Is publishamerica.com Safe?

Please note that this site is now named "America Star Books" but it is the SAME BUSINESS (the open-book logo even looks similar to the older PublishAmerica logo: http://web.archive.org/web/20130201050052/http://publishamerica.com/). The same web content is now also at ***** and (IMHO) all comments here also apply to the domain americastarbooks.com. Reference: ***** Here's a simple (but incomplete) suggestion to reduce an author's chances of being scammed: Look for a publisher whose website is aimed at READERS rather than authors.

Running out contracts with this company. If you were to use this publisher expect to do all the sales and primary promotions yourself. They do a good job of listing works online internationally, marginal printing, decent cover art but you'll have to do your own edit and spell checks. It is a Vanity press. I haven't spent a cent on anything I sent them and don't intend to. The only thing I can think of using them for is business short run manuals that you'd buy enough for in house without public distribution. Questionable business practices. Author credibility killer. Publish with them and don't expect to get a good agent or reputable publisher to buy out your contract.

I published two books with them when they first came out. They did not sell anything, (I did) because they were overcharging for my books. $35 for ordinary 400pg novels. I now sell them for $15, since my 5-year contract has run out. I chose to publish without their editing because their editing would be very expensive and take a full year. In retaliation, they put a disclaimer in my book "At the specific preference of the author, Publish America allowed this work to remain exactly as the author intended, verbatim without editorial input." Would you want a publisher's comment like that in your book? That comment even made the reviews! About 20 times a month, they have some kind of promotion, always different, trying to get me to buy my own books at a discount. The latest outrage was asking me for $149 to buy back my non-performing contract three days After it expired. Customer service will eventually respond -- in about 14 days after the 3rd request. Try CreateSpace.Com and Kindle.Amazon.Com as better authorial options by far.

They love to boast on their site that they "treat authors the old fashion way" by paying them, however numerous authors, including myself, have realized by making the unfortunate decision to work with them that such philosophy does not exist with this company. Don't believe that they won't charge the hopeful author anything. Whether in the guise of buying 100 dollars worth of their own books, or flat out charging them because the author dared ask for the cover to be changed for the benefit of the book, they will take the author's money anyway they possibly can. Don't just take my word. Check them out with the Better Business Bureau.

This is not a reputable company. Their contract is filled with misrepresentations and absurd doublespeak. Their agents are rude and condescending. Case in point, their website says that your book will be reviewed by one of their editors, yet no editing services are provided. The quality of their books is also lacking.