You’ve always wanted to write a book and one day, by golly, you’ve done it. It might be your own story of recovery from an illness - maybe it’s a romance or mystery - perhaps a collection of your poems or short stories.

You want to get it published but you don’t know a heck of a lot about the business. Maybe you’ve sent the manuscript to a couple of those big companies everybody’s heard of and it’s been rejected. Maybe you tried a couple of smaller, regional publishers and they passed on it too. A bit disheartened, you decide to do an online search for “book publishers” and BINGO! - this company called PublishAmerica pops up.

You check it out and are impressed. They treat their authors the old-fashioned way - they pay them. That’s gotta be good. They say they have 20,000 happy authors in their stable. That’s gotta be good. The site is overflowing with testimonials from a couple of nearly-famous people as well as many of those 20,000 happy authors.

You check out the message board on the site and see quite a few people you can relate to - they’re just folks, like yourself. All in all, it looks like a darned good fit for you and your book.

You contact them and they tell you to send in your manuscript. In a couple of weeks you learn the happy news - you’ve been accepted! You are on your way to becoming a Published Author!

Such a nice story! If only it ended there.

Here’s how it really ends though:

You get your two free author’s copies and find the book is riddled with mistakes. It’s priced $5.00 higher than any other similar book out there. The cover art is amateurish. You’re disappointed but...it is your book and you believe in it. You are a Published Author.

Fourteen of your friends and family order a copy from Publish America. They care about you and share your joy. You approach your local book store to see if they’ll stock it. Initially they’re quite pleased to meet a local author. Then you tell them who the publisher is and they regretfully decline. Publish America’s no-return policy, unfavourable discount and reputation for lack of quality kills the chances of bookstore placement. The manager is kindly though, and tells you he’ll take a couple on consignment if you provide them at a 45% discount.

You decide, based on the advice of those friendly folks on the Publish America message board, to take matters into your own hands. You can learn about marketing. By sheer dint of energy and will, you’ll get your book “out there” where it will find an audience. Word of mouth will spread and in a few months it will start inching its way up the sales charts.

You take advantage of one of Publish America’s semi-regular, “special” author discounts and buy 100 copies of your book. You’re only out a little over a thousand bucks. The bookstore manager said you could have a signing at the store if you bring your own copies. You decide to shell out a little more money for bookmarks to give away. And a bit more for posters and a small newspaper ad to promote the event.

The signing goes reasonably well and you sell eight books, though many other shoppers seem to balk at the cost. No matter. Those eight will read it, enjoy it, and tell their friends.

You leave three copies behind for the store to sell.

You approach every other book store within driving distance of your home and find another independent store two towns away that will host a signing. Same deal as the first store though. You only sell five books this time, even though you paid for a slightly bigger ad in that local paper. The bookstore manager agrees to keep one book in stock.

You manage to sell a few copies to the people at work and to a couple of friends-of-friends, but three months after you received them, you still have 71 copies left at home. You try to cheer yourself with the thought that maybe you’re selling quite a few at those online stores Publish America often talks about, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Maybe even a few at PA’s own site.

You keep your spirits up by chatting with those nice folks on the PA message board. Many of them can relate to your experiences. There’s quite a few new faces these days though, and a few of the older ones seem to have drifted away. You’re on your way to old-timer status there and try to offer what advice and encouragement you can to the new folks.

Then the magic day arrives. Your mail carrier delivers your first royalty cheque from Publish America - confirmation indeed of your Published Author status!

With trembling hands you open the envelope. You scan the numbers and feel sick. There must be some mistake! This isn’t enough money for lunch for two at a restaurant that starts with a “Mc.”

You write to Publish America’s Author Support for an explanation. They don’t respond. Angry now, you write again. This time you do hear back and are told not to “take that tone with us.” They dismiss your complaints as the petulant whining of a spoiled child. They remind you that you signed a contract. Their implication is clear: you failed - both as a writer and a promoter.

You post a complaint on the message board. An hour later you check to see if there any responses and your post is gone. You sign in to post again and find your password has been revoked.

Now you know what happened to some of those other, more experienced posters. You’ve joined the ranks of the banned.

You’re out over $1600 and 71 books lie mouldering in your garage.

Dreams dashed, totally discouraged, you try to forget the whole thing ever happened.

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This story is the distilled experience of dozens (hundreds?) (thousands?) of UN-happy Publish America authors. Many of their stories can be read in detail at the message board of Absolute Write - an online community of writers seeking to inform and support other writers.

You can find thousands of posts regarding Publish America by clicking on The Neverending PublishAmerica Thread found on the Bewares and Background Checks board. Or just click here.

Publish America makes money, lots of it, from sales of books to their authors. Not from sales to the public. Not from sales to bookstores. Despite the hype and clever innuendoes to the contrary, they have no interest in a market outside their stable of authors.

If you’ve written a book that’s important to you, a book that you believe has an audience outside your circle of family and friends, submit it to a good agent or to a commercial publisher which accepts un-agented submissions. They abound. You can learn how to find them and tips on submission by visiting quality writing sites. I’ll list a few below.

Legitimate, commercial publishers make their money by selling your book to strangers. They place them in bookstores for people to find, browse and buy. They are priced competitively. They are edited and designed by experts. And keep this in mind - they really do pay you - hundreds, and usually thousands of times PA’s paltry $1.00 advance.

It is no easy task writing a book that will sell to a commercial publisher. The vast majority of books written never see print. Despite your best efforts, yours may never be accepted by a commercial house. If that is the case and you still want to see a bound copy, you have several options: self-publishing - vanity/subsidy publishing - or taking advantage of free or low-cost services such as those offered by lulu and cafepress.

There are pluses and minuses that need to be weighed carefully if you choose any of these options. But the information leading to an informed choice is available to anyone with an internet connection. You can start by visiting some of the sites listed below.

AbsoluteWrite - http://www.absolutewrite.com/

Lots of good articles on the site. Useful, free newsletters and a paid version for the serious freelancer.

AbsoluteWrite Water Cooler (message board forums) - http://absolutewrite.com/forums/

An invaluable resource for writers at all stages of their careers. Dozens of forums related to virtually every aspect of writing. You can “lurk” (read posts without joining) or join (it’s free) and participate. Many published writers offer invaluable advice. Agents, publishers and editors also frequent the boards. You can find me there most every day posting under the nickname “aka eraser.”

Preditors & Editors - http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/

Great place to check the bona fides of agents and publishers. Also contains a wealth of links to other valuable resources for writers.

Writer Beware - http://www.sfwa.org/beware/

There’s no better starting point for a writer concerned about finding an honest, legitimate agent or publisher. The good people at Writer Beware, A.C. Crispin and Victoria Strauss, are at the forefront of the fight against the dishonorable and dishonest who seek to separate writers from their money.

Writing-World - http://www.writing-world.com/

Lots of good articles on site. Useful, free newsletter.