 The Koi Wonder |
 Warnings
About Literary Fraud and Other Schemes, Scams,
and Pitfalls That Target Writers
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ALERTS FOR WRITERSLast updated: 4/5/08Amazon and BookSurge American Book Publishing/C. Lee Nunn Creative Arts Book Company Cybersquatting Desert Rose Literary Agency/Leann Murphy The Empty Canoe, LLC/Michael and Kristina Canu  Interminable Agency Clause Oak Tree Press/Johnson-Warren Literary Agency/Billie Johnson Poetry.com/International Library of Poetry Professional Alerts The Great PublishAmerica Hoax The Robins Agency/Cris Robins Writers' Literary Agency & Marketing Company (formerly The Literary Agency Group) Amazon and BookSurgeAmazon.com, the online bookselling giant, announced on March 31, 2008, that it would be requiring all print-on-demand books it sells to be printed by BookSurge, the print-on-demand service it owns. Publishers that don't want to use BookSurge may still sell their books through Amazon's Advantage program, but Amazon will no longer carry POD books it doesn't print itself.This story was originally broken by Angela Hoy of WritersWeekly and BookLocker, a POD self-publishing service, and Writer Beware has blogged about it. The Authors Guild has weighed in as well. American Book Publishing/C. Lee NunnWriter Beware has received, and continues to receive, numerous complaints about American Book Publishing. ABP, which presents itself as a "traditional" publisher, requires its authors to pay a sizable "setup" fee, and pressures them to buy large quantities of their own books (500-1,000 copies is the number most often suggested).Complaints include non-standard contract terms (including royalties paid on net profit), non-production of promised e-book editions, non-fulfillment of marketing and publicity promises, repeatedly delayed publication schedules, finished books full of errors, difficulty with orders and order fulfillment, non-payment of royalties, and harassment of those who question or complain. American Book Publishing has been the focus of at least one police investigation. ABP's founder, C. Lee Nunn, may be using the alias Nathan Fitzgearl. Authors with complaints about American Book Publishing are urged to contact Writer Beware: beware@sfwa.org. Creative Arts Book CompanySince Writer Beware's establishment in 1998, we've received a steady stream of complaints about Creative Arts Book Company, a once well-regarded small press publisher that in the mid- or late 1990's took a sharp left turn into "co-operative" (read "vanity") publishing. Even after vanity publishing became its sole endeavor, CAB continued to present itself as a reputable small press. Writers typically did not discover until after they received an offer of publication that they were expected to pay. The publishing fee, supposedly 50% of CAB's production expense, was actually far more than the real cost of producing and printing the book--even if CAB had printed the agreed-upon number of copies, which by all indications it did not always do.In 2003, CAB began contacting contracted authors who'd already paid the full publishing fee but whose books hadn't yet been published, claiming impending bankruptcy and cash shortfalls. The author's book was ready to go to the printer, the letter said; what did the author want to do about this? Those who received this letter interpreted it (correctly, in our opinion) as a not-so-subtle hint to hand over more money. In a Dec. 30, 2003 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, CAB's owner, Don Ellis, again indicated the company's intent to file for bankruptcy. But according to knowledgeable sources, there's no evidence that it has yet done so. Claims of impending bankruptcy (like claims of death--see the Melanie Mills warning below) have been used before by disreputable publishers and literary agents as a way of dodging creditors and/or dissatisfied customers. Angry CAB authors were looking to bring some sort of mass civil or criminal action, but this effort seems to be on hiatus. Individual authors have sought (and won) judgments in Small Claims Court. We'll post more information as we receive it. We'd like to hear from dissatisfied CAB authors: beware@sfwa.org. CybersquattingWhether you're a well known author or just starting out, a personal website is an increasingly vital promotional tool. An appropriate domain name, whether it's your own name or the name of your book, can greatly enhance an effective website.Cybersquatting--a practice where unrelated parties buy up choice domain names, often with the intent of reselling them to the name owners at exorbitant prices--is a growing problem for writers. Recently, for instance, the Authors' Guild brought action on behalf of a number of its members against Old Barn Studios, Ltd., which had registered a large number of authors' domain names. The ruling by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) found that Old Barn Studios had infringed upon the authors' trademarks, and registered the domain names in bad faith. You can read about it here. Cybersquatters don't just target famous writers. Many newer or lesser-known writers have found their names taken also (see novelist Nancy Mehl's article, Cybersquatting, The New Plague). If you're published, you may be fair game--and for a lone writer without the deep pockets to fund legal action, it can be a real challenge to deal with this situation. The best defense, of course, is simply to register your domain name yourself, which can be done for a reasonable fee. Most domain registrars offer domain forwarding, so if you already have a website your domain name will forward there, no matter what server it's on. ICANN provides this list of accredited registrars. Here's a useful chart of their market share. Desert Rose Literary Agency/Leann MurphyA former employee of convicted fraudsters George and Janet Titsworth, Leann Murphy of San Angelo, TX, established Desert Rose Literary Agency in late 2004, just after the demise of Helping Hand Literary Service/Janet Kay and Associates (see below). Writer Beware has documented that Desert Rose charges upfront fees--currently $300 for a year of representation--and to date and to our knowledge, has made no sales to commercial publishers.The Tom Green County Sheriff's Department has opened an investigation into Desert Rose, and is seeking information from anyone who has had dealings with the agency. Contact: Sgt. John Walker Tom Green County Sheriff's Department 222 West Harris San Angelo, TX 76901 johnny.walker@co.tom-green.tx.us Be prepared to provide an account of your experience plus documentation. The Empty Canoe, LLC/Mike and Kristina CanuOn November 19, 2007, the Washington State Attorney General's Office announced a settlement with Michael and Kristina Canu (a.k.a. Kristina Valocchi), owners of The Empty Canoe, LLC, a publishing company/ghostwriting service "hybrid" (i.e., a vanity publisher).According to the press release, the Canus "contracted with consumers to help them write and edit books, market their work and handle all facets of the publishing process including printing, copyright and title registration and royalties...In many cases, the Canus never performed the work [writers paid for], provided only some of the promised services, completed projects late or failed to pay authors royalties for their book sales." Due to the Canus' lack of funds, $94,000 in civil penalties has been suspended, and they are liable only for $10,000 to cover Washington State's costs in prosecuting the case. They are, however, enjoined from a number of acts, including operating, owning, or otherwise participating in a publishing, ghostwriting, or book marketing business without first providing restitution to the 21 victims identified in the settlement. For a more detailed discussion of The Empty Canoe (about which Writer Beware received a number of complaints), see Writer Beware's blog. Interminable Agency ClauseSFWA has posted an alert regarding the so-called "interminable agency clauses" that are beginning to appear in some publishers' contracts and in the author-agent agreements of certain agencies. Such clauses give the agency the right to represent a book not just for the duration of the book contract, but for the duration of copyright. The Authors Guild provides a similar warning.For a detailed discussion of the interminable agency clause and its dangers, including sample contract language, see the Writer Beware blog. Oak Tree Press/Johnson-Warren Agency/Billie JohnsonWriter Beware has received complaints about Oak Tree Press of Springfield IL, run by Billie Johnson, who also ran the fee-charging Johnson-Warren Literary Agency. Complaints include non-payment of royalties and charging authors hundreds of dollars for "additional" print runs that are never produced. Formerly located in California, the company has recently moved to Illinois. In 2003, one author won a summary civil judgment against the company for copyright violation. (Note: Ms. Johnson's company is not to be confused with Oak Tree Press of Cork, Ireland.)Authors with complaints about Oak Tree Press are urged to contact Writer Beware: beware@sfwa.org. Poetry.com/International Library of PoetryPoetry.com (a.k.a. the International Library of Poetry, the National Library of Poetry, and many others), is a vanity anthology scheme that draws in poets through free contests, and then solicits them to purchase the anthology in which they will be published, plus a variety of other merchandise and services. The contests, in which all entrants are declared "semi-finalists", are bogus; and while the company portrays itself as a viable and even prestigious poetry market, the complete lack of editorial gatekeeping and the resulting poor quality of most of the poems means that publication in one of its anthologies is not a professional credit.The Office of the Maryland Attorney General wants to hear from writers who have complaints about Poetry.com. Consumer Protection Division Office of the Maryland Attorney General 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor Baltimore, MD 21202 Phone (410) 576-6304 Fax (410) 576-7040 Professional AlertsThe National Writers' Union maintains a regularly updated page of alerts for professional writers.The Great PublishAmerica HoaxA number of SFWA members (including me) have perpetrated a diabolical hoax upon PublishAmerica, a print-on-demand-based vanity publisher that poses as a "traditional" publisher in order to ensnare thousands of gullible first-time writers.Most of the writers' advocates providing warnings about this company are speculative fiction writers. After PublishAmerica posted a venomous screed against science fiction and fantasy writers at its AuthorsMarket.net website ("...writers who erroneously believe that SciFi, because it is set in a distant future, does not require believable storylines, or that Fantasy, because it is set in conditions that have never existed, does not need believable every-day characters"), a bunch of us wretched hacks decided to see how high a bar the supposedly selective PublishAmerica sets for its own books. Over the course of a weekend, thirty professional science fiction and fantasy writers and editors sat down and each banged out a chapter of a deliberately unpublishable opus entitled Atlanta Nights. Guess what: PublishAmerica accepted it. The press release and other information (including links to a downloadable version) are here. A list of known contributors is here. Sample a snippet of Atlanta Nights' immortal prose here. Atlanta Nights is just one of several similar hoaxes: - Painful Poetry by Alphabet, a "potpourri of putrid poems" - Crack of Death by Sharla Tann, "deathful prose so bad, it's good!" Writer Beware has received more than 100 complaints about PublishAmerica over the past few years. PublishAmerica has also been the subject of a successful arbitration proceeding, in which a PublishAmerica author received a substantial award. The difficulties experienced are typical of the complaints we've seen. The Robins Agency/Cris RobinsOn May 15, 2006, a default judgment against Cris Robins of The Robins Agency was entered in Washington Superior Court for King County (case no. 06-2-16530-6SEA) for breach of contract, fraudulent business practice, and consumer protection violations in regard to the promised provision of paid editing services and promised representation of the plaintiff's manuscript to publishers. Ms. Robins has been ordered to pay $8,320 (treble damages) plus interest and attorney fees.Writer Beware has been receiving complaints about The Robins Agency since our inception. Complaints include promotion of the agency's own paid editing services, incomplete/unprofessional editing, and the charging of huge upfront retainers (as much as $3,200 for a one-year contract). To our knowledge, The Robins Agency has never sold a client's manuscript to a commercial US publisher in the whole of its time in business. More detail at Writer Beware's blog. Writers'
Literary Agency
& Marketing Company (formerly The Literary Agency Group)
The Literary
Agency Group, a business controlled by Robert M. Fletcher of
Boca Raton,
Florida, changed its name in February 2007 to Writers' Literary Agency
& Marketing Company (a.k.a. WLA or WL Writers' Literary Agency). |