Class Action Suit Filed Against PublishAmerica -
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
On June 11, 2012, a class action summons and complaint was filed in Maryland District Court in Baltimore against PublishAmerica LLLP. PublishAmerica is a company that on their website portray themselves as a traditional publishing company; however, their predatory practices have long been a subject of contention in the publishing community,
Basically, PublishAmerica promises authors they will promote and publish their books at no cost but the actual contract language is in total conflict with those promises. For example, books are priced much higher than is standard but in order to lower the price authors have to pay a fee! The books are also very poorly edited.
The complaint alleges, among other things, that PublishAmerica makes money off its authors while billing itself as a traditional publisher and thus is engaged in deceptive trade practices. It further requests that PublishAmerica return all rights to its authors and pays punitive damages.