1. I called the Daniel Craig Literary Group's office around the first of January 1999. The answering machine
picked up, and it
was the voice of Charles Deering telling everyone to have a happy New Year...telling us when the office would be
closed during
the holiday season etc... Remember that Charles Deering is Daniel's father. Daniel has claimed he no longer has
anything to do
with Charles Deering. This is clearly false. Are Charles and Dorothy Deering continuing to profit from the agency?
News that authors knew of Charles' voice on the Daniel Craig Literary Group's answering machine filtered back to
the agency
somehow. A day or so later, a young woman's voice was put on the machine. I know what Charles' voices sounds like.
I spoke
with him on the phone several times. If the Deerings are going to give us the illusion that they no longer have
anything to do with
their son or the agency, at least Charles could refrain from leaving announcements on the company's answering machine.
2. One scammed Deering author has done some investigating, polling known Deering victims. So far approximately
$250,000
of known money has been lost to them WITH NOTHING IN RETURN by way of published books or royalties. The FBI is
being fed this information on a regular basis, and we urge the Federal Bureau of Investigation to take action against
the
Deerings.
Of course, with over 400 Sovereign authors reported to have done business with the Deerings, many believe over
a million
dollars was lost to Charles and Dorothy. If you include the Northwest fiasco, Commonwealth fiasco, Atlantic Disk
fiasco, the
shady "sales trips" to New York and Hollywood to sell manuscripts and movie scripts (a $500 cost to the
hopeful author), who
knows HOW MUCH was lost to these individuals. And let's throw in those hundreds and hundreds of agent contracts
signed,
since the late 80's, by the Deerings charging authors anywhere from $200 to $500 each.
3. The Deering e-mail address (deeringlit@aol.com) is no longer good.
4. As of 3/99 the Daniel Craig Literary Group number at (606)887-5862 was no longer in service.
5. There are two articles which have been published on the literary agent scam business. The Deerings are prominently
mentioned in one, and used anonymously in the other:
Times-News, Erie, Pa. Sunday, December 6, 1998: Agents Who Scam Would-be Authors: Edinboro Professors
Write Book About Unethical Literary Agents, by Dana Massing, staff writer.
The Herald Sharon, Pennsylvania. December 6, 1998:. Masters of Deceit Prey on Literary Hopefuls' Aspirations,
by Pam Mansell. Herald Writer.
6. Look for The Genteel Racket--a soon-to-be article by Professor Fisher.
7. Look for Ten Percent of Nothing: Literary Hoop Dreams and the Masters of Deceit, a soon-to-be published book,
written by Professor Jim Fisher.
Thank you. Look for further additions in the near future.
Charles Deering leaves recording on machine at Sovereign:
Hello. Sovereign Publications and Appaloosa Press ceased doing business as of September the first 1998. This
was a
terrible set of circumstances for all concerned. The owner, Dorothy Deering and her husband Charles Deering, tried
with all their effort to continue doing business, and publish all the books contracted up to the last minute possible.
You
will be contacted by registered mail as to how to retrieve all your materials, manuscripts and associated materials
and
the return of your rights to your works. The law office of Shirley A. Cunningham Jr. is no longer the attorney
of record
for any of the dealings with Charles and Dorothy Deering, or Sovereign Publications or Appaloosa Press. Please
do
not contact them anymore for any reason. You will be contacted by U.S. mail as to how to contact the new attorney
in
the very near future. Any correspondence concerning this matter should be addressed to: Sovereign Publications,
Post
Office Box 23358, Lexington Kentucky 40523-3358. We apologize for any inconvenience or delays (his voice now
hesitates) that have been caused you. The rapidly declining health of Dorothy and Charles Deering is unavoidable,
and
they must depend on outside help to sort through the mountains of material and correspondence. Everyone concerned
will be contacted in the near future. Thank you.
Analysis of the message:
1. No return of money has been promised in the message. Authors already have copies of their material (both hard
and
electronic). So why do they need the Deerings to send them what they have? And these authors have their rights
too.
2. Shirley Cunningham is no longer representing the Deerings. I wonder why? We should call and find out. Could
it be because
the Deerings never intended to file for bankruptcy and this law firm smelled a rat?
3. The health of Charles and Dorothy Deering is deteriorating rapidly. The voice of Charles on the anwering machine
sounds
quite strong (as usual). Remember- his is the deep, baritone voice. But does this appeal to pity sound familiar?
"My Knee
Hurts" (Dorothy's article in the 1998 Sovereign Digest) "Our son Mike was killed" "Charles
needs a hip replacement" Etc.
Etc....
4. We need outside help to sort through the mountains of materials and correspondence (?????) Remember what the
postal
inspector at the Deerings' branch said to the investigator who was hired by Attorney Evans--The Deerings refused
the bulk of
their deliveries. Who is sorting through the vast amount of mail sent to the Deerings if they refuse the vast majority
of it?
5. Who will be their new attorney? Will they file for bankruptcy??
**See the upcoming article on the Deering operation in Ace Magazine of
Lexington, KY. It will appear in the March 31st
issue.
Happy reading!
March 1999--CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST CHARLES AND DOROTHY DEERING AND BILL
RICHARDSON!!
Authors v. Charles and Dorothy Deering and Bill Richardson was filed on behalf of the many scammed Deering authors
by the
Law Office of Eric Evans, 271 West Short Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40507
A couple dozen authors are among the original plaintiffs. If you are also a scammed Deering author, contact scifidi@aol.com
to
join the ranks.
The text of the lawsuit may be found here.