I got this email today:
Hello Lee! I just received a contract from PA today! I was wondering if I sent
you my query if maybe you knew of someone more reputable who would be interested
in my work?
People this dumb deserve PublishAmerica. And Dr. Laura. Here’s how I replied:
reputable, why would you bother submitting your book to them? Why would you care
if they sent you a contract or not? It’s junk mail. And why would you ask me to
find a publisher for you?
it’s up to you. Or your agent. I’m an author. My job is selling MY books.
the spines of the books on the shelf. Jot the down the name and address of the
publisher (which you can find on the copyright page). Look them up in the
Writers Market. Look at their web site. Do a Google search for articles and
discussions about them. C’mon, Alisha! Make an effort!
UPDATE: I have some doubts about whether the email was "real" or not, but I did get a reply from the author today:
Okay, okay! Sorry to have bothered you. Please keep in mind that this is the
first book I have ever written, and, obviously, I am not real knowledgeable on
getting it published. By the way, I did not submit my manuscript to Publish
America knowing that they were not reputable. I did, however, have the common
sense to do a search before signing the contract. Thank you for your time.
I take it that the ‘touchy-feely’ phase of the last couple of weeks is over then Lee? Never mind, it was nice while it lasted ;}#
(time to run for cover)
The annoying part is they just keep coming more clueless than ever.
“Do a Google search for articles and discussions about them.”
Or Google Lee and PA for his previous entries on this subject. Sure, it’s hard to find the car keys to drive to the library to check out Writer’s Digest, or find a bookstore and look through the thousands of how-to books out there. But not even Google?
If I hadn’t seen so much of this before, I’d swear some people are trying to pull your leg, Lee.
This one sounds bogus to me. I have a feeling Lee has been punked.
That was my first thought, Dave, when I read the email…then again, I get so much stupid mail, I couldn’t be 100% certain. So I figured what the hell? It would make a nice blog entry.
Whoever put that together did a nice job hitting your hotspots. Now if he/she could’ve only worked in iUniverse …
Nice blog, Lee! I’ll have to do some more exploring but just had to comment on this. I never laughed so hard in my life.