Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

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In Memoriam

Karl Kroeber
1926-2009

SFWA

ALERTS FOR WRITERS

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Last updated: 9/3/09

Airleaf, LLC / Bookman Marketing

Founded by a former AuthorHouse employee, Bookman Marketing started out as a provider of junk-mail-style marketing services for authors. Later, it added POD-based publishing services (a polite term for vanity publishing or a long-winded one for self-publishing, depending on your bias). Upon the departure of its founder, it changed its name to Airleaf, LLC. By both names, it was notable for its extremely energetic spamming of potential clients, and for the equally spammish nature of most of its marketing services.

Airleaf/Bookman was also notable, it turns out, for not providing the services authors paid for.

On Thursday, May 8, 2008, in Morgan County court in Indiana, Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter filed suit against Airleaf, LLC and its CEO, Carl Lau, for taking money without providing services in return. 120 authors are named in the suit (there are actually more than 400 victims, but the Indiana AG’s office has a only two-year window for filing suit, so many of the victims couldn’t be included). Carl Lau is accused of violating Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act, of using company assets to cover expenses not related to the business, and of continuing to solicit authors, promise services, and accept payment for months after Airleaf became insolvent. The suit seeks restitution for Airleaf authors, civil penalties of up to $5,500 per violation, and reimbursement for the cost of the investigation.

There’s a more detailed discussion of the suit, and of Airleaf and its shenanigans, at Writer Beware’s blog.

Amazon and BookSurge

Amazon.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. On May 19, BookLocker filed a class action lawsuit “in response to Amazon’s recent attempts to force all publishers using Print on Demand (POD) technology to pay Amazon to print their books.”

Writer Beware has blogged about the situation. The Authors Guild has weighed in, as has the ASJA.

American Book Publishing / C. Lee Nunn / Nathan Fitzgearl

Writer Beware has received 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, attempted blackmail (some authors wanting to get out of their contracts have been told that they must pay $500, or ABP would pull their books from circulation and hold the rights forever), 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.

Desert Rose Literary Agency / Leann Murphy

A former employee of convicted fraudsters George and Janet Titsworth, Leann Murphy of San Angelo, TX, established Desert Rose Literary Agency in early 2004, just after the demise of her bosses’ literary agency scheme. Dozens of reports received by Writer Beware documented that Desert Rose charged upfront fees of $250-350, and made no sales to commercial publishers.

The Tom Green County Sheriff’s Department opened an investigation into Desert Rose. On April 9th, 2009, a Search and Arrest Warrant was executed on Leann Murphy at her residence. Numerous boxes of files, manuscripts, computers and other items were taken as evidence, and Murphy was charged with Theft by Deception, a felony in Texas.

The Sheriff’s Department is still looking to hear from Desert Rose victims. 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.

Interminable Agency Clause

SFWA 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 Johnson

Writer 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 Poetry

The International Library of Poetry or ILP (a.k.a the National Library of Poetry and many others), was a vanity anthology scheme that drew in poets through free contests, then solicited them to purchase the anthology in which they would be published, plus a variety of other merchandise and services. The contests, in which all entrants were declared “semi-finalists”, were bogus; and while the company portrayed itself as a viable and even prestigious poetry market, the lack of editorial gatekeeping and the resulting poor quality of most of the poems meant that publication in one of its anthologies was not considered a professional credit.

In early 2009, the ILP went out of business. In April 2009, the ILP’s notorious URL, Poetry.com, was purchased by self-publishing service Lulu. Lulu has kept much of the existing Poetry.com content, and will still conduct free contests, but has announced that it plans to discontinue the anthologies and all contest-related vanity activities.

A fuller account can be found at Writer Beware’s blog.

Professional Alerts

The National Writers’ Union maintains a regularly updated page of alerts for professional writers.

The Great PublishAmerica Hoax

A number of SFWA members (including me) have perpetrated a diabolical hoax upon PublishAmerica, an author mill that presents itself as a “traditional” publisher and targets first-time writers.

Many 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. 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 well over 100 complaints about PublishAmerica, and hundreds more can be found online. The company has> been the subject of at least one successful arbitration proceeding, resulting in a substantial award for a PA author.

The Robins Agency / Cris Robins

On 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.

University Press of the South

In May 2007, an author with University Press of the South, an academic vanity publisher, filed suit against the publisher and its Director, Alain Saint-Saens, alleging breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, and fraud.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff incurred costs of more than $100,000 in connection with his book (a contract signing fee of $500, an additional signing fee of $2,000, $42,000 to print 6,000 copies, $4,500 to ship copies of the book to UNPS, more than $34,000 in costs associated with UPNS’s development, distribution, marketing, and promotional services, and thousands of dollars for his own promotional and marketing activities). Although UNPS did print the book, the complaint alleged that it did not provide promised marketing, promotion, and distribution services, and misrepresented both its ability to provide them and the scope and functionality of its ordering and distribution system. The complaint also alleged that UNPS did not pay royalties due, and refused to allow the plaintiff to inspect sales records for his book, even though he was contractually entitled to do so.

Alain Saint-Saens and UNPS failed to answer the complaint or otherwise appear. On October 14, 2008, a judgment in favor of the plaintiff was entered in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York, in the amount of $148,449.39 ($141,933.07 plus $350 in costs, plus $7,348.49 in interest).

There’s a fuller report on Writer Beware’s blog.

Writers’ Literary Agency (WLA — formerly The Literary Agency Group) / Global Book Agency / Strategic Book Publishing / Eloquent Books / AEG Publishing Group / Strategic Book Group

In February 2007, The Literary Agency Group, a business controlled by Robert M. Fletcher of Boca Raton, Florida, changed its name to Writers’ Literary Agency (a.k.a. WLA or WL Writers’ Agency).

This group includes the following:

  • WL Children’s Agency
  • WL Poet’s Agency
  • WL Screenplay Agency
  • Writers’ Literary & Publishing Services Company (the editing arm of the above-mentioned agencies)

In 2008, the business expanded to include publishing and marketing operations under the umbrella of the AEG Publishing Group:

  • Strategic Book Publishing
  • Eloquent Books
  • Authors’ Edge
  • Strategic Book Marketing

In 2009, the business abandoned its long-standing pretense that the agencies, editing service, and publishers were unaffiliated, consolidating all operations as Strategic Book Group.

Other current businesses, websites, or alternate names associated with the company include:

  • Writers’ Book Publishing Agency
  • Children’s Book Publishing Agency
  • Poetry Book Publishing Agency
  • Screenplay Writers’ Agency
  • Global Book Agency

Other names the business has used include Sydra-Techniques, ST Literary Agency, Stylus Agency, Children’s Literary Agency, Christian Literary Agency, New York Literary Agency, Poet’s Literary Agency, The Screenplay Agency, and My Editor Is A Saint (an editing company).

Since the business began operating as a fee-charging literary agency in 2001 under the name Sydra-Techniques, Writer Beware has received hundreds of complaints and advisories of fees for literary agency services, fee-based publishing, critique and editing referrals, and other questionable practices. We’re not aware that the literary agency branch of the business has a significant track record of commercial book or script sales under any of its names.

In February 2008, Robert Fletcher and The Literary Agency Group filed a retaliatory lawsuit against Writer Beware, alleging defamation, loss of business, and emotional distress. On March 18, 2009, the suit was dismissed with prejudice by the Massachusetts Superior Court, due to Fletcher’s failure to respond to discovery or otherwise prosecute the lawsuit (see SFWA’s official press release). On July 31, 2009, the Court granted Writer Beware’s motion to recover legal fees and expenses incurred in defending the suit, ruling Fletcher/TLAG’s claims insubstantial, frivolous, and not advanced in good faith (the ruling can be seen here).

As a result of a public consumer-related investigation, the Florida Attorney General has filed suit for fraud against Robert Fletcher,  Writers’ Literary Agency, and the associated businesses. More at Writer Beware’s blog.

Writers who have had trouble with Robert M. Fletcher or any of the above-named businesses can still contact the office of the Florida Attorney General, regardless of their place or country of residence, or the date of their involvement.

Randi Shapiro, Financial Investigator
Economic Crimes Division
Email: randi.shapiro@myfloridalegal.com
Phone: 954-712-4600

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