It’s been a while since I’ve looked at the PublishAmerica website. I forgot how much it looks like a fringe, anti-government conspiracy group website that launched in the late 90′s. That actually isn’t the real disturbing part.
The real disturbing part is how they continue to bullshit people into signing up with them under the guise of being a traditional publishing company. The company has a fact page that states, “About One of America’s Most Spectacular Book Publishing Companies.” Some of the facts are how “50,000″ authors have published with it, how 100 authors a day ask to publish with PublishAmerica, etc. Have you ever heard of any other “traditional” publisher trying to sell a potential author about how it’s not a self-publishing company?
Here is one HUGE fact PublishAmerica left out: Over the past three years, PublishAmerica has had 259 complaints registered with the Better Business Bureau. That is one complaint every four days!
A lot of complaints against a company are a big, red flag. PublishAmerica had to work hard to get an “F” from the BBB. Of the 259 complaints, 164 of them (63%) were complaints about the services provided. Author Solutions, Inc (parent of Authorhouse, Trafford, Westbow, Xlibris), by contrast, has an “A-” rating with the BBB, yet has 330 total complaints, 261 of them (79%) about the services provided. Author Solutions is able, in part, to keep the “A-” rating because it combines all of its companies into one that has thousands of customer transactions (every time someone buys a book from an Author Solution’s online bookstore, it counts) so it can have more complaints, but with less effect on its overall ranking. To its credit, Author Solutions at least responds to the complaints. PublishAmerica didn’t even respond to 91 of the BBB complaints.
