I received this email today from a complete stranger. It’s a good example of how NOT to sell a book.
Please order my book XYZ at http://www.publishamerica.com
and tell all your friends about it to. I have attached a release letter for you
so you can read what it is about. Please order it and then tell all your reader
friends so they can order it too. Maybe then I can become on my way to wealth.
Thank you for your time.
By "release letter," she means a press release from PublishAmerica that contains an incoherent, one-paragraph summary of the book’s plot and some lies about the company being a "traditional publisher." I’m trying to imagine how anyone could think that this pitch would sell any books.
Thank you for getting the word out to vulnerable writers about Publish America. I hate to see writers in a hurry to publish shooting themselves in the foot this way.
http://www.KristiHoll.com
http://www.Writers-First-Aid.blogspot.com
There was a girl and her mother and a rep of Publishamerica on Dr. Phil today. It caught my ear when she said she had a 3 million dollar book deal. Really?
Phil said, “Who is your publisher?
“Publishamerica,” she said. “They told me a million copies sold meant a three million dollar check.”
Phil asked the PA girl if they’d ever made a deal for a book like that?
“Not yet.”
He said, “This deal ain’t happening.”
No kidding!
I saw that show (my wife was controlling the TV at the time), and it was amazing to see a woman and her daughter destroy their relationship over the supposed riches they’d be getting from PublishAmerica. For once in my life I wished I was in a Dr. Phil audience so I could have set them all straight.