right to cancel your contract.

>>I have been disappointed with the marketing by Publish America.

No, apparently you have not been disappointed. If you had been, you wouldn't have signed up for an additional seven years. As you know, as for promotion, we have gone above what is required of us by contract, which states very plainly: "Sales promotion, advertising and publicity shall be at the Publisher's election and discretion as to the extent, scope and character thereof and in all matters pertaining thereto."

>>I've had a significant number of people tell me they had purchased the
>>book, yet I've received no compensation for these purchases.

As for the additional sales that you say were made, that is good news because you will certainly be able to show us some evidence of these sales from a "significant number of people ". If you can provide us with even the faintest shred of evidence that a sale was made for which you were not compensated, we will be happy to thoroughly investigate the matter and ensure that you are paid all that you are owed. Practically any evidence will do, such as a receipt, order number, name of person ordering, etc.

Also, the statements will only show sales from that royalty period for which we have been paid. Some retailers and distributors have a grace period of 30, 60, or even 90 days. Any sales not shown on one statement should certainly be included on the next.

Thank you and have a good day,
PublishAmerica Support
Support@publishamerica.com

Of course they won't terminate the contract--unless you are willing to pay for the privilege (the going price now is, I believe, about $300). They hold your book hostage for 7 long years in the hope that you will break down, buy some books, and try the self-marketing route--which will almost certainly not work out well for you, by the way. And if you do not send them a written notice of non-renewal at least 3 months before the end of the 7-year period, the contract automatically renews for an additional 7 years! PublishAmerica does no marketing, publicity, or distribution because their business model is to sell books to the author, not the public. They are a vanity publisher, plain and simple. They simply don't ask for money up front--instead, they get it by overpricing the book on the back end. (Mine, for example, is $24.95 for a softback version, with no illustrations, less than 200 pages, and an unknown author. Who in their right mind would pay that, or anything close to that?) And since when should the author have to prove how many books were sold? It's normally the publisher who sells the books, after all, without any involvement by the author. But I've heard this complaint before, that PublishAmerica's record-keeping is really messed up, if not outright dishonest. I went with PublishAmerica because I fell for their lies and deceit. In my opinion, they are a scam, because they are not honest and upfront about their business model, which is to sell books to the author, period.

I changed my e-mail address. Publish American is impossible to reach by phone. I called after hours to leave a message and the mailbox was full once again. They have a form you can send to them on your site and it never takes and gives a "Page Error". Now how am I suppose to contact them about an important change in information?

Yes, I have been cheated out of money due me for books not paid. But try to get them to listen to you. Good luck. They have made it impossible to contact them.

What class action suit? I want in on it! I am in the same boat as every author who has used them.

I'm a publishamerica who apparently fell victim to their trap. I'm the author of sworn not to betray and a silent killer within inwhich I just only signed a contract for the second book. I don't understand how they are being allowed to get away with what they are doing to so many of us aspiring authors. There should be predatory law against what they are getting away with, cause that's what they are doing is preying on people who aspire to fulfill a dream. I live in a homeless shelter and this has been one of the most agonizing six months of my life, waiting for the day I would hopefully get a check which would enable me to begin to turn my life around and make something of myself. But it doesn't appear that I will be recieving anything such as what I've read from other authors who say they never recieved any royalty check from publishamerica. I"m surprised there hasn't been some sort of federal investgation into this rogue company and what tactics they are using to destroy peoples lives, who have put so much into their work in hopes of fulfilling a life long dream.

I have the exact same complaint

Yes, I'm another author taken in by Publishamerica and yet they still are in existence scamming authors with no one having the power and ability to finally drive these people out of business., Am I pissed? YES! I suggest we all band together and once and for all bring a class action suit against these SOB's. I'm open for suggestions including sending letters to programs like "60 Minutes" in the hope that they will expose them once and for all. If any of you would like to have me attach your letter and experiences to a letter that I am going to send to the networks, please do so by sending it to me and I will follow through with a letter to CBS and other networks. I believe you can contact me via this site.

Yes. I am another author with a bad experience with Publish America. There is strength in numbers and we all need to band together to bring this company down. ANY suggestions. You can reach me at parvitt@sbcglobal.net

I too, have been screwed by Publish America, after countless times of sending in the paper work, four times of sending in an Illustrator/Artist release form the book comes to us, without the Illustrators name on it, and five pictures blurred in the book.
After writing them, their reply was that this was not their fault, they made the corrections by printing the Illustrators name, but would not refund us with ten copies of the correct print. On top of all of this, they sent a email with a no-reply. There is no way to contact this Company, they will not correct the bad doings. So I contacted a local printer and can have my Children's Picture book printed for$1.79-250 copies, because its local, they are not charging me $5.99 S&H per book.
PA is nothing but a scam

I have waited before filing a complaint against Publish America. My complaint is not unique as - everything I've read I could ditto. I'm sorry I did not do more research before signing a contract with them. I worked with them on their deadline, feeling rushed. When my book was published (in record time i might add) it was filled with errors, the cover was not the one I submitted and thus the troubles began. The clincher is this: I was in ICU for 17 days of January last year, when they sent an e-mail giving me 3 days to answer or my manuscript would go to printer. I saw the e-mails about 5 days too late, and even though I called to tell them, "NO NO NO" there was too many errors for printing, they ignored me. Eventually they were corrected, only to start another problem. I received orders that belonged to someone else whom I did not know - it wasn't my book - I was told to sell them if I wanted to (which I didn't). Two orders were delivered to me by this author who is probably still wondering where her books are. I've called, sent e-mails and now a year later I still have the books.
I paid for their help in getting book signings. NOTHING, NADA, ZERO, yet they will not return my money which was the only reason I signed up with them, it was a guarantee.
I made an order in November for an upcoming book signing in early December. The books have not arrived and we are nearing February. They have my money; I want a refund of the book tour fee, and my order to be sent with some kind of explanation. I want to join the club of complaints on this company so no other senior will be scammed. It was supposed to be a long time dream come true, only to turn into a nightmare and embarrassment.
Dt1958

Newest promo fraud just put out by Publish America.
Dear Ms Commerford,

Thank you for your email. The U.S. Consulate Leipzig is not aware of the company you wrote about, nor do we request companies or organizations to solicit books for a fee on our behalf.

Kind regards,

U.S. Consulate General
- Public Affairs -
Wilhelm Seyfferth-Str. 4
D - 04107 Leipzig
Tel.: 0341 / 213 84-0

Please visit us on the Internet at http://leipzig.usconsulate.gov/

and follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/USConGenLeipzig

and/or Twitter http://twitter.com/USConsLeipzig

This e-mail is unclassified based on the definitions provided in E.O. 12958.

This email is UNCLASSIFIED.

From: Leipzig US Consulate
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2012 7:05 AM
To: Moehs, Teta M; Hoelker, Mechthild M
Subject: FW: US State Department wants your book

From: PAULA COMMERFORD [mailto:sweetsoot1@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2012 1:34 AM
To: leipzig@usconsulate.de
Subject: Fw: US State Department wants your book

Please respond !

--- On Mon, 2/6/12, PAULA COMMERFORD wrote:

From: PAULA COMMERFORD
Subject: Fw: US State Department wants your book
To: leipzig@usconsulate.de
Date: Monday, February 6, 2012, 2:01 PM

This promo is being sent out to hundreds of authors in the us and abroad ! This is the same publisher that has sent out promo frauds to Edinberg International Book Fest, JK Rowlings and many others. Do you know about this ? Please advise as I need to contact many authors as to any truth to this promo . Thank you Paula Commerford

From: PublishAmerica Bookstore
Sent: Monday, February 6, 2012 7:56 AM
Subject: US State Department wants your book

Is this email not displaying correctly?View it in your browser.

http://www.publishamerica.com/images/palogo2.jpg

Dear author:

The U.S. State Department wants your book.

They promote American literature abroad.

We have been contacted by the U.S. Consulate General in Leipzig, Germany. They want to present our best books during the Leipzig Book Fair next month. Last time around PublishAmerica also promoted its best books in Leipzig, together with the American consulate.

Activate today if you want your book to be sent to the U.S. Consul General.

Go to www.publishamerica.net/service/StateDept.html to activate for $39. Your book will upon being selected be sent to Leipzig for promotion and display during the Leipzig Book Fair in the U.S. Consulate General's booth. After the event it will be donated to a public or university library. If for whatever reason your book doesn't pass the selection process, you will receive a full refund of your activation fee.

Must choose a shipping option to activate. No use of coupons allowed. Valid for one title at a time. Mention your book title.

Thank you,

--PublishAmerica Bookstore

Dear Ms Commerford,

Thank you for your email. The U.S. Consulate Leipzig is not aware of the company you wrote about, nor do we request companies or organizations to solicit books for a fee on our behalf.

Kind regards,

U.S. Consulate General
- Public Affairs -
Wilhelm Seyfferth-Str. 4
D - 04107 Leipzig
Tel.: 0341 / 213 84-0

Please visit us on the Internet at http://leipzig.usconsulate.gov/

and follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/USConGenLeipzig

and/or Twitter http://twitter.com/USConsLeipzig

This e-mail is unclassified based on the definitions provided in E.O. 12958.

This email is UNCLASSIFIED.

From: Leipzig US Consulate
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2012 7:05 AM
To: Moehs, Teta M; Hoelker, Mechthild M
Subject: FW: US State Department wants your book

From: PAULA COMMERFORD [mailto:sweetsoot1@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2012 1:34 AM
To: leipzig@usconsulate.de
Subject: Fw: US State Department wants your book

Please respond !

--- On Mon, 2/6/12, PAULA COMMERFORD wrote:

From: PAULA COMMERFORD
Subject: Fw: US State Department wants your book
To: leipzig@usconsulate.de
Date: Monday, February 6, 2012, 2:01 PM

This promo is being sent out to hundreds of authors in the us and abroad ! This is the same publisher that has sent out promo frauds to Edinberg International Book Fest, JK Rowlings and many others. Do you know about this ? Please advise as I need to contact many authors as to any truth to this promo . Thank you Paula Commerford

From: PublishAmerica Bookstore
Sent: Monday, February 6, 2012 7:56 AM
Subject: US State Department wants your book

Is this email not displaying correctly?View it in your browser.

http://www.publishamerica.com/images/palogo2.jpg

Dear author:

The U.S. State Department wants your book.

They promote American literature abroad.

We have been contacted by the U.S. Consulate General in Leipzig, Germany. They want to present our best books during the Leipzig Book Fair next month. Last time around PublishAmerica also promoted its best books in Leipzig, together with the American consulate.

Activate today if you want your book to be sent to the U.S. Consul General.

Go to www.publishamerica.net/service/StateDept.html to activate for $39. Your book will upon being selected be sent to Leipzig for promotion and display during the Leipzig Book Fair in the U.S. Consulate General's booth. After the event it will be donated to a public or university library. If for whatever reason your book doesn't pass the selection process, you will receive a full refund of your activation fee.

Must choose a shipping option to activate. No use of coupons allowed. Valid for one title at a time. Mention your book title.

Thank you,

--PublishAmerica Bookstore

Hello, I wrote and published the book "Battered Badge" by Aileen Christine. I was happy when they told me the book had been edited. When I received my first two books, I went into shock when I read the book and discovered few mistakes. I contacted them immediately and they gave me the run around. I was asked by Uni-Vision Spanish TV station for a documentary, which went very well and aired all across America. It was an excellent documentary and several months later, I asked if any books were sold and they refused to answer me or send me my royalty statement. This was in 2009 or 2010 and to this day I still don't know if any were sold or not, or if they pocketed the money. I called and they continuously would hang up in my ear refusing to give me any details or answers. I finally gave up.

I'm Free! I just paid these losers $99 to get my rights back! About 3 months ago they sent me an email offer to do this. I jumped on it...but the link they posted was dead. Imagine that. Last week I got a RARE phone call from a very pleasant young lady (also rare) noting that my sales were flat for over a year. Well, my sales have been flat since Day 1, according to their royalty output. She asked if I wanted out and I explained that I had tried without success. She extended the offer of $99 and I'm FREEEEEEE! Be prepared to change your cover art if you had them create it. They wanted an additional $500 for their rights to that, and their lousy manuscripting! Why was I not surprised? Good luck to you all...I'm outta here!

I never should have trusted in Publish America. First of all, they told me not to worry about grammar or spelling. Their actual words were, "write the way you speak and we will take care of the editing." I felt confident and sent my manuscript. Later I received five books and upon reading one, I was stunned to see that it was never edited. I called them several times and all they did was hang up on me. I never got any answers. During that time I had been interviewed by Univision; a ten minute documentary of my life. It aired nationwide, and when I called concerning sales, I was informed that I didn't sell a single book. I never received a royalty statement. I don't believe that one was not sold in the entire United States. Something sounded fishy. I had several people tell me they ordered my book, but no royalty checks. I believe they are a bunch of thieves. NEVER again! I had to rewrite my book and change the cover because I was too embarrassed to advertise or do Author signings. Terrible! Aileen Christine, Battered Badge

I want to join in on a class action suit, First, Publish America published my book wrong, they totally missed it up, and they even changed the title if you can believe that. My book was in memory of my brother, I just wanted it out there for readers to enjoy. It is an Adventure book. Anyways, Yes - lots of money, I had to have it edited at $2400.00 then buy 10 books, and I even fell for the buy 10 and 10 will go to a book store, never happened. Then a letter saying No books have been sold and they wanted $199.00 from me...No books sold...Many of my friends on facebook have bought the book, my book is for sale on Amazon, eBay (eBay has a lot of my books) BUT not one cent to me and when I asked them they told me I have not sold any...Now they took my book off their website, they want proof I have seen my books for sale (which I did copy and paste many sites selling my book) I sent this proof to them. I honestly have had it with them. They act like little thieves, laughing and banking all your money, laughing at us and the legal system, I want to join a class action law suit against them...is there on going on now? (Oh...you want to see my book...go to eBay or Amazon and look for "Boy Scout Camping, Be Prepared, Be Really Prepared")

I posted the above complaint, jeffbeard, I was told I have not sold any books but I have proof of selling a lot. I want in on a suit against these thieves. My contact info is jbeard007@sbcglobal.net or [protected] Thank you
Jeff Clinkenbeard

i just read the book Crack'd a true story of crack addiction. And let me tell you, it was a very difficult book to read, not for the the content but for the bad punctuation, misspelled words and run on sentences . the biggest complaint i had for the this poor book's author was misused and misspelling of the word know and now and the word to and too. Who in the hell proofs these authors books?.. that alone would send me screaming for an atty. It was so bad as i read the book, which is very good, by the way, i had a pen in my hand and corrected every error i encountered. Very pathetic... and this company, Is it still in business? Very sad for those who invested their own money only to be brought down by a jerk of a company. On page 215 and 216 alone i counted 25 errors and i am not even nit icking.. Mr. Whitton, I enjoyed your book very much and you deserved better representation than what you got from these publishers or what ever you want to call them.

Well I feel raped by Publish America. All the promises did not come to fruition. They say I have had no royalties; yet you can find my book for sale at other online bookstores. I am totally devastated. I just don't know how any company can be so deceitful.

1/27/2016: PA, To all things there is a season...

Wicked and deceitful man do flourish when good men and women are silent. So, as long as all of us keeping putting the Truth out there about Publish America...America Star Books...Textstream Publisher and any other name they may currently go by eventually someone with some real clout will show some integrity and truly address this beyond shameful so call business we all know as Publish America, and its many other names.

MPN, Author/ and original Creator of Man-Tu The Young One Published 12/2010

PS; The above Publish America haven't been my publisher, since I purchase my publishing rights from them in 2013. Never signed any contract with America Star Books nor Texstream Publisher and any listing with them claiming to still be my publisher is a lie. Those rights are no longer theirs to claim.

It is truly strange how our world and local news stations, report almost daily how other fraudulent companies are being investigated and some times brought down, and yet the government watchdogs appears to be turning a blind-eye to the above mention and their down-right unlawful practices. One has only to read our on line complaints and yet our complaints ... somehow are invisible and ... yet they see everything else?.

after 5 years, i have never received any money or an accounting for my book. shall we do a class action suit? bill warren ph [protected]

My book, Running On Bridges of Time was published in 2007. A number of copies were on sale at the New Mexico State University book store.
after the college changed to a different management, my book was not published there anymore.
I could not find my book in any store. I have tried to contact Publish America about renewing my contract with them, but they refuse to communicate with me. I want to find another publisher for my book. The book is good I know and believe that. I wonder if I could just find another publisher for my book. What options do I have?
if anyone can help me.
I would appreciate it very much.
jaramillop066@gmail.com.

This book is a collection of words that express the thoughts of a Hispanic growing up in the America of the 1960s. Growing up in poverty and through the turbulent Civil Rights era, along with the Chicano movement, inevitably left a mark on the life of the author of this collection of poems. The many struggles to succeed have made the author understand the value of hard work and perseverance. This collection of poems consist of real life events of the author’s, along with dream sequences that come from a life of introspection. He hopes that this book will generate a rich tapestry of new imagination, for what we imagine can come true if we just believe.

Publisher : Publish America; First Ed. edition (October 15, 2007)
Language : English
Paperback : 87 pages
ISBN-10 : [protected]
ISBN-13 : 978-[protected]
Item Weight : 5 ounces
Dimensions : 5.98 x 0.21 x 9.02 inches

In 2006, I published a poetry book called mirror you see I see by my maiden name Heather L McClister and received no royalties for my book. I want them to pay me my royalties