I have to admit to being readily impressed by company names. Maybe it's an age thing. You see, I was around when we had nationalised industries here in Britain, you know, British Railways, British Gas, British Steel, British Road Services, etc., etc. Those companies may have been over-staffed and under-efficient but you always knew you could trust them, and a product marked "Made in Britain" had class - in those days. Even after they became privatised the word "British" in a company name still, in my subconscious at least, gave that firm a stamp of approval. Those were the heady days when we had some traditional industries and workers could rely upon union protection to prevent their jobs being shipped out to third world countries.

When a company called PublishAmerica (http://www.publishamerica.com/index.asp) agreed to publish my small collection of short stories, I was delighted. This wasn't a 'tuppence ha'penny' outfit but an organisation that boasted "America" in its title. I've never been to America but I have made some good "virtual" friends there and know how patriotic Americans are. How could you not feel safe doing business with a firm that so proudly flew the flag of that famous super power? When I checked out PublishAmerica's website, all red, white and blue with the slogan "We treat our authors the old-fashioned way - we pay them," I felt truly blessed. A publisher of high esteem (I believed the testimonials) recognised the reader-appeal of my stories and my potential as a writer.

Further encouragement came from the "Why PublishAmerica?" page where I was told "The majority of our books that are sold retail are sold in physical brick and mortar bookstores" and "PublishAmerica can remove the stigma of paying to be published. With PublishAmerica, you will have the very important distinction of having your book ACCEPTED BY A TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY."

Yet something about the company name puzzled me. I mean, why not "The American Publishing Company" or similar? As it stands "PublishAmerica" could be interpreted as an ambition to publish anything and everything that was ever written in that country. Amazingly, that interpretation very much sums up their objectives.

In my enthusiasm I had been studying PA's Author's Message Board, following links to previously published author's websites and reading all the reviews and book excerpts I could find (not realising that authors with anything pertinent to say are instantly barred from posting). Then I read one of their books from cover to cover. Now, my own education at an orphanage school in the Highlands of Scotland was very basic, so my grasp of English Grammar left something to be desired. Nevertheless, convinced I had stories to tell and the ability to tell them, I had joined Internet critique groups to learn how to present them. When I read my first PublishAmerica book my feelings were a blend of embarrassment, anger and disbelief. The writer had obviously worked hard to put the story together and it had the makings of an entertaining read. It reminded me so much of my own first and only attempt at writing a novel - abundant clich