PageFree Publishing Non-payment of Royalties, Paid Services, Incorrect or misleading information on website, Refusal to respond Otsego Michigan

I initially signed a contract with PageFree Publishing in mid October 2006 to publish "I Need Therapy."
I paid $399.00 for the basic package, submitted my manuscript and I was promised to have the finished product back in my hand within 30 days.

That didn't happen, after six weeks I began emailing the president of the company, Kim Blagg. I was given one excuse after the other as to why my book wasn't ready.
After much stress and countless emails later, I finally received the finished proof of my book on January 18, 2007, three months after I initially submitted my manuscript.

It took another two months to work out the corrections. I received my first book by Federal Express March 19, 2007. To say that I was extremely disappointed was an understatement.

The book looked cheap, amateurish, and poorly put together. Some of the pages were coming apart from the spine. It looked as if I had gone to my local print shop and had this book printed.

I immediately emailed Kim Blagg and expressed my displeasure with the book. She replied back that I had a case of what they in the business called " dream reality" Which she explained and I quote (as transcribed from email) "When an author publishes their book, they create a vision in their mind of the finished book, and everything that goes on from that point forward. They might miss details in the process or not understand what aspects are controllable, and when the finished product is in hand, it doesn't match their mental vision."

She did, however agree to replace the book proof with another book of better quaility since the pages were falling out.
But get this...when I received the replacement copy it was someone else's book (Gilbert Asamoah) Harmony in the Body, with my cover on it! Published by AuthorHouse, I still have this book by the way, it has been an inspiration to me.

I was so upset and disappointed, I decided to scrap the manuscript, chalk it up to a "you get what you pay for experience" and start over from scratch.
I sent Kim a polite email telling her that in my excitement to have my book complete obviously I had overlooked some important issues, this book was something that I had put a lot of time and effort into and I expected it to be to my satisfaction before making it available to the public, therefore, I wanted to withdraw my book from the printing process until I made the necessary changes.

I decided to republish my book with PageFree against my better judgement mainly because I wanted to keep my cover and they had the rights to it, also because after going through so much the next go round just had to be better.

I retyped my manuscript...all 30 plus thousand words and re-submitted my manuscript on 05/04/2007. This time paying for one of the more expensive packages. I selected the "Paperback Preparing For Bookstore Package at a cost of $1, 799.00 I also paid $350.84 for In-Depth Editing for a total cost of $2, 149.84

I was once again, given a time frame of about 30 days for completion. On June 11, 2007 I gave a follow up email to touch bases and see how things were going. I got no reply.

On June 18th I sent a second email in which I was very upset and conveyed as much to Kim. Kim replied that "They'd had considerable equipment problems-computers were down for a week after lightning rendered the main drive corrupt and put out their central air-conditioning, which added to delays. But everything was back on track and she would have my proof to me shortly."

On June 21st, I emailed Kim again to express my displeasure at the delays and told her that I decided to republish with them against my better judgement and I should have gone with my second choice, Trafford and asked what did "shortly" mean.

She replied back and I quote "It means this week, Glenda-you'll have it before the close of business on Friday. We appreciate your patience with our equipment delays. Thank you for writing. (Oh, and for the record, you wouldn't have liked Trafford. A) They have no distribution and B) They charge more - we get their ex-authors all the time. You made the right choice.)

I received my supposedly "new" book proof later that same evening. And get this, it was the same manuscript that I had initially submitted to them back in October 2006! Nothing had been changed, no edits had been done, it read word for word as it was originally submitted in Oct 2006.

After expressing my anger to Kim with a few choice words, she replied back and apologized saying that she didn't realize that I had submitted a brand new manuscript and thought that I wanted to keep the look of the manuscript submitted in Oct 07, she also said that she had overlooked that I'd paid for an In-Depth Edit, but she would complete the edits immediately and resend the proof. I had waited 48 days for something that Kim Blagg completed in one night.

After all the revisions were finally made, I signed off on the proof. After all the stress, aggravation and frustration, I finally received my 10 free authors copies of my book a few days later. Immediately, I found additional editing errors, and contacted Kim. Her reply was "Oh well, you signed off on it, so it's yours."

It has been a long hard, tiring journey with PageFree Publishing and here I am today 14 months since the release of my book "I Need Therapy" and I have yet to receive one dime from PageFree in royalties.
Nor have I received any sales statements or royalty reports. When I contacted Kim Blagg several months ago in reference to royalties due me, she replied that I had not earned enough in sales to receieve the prerequsite $25.00 which I know is untrue.
How many books must you sell in order to earn $25.00?
When I requested a sales report, she said that only the publisher was priviledged to that information.

I know that my book is selling, I have 8 active web pages and readers who report daily that they have purchased my book from various outlets.

I have given Kim Blagg and PageFree Publishing every opportunity to right their wrong doings to no avail.
It is my intent to warn authors, aspiring authors, and writers not to choose PageFree Publishing for their publishing needs.

UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!!

Prior to filing this original complaint on 10/29/2008, I had not heard from anyone from PageFree Publishing in approximately 8 months, despite the numerous emails that I've sent to them over the past 8 months. After filing this complaint, I decided to send them a copy of it and finally got a response, this was their reply...
************
Ms. Wallace, you have sold a total of 8 books in two years, period ending September, 2008. Your archival fee of $15.00 is due, making the net due you $4.36.
Please withdraw the libelous comments you have posted against our company.

Business Affairs
PageFree Publishing, Inc.

*************
MY RESPONSE:

Wow! Is this what it takes to get a response from you? There is nothing libelous about my complaint, article, or blog postings. Everything that I stated, I can and will prove.
Maybe you have forgotten, I have filed complaints against this company before with the BBB of Western Michigan and the State of Michigans' Attorney Generals Office.

I have made every attempt to solve this matter amicably. However, I have found that you do grossly misrepresent yourself (Kim Blagg) and your company. (See attached files) All I asked was that you fulfill your contractual obligation for what was due to me as an author who paid for a service(s) that were not delivered.
Non-delivered services include-(as defined in your 'What We Offer' package from website)

a) Store stocking at Barnes&Noble stores across the U.S.- automatic
eligibility
b) Chat room availablity for author "cyber-signings" or group discussions
c) Private author's area with marketing tips, sales tracking, company news and success stories from other PageFree authors
d) Sales tracking of book sales
e) I have never previously received any information pertaining to royalties, or lack thereof

Also, I purchased a "Paperback Preparing For Bookstore Package" which was to include Press Release/ E-Book/ Ingram Adv. Catalog/ Trade Distribution Acceptance Program, however these services were not delivered.

It also makes me highly upset when "I Need Therapy" receives favorable reviews but then it also reads that "although my book is very entertaining it is also poorly edited!" How would this make you feel when you have paid a substantial amount of money for an In-Depth Edit?

And as for me signing off on the finished proof, if I had been knowledgable enough to edit my own work I would not have enlisted your editorial services. How can you expect a person to approve edits when they are the ones who made the mistakes to begin with? You are the professionals and you should have a professional proof reader to check your work, not the author who originally made the mistakes.

Now, after countless unanswered emails, I finally hear from you two years later that I've only sold 8 books in two years, but what proof do I have of this? Or should I just take your word for it?

If you can come up with any options to make this situation right I am open for discussion.

Glenda W

******
THEIR REPLY:

> a) Store stocking at Barnes&Noble stores across the U.S.- automatic eligibility
You were eligible - that should not be confused with whether the store wished to stock your book. That is their decision and no publisher can guarantee a store will stock unless they purchase the shelf space.


> b) Chat room availablity for author "cyber-signings" or group discussions
It is and has been available - link to it on our website and it is opened for private, booked events. You did not book it.

> c) Private author's area with marketing tips, sales tracking, company news
> and success stories from other PageFree authors
It is there and you were issued a password.

> d) Sales tracking of book sales
Read the policy on sales tracking at
http://www.pagefreepublishing.com/royalties.html We complied.

> e) I have never previously received any information pertaining to royalties,
> or lack thereof
Again, read the website on royalties. We cannot keep costs low for authors and still contact each one to tell them "you didn't sell any books this month."
>
> Also, I purchased a "Paperback Preparing For Bookstore Package" which was to include Press Release/ E-Book/ Ingram Adv. Catalog/ Trade Distribution
> Acceptance Program, however these services were not delivered.
Press Release and ebook were sent to you. The book was in the Ingram catalog and the Trade Distribution Program means your book is submitted for consideration - but does not mean the stores will elect to stock it.

Your book was fully edited professionally.

PageFree provided what was ordered. Your complaints center on the fact thatyou did not read the information provided, but are disappointed and blaming PageFree. You did not renew the book's archival fee. Ms. Wallace, while we can provide the vehicle for a book's success, that success hinges upon the
work itself and the amount of appropriate marketing done by the
author/publisher.

You should also consider that you have damaged your own reputation with your remarks. You have, in essence, said, "My book is a failure and it's all PageFree's fault." You are more interested in misplaced revenge than in being a successful author.

********
MY RESPONSE:

Everything that you say sounds very "pretty" but over the past two years I've gotten quite used to those nice words, however, can you back up those nice words with proof?

I, on the other hand, can provide emailed transcripts of our interactions for the past two years. I don't have to make you look bad, your replys to my emails will do that all on it's own.
After going online and researching complaints against your company it appears that there are quite a few people who had the same or similar issues with PageFree Publishing...imagine that!

Besides, who am I communicating with here? Why won't you disclose who you are instead of hiding behind businessaffairs@pagefreepublishing.com but why am even I surprised that you would do this, this behavior is so like the unprofessionalism that PageFree Publishing displays on a regular basis.

Let it be understood that this is not about revenge. I am already a successful author without the assistance of PageFree Publishing. My track record proves that I do have a large following of readers, (this can be easily tracked by the traffic that flocks to my web pages each day) which is why this complaint/article/ comment bothers you so much. You know that it will definitely gain attention.

And as for this...
Your book was fully edited professionally

Be careful what you say... a judge can decide if this is true or not, just by reading the book!

Thanks again, Kim, Gary, or whomever has replied to this email.
I appreciate your professionalism!

Sincerely,
Glenda A. W

Glenda741
gautier, Mississippi
U.S.A.