Primrose Road

Earlier this week, a student excitedly told me that his friend knew of "a place where you could get your book published for free." PublishAmerica seems to prey on teenagers and young adults because, as people who likely don't know how the publishing business works, they're easy targets. They (and often their parents) don't understand how it can still be a scam if they put no money down and are listed on Amazon. I don't fault the victims here, though I advise everyone to research the publishing industry before signing a contract.

A handful of examples of unsalable (except to family and friends) books by teenagers that PA has published in recent years:

- 3/12/08: a 257-page sci-fi novel written by a high school senior; retails for $21.95.

- 3/1/08: a 405-page fantasy novel by a sixteen-year-old author. According to the article, "Unlike many writers, Gamble believes in rewriting. She spent about eight months on "Regenero.""

- 6/3/07: Sci-fi novel by a fifteen-year-old author. The book, described in the young man's local newspaper as a "novel," is 56 pages long.

- 7/13/06: 18-year old author, 195-page novel, back cover copy begins, "Kaneka Veratu thought her life was normal. She thought she knew her family. She thought she knew the truth. She was wrong."

- 4/5/06: a 150-page novel by a high school senior. The book retails for $19.95, and the back cover copy begins "Everything changes; life revolves around change. It's not like one day you wake up and you're married with a kid. I mean, there has to be something major in between. I guess that's what it was-something that passed the time. Adolescence-that's the time in between."

- 10/20/05: Sixteen year-old author of a 59-page murder mystery for preteens holds a book signing at (I know you may not be able to access the full articles from where you are, but I promise I'm not making this up) Chick-Fil-A.

- 5/30/05: Seventeen-year-old high school senior publishes 160-page novel. According to the article, "Brianna’s father only stepped in to help negotiate the contract with PublishAmerica. In her deal, Brianna is guaranteed a percentage of her book sales. That percentage increases if a certain number are sold." So ... what's 'negotiable' there? Were they initially not going to offer her royalties?

- 11/2/03: Fourteen-year-old writes a book about "a teenage elf who saves the world." PA published his second book in late 2005.

And a brief, slightly related aside: squib, via PixieStix, reports on what could be the most unintentionally hilarious yet uncannily socially insightful vanity-press published children's book ever.