Publish America claims they are not a POD or Vanity Press - but their business practices say otherwise. Frederick Maryland

I live in Missouri; there aren't very many literary agents or legitimate publishing companies nearby. When a friend recommended Publish America, I went directly to their website. Claims all over the site are that they are a Traditional Publishing Company, that they are not a Print on Demand or Vanity Press (alleging that they can't be if they don't charge a fee) and the page was filled with satisfied customers.

I contacted them regarding my book. They accepted it. They sent a contract over the mail, in which I signed over publishing rights to them. I thought I had just become a truely published author.
I was wrong.

Shortly after recieving the cover proof (which should have been the first indication that they had never read my book), they contacted me regarding the official release date: October 29, 2007. I was so overjoyed that I attempted to give a friend a link--but their website was down. So for the first time regarding the company, I performed a search.

And I discovered that I had been duped.
They are in fact a POD: their titles are "non returnable" (a statement that ironically contradicts what they claim) and have a 30% bookstore discount (standard is 40% or higher). They don't market the book to the store shelves--they market it to the author and family. My book will not be in the Library of Congress, and it will not be a writing credit.

Their statements to the contrary caused me to report them to the internet crimes system--it qualifies as fraud. Furthermore, they used the united states mail in their fraud scheme. I asked the US Postal Inspector if I had a case: "It sounds like it, but I can't make a promise. There needs to be a pattern of behavior." They recommended that I fill out a Mail Fraud report, and told me to keep all copies of my transactions with them.
I did. But I am still bound by the contract, which has an arbitrary agreement in the writing clause.
I have also alerted the Missouri Attorney General's office.

Po'edtonoend
Grandview, Missouri
U.S.A.