I want to talk about my new favorite novel: Atlanta Nights by Travis Tea. I just finished reading it, and it is amazing. Before talking about how amazing it is, let me tell you the story of how it came to be, for those of you who do not know.
It starts with a vanity press by the name of PublishAmerica. A vanity press is a publisher whose business model is to make profit primarily from authors rather than from selling to readers. Many vanity presses are obvious pay-to-publish presses, but some are more subtle. In the case of PublishAmerica, they pretended they were a legitimate publisher. They claimed that they only accepted good manuscripts with real publishing potential; they didn't accept just anything so they could get money from the author. Also, they did not take money up front. So how were they a vanity press? From what I understand, they made their money by allowing authors to buy their own books in bulk at discounted prices, which many authors are willing to do so they can self-promote. This was the press's main source of income. They did not work like a genuine publisher, and they were not up-front or honest about being a vanity press.
It happened that there was a man named James D. MacDonald, fantasy/sci-fi author, who had for some time been active in giving advice to aspiring authors. He and a couple other sci-fi authors realized that PublishAmerica was a deceptive vanity press, and they advised new authors about this. As a result, PublishAmerica got upset and made this comment:
There were some other comments as well, equally disparaging of science fiction, and equally trying to claim PublishAmerica was legit.
After this, MacDonald decided to test out their claim that they only accepted manuscripts with real potential. To do this, he set out to create a completely unpublishable manuscript and submit it. The plan went like this:
1. Come up with thin, cliche characters, and very vague descriptions of 40 chapters of a crappy, cliche romance/mystery story;
2. Send one chapter description to each of 40 sci-fi authors, without letting the authors talk to each other or see the other chapter descriptions;
3. Have the authors each write their one chapter as badly as possible;
4. Have a computer program mash together random phrases from four other chapters and include that as a chapter;
5. Assemble the chapters in the order received, not in an order that makes sense of the story;
6. Submit the resulting incoherent mess to PublishAmerica.
And that was what they did. And PublishAmerica accepted it with this message:
There was a contract offered as well. Then the hoax was made public, at which time PublishAmerica suddenly realized that the manuscript was not up to their high standards, and they revoked the contract to publish.
A plausible explanation, indeed.
You can find the full correspondence here, under the heading "The making of Atlanta Nights".
MacDonald did an interiew about the whole process here.
If you are wondering whether maybe the novel was not that bad and PublishAmerica actually does vet manuscripts, here is the opening to the novel:
Many of the chapters are worse than this. Some are just boring. The whole novel mangles spelling and grammar. There is Eye of Argon levels of thesaurus usage. Then there is the computer-generated Chapter 34, which starts:
So this is what PublishAmerica accepted as having potential. While, as mentioned, the contract offer was revoked, the authors eventually published the book themselves. You can buy it on Amazon. There is also a substantial excerpt here.
I highly recommend this novel. It is absolutely hilarious. The writing is awful in such amazing and excellent ways. And the story behind it is kind of awesome as well. Atlanta Nights. Hell on wheels.
It starts with a vanity press by the name of PublishAmerica. A vanity press is a publisher whose business model is to make profit primarily from authors rather than from selling to readers. Many vanity presses are obvious pay-to-publish presses, but some are more subtle. In the case of PublishAmerica, they pretended they were a legitimate publisher. They claimed that they only accepted good manuscripts with real publishing potential; they didn't accept just anything so they could get money from the author. Also, they did not take money up front. So how were they a vanity press? From what I understand, they made their money by allowing authors to buy their own books in bulk at discounted prices, which many authors are willing to do so they can self-promote. This was the press's main source of income. They did not work like a genuine publisher, and they were not up-front or honest about being a vanity press.
It happened that there was a man named James D. MacDonald, fantasy/sci-fi author, who had for some time been active in giving advice to aspiring authors. He and a couple other sci-fi authors realized that PublishAmerica was a deceptive vanity press, and they advised new authors about this. As a result, PublishAmerica got upset and made this comment:
Quote:
[S]cience-fiction and fantasy writers have it easier. It's unfair, but such is life. As a rule of thumb, the quality bar for sci-fi and fantasy is a lot lower than for all other fiction. Therefore, beware of published authors who are self-crowned writing experts. When they tell you what to do and not to do in getting your book published, always first ask them what genre they write. If it's sci-fi or fantasy, run. They have no clue about what it is to write real-life stories, and how to find them a home. Unless you are a sci-fi or fantasy author yourself. |
There were some other comments as well, equally disparaging of science fiction, and equally trying to claim PublishAmerica was legit.
After this, MacDonald decided to test out their claim that they only accepted manuscripts with real potential. To do this, he set out to create a completely unpublishable manuscript and submit it. The plan went like this:
1. Come up with thin, cliche characters, and very vague descriptions of 40 chapters of a crappy, cliche romance/mystery story;
2. Send one chapter description to each of 40 sci-fi authors, without letting the authors talk to each other or see the other chapter descriptions;
3. Have the authors each write their one chapter as badly as possible;
4. Have a computer program mash together random phrases from four other chapters and include that as a chapter;
5. Assemble the chapters in the order received, not in an order that makes sense of the story;
6. Submit the resulting incoherent mess to PublishAmerica.
And that was what they did. And PublishAmerica accepted it with this message:
Quote:
Dear Mr. [Deleted] As this is an important piece of email regarding your book, please read it completely from start to finish. I am happy to inform you that PublishAmerica has decided to give "Atlanta Nights" the chance it deserves. An email will follow this one with the sample contract attached for your review. If you do not receive the email with the attached sample contract in twenty-four hours, please contact me, so I can resend the document via another method. [Omitted contract details] Welcome to PublishAmerica, and congratulations on what promises to be an exciting time ahead. Sincerely, Meg Phillips Acquisitions EditorPublishAmerica |
There was a contract offered as well. Then the hoax was made public, at which time PublishAmerica suddenly realized that the manuscript was not up to their high standards, and they revoked the contract to publish.
Quote:
Dear Mr. [Deleted], We must withdraw our offer to publish Atlanta Nights. Upon further review it appears that your work is not ready to be published. There are portions of nonsensical text in the manuscript that were caught by our editing staff as they previewed the text for editing time assessment pending your acceptance of our offer. On the positive side, maybe you want to consider contracting the book with a vanity publisher such as iUniverse or Author House. They will certainly publish your book at a fee. Thank you. PublishAmerica Acquisitions Department |
A plausible explanation, indeed.
You can find the full correspondence here, under the heading "The making of Atlanta Nights".
MacDonald did an interiew about the whole process here.
If you are wondering whether maybe the novel was not that bad and PublishAmerica actually does vet manuscripts, here is the opening to the novel:
Quote:
Pain. Whispering voices. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Need pee--new pain--what are they sticking in me? . . . Sleep. Pain. Whispering voices. “As you know, Nurse Eastman, the government spooks controlling this hospital will not permit me to give this patient the care I think he needs.” “Yes, doctor.” The voice was breathy, sweet, so sweet and sexy. “We will therefore just monitor his sign’s. Serious trauma like this patient suffered requires extra care, but the rich patsies controlling the hospital will make certain I cannot try any of my new treatments on him.” “Yes, doctor.” That voice was soooo sexy! Bruce didn’t care about treatments. He cared about pain, and he cared about that voice, because when he heard the voice, the pain went away, just for a few seconds, like. “Report to me if there is any change,” the man’s voice said. “Yes, Dr. Nance,” said the sexy voice. A door closed, and Bruce heard breathing, and smelled the enticing smell of shampoo, and perfume. It was Chanel Number 5. |
Many of the chapters are worse than this. Some are just boring. The whole novel mangles spelling and grammar. There is Eye of Argon levels of thesaurus usage. Then there is the computer-generated Chapter 34, which starts:
Quote:
Bruce walked around any more. Some people might ought to her practiced eye, at her. I am so silky and braid shoulders. At sixty-six, men with a few feet away form their languid gazes. I know I was hungry, and impelling him lying naked. She slowly made for a man could join you I know what I ought to take you probably should have. He wants it worriedly. About think what to wear? Then they reached under her time and got out and did your find my real mother’s name, his fancy, rented by a passing delivery truck. Well, Maggie Ooh, Andrew, you but I know my leftover cake! Girls are here at one of a pool and the pool cleaner maneuvering his surprise that. He smiled certain her way down cruel and flashed him. |
So this is what PublishAmerica accepted as having potential. While, as mentioned, the contract offer was revoked, the authors eventually published the book themselves. You can buy it on Amazon. There is also a substantial excerpt here.
I highly recommend this novel. It is absolutely hilarious. The writing is awful in such amazing and excellent ways. And the story behind it is kind of awesome as well. Atlanta Nights. Hell on wheels.
via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=263042&goto=newpost
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