PublishAmerica: pay your publisher's CEO to review your book

PublishAmerica has really jumped the shark with  their sales gimmicks this time. PA is now offering their authors the chance to pay them to have their CEO review their book(s). Do you ever think Random House or Simon and Schuster's CEO needed to be paid to give a nod to the books they publish? I mean just what does that say if their own CEO won't mention your book unless you buy into this "service." Oh and there's more than one service being offered.   Letter from PublishAmerica's CEO  April 25, 2012   Good morning!   If I haven't met you yet in person, I am Willem Meiners, PublishAmerica's chief executive officer. Though my job title covers what you'd typically expect it to cover, to me it's as exciting as the door knob. Usually I introduce myself as a co-founder of PublishAmerica, because that's something I am really proud of.   We have built a publishing house that is now home to 60,000 different books, written by 47,000 different authors. We did this in a little over twelve years. And as you know, we have funded the publication of every book with our own money. No publishing fees, no investors, no bank loans, just old-fashioned making smart choices and being frugal. "Yes, but..," you say. PublishAmerica is issuing all those sales offers each day. Why can't we do everything for free? Well, yes, we earn our keep by selling books and promotional services. But it's like driving past Walmart. You're free to stop and walk in and buy everything they sell. But you don't have to. You may walk around in Walmart all day and still buy nothing. Same here. Don't purchase what you don't need. We still publish everyone's book for totally free.   So how many authors never buy anything from PublishAmerica? Eleven thousand have never bought a single copy of their own book, or any service. Yet we published their work at absolutely no expense to them, and we're just as proud of their book as we are of everybody else's.   As for meeting you in person: this is why we have launched our authors conventions. Taking our show on the road enables us to actually meet face to face with our authors. It's the number one reaction we get at these conventions: "So nice to finally meet the faces behind PublishAmerica!" And it figures. No matter how wonderful the Internet is, at the end of the day no relationship is complete until you have met the other person in real time and stopped to talk to them. So if you have a chance next time we're in a town near you, let's meet! We're in Orlando next Tuesday.   I will be sending this letter regularly to keep you informed about what's going on at PublishAmerica and in the book world at large. It will generally be an upbeat message, simply because our world is upbeat. I will tell you what I think about certain books, and now and then I will allow some of you to climb their soapbox and talk to you briefly.   On today's soapbox: Kerry Pardue, kerrypardue247@yahoo.com: "Military caregivers still giving to others."   My book review today is The Potato Peeler by Paul Rachmanides paulrachman@gmail.com. This is one of those Coming to America stories that never get old and are always inspiring. Paul was born in Greece and made up his mind early on that he wanted to live in America. He completed a strenuous military training in Greece, which included a whole lot but not how to speak English. So when Paul managed to arrive in Kansas in his early twenties, all he knew was, "How do you do?"    The book describes the many hurdles that the author had to overcome to finally find his home and to achieve financial peace and success. But that's not really what the message of Paul's book is about. Its true story is about how to never give up, ever. About always believing and never losing faith. And about a deep-rooted love for America that has only grown stronger as Paul's challenges grew taller. What an inspiring man, and what a wonderful Odysee of a book! Find The Potato Peeler here: www.publishamerica.net/product38972.html. I invite you to talk back to me. I don't guarantee a response, but I do guarantee that we listen. You can reach me by email at meetpublishamerica@publishamerica.com. In the subject line write Attn. Willem.   Have a wonderful day! --Willem Meiners PS: if you want to use Willem's future Letters-from-the-CEO as a vehicle to be heard, go to www.publishamerica.net/service/Willem.html         Willem by: PublishAmerica Price: $69.00 Book Name: Product Details ISBN: Willem # Pages: Dimensions: Format: Latest News: Less than 30 pct of all books are bought in real bookstores. Product Description Do you want PublishAmerica's CEO to review your book, and share it with an audience of tens of thousands?   Willem Meiners co-founded PublishAmerica more than twelve years ago. With the original founders still at the helm, the company has taken off like a comet, from publishing its first book in the year 2000 to publishing 60,000 books today, written by 47,000 authors.   Beginning this week, Willem will start sending a Letter-from-the-CEO almost daily to that strong legion of tens of thousands, and also to our 17,000 friends on Facebook. He will share the latest news he's seen or heard in the grapevine, an opinion or two, and he will review one or more books. He will also give an "open mic" to authors who have something to share with a really large audience that they would otherwise never be able to communicate with.   If you want PublishAmerica's CEO to review your book and bring it to the attention of his tens of thousands of readers. Willem will review your book on a first come, first serve basis. A 40-year veteran in the publishing world, Willem's word carries weight. He'll also mention your email address, so that his readers may contact you about your reviewed book.   If you want to make use of Willem's hospitality and talk to his tens of thousands of readers, go to Willem's Mic. You have up to 25 words to express yourself. No politics, no polemics, just keep it to promoting your book or yourself. Willem will also mention your email address, so prepare for getting feedback from the audience. Here again, it's first come, first serve.   Must choose a shipping option to activate. No use of coupons is allowed.   Who are Willem's audience, who are the people who will receive his letter-from-the-CEO by email and on Facebook? A large crowd of all in all more than 60,000 folks: authors, teachers, police officers, store owners, truck drivers, media reporters, firefighters, homemakers, grandparents, soccer moms, lawyers, taxi drivers, airline pilots, military, office clerks, celebrities, nurses, doctors, dads, students, politicians; and everyone is somebody's son or daughter.   When's the last time you talked to an audience that large and diverse? Willem's Mic by: PublishAmerica Price: $19.00 Book Name: Product Details ISBN: WillemsMic # Pages: Dimensions: Format: Latest News: Less than 30 pct of all books are bought in real bookstores. Product Description Do you want PublishAmerica's CEO to review your book, and share it with an audience of tens of thousands?   Willem Meiners co-founded PublishAmerica more than twelve years ago. With the original founders still at the helm, the company has taken off like a comet, from publishing its first book in the year 2000 to publishing 60,000 books today, written by 47,000 authors.   Beginning this week, Willem will start sending a Letter-from-the-CEO almost daily to that strong legion of tens of thousands, and also to our 17,000 friends on Facebook. He will share the latest news he's seen or heard in the grapevine, an opinion or two, and he will review one or more books. He will also give an "open mic" to authors who have something to share with a really large audience that they would otherwise never be able to communicate with.   Make use of Willem's hospitality and talk to his tens of thousands of readers. You have up to 25 words to express yourself. No politics, no polemics, just keep it to promoting your book or yourself. Willem will also mention your email address, so prepare for getting feedback from the audience. Here again, it's first come, first serve.   Must choose a shipping option to activate. No use of coupons is allowed.   Who are Willem's audience, who are the people who will receive his letter-from-the-CEO by email and on Facebook? A large crowd of all in all more than 60,000 folks: authors, teachers, police officers, store owners, truck drivers, media reporters, firefighters, homemakers, grandparents, soccer moms, lawyers, taxi drivers, airline pilots, military, office clerks, celebrities, nurses, doctors, dads, students, politicians; and everyone is somebody's son or daughter.   When's the last time you talked to an audience that large and diverse?