I believe that Corporate Fraud, and Copyright Infringement was perpetrated by this company. I believe that my manuscript Glimpses of Life, possibly has been sold secretly, possibly online through Amazon etc, and offline at stores possibly, but under another name and title other than the title above and my name, printed in Jan-Feb of with the belief that profits have been made under another's name, without the percentage being allocated and without my authorization or knowledge.
I am an aspiring author and my first Poetry Book Glimpses of Life is set to be published soon (supposedly). I signed a contract with Publish America in Jan. I mailed in a hard copy of my 60 pages or so manuscript to Publish America, and they accepted and offered me a contract. There after I was made aware of the request that requires new authors to e-mail a copy of their manuscripts through PDF, RTF, and TXT format in order to Advance into the publication process.
However, I relocated from Chicago, IL to Morrow, GA, in Jan of for business purposes and the project was placed on hold. During this time I hadn't received any e-mails from Publish America inquiring about my manuscript (they only correspond through e-mail and letter). I returned to Chicago May 31st of this year and I resumed work on my amended manuscript with 2 additional poems.
Despite the fact that PA has had an awful reputation of being fraudulent, and rendering un-ethical business practices, refusing to pay royalties, refusing to adhere to the contract, ignoring e-mails from authors, non-editing etc, I maintained an optimistic outlook, because I felt as a un-solicited Poet/Author I had very few options.
I finally e-mailed my manuscript in an incorrect format according to an employee, and she claimed that they would not be able to start the publication process due to the incorrect format. So, I had the entire manuscript re-scanned in an rtf format. Once I e-mailed it to PA I never received a response, informing me that they would begin the process. Then On July, 17th I received an e-mail stating that royalty statements and checks would be mailed out by the end of August, and that x amount of copies was sold, in which caused suspicion in my mind!
I confronted PA with my concerns through e-mail and through letters, and there was no response. Then I was e-mailed at the end of July in which they requested for me to choose the length of the publication process of my book, and was asked to agree to certain options. I agreed to a fast track option (4-6 week process), and then soon after I was mailed a letter that claimed that they wouldn't be able to publish my book under Par. 25 of the Contract.
Therefore, I referred to the Contract, Par 25, and it stated otherwise, it clearly stated that Publish America duty is to commence / publish an author's book within 365 days. I responded by e-mail to their support dept, still I received no response. Then within 2 weeks I was mailed a package by Publish America it stated that they had began the Publication Process and that they would be publishing my manuscript. They also included the infamous $1.00 advance that they do with all authors.
So far, it has been more then 6 weeks and I have not received the cover design lay out for my review. PA had exceeded their 4-6 week deadline, and I believe they are wavering in adherence to their contract, thereby breaching the contract. I also strongly believe that my manuscript has already been printed back in Jan, or Feb and copies possibly have been sold, maybe in another name and title.
I have e-mailed various departments asking if unauthorized activity regarding my manuscript has occurred without my knowledge including the willful act of infringement for profit in regards to royalties that have not been paid to me, and I had no knowledge that my manuscript was being circulated in print because PA was supposedly still awaiting the electronic copy of the manuscript through e-mail in printable format. I believe that since Feb profits were possibly made secretly, and I have not received the percentage according to the contract, nor was I made aware of these sales.
I believe that PA will continue to make every effort to not pay past due royalties and it is in their intention to continue to defraud me of my percentage by with-holding 100% of the royalties accumulated through sales.
I am the owner of the intellectual property that has been copy written under my name in Jan with the Library of Congress Copyright Office. Under Penalty and Perjury I pledge that I am authorized to enforce the copyrights that I allege have been infringed upon.
In good faith belief that the use of my copyright-protected material has been used in the manner that is not authorized as stated in the complaint above.
Kirsha
chicago, Illinois
U.S.A.
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