Airleaf Victims Update June 7, 2008
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
Our numbers have now reached over 450 members. Welcome to the new members of our group.
We had a positive response to our Authors New Start Co-op group this week. So far, in our first week, we have 28 people ready to go. I will give this one more week in hopes of getting our targeted 50 members, but we can always add new members when people want to join who are part of our group.
Once again, the cost to join will be $50.00 for the first year, and $25.00 a year after that. For that money, you will get one book of your choice on the front page of the website and then a full page about you and your book or other books. If you need to make changes to the site such as adding books, there will be a minimal charge. In addition, members have to commit to buy five (5) books per year from other authors who are members of the co-op. These books can be used for gifts or for your own reading enjoyment.
Any additional money that comes in beyond the cost of the website design and web hosting will be used for advertising the website on Google and other search engines as well as sending out press releases to appropriate news sources.
If you have sent me your confirmation, you'll receive information from me in the next few days. If you still want to join this exciting new undertaking, drop me a note at Bonkaye@aol.com.
Déjà vu, Airleaf vu, Jones Harvest Publishing too!
Part of moving forward is learning from the mistakes of the past and not allowing ourselves to become victims again. It is with great sadness that I have to warn our members about another predatory publishing scam that has re-incarnated itself and replaced the fraudulence of Airleaf Publishing.
In the past six months, I personally have received nine different horror stories about Jones Harvest Publishing primarily from senior citizens who invested thousands of dollars into an Airleaf-type dream and in all but one case, after they invested and lost thousands of dollars at Airleaf. These people were sold promises—just like at Airleaf. Here is a typical sales pitch (from one of the numerous Jones Harvest websites listed below) that one author sent me from the package she paid $5,000.00 for over a year ago:
(I am substituting the book title and author name to protect the innocent)
Bright Tomorrow should make you a celebrity!
Dear Joan C.,
Has your publisher or publicist ever even read Bright Tomorrow? Or are you and your book known by an account or book number?
There are hundreds of vanity publishing, publicity and literary agencies across the nation—some charging ten to twenty thousand dollars—and all of them waiting for the thousands of authors that write new manuscripts every year.
These companies will publish or just print overpriced books, and attempt to provide royalty-paying publishing deals, or write press releases and promotions to try to get a review written…all of this is done by email (SPAM), of course, if that.
Author Celebrity Associates is different. We make promises and keep them. WE WILL READ YOUR BOOK. We will find out what makes it special and how best to present it. If you choose, we will publish or republish your book at no extra charge.
We want Bright Tomorrow to make you a celebrity. You deserve it. We also want to make this very easy for you. All we need from you is your book or manuscript—whatever way is most convenient. With that, we make the following commitments to you:
• WE WILL READ YOUR BOOK IMMEDIATELY
• We will publish or republish your book in 60 days or less. (Optional, but no charge)
• We will pay you 100% of the profits from the book sales until you have earned back our fee.
• We will feature a picture of you on the home page of www.Authorcelebrity.com
• When a reader clicks on your name or picture, they will see your book(s) and information.
• We will place your book for sale on 10 websites including amazon.com
• We will call every newspaper, magazine, and radio station in your hometown and report.
• We will guarantee one television appearance and provide you with a DVD version.
• We will guarantee 3 separate AM or FM interviews in major metropolitan markets.
• We will guarantee a fourth interview on nationally syndicated AM/FM radio show.
• We will submit your book to a film producer for review and recommendations.
We will not be attempting to make these things happen. Each of these commitments is guaranteed. We won't stop there either; our plan is to do much, much more. We will also continue to publicize and sell your book as long as you let us, (or until you get a better offer) at no extra charge.
We will not be satisfied until we place Bright Tomorrow in bookstores everywhere and (name) is a celebrity. This program has a one-time fee of $7500. There are no further charges of any kind.
Sincerely,
Brien Jones, President
P.S. In your case, the price is $5,000. That is my way of apologizing for the past misfortunes AND showing you what we can accomplish at cost. Please keep this offer confidential. All but a very few authors must pay full price.
Wow—this is AIRLEAF all over again. The authors who have become Jones Harvest victims all have the same story about broken promises including time delays, failure to see galleys, numerous errors in the proofs, virtually no sales, lack of coordination of promises, and disrespect by some of the staff. When the first set of victims came to me in November, I told them to request their money back as I did all of the future ones who wrote to me. Some of these new victims had their money returned after they wrote Jones Harvest a letter threatening to report the company to the FBI and Attorney General. However, there are other victims whom I have recently learned about who have not had their money returned. And I can bet that there are other victims who don't know to come to me for help. Interestingly, most of these victims who contacted me are 70 years or older and vulnerable.
When Brien Jones started his own business in January of 2007, he made claims that he was going to be different than Airleaf. He left Airleaf because of the broken promises that were made to authors. As he stated in a letter to me dated January 30, 2007, "Carl and I had different opinions on how to use Airleaf's resources. I did my best to keep authors from being dissatisfied with our services. In your case I failed and I apologize."
I should have known there was a problem from that letter because I never worked with Brien Jones or even knew who he was. I only learned about him after he left and sent me an introductory letter like many others received. I took the bait because at that point, I knew something was wrong at Airleaf since my money wasn't coming through.
In my early conversations with Brien, he was clear that he had one goal and one goal only—selling books to bookstores. He was totally against the Hollywood trips, the book fairs, and other Airleaf plots because that's not how to sell books. He sounded legit to me, and not knowing differently except from Airleaf making some snide comments about his leaving, I had no reason to doubt him.
As the months went on and I was really disgusted with Airleaf, Brien offered to print my book for free in the summer of 2007 if I would be on his website. I was not opposed to that at all since I had reached the end of my rope with Airleaf. But as I became more involved with the Airleaf Victims group I started in August 2007,(which incidentally was NOT a plot with Brien as Airleaf kept suggesting) and started to read complaint after complaint about Brien Jones, I started to wonder why so many people were holding him responsible for their losses. People were looking for vengeance against him more than Carl Lau. I tried explaining that Brien had nothing to do with the money—that was Carl Lau. But people were adamant—Jones was guilty. They didn't accuse him of keeping the money, but rather of taking their money for packages that were never delivered.
I wrote those authors back saying that we need to target Carl Lau since he was the owner of Airleaf and ultimately the one responsible for not delivering what was paid for and keeping our money to enhance his lifestyle. He had visions of grandeur of becoming a famous Hollywood figure in the movies. His ego allowed him to be taken by the likes of Al Smith and Litestone Entertainment, a crooked "production" company that collaborated to make a number of you believe that your books were being turned into films by highlighting them on their now defunct website. Lau opened up his "Allen Agency" in California to sign movie contracts with authors. The whole thing is beyond bizarre and actually a story worthy of a real Hollywood movie.
I confronted Brien on the complaints coming in, but his answer was always the same. He claimed he sold services—he had no idea the services weren't being delivered. When he learned about it, he left. I would also call him on the complaints about misleading people, but the answer was the same. He was just as salesman. Somehow, Executive Vice President seems like more than a salesman to me. But Brien kept stating he was reforming from whatever sins he participated in while at Airleaf, and people should give him a chance. He even published some of the authors' books for free to show good faith.
But moving forward, I started to see that Brien was doing things in the same way that Airleaf did. I guess Brien realized that just publishing books and selling them wasn't going to make him money. First it was sending media blitzes for $450.00. Then it was going on book tours for $750.00. And of course, he was now going to take your book to Hollywood and pitch it to the movie directors.
If you look on the Jones Harvest website, you will see a whole bunch of other websites that he sponsors including: Author Celebrity Associates, Starred Review, AuthorSoldier (New!), Perfect Heart Publishing, Great Concept Books, Bookwheat, Bargain Book Basement, and Chosen Few. Each concept lures people in through a different door, but all roads end up at the same place.
Also, at the bottom of the shopping list is My Author Profile. According to the website, you can have yourself featured on there for $499.00. Yikes! You can have your own website designed and hosted for less than $100.00 and not have to share it with a bunch of others who will only be viewed by Jones Harvest authors and potential Jones Harvest authors.
Another note of interest: Part of the hook is promising reviews to customers. In a standard letter, it stated:
Also enclosed is a review we've received after sending it to a professional reviewer. We are our reviewers to be honest and to offer a clear perspective of what other readers could expect. As such, we really can't do anything about what it says, that's kind of the nature of the reviews. The reviewers are professionals so they are generally quite respectful and view your work as having an audience, even if it's not every audience.
People pay Jones Harvest to get their books reviewed. I read the review. It was signed by Tim, Brien's former phone receptionist and college nephew. His title under his name was "Media Researcher and Educator, T&R Reviews." The T&R stands for Tim and Rosa, Tim's wife. That's really a credible "professional" source to pay money for, isn't it? Next it will be the scary pumpkin head on his logo or possibly the wilted hay stalk writing the reviews.
Jones Harvest has gone from the original promise of only selling books to bookstores to:
National Blitz - $1850
We will feature your book on the HOME PAGE on our websites, www.jonesharvest.com and www.bookwheat.com, usually the same day you start! That means that any reader or bookstore owner that sees those websites sees your cover.
We will also read your book and write a comprehensive review. This review will then be featured on our unique website www.starredreview.com. We will also submit the review to 20 websites.
We will then write a custom, full-color, one-page promotion for your book. We will send it to you for your approval. You can make whatever corrections you want, at no additional charge. We will then mail it to 1000 bookstores in any markets you choose with an invitation to buy your books and/ or set up book signings. We will follow-up on all responses by telephone or whatever is necessary to place your book or generate a book-signing.
We will also write an AP style press release about your book and submit it to 100 newspapers and magazines. Before we mail it, we will send it to you for approval--again you can make changes at no additional charge.
Most importantly we also assign a telemarketer to you not only to answer responses but to also make outbound calls to newspapers, magazines, media and bookstores in the markets of your choice.
And now he's progressed to a super, duper, deluxe package of the secret price of $5,000.00 reduced from $7,500.00 so you can be a guest on vanity radio with Ian Moore and Stu Taylor, Brien's friends that almost no one listens to. But please keep that information "confidential" because only a few lucky people are getting that special price and we wouldn't want to let the word out!
Bottom line—there's a saying: Hit me once, shame on you. Hit me twice, shame on me.
So far, I haven't seen any of the Jones Harvest customers on television as some have been promised. And I certainly don't see any celebrities in the making. I have to wonder how I ended up on the Jones Harvest Celebrity Authors MySpace account with all of my books since I'm not a Jones Harvest Celebrity. Oh well, maybe Brien will update his site.
My bottom line is that predatory publishing must be stopped at every level. It's doubly insulting that the man who scammed at Airleaf is still pulling the same scam at his own company. It's time to put a stop to the illegal taking of authors' money. If you think you are a victim of Jones Harvest, please contact me and I will be there to guide you into your new membership group!
With love and hope,
Bonnie Kaye
Showing posts with label Airleaf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Airleaf. Show all posts
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Airleaf Victims Update May 10, 2008
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE MAY 10, 2008
Dear Airleaf Friends and Victims,
This is an important week of victory for all of us. It's not the kind of victory that we were hoping for yet—meaning getting back our money or getting recognition by the media that we as a group made this happen—but it is acknowledgement of our plight by the same government agency that I hold responsible for putting us in this position to start with.
By now, you've gotten my message that on Thursday, May 8, the Attorney General of Indiana, Steve Carter, gave this public announcement:
Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter has filed a lawsuit against book publisher and promoter Airleaf, LLC for taking money without providing the promised services in return. The lawsuit is seeking consumer restitution for at least 120 customers.
"More than 120 people are named in the lawsuit, including many from Indiana who lost thousands of dollars,” said Carter. “In fact, hundreds more may have lost money. They paid for services. Airleaf did not deliver, and now, those consumers deserve refunds.”
The lawsuit, filed in the Morgan Circuit Court, alleges Airleaf, formerly known as Bookman Marketing, LLC, and its owner, Carl Lau, violated Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. It states that the company advertised that it would provide book publishing, royalty reimbursement and promotional services to consumers in exchange for payment. The promotional services included in-person participation at book fairs, presentations to Hollywood movie producers, and newspaper, radio and television advertisements.
The lawsuit alleges that Airleaf accepted payment but failed to honor all, or part, of the Client Service Agreements and other agreements, dating back to at least January 2006. It also states than Lau used Airleaf assets and consumer payments to cover expenses unrelated to the business, and that Lau continued to solicit business and accept payments months after he indicated that Airleaf was insolvent
In addition to consumer restitution, the attorney general’s office is seeking civil penalties of up to $5,500 per violation, as well as investigative costs.
So here's what it really means.
1.We have won a victory in the sense that a suit has been filed against Airleaf.
2.Chances are, Airleaf will claim bankruptcy as well as its owner, Carl Lau.
3.It's hard to tell if assets will be uncovered that can be seized to use to reimburse us at this particular time.
4.At least this will stop Carl Lau from ever doing business again.
5.Most importantly at this time, it should be able to push this case to the next level, the federal level, where criminal charges can be brought against the criminals which hopefully will translate into jail time.
6.This case will have government officials more carefully monitoring other companies who are already repeating the Airleaf fraudulence or who plan to.
It's not the end of battle by a long shot. In fact, it's just the beginning. And this will be a long battle. Carl Lau is counting on our anger to pass, our memories to fade, and for our frustration to make us give up. WE CAN'T. We must remain vigilant in our efforts to see this man and other fraudsters punished accordingly. So, hang in there with me fellow victims. Let's not give up one inch or one ounce. I know this is a lengthy battle ahead of us, but we will stick together until we win.
One question that people have asked me is if they are one of the 120 people that the state of Indiana have sued for. I spoke with my hero, Tom Irons, who handled our case in the AG's office, and he explained that the AG's office can only go back for a two year period to file suit. That means the cases they filed had to be from 2006 –2008.
In Tom's words:
My office does not have any statutory authority to include anyone who dealt with/contracted with Airleaf/Bookman before May 2006. That is why many consumers that filed a consumer complaint with my office were not included in the lawsuit and why those similarly situated and who have not filed a complaint with us should not now do so.
However, each victim has an individual right to hire a private attorney to sue under any contract/agreement up to six years old. Of course the time and money to pursue individual suits in this particular situation does not appear at this point to be justified. I’ll let you know when the lawsuit has been posted on our website--I expect that to happen next week.
Our reality is that Airleaf may not have money per se to pay us back; however, if the federal criminal charges are pressed, Carl Lau may want to negotiate some sort of financial settlement with us. Maybe that's why he's selling our books back to us in order to raise money. (That's my jaded sense of humor—sorry!)
The government will be responsible for finding out what assets Carl Lau has or what assets he has hidden. Only then will we know for sure what money is available to be given back. After the case is posted on the AG website, I'll let you know by email so you can check and see if your name is posted.
Here are some of my personal thoughts on this issue.
I am overly grateful to Tom Irons who took over the job of Terry Tolliver in this case. It was through his persistence that this case was taken seriously and the suit was filed. He did the work on our behalf. He also was the best and most receptive government official I have ever spoken with in my entire life. He was always available to listen to my concerns and complaints; he was never evasive or rude. He's the kind of man that we hope to get in government but rarely find. Even though Steve Carter's name is mentioned in all of the articles concerning this case, he was not the one who helped us. If anything, I hold him responsible for us losing our money. Why? Because after his office issued an AVC order in May of 2007, it was his office's responsibility to watch out for us and to protect us. His office should have been closely monitoring Airleaf after that warning issued.
In one of my January updates, I posted this about the AG's office:
An AVC or Assurance of Voluntary Compliance was issued to Airleaf. An AVC, according to the website of Steve Carter, AG of Indiana is:
An agreement reached between the State and one or more respondents stipulating the conditions under which the respondent(s) will conduct business in the future. An AVC may require the defendant(s) to pay consumer restitution and investigative costs to the attorney general’s office. The document is filed with the court but is not an admission of guilt or liability for any legal offense. The State has a legal right to go back to court if information becomes available that the defendant is not abiding by the terms of the AVC.
This happened to Airleaf on May 25, 2007. Two authors appealed to the AG’s office to help them, and they won. I’ve read through the document, and according to the decision, I cut and pasted some of the major points:
The terms of this Assurance apply to and are binding upon the Respondent, its employees, agents, representatives, successors, and assigns.
The Respondent acknowledges the jurisdiction of the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General to investigate matters hereinafter described, pursuant to the authority of the Indiana Code.
The Respondent, in soliciting and/or contracting with consumers, agrees to refrain from representing, either orally or in writing, the subject of a consumer transaction has sponsorship, approval, performance, characteristics, accessories, uses, or benefits it does not have, which the Respondent knows or reasonably should know it does not have.
The Respondent, in soliciting and/or contracting with consumers, agrees to refrain from representing, either orally or in writing, the Respondent has a sponsorship, approval, or affiliation in a consumer transaction it does not have, and which the Respondent knows or reasonably should know it does not have.
The Respondent, in soliciting and/or contracting with consumers, agrees to refrain from representing, either orally or in writing, the Respondent is able to deliver or complete the subject of the consumer transaction within a stated, or reasonable, period of time, when the Respondent knows or should reasonably know it could not.
The Respondent, in soliciting and/or contracting with consumers, agrees to refrain from representing, either orally or in writing, a consumer will be able to purchase an item as advertised by the Respondent, if the Respondent does not intend to sell it.
The Respondent shall fully cooperate with the Office of the Attorney General in the resolution of any future written complaints the Consumer Protection Division receives. This shall include, but is not limited to, the Respondent promptly resolving any additional valid consumer complaints brought to the Respondent's attention by the Office of the Attorney General, either prior to, or after the filing of, this Assurance with the Court.
Upon execution of this Assurance, the Respondent shall pay costs in the amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) to the Office of the Attorney General. The Respondent shall fully cooperate with the Office of the Attorney General in the resolution of any future written complaints the Consumer Protection Division receives. This shall include, but is not limited to, the Respondent promptly resolving any additional valid consumer complaints brought to the Respondent's attention by the Office of the Attorney General, either prior to, or after the filing of, this Assurance with the Court.
This is to remind you that the AG's office warned Airleaf back in May of 2007 that this warning would include any additional valid consumer complaints. By October, we had over 100 consumer complaints into that office, but nothing was done to stop Airleaf from operating. They should have been watched carefully from the moment that MY complaint was filed as the first one in this group back in August.
And so, our victory is bitter/sweet. Bitter because if the AG's office had been doing their job, chances are some of us would have had our money back. Sweet because at least we are being recognized as a force to deal with, thanks again to Tom Irons.
We have to also thank Detective Jeff Buskirk who believed in our case. He was willing to compile all of the information to help out the legal authorities.
I'll keep you updated on events as they transpire.
Another thought—I think it's amazing that news reporters are reporting this story but not the story about the Airleaf Victims who forced Airleaf to close its doors and pushed the AG's office into the suit by sending massive complaints. I have sent information to every press source which is doing this. I'll keep you posted on that as well.
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS
Each week I am happy to promote your books in this update. If you have new books being published, feel free to share them with the group.
“I Know How A Butterfly Feels” by Ann Palmer - Who doesn't fanaticize about reuniting with their unrequited teenage love? It may be that it becomes more of a desire or secret yearning as we age. When we review our passing years we ask ourselves - "what if..." Few of us are granted that opportunity to try to recapture our past first love. Ann Palmer found him and shares that experience with you. How many men spend years longing to get behind the wheel of an RV and take just off for months of travel across most of the western United States? How many women wonder what it would be like to hop in a motor home and travel the U.S.A. alone? Ann did it and shares her ups and down experiences with you. What realizations can come out of physical as well as an emotional journey within? Read "I Know How A Butterfly Feels," and see for yourself. Do you live in a Cocoon?
“I have spent many years researching world religions and pre-Christian cultures. Had my ego not needed bolstering perhaps my choice would have been archeology or anthropology. All this led me to teaching, leading seminars and creating audio tapes. Thank you for sharing your time with me.” Ann Palmer 1314 Tunnel Rd – Asheville, NC 28805 – (828) 298 3560 –Visit: AnnPalmer.net AnnInAsheivlle@aol.com
By Cary Black
Zen and the Art of Cooking Beer-Can Chicken is the definitive cookbook written about preparing beer-can chicken. The book was written with recipes designed to go with simple beer-cans or with any of the new beer-can style cookers that have emerged in the market.
Featuring recipes for rubs, marinades, brining, and injecting, this book covers the gamut of cooking beer-can poultry. It was written with humor and simplicity and with hilarious illustrations done by he author’s father. Additionally, the book features chapters on cooking beer-can turkeys, some awesome accompaniment dishes and some interesting desserts.
The beer-can style of cooking is fast becoming America’s choice for preparing poultry. As the bird cooks, the fats drain away, while the inside of the bird is continuously infused with moisture. The result is a nutritious, tasty, and moist chicken meal.
See Cary's beautiful website at http://www.redowlpublications.com/ for more information.
That's it for this week. Hang in there…better days are ahead!
With love and hope,
Bonnie
Dear Airleaf Friends and Victims,
This is an important week of victory for all of us. It's not the kind of victory that we were hoping for yet—meaning getting back our money or getting recognition by the media that we as a group made this happen—but it is acknowledgement of our plight by the same government agency that I hold responsible for putting us in this position to start with.
By now, you've gotten my message that on Thursday, May 8, the Attorney General of Indiana, Steve Carter, gave this public announcement:
Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter has filed a lawsuit against book publisher and promoter Airleaf, LLC for taking money without providing the promised services in return. The lawsuit is seeking consumer restitution for at least 120 customers.
"More than 120 people are named in the lawsuit, including many from Indiana who lost thousands of dollars,” said Carter. “In fact, hundreds more may have lost money. They paid for services. Airleaf did not deliver, and now, those consumers deserve refunds.”
The lawsuit, filed in the Morgan Circuit Court, alleges Airleaf, formerly known as Bookman Marketing, LLC, and its owner, Carl Lau, violated Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. It states that the company advertised that it would provide book publishing, royalty reimbursement and promotional services to consumers in exchange for payment. The promotional services included in-person participation at book fairs, presentations to Hollywood movie producers, and newspaper, radio and television advertisements.
The lawsuit alleges that Airleaf accepted payment but failed to honor all, or part, of the Client Service Agreements and other agreements, dating back to at least January 2006. It also states than Lau used Airleaf assets and consumer payments to cover expenses unrelated to the business, and that Lau continued to solicit business and accept payments months after he indicated that Airleaf was insolvent
In addition to consumer restitution, the attorney general’s office is seeking civil penalties of up to $5,500 per violation, as well as investigative costs.
So here's what it really means.
1.We have won a victory in the sense that a suit has been filed against Airleaf.
2.Chances are, Airleaf will claim bankruptcy as well as its owner, Carl Lau.
3.It's hard to tell if assets will be uncovered that can be seized to use to reimburse us at this particular time.
4.At least this will stop Carl Lau from ever doing business again.
5.Most importantly at this time, it should be able to push this case to the next level, the federal level, where criminal charges can be brought against the criminals which hopefully will translate into jail time.
6.This case will have government officials more carefully monitoring other companies who are already repeating the Airleaf fraudulence or who plan to.
It's not the end of battle by a long shot. In fact, it's just the beginning. And this will be a long battle. Carl Lau is counting on our anger to pass, our memories to fade, and for our frustration to make us give up. WE CAN'T. We must remain vigilant in our efforts to see this man and other fraudsters punished accordingly. So, hang in there with me fellow victims. Let's not give up one inch or one ounce. I know this is a lengthy battle ahead of us, but we will stick together until we win.
One question that people have asked me is if they are one of the 120 people that the state of Indiana have sued for. I spoke with my hero, Tom Irons, who handled our case in the AG's office, and he explained that the AG's office can only go back for a two year period to file suit. That means the cases they filed had to be from 2006 –2008.
In Tom's words:
My office does not have any statutory authority to include anyone who dealt with/contracted with Airleaf/Bookman before May 2006. That is why many consumers that filed a consumer complaint with my office were not included in the lawsuit and why those similarly situated and who have not filed a complaint with us should not now do so.
However, each victim has an individual right to hire a private attorney to sue under any contract/agreement up to six years old. Of course the time and money to pursue individual suits in this particular situation does not appear at this point to be justified. I’ll let you know when the lawsuit has been posted on our website--I expect that to happen next week.
Our reality is that Airleaf may not have money per se to pay us back; however, if the federal criminal charges are pressed, Carl Lau may want to negotiate some sort of financial settlement with us. Maybe that's why he's selling our books back to us in order to raise money. (That's my jaded sense of humor—sorry!)
The government will be responsible for finding out what assets Carl Lau has or what assets he has hidden. Only then will we know for sure what money is available to be given back. After the case is posted on the AG website, I'll let you know by email so you can check and see if your name is posted.
Here are some of my personal thoughts on this issue.
I am overly grateful to Tom Irons who took over the job of Terry Tolliver in this case. It was through his persistence that this case was taken seriously and the suit was filed. He did the work on our behalf. He also was the best and most receptive government official I have ever spoken with in my entire life. He was always available to listen to my concerns and complaints; he was never evasive or rude. He's the kind of man that we hope to get in government but rarely find. Even though Steve Carter's name is mentioned in all of the articles concerning this case, he was not the one who helped us. If anything, I hold him responsible for us losing our money. Why? Because after his office issued an AVC order in May of 2007, it was his office's responsibility to watch out for us and to protect us. His office should have been closely monitoring Airleaf after that warning issued.
In one of my January updates, I posted this about the AG's office:
An AVC or Assurance of Voluntary Compliance was issued to Airleaf. An AVC, according to the website of Steve Carter, AG of Indiana is:
An agreement reached between the State and one or more respondents stipulating the conditions under which the respondent(s) will conduct business in the future. An AVC may require the defendant(s) to pay consumer restitution and investigative costs to the attorney general’s office. The document is filed with the court but is not an admission of guilt or liability for any legal offense. The State has a legal right to go back to court if information becomes available that the defendant is not abiding by the terms of the AVC.
This happened to Airleaf on May 25, 2007. Two authors appealed to the AG’s office to help them, and they won. I’ve read through the document, and according to the decision, I cut and pasted some of the major points:
The terms of this Assurance apply to and are binding upon the Respondent, its employees, agents, representatives, successors, and assigns.
The Respondent acknowledges the jurisdiction of the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General to investigate matters hereinafter described, pursuant to the authority of the Indiana Code.
The Respondent, in soliciting and/or contracting with consumers, agrees to refrain from representing, either orally or in writing, the subject of a consumer transaction has sponsorship, approval, performance, characteristics, accessories, uses, or benefits it does not have, which the Respondent knows or reasonably should know it does not have.
The Respondent, in soliciting and/or contracting with consumers, agrees to refrain from representing, either orally or in writing, the Respondent has a sponsorship, approval, or affiliation in a consumer transaction it does not have, and which the Respondent knows or reasonably should know it does not have.
The Respondent, in soliciting and/or contracting with consumers, agrees to refrain from representing, either orally or in writing, the Respondent is able to deliver or complete the subject of the consumer transaction within a stated, or reasonable, period of time, when the Respondent knows or should reasonably know it could not.
The Respondent, in soliciting and/or contracting with consumers, agrees to refrain from representing, either orally or in writing, a consumer will be able to purchase an item as advertised by the Respondent, if the Respondent does not intend to sell it.
The Respondent shall fully cooperate with the Office of the Attorney General in the resolution of any future written complaints the Consumer Protection Division receives. This shall include, but is not limited to, the Respondent promptly resolving any additional valid consumer complaints brought to the Respondent's attention by the Office of the Attorney General, either prior to, or after the filing of, this Assurance with the Court.
Upon execution of this Assurance, the Respondent shall pay costs in the amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) to the Office of the Attorney General. The Respondent shall fully cooperate with the Office of the Attorney General in the resolution of any future written complaints the Consumer Protection Division receives. This shall include, but is not limited to, the Respondent promptly resolving any additional valid consumer complaints brought to the Respondent's attention by the Office of the Attorney General, either prior to, or after the filing of, this Assurance with the Court.
This is to remind you that the AG's office warned Airleaf back in May of 2007 that this warning would include any additional valid consumer complaints. By October, we had over 100 consumer complaints into that office, but nothing was done to stop Airleaf from operating. They should have been watched carefully from the moment that MY complaint was filed as the first one in this group back in August.
And so, our victory is bitter/sweet. Bitter because if the AG's office had been doing their job, chances are some of us would have had our money back. Sweet because at least we are being recognized as a force to deal with, thanks again to Tom Irons.
We have to also thank Detective Jeff Buskirk who believed in our case. He was willing to compile all of the information to help out the legal authorities.
I'll keep you updated on events as they transpire.
Another thought—I think it's amazing that news reporters are reporting this story but not the story about the Airleaf Victims who forced Airleaf to close its doors and pushed the AG's office into the suit by sending massive complaints. I have sent information to every press source which is doing this. I'll keep you posted on that as well.
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS
Each week I am happy to promote your books in this update. If you have new books being published, feel free to share them with the group.
“I Know How A Butterfly Feels” by Ann Palmer - Who doesn't fanaticize about reuniting with their unrequited teenage love? It may be that it becomes more of a desire or secret yearning as we age. When we review our passing years we ask ourselves - "what if..." Few of us are granted that opportunity to try to recapture our past first love. Ann Palmer found him and shares that experience with you. How many men spend years longing to get behind the wheel of an RV and take just off for months of travel across most of the western United States? How many women wonder what it would be like to hop in a motor home and travel the U.S.A. alone? Ann did it and shares her ups and down experiences with you. What realizations can come out of physical as well as an emotional journey within? Read "I Know How A Butterfly Feels," and see for yourself. Do you live in a Cocoon?
“I have spent many years researching world religions and pre-Christian cultures. Had my ego not needed bolstering perhaps my choice would have been archeology or anthropology. All this led me to teaching, leading seminars and creating audio tapes. Thank you for sharing your time with me.” Ann Palmer 1314 Tunnel Rd – Asheville, NC 28805 – (828) 298 3560 –Visit: AnnPalmer.net AnnInAsheivlle@aol.com
By Cary Black
Zen and the Art of Cooking Beer-Can Chicken is the definitive cookbook written about preparing beer-can chicken. The book was written with recipes designed to go with simple beer-cans or with any of the new beer-can style cookers that have emerged in the market.
Featuring recipes for rubs, marinades, brining, and injecting, this book covers the gamut of cooking beer-can poultry. It was written with humor and simplicity and with hilarious illustrations done by he author’s father. Additionally, the book features chapters on cooking beer-can turkeys, some awesome accompaniment dishes and some interesting desserts.
The beer-can style of cooking is fast becoming America’s choice for preparing poultry. As the bird cooks, the fats drain away, while the inside of the bird is continuously infused with moisture. The result is a nutritious, tasty, and moist chicken meal.
See Cary's beautiful website at http://www.redowlpublications.com/ for more information.
That's it for this week. Hang in there…better days are ahead!
With love and hope,
Bonnie
Saturday, April 5, 2008
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE APRIL 5, 2008
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE APRIL 5, 2008
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
Welcome to our two new members. We now have reached 429 members of our group.
On the legal front, I feel confident that some legal proceedings are progressing. Please be patient as action is happening. You can be sure that I am checking on a regular basis with the various authorities. So far, I feel assured there is movement in our direction.
I'd like to start off this week with something to amuse you. I am Jewish. We have a word in our language which is "Chutzpah." Even if you're not Jewish, you may be familiar with it. But in case you're not, it translates into "gall," or excuse my language, "balls." This concerns Carl Lau, Airleaf fraud perpetrator, as we are trying to get our books being held hostage by the thousands in the Airleaf building. Bob Denton has kindly offered to retrieve our books back for the cost of the postage. However, some authors were getting notes from him stating that Carl wants to be paid $1.00 per book in order to release the books. So I called Bob to see what's up with that.
Bob explained that Carl said he, Bob, can return books to authors if the books were paid for and just being stored at Airleaf; however, if the authors paid for the Airleaf publishing services and received their 25 or 50 books as was agreed to in the contract, they have to pay to get any additional books that might have been printed because Carl claims they belong to him.
Now, quite frankly, I have some deep, severe philosophical disagreements with this kind of thinking. Carl Lau claims these are "his" books because we didn't pay for the additional books that are sitting there. He hasn't considered the additional monies that we paid for marketing services that were never performed or the royalties that were never received. But then I started thinking some more about this, and I called Bob back. I told him to please let Carl know that if anyone is in that situation, we want to know the name of the printer. I have had several printers come to me telling me why they stopped printing for Airleaf—namely because Carl Lau owed them thousands of dollars. So I suspect that many of our books that Carl wants to charge authors for were never paid for anyway. But you can be sure I'll be checking this out with the printers.
If you are an Airleaf victim in this situation where your books are being held for ransom by Carl Lau, please let me know immediately so I can work with you to see if we can locate the printer and whether or not your book was one that was never paid for. If so, we will have new charges to report to the federal government—which would be excellent.
Please remember—this has nothing to do with Bob Denton who is really trying to help authors by retrieving our books, discs, and materials. Bob is doing all the labor for free including finding materials, packing them, and shipping them. This was not his idea, and he has given Carl Lau his opinion backing us.
One of our Airleaf authors, Gertrude, wrote to me about a book company she used, Dorrance, located in Pittsburgh, PA. She told me that she was charged "by the word." This is something new to me. Several others have written to me about this company. Here's what she asked me to ask you:
Dear Bonnie:
I found one statement of my account dated for 9/25/2005. They did charge me by the word. They also charged me $480.00 for alteration fee when they deliberately changed some of the words and I had to get them to change the words back. I think they really took advantage of me because I was not familiar with the publishing business. From the statement of 9/25/2005, I paid them a grand total of $13,780.00. I don't know if there is anything that I can do about it now.
Yesterday, I found a blog site under their name. I didn't know that this blog site was there when I was dealing with them. I don't know whether I should add a comment to the blog site or not. I don't know if there is anything I can do about this situation, if they are the only publishing company that does this. I don't know if they have charged their other authors the same as they did me. Do you think I should add a comment on the blog site about the way that they charged me?
Sincerely,
Gertrude
Please let me know if you have had any similar experiences with this company.
One of our author's, Anita, asked the question about ownership of the ISBN number. I referred the question to my new publisher, Paul, from CCB Publishing, and here was his response:
Thanks for passing along Anita’s question. The answer is that the Publisher owns the ISBN number, not the author. If the author wishes to have their book re-published by another author, a new ISBN number is required.
When re-publishing books as a second edition, CCB Publishing provides a new ISBN number free of charge.
Hope this helps! Paul
Since last week's update, I received a number of comments about copyrighting. I had several dozen people panicked when they wrote to me after seeing that their books with Airleaf and others were not copyrighted at all, even though the books had that imprint.
Here were some of the responses. The first is from my POD guru, Victoria Strauss:
Hi, Bonnie,
Just wanted to address this, from the last Airleaf update:
Take a moment to check your book in the link below to find out. If it's not there, your book is unprotected and anyone can copy it and say it is theirs.
This isn't true. By law, authors have copyright from the minute they
write down the words. Their work is fully protected from that moment,
and they don't need to take any action to ensure that.
Copyright registration is an additional step that US-based authors can
take (most countries have no formal registration process). It doesn't
confer any additional protection--all it does is to give you the right
to sue in court if your work is infringed. In the USA, you MUST have
previously registered your copyright in order to bring an infringement
suit.
However, infringement of unpublished work is so rare as to be
functionally nonexistent, so registration is not necessary for
unpublished works. Many authors are terrified of theft or plagiarism,
but it really should be last on their worry list. There's no need to
register copyright before a work is published.
There's a lot more detail about copyright on the Copyright page of
Writer Beware: http://www.sfwa.org/beware/copyright.html
Should Airleaf authors register? If their books are on the market,
especially if they're selling their own stock of books, it's probably a
good idea (though if they were to republish with any changes, they'd
need to re-register). For anyone whose book was never published by
Airleaf, however, registration is not necessary.
Hope this is helpful!
Victoria Strauss
Personal Website: http://www.victoriastrauss.com/
Writer Beware: http://www.writerbeware.org/
Blog: http://www.accrispin.blogspot.com/
The next note was from Mark Levine at Click Industries (www.Clickindustries.com), a company that helps authors with solutions to many issues as far as publishing. I have been in touch with Mark for over a year and he has always been very responsive and accommodating. He wrote:
Bonnie,
Just wanted to let you know that even if a company doesn't register an author's copyright, it doesn't mean that the book is unprotected and can be taken/used by anyone. Yes, if a company tells you it's registering the copyright and doesn't, it's fraud, but the author isn't totally left in the cold.
A writer has what is known as a common law copyright once the work is produced in any tangible form. Registering the work with the US Copyright Office provides other benefits (http://bookpublisherscompared.com/why_copyright.asp). But, if a third-party used an author's book without the author's permission, the author could still sue and recover damages, even if the book wasn't registered with the US Copyright Office. With all of the suffering of the Airleaf authors, I want to make sure they don't have an extra thing to worry about.
The above link provides all the details about why someone should register their work with the US Copyright Office.
Mark
And this information came from Helen at Artship Publishing:
Hello Bonnie. Since you are doing such a formidable job distributing advice and information to the authors in the VICTIMS group, I would like to offer some, if you would be so kind as to distribute these clarifications in none of your newsletters.
Books Printed and “In Stock”-- please note that POD means “print on demand”. This means that an author who has self-published can take an order, put in the print order with the printer, receive the book and ship it one-at-a-time, avoiding the necessity for big print order fees and inventory. It’s a good way of avoiding the dreaded “returns” too. In some instances the POD printer will ship the book out to the customer directly, but this is rare.
Re bookstores and other resellers, naturally the author would hope that there are at LEAST 1 or 2 of his/her books on the shelf for customers to browse through— and an author can persuade local stores to carry them in various ways: go preparing to set up a display, talk the store into a book-signing, take a free book and a poster-- and there are dozens (yes, dozens!) of other creative ways to get stores to carry the book. The author should in ALL instances sell the books to the bookstore at a discount (the store needs to make money, too) and guarantee returns after4 a decent period of time. All these rules and ideas are outlined in good books for self-publishing authors, such as the one by Tom & Marilyn Ross-- and NO author should even consider self-publishing without going through this learning curve FIRST.
COPYRIGHT. When Copyright is applied for, the author needs to fill out form TX (available from the Copyright office web site), pay the fee, and provide two copies of the book. If the book has not yet been published (the Copyright office defines “publication” as the date when, and the form in which, the book is made available to the public for purchase), the author CAN provide 2 copies of the manuscript. However the most common practice is to apply for the ISBN and the SAN prior to publication, and to apply formally for copyright when copies of the published book are available.
Incidentally, even if your book is not yet registered with the copyright office, your intellectual rights as author are protected as soon as you write it. There have been many, many cases in which an author was able to win a plagiarism court case proving his ms was written by him first even before it was registered in the copyright office. He who writes it first, owns it. Authors should research this topic thoroughly, and applying for a SAN at the earliest opportunity helps.
Also, don’t expect the Copyright Office to send you that letter immediately. It can take 6 months or longer.
If an author is using a “vanity press” (fee-based) or an independent publisher, that publisher will, if it is legitimate and organized, supply the author with all the registration numbers long before the book appears in print— and will send 2 copies to the Copyright office as soon as it IS in print for registration there. So the offer by Fidel Publishing confuses me a bit. If an author has already had his book published somewhere, the Copyright should have been part of the publishing service. Authors should demand contracts which spell all this out.
Another tidbit: Don’t use AuthorHouse. They are being sued in class-action for dishonest practices. I personally know one author whose book is being printed in mass numbers by AuthorHouse and sold in the orient at prices so low that he earns pennies on each book. This was not in their contract, either.
Contracts: an author needs a contract which spells out everything. But, of course if an author doesn’t know the pitfalls, it’s easy to overlook or not anticipate something important. It’s a good idea to have a lawyer who is familiar with the publishing field. After all, in addition to your rights to your own intellectual property, it’s money-- perhaps BIG money-- and you do NOT purchase services without a valid contract, any more than you’d buy a house without legal paperwork, that has been ready by your attorney.
A word about ArtshipPublishing: We write contracts and we urge authors to have their attorneys review them.
We also help authors get their books finalized, polished, completely registered (published), designed, printed, publicized, and distributed — often, without an initial cash investment on their part.
For me to take on the publicity job though, I have to be sure that there is a “fit”, that we both might not be better off if that author searched out an agent or other publisher instead— for instance where it comes to children’s books, religious books, teen novels and other very specialized genres where I have less experience than I do in non-fiction, medical, and historical areas. The subsidizing I do puts our company at risk, so I have to be selective as to which books go into print through ARTSHIP at our own cost— we are NOT Random House! But I’m glad to consider them all, give my honest advice, and offer what services which would be appropriate.
For those who — like all of the authors who approached AIRLEAF— are seeking a publicity agent, I have surveyed over twenty of the most prominent book-publicity houses and publicity departments of publishing houses, and the information is contained in a detailed report— it covers who does what, specifically; whether they take your book online and to reviewers, etc, or sell you the tools so you can do it yourself; which ones offer services for flat fees or customize campaigns; and so on.
I also communicate with over 25 printers; I have a report on which ones offer digital vs. offset, at what quantities, their fees, which are P.O.D., and so on.
Either of these reports can save an author literally, weeks of lost time and speed up that part of the learning-curve.
The role I fill most frequently is the book-designer and publishing role. I get the book formatted with fonts, visuals, size, page layouts, etc. as appropriate and in a way that will enhance the content of the book.
Good luck Bonnie, keep up your amazing work.
My best— Helen Compton
http://www.ArtshipPublishing.com
So, the bottom line—I wouldn't panic if your book is not copyrighted. If it gives you peace of mind, get it done for the $45.00 fee either by yourself or through Fideli Publishing who is offering to do it free as a courtesy to our victims (just for the cost of the fee).
Also, Helen brought up an IMPORTANT POINT that I will now reinforce. If you do go to a new publisher, MAKE SURE YOU RECEIVE A SIGNED CONTRACT. I hate to tell you how many of us did business with Airleaf without having one. And I'm not trying to make you feel stupid—I'm at the top of the list. I sent them back my signed version of the contract, but never received a signed copy back. Even though I've been told that this still stands as proof of a contract, I would feel much better having the signed copy. So make sure that you ask for this first before anything else when you republish. Interesting—I never had to ask my new company CCB Publishing for a copy. It was sent to me immediately, and after I signed it, a copy was returned to me quickly with the owner's signature.
New book share
This week, our group member Sharon Licht's new book was released. I asked Sharon to tell us about it.
MAGIC MARMALADE A Tale of the Moonlight Fairies by Sharon E. Licht
Magic Marmalade is a new and exciting story about a little girl who wanders into an enchanted woods and discovers a magical world of fairies and elves and a place where dreams come true. This book is perfect for children of all ages. Anyone intrigued by fairies, elves, adventure, magic, and happy endings will adore this story. Description: Soft cover, 84 page book, 7 - 1/2" x 8 - 1/2", written in rhymed verse, with full color illustrations by Artist James Browne.
The book was written by Sharon E. Licht, a local Bucks County, PA writer who has penned this delightful story for the enjoyment of young and old alike.
Books can be ordered on the web at:
http://catawbapublishing.com/ Bookstore, Children's Books or through the author by sending email to: caganne@verizon.net Please type book order in subject line. PayPal is the preferred payment method. Money orders also accepted. Price is $20.00 each plus the cost of shipping when ordering through the author.
We all wish you the best of luck, Sharon. All of our authors can appreciate the hard work that goes into producing a book, and when you see it come to fruition, it's a most exciting moment to be celebrated.
If you have a new book out that you would like to share with the group, please feel free to share it with me.
Have a good week, and please feel free to send me any issues or questions you have.
With love and hope,
Bonnie
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
Welcome to our two new members. We now have reached 429 members of our group.
On the legal front, I feel confident that some legal proceedings are progressing. Please be patient as action is happening. You can be sure that I am checking on a regular basis with the various authorities. So far, I feel assured there is movement in our direction.
I'd like to start off this week with something to amuse you. I am Jewish. We have a word in our language which is "Chutzpah." Even if you're not Jewish, you may be familiar with it. But in case you're not, it translates into "gall," or excuse my language, "balls." This concerns Carl Lau, Airleaf fraud perpetrator, as we are trying to get our books being held hostage by the thousands in the Airleaf building. Bob Denton has kindly offered to retrieve our books back for the cost of the postage. However, some authors were getting notes from him stating that Carl wants to be paid $1.00 per book in order to release the books. So I called Bob to see what's up with that.
Bob explained that Carl said he, Bob, can return books to authors if the books were paid for and just being stored at Airleaf; however, if the authors paid for the Airleaf publishing services and received their 25 or 50 books as was agreed to in the contract, they have to pay to get any additional books that might have been printed because Carl claims they belong to him.
Now, quite frankly, I have some deep, severe philosophical disagreements with this kind of thinking. Carl Lau claims these are "his" books because we didn't pay for the additional books that are sitting there. He hasn't considered the additional monies that we paid for marketing services that were never performed or the royalties that were never received. But then I started thinking some more about this, and I called Bob back. I told him to please let Carl know that if anyone is in that situation, we want to know the name of the printer. I have had several printers come to me telling me why they stopped printing for Airleaf—namely because Carl Lau owed them thousands of dollars. So I suspect that many of our books that Carl wants to charge authors for were never paid for anyway. But you can be sure I'll be checking this out with the printers.
If you are an Airleaf victim in this situation where your books are being held for ransom by Carl Lau, please let me know immediately so I can work with you to see if we can locate the printer and whether or not your book was one that was never paid for. If so, we will have new charges to report to the federal government—which would be excellent.
Please remember—this has nothing to do with Bob Denton who is really trying to help authors by retrieving our books, discs, and materials. Bob is doing all the labor for free including finding materials, packing them, and shipping them. This was not his idea, and he has given Carl Lau his opinion backing us.
One of our Airleaf authors, Gertrude, wrote to me about a book company she used, Dorrance, located in Pittsburgh, PA. She told me that she was charged "by the word." This is something new to me. Several others have written to me about this company. Here's what she asked me to ask you:
Dear Bonnie:
I found one statement of my account dated for 9/25/2005. They did charge me by the word. They also charged me $480.00 for alteration fee when they deliberately changed some of the words and I had to get them to change the words back. I think they really took advantage of me because I was not familiar with the publishing business. From the statement of 9/25/2005, I paid them a grand total of $13,780.00. I don't know if there is anything that I can do about it now.
Yesterday, I found a blog site under their name. I didn't know that this blog site was there when I was dealing with them. I don't know whether I should add a comment to the blog site or not. I don't know if there is anything I can do about this situation, if they are the only publishing company that does this. I don't know if they have charged their other authors the same as they did me. Do you think I should add a comment on the blog site about the way that they charged me?
Sincerely,
Gertrude
Please let me know if you have had any similar experiences with this company.
One of our author's, Anita, asked the question about ownership of the ISBN number. I referred the question to my new publisher, Paul, from CCB Publishing, and here was his response:
Thanks for passing along Anita’s question. The answer is that the Publisher owns the ISBN number, not the author. If the author wishes to have their book re-published by another author, a new ISBN number is required.
When re-publishing books as a second edition, CCB Publishing provides a new ISBN number free of charge.
Hope this helps! Paul
Since last week's update, I received a number of comments about copyrighting. I had several dozen people panicked when they wrote to me after seeing that their books with Airleaf and others were not copyrighted at all, even though the books had that imprint.
Here were some of the responses. The first is from my POD guru, Victoria Strauss:
Hi, Bonnie,
Just wanted to address this, from the last Airleaf update:
Take a moment to check your book in the link below to find out. If it's not there, your book is unprotected and anyone can copy it and say it is theirs.
This isn't true. By law, authors have copyright from the minute they
write down the words. Their work is fully protected from that moment,
and they don't need to take any action to ensure that.
Copyright registration is an additional step that US-based authors can
take (most countries have no formal registration process). It doesn't
confer any additional protection--all it does is to give you the right
to sue in court if your work is infringed. In the USA, you MUST have
previously registered your copyright in order to bring an infringement
suit.
However, infringement of unpublished work is so rare as to be
functionally nonexistent, so registration is not necessary for
unpublished works. Many authors are terrified of theft or plagiarism,
but it really should be last on their worry list. There's no need to
register copyright before a work is published.
There's a lot more detail about copyright on the Copyright page of
Writer Beware: http://www.sfwa.org/beware/copyright.html
Should Airleaf authors register? If their books are on the market,
especially if they're selling their own stock of books, it's probably a
good idea (though if they were to republish with any changes, they'd
need to re-register). For anyone whose book was never published by
Airleaf, however, registration is not necessary.
Hope this is helpful!
Victoria Strauss
Personal Website: http://www.victoriastrauss.com/
Writer Beware: http://www.writerbeware.org/
Blog: http://www.accrispin.blogspot.com/
The next note was from Mark Levine at Click Industries (www.Clickindustries.com), a company that helps authors with solutions to many issues as far as publishing. I have been in touch with Mark for over a year and he has always been very responsive and accommodating. He wrote:
Bonnie,
Just wanted to let you know that even if a company doesn't register an author's copyright, it doesn't mean that the book is unprotected and can be taken/used by anyone. Yes, if a company tells you it's registering the copyright and doesn't, it's fraud, but the author isn't totally left in the cold.
A writer has what is known as a common law copyright once the work is produced in any tangible form. Registering the work with the US Copyright Office provides other benefits (http://bookpublisherscompared.com/why_copyright.asp). But, if a third-party used an author's book without the author's permission, the author could still sue and recover damages, even if the book wasn't registered with the US Copyright Office. With all of the suffering of the Airleaf authors, I want to make sure they don't have an extra thing to worry about.
The above link provides all the details about why someone should register their work with the US Copyright Office.
Mark
And this information came from Helen at Artship Publishing:
Hello Bonnie. Since you are doing such a formidable job distributing advice and information to the authors in the VICTIMS group, I would like to offer some, if you would be so kind as to distribute these clarifications in none of your newsletters.
Books Printed and “In Stock”-- please note that POD means “print on demand”. This means that an author who has self-published can take an order, put in the print order with the printer, receive the book and ship it one-at-a-time, avoiding the necessity for big print order fees and inventory. It’s a good way of avoiding the dreaded “returns” too. In some instances the POD printer will ship the book out to the customer directly, but this is rare.
Re bookstores and other resellers, naturally the author would hope that there are at LEAST 1 or 2 of his/her books on the shelf for customers to browse through— and an author can persuade local stores to carry them in various ways: go preparing to set up a display, talk the store into a book-signing, take a free book and a poster-- and there are dozens (yes, dozens!) of other creative ways to get stores to carry the book. The author should in ALL instances sell the books to the bookstore at a discount (the store needs to make money, too) and guarantee returns after4 a decent period of time. All these rules and ideas are outlined in good books for self-publishing authors, such as the one by Tom & Marilyn Ross-- and NO author should even consider self-publishing without going through this learning curve FIRST.
COPYRIGHT. When Copyright is applied for, the author needs to fill out form TX (available from the Copyright office web site), pay the fee, and provide two copies of the book. If the book has not yet been published (the Copyright office defines “publication” as the date when, and the form in which, the book is made available to the public for purchase), the author CAN provide 2 copies of the manuscript. However the most common practice is to apply for the ISBN and the SAN prior to publication, and to apply formally for copyright when copies of the published book are available.
Incidentally, even if your book is not yet registered with the copyright office, your intellectual rights as author are protected as soon as you write it. There have been many, many cases in which an author was able to win a plagiarism court case proving his ms was written by him first even before it was registered in the copyright office. He who writes it first, owns it. Authors should research this topic thoroughly, and applying for a SAN at the earliest opportunity helps.
Also, don’t expect the Copyright Office to send you that letter immediately. It can take 6 months or longer.
If an author is using a “vanity press” (fee-based) or an independent publisher, that publisher will, if it is legitimate and organized, supply the author with all the registration numbers long before the book appears in print— and will send 2 copies to the Copyright office as soon as it IS in print for registration there. So the offer by Fidel Publishing confuses me a bit. If an author has already had his book published somewhere, the Copyright should have been part of the publishing service. Authors should demand contracts which spell all this out.
Another tidbit: Don’t use AuthorHouse. They are being sued in class-action for dishonest practices. I personally know one author whose book is being printed in mass numbers by AuthorHouse and sold in the orient at prices so low that he earns pennies on each book. This was not in their contract, either.
Contracts: an author needs a contract which spells out everything. But, of course if an author doesn’t know the pitfalls, it’s easy to overlook or not anticipate something important. It’s a good idea to have a lawyer who is familiar with the publishing field. After all, in addition to your rights to your own intellectual property, it’s money-- perhaps BIG money-- and you do NOT purchase services without a valid contract, any more than you’d buy a house without legal paperwork, that has been ready by your attorney.
A word about ArtshipPublishing: We write contracts and we urge authors to have their attorneys review them.
We also help authors get their books finalized, polished, completely registered (published), designed, printed, publicized, and distributed — often, without an initial cash investment on their part.
For me to take on the publicity job though, I have to be sure that there is a “fit”, that we both might not be better off if that author searched out an agent or other publisher instead— for instance where it comes to children’s books, religious books, teen novels and other very specialized genres where I have less experience than I do in non-fiction, medical, and historical areas. The subsidizing I do puts our company at risk, so I have to be selective as to which books go into print through ARTSHIP at our own cost— we are NOT Random House! But I’m glad to consider them all, give my honest advice, and offer what services which would be appropriate.
For those who — like all of the authors who approached AIRLEAF— are seeking a publicity agent, I have surveyed over twenty of the most prominent book-publicity houses and publicity departments of publishing houses, and the information is contained in a detailed report— it covers who does what, specifically; whether they take your book online and to reviewers, etc, or sell you the tools so you can do it yourself; which ones offer services for flat fees or customize campaigns; and so on.
I also communicate with over 25 printers; I have a report on which ones offer digital vs. offset, at what quantities, their fees, which are P.O.D., and so on.
Either of these reports can save an author literally, weeks of lost time and speed up that part of the learning-curve.
The role I fill most frequently is the book-designer and publishing role. I get the book formatted with fonts, visuals, size, page layouts, etc. as appropriate and in a way that will enhance the content of the book.
Good luck Bonnie, keep up your amazing work.
My best— Helen Compton
http://www.ArtshipPublishing.com
So, the bottom line—I wouldn't panic if your book is not copyrighted. If it gives you peace of mind, get it done for the $45.00 fee either by yourself or through Fideli Publishing who is offering to do it free as a courtesy to our victims (just for the cost of the fee).
Also, Helen brought up an IMPORTANT POINT that I will now reinforce. If you do go to a new publisher, MAKE SURE YOU RECEIVE A SIGNED CONTRACT. I hate to tell you how many of us did business with Airleaf without having one. And I'm not trying to make you feel stupid—I'm at the top of the list. I sent them back my signed version of the contract, but never received a signed copy back. Even though I've been told that this still stands as proof of a contract, I would feel much better having the signed copy. So make sure that you ask for this first before anything else when you republish. Interesting—I never had to ask my new company CCB Publishing for a copy. It was sent to me immediately, and after I signed it, a copy was returned to me quickly with the owner's signature.
New book share
This week, our group member Sharon Licht's new book was released. I asked Sharon to tell us about it.
MAGIC MARMALADE A Tale of the Moonlight Fairies by Sharon E. Licht
Magic Marmalade is a new and exciting story about a little girl who wanders into an enchanted woods and discovers a magical world of fairies and elves and a place where dreams come true. This book is perfect for children of all ages. Anyone intrigued by fairies, elves, adventure, magic, and happy endings will adore this story. Description: Soft cover, 84 page book, 7 - 1/2" x 8 - 1/2", written in rhymed verse, with full color illustrations by Artist James Browne.
The book was written by Sharon E. Licht, a local Bucks County, PA writer who has penned this delightful story for the enjoyment of young and old alike.
Books can be ordered on the web at:
http://catawbapublishing.com/ Bookstore, Children's Books or through the author by sending email to: caganne@verizon.net Please type book order in subject line. PayPal is the preferred payment method. Money orders also accepted. Price is $20.00 each plus the cost of shipping when ordering through the author.
We all wish you the best of luck, Sharon. All of our authors can appreciate the hard work that goes into producing a book, and when you see it come to fruition, it's a most exciting moment to be celebrated.
If you have a new book out that you would like to share with the group, please feel free to share it with me.
Have a good week, and please feel free to send me any issues or questions you have.
With love and hope,
Bonnie
Sunday, March 23, 2008
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE MARCH 22, 2008
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE MARCH 22, 2008
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
Welcome to our new members of the group. As of today, we have 423 victims in our group who are victims of the largest predatory publishing scam in American history.
I am happy to share that a meaningful investigation is proceeding for our case. I have spoken to several law officials, and I feel reassured that there will be good news in the near future. This case is moving along thanks to all of you who took the time to diligently fill out the reports and send them to the proper authorities. There is power in numbers, and that is how we will be able to win this case. This case will send out a loud message to any other company or individual that believes that defrauding innocent victims goes unpunished.
A number of you have written to me to let me know that you are receiving back your disks and books from Bob Denton. Bob has opened up his own publishing company, Mountain Valley Publishing Company in Martinsville. In the past, I incorrectly accused him of being part of Airleaf's continuing business scam after it closed. I did send out a retraction of that statement immediately after I was corrected. Bob has been very helpful to us in our attempts to free our books that are being held hostage by Carl Lau in the Airleaf building. Since he has been flooded with over 100 requests, it may take him a couple of weeks to get to your request, but he is working daily to do this. Bob wanted to let you know that he is publishing books for people who want their books in print; however, he is not doing any marketing beyond putting the books on the traditional Internet sellers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
I would also like to mention that the ladies at Fideli Publishing, Robin Surface's group where Gayla Swint is now working, are also working to get back authors' books and work. You may be getting a call from them if they have retrieved your books and/or materials.
I would like to thank all of these former Airleaf employees who have decided to "do the right thing" in helping our authors retrieve their properties. It doesn't change the facts, but it helps with some of the hardships.
Remember—if Carl Lau contacts you to "sell" you back your books, say NO loud and clear and let me know.
There is one more interesting note about Bob Denton's website. He has placed a link called Bookfinder4U which can be found at: http://www.bookfinder4u.com. I found this site most informative. It tells you where your books are being sold on the Internet. I played around with it for a while, and I learned a lot about my own books. When you click into it, put your book name in there and you can find where your books are being distributed. The bad thing is that I haven't figured out how we will get the money if our Airleaf books do sell, but I will be pursuing that investigation in the near future.
I had a little over two dozen people respond to Chris Varga's idea last week about a print-on-demand author "co-op" venture. This was the idea where we could promote each other's books and buy other each other's books supporting the group and other POD authors. If you are interested in joining this venture, please email and let me know. We have so many diversified authors in our group with so many different types of genres that there is enough material to whet anyone's reading appetite.
I want to address the issue of a "class action" law suit since I get a few requests about that each week. One of our Airleaf victims suggested that I call an attorney he recommended in the Martinsville area. This attorney was kind enough to give me nearly an hour of his time to discuss the case. He confirmed for me what I learned from other lawyers that I have spoken to regarding our plight.
Basically, any legal action that we would take would cost money. When I say money, I mean thousands and thousands of dollars. Even if we could find a lawyer who is willing to take our case on a contingency basis, he would still require thousands of dollars for filing fees and investigation fees. If Airleaf was operating and making money like it was a year or two ago, it would be worth it because we could have won a case more easily. But by the time we started our group in August, the company was in the process of downsizing due to losing money. By October or November, the production at Airleaf was shut down, and almost every printing company dealing with Airleaf was on hold because of the outstanding bills. Employees were having their checks bounced and their health insurance stopped even though they were contributing for those benefits. The money was gone. Even though Carl Lau owns personal assets, we don't know how much is really available. He has other obligations besides ours that may take priority including the loan he took out last year for $216,000.00. According to the Morgan County courthouse, Airleaf has 12 tax issues on their records as well.
If we could be assured that investing money into a legal fund would guarantee us money in return, I'd be the first to participate and chip in; however, my fear is that we will all invest MORE money into Airleaf and still end up on the short end of the stick.
So, I think our best bet is to rely on the government agencies that are working on our case that will discover what there is as far as any assets visible or hidden. When the Attorney General's office files a civil case on our behalf, this will be requesting money for our losses. Bottom line—the lawyer agreed with me that with the complexities of this case and the lack of viable cash, we are taking the right route. If you have any further thoughts on this, please let me know.
Happy Easter to all of our Easter Airleaf Victims!
With love and hope,
Bonnie J
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
Welcome to our new members of the group. As of today, we have 423 victims in our group who are victims of the largest predatory publishing scam in American history.
I am happy to share that a meaningful investigation is proceeding for our case. I have spoken to several law officials, and I feel reassured that there will be good news in the near future. This case is moving along thanks to all of you who took the time to diligently fill out the reports and send them to the proper authorities. There is power in numbers, and that is how we will be able to win this case. This case will send out a loud message to any other company or individual that believes that defrauding innocent victims goes unpunished.
A number of you have written to me to let me know that you are receiving back your disks and books from Bob Denton. Bob has opened up his own publishing company, Mountain Valley Publishing Company in Martinsville. In the past, I incorrectly accused him of being part of Airleaf's continuing business scam after it closed. I did send out a retraction of that statement immediately after I was corrected. Bob has been very helpful to us in our attempts to free our books that are being held hostage by Carl Lau in the Airleaf building. Since he has been flooded with over 100 requests, it may take him a couple of weeks to get to your request, but he is working daily to do this. Bob wanted to let you know that he is publishing books for people who want their books in print; however, he is not doing any marketing beyond putting the books on the traditional Internet sellers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
I would also like to mention that the ladies at Fideli Publishing, Robin Surface's group where Gayla Swint is now working, are also working to get back authors' books and work. You may be getting a call from them if they have retrieved your books and/or materials.
I would like to thank all of these former Airleaf employees who have decided to "do the right thing" in helping our authors retrieve their properties. It doesn't change the facts, but it helps with some of the hardships.
Remember—if Carl Lau contacts you to "sell" you back your books, say NO loud and clear and let me know.
There is one more interesting note about Bob Denton's website. He has placed a link called Bookfinder4U which can be found at: http://www.bookfinder4u.com. I found this site most informative. It tells you where your books are being sold on the Internet. I played around with it for a while, and I learned a lot about my own books. When you click into it, put your book name in there and you can find where your books are being distributed. The bad thing is that I haven't figured out how we will get the money if our Airleaf books do sell, but I will be pursuing that investigation in the near future.
I had a little over two dozen people respond to Chris Varga's idea last week about a print-on-demand author "co-op" venture. This was the idea where we could promote each other's books and buy other each other's books supporting the group and other POD authors. If you are interested in joining this venture, please email and let me know. We have so many diversified authors in our group with so many different types of genres that there is enough material to whet anyone's reading appetite.
I want to address the issue of a "class action" law suit since I get a few requests about that each week. One of our Airleaf victims suggested that I call an attorney he recommended in the Martinsville area. This attorney was kind enough to give me nearly an hour of his time to discuss the case. He confirmed for me what I learned from other lawyers that I have spoken to regarding our plight.
Basically, any legal action that we would take would cost money. When I say money, I mean thousands and thousands of dollars. Even if we could find a lawyer who is willing to take our case on a contingency basis, he would still require thousands of dollars for filing fees and investigation fees. If Airleaf was operating and making money like it was a year or two ago, it would be worth it because we could have won a case more easily. But by the time we started our group in August, the company was in the process of downsizing due to losing money. By October or November, the production at Airleaf was shut down, and almost every printing company dealing with Airleaf was on hold because of the outstanding bills. Employees were having their checks bounced and their health insurance stopped even though they were contributing for those benefits. The money was gone. Even though Carl Lau owns personal assets, we don't know how much is really available. He has other obligations besides ours that may take priority including the loan he took out last year for $216,000.00. According to the Morgan County courthouse, Airleaf has 12 tax issues on their records as well.
If we could be assured that investing money into a legal fund would guarantee us money in return, I'd be the first to participate and chip in; however, my fear is that we will all invest MORE money into Airleaf and still end up on the short end of the stick.
So, I think our best bet is to rely on the government agencies that are working on our case that will discover what there is as far as any assets visible or hidden. When the Attorney General's office files a civil case on our behalf, this will be requesting money for our losses. Bottom line—the lawyer agreed with me that with the complexities of this case and the lack of viable cash, we are taking the right route. If you have any further thoughts on this, please let me know.
Happy Easter to all of our Easter Airleaf Victims!
With love and hope,
Bonnie J
Saturday, March 15, 2008
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE 3/15/08
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
As of today, March 15, 2008, we have 421 members in our group. Welcome to our new members.
I have had a number of conversations this week concerning our case. All I can say at this time is that the wheels of justice are turning. In order not to compromise the case, I won't say more. However, for the first time, I am feeling optimistic that there is meaningful action going on.
I am asking for your help. Many of you have sent me back your surveys that have been very helpful. Sadly, due to my very busy season at work, I won't have the time to thoroughly go through all of the files for a few more weeks. In my attempt to help the authorities who are handling our case, I am asking you to send me a note if you were the victims in any of the following fraudulent Airleaf scams:
1. The Carnival Cruise that was never booked
2. The Frankford, Germany book fair
3. The London book fair
4. Kirkus Reviews from the winter of 2007
5. Ads in the NY Times and LA Times
If you paid for any of those promotions, would you be kind enough to email me even if you have sent me the hardcopies? Thank you.
A number of you emailed me that you sent letters to Bob Denton since he offered to return your books. Please keep me posted on how that is going. If you haven't heard back from Bob, feel free to call him at (765) 349-8908. He was very willing to help any Airleaf author retrieve his or her books, disks, and other materials—no strings attached.
Several of you wrote to me that Carl Lau has sent you back your disks and letters stating that your book rights are your own. One author wrote to me saying that Carl was willing to SELL him his books for $1.00 each. If you are getting those letters from Carl, please save them, let me know, and call Bob Denton instead. He is willing to give you your books for just the price of shipping. You can write to Bob at bdenton308@insightbb.com.
This is a friendly reminder to those of you who are getting books returned by Bob or who have surplus books to sell. You can take your books and sell them on Amazon and make back almost the entire cover cost. In order to do this, you must first register at www.Amazon.com. Then type in the title of your book. You will see the link for your book come up. When you click into your book title, next to your book, you will see the link that says: "See All Buying Options." In that box it will say, "Have one to sell?" Then you'll see a box under that saying, "Sell yours here." Click into the link and it will take you to the page where you can type in your information. When it states the "Condition of the book," you can put in "Authors Copy – Personally Autographed." I have sold over three dozen of my books that way in the past two months. If you need help with this, just email me and I'll walk you through the process if you are having a problem.
MARKETING TIP OF THE WEEK
Through our nightmare with Airleaf, one thing that we have learned is that it takes a lot of hard work to market your book. Many of us paid for marketing scams that produced nothing but a hole in our bank accounts. I get your notes saying, "I'm an author, not a marketer," which led you to Airleaf to start with. But as I keep trying to hit home, you need to take control of your book marketing, and there are some easy and inexpensive steps to doing so.
Last year, I was conducting free 2-hour workshops in Philadelphia on "How To Get Your Book Into Print" to help aspiring authors learn about the traditional and non-traditional routes of getting published. At one of my workshops, I had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful young author named Jennifer Gladden. Jennifer has her first children's book, "A Star in the Night" coming out this summer.
Jennifer is an INCREDIBLE marketer. I became part of her mailing list as she announced her progress. I was very impressed on how she is marketing herself and this is before the book is out! I asked her if she would write something for our group on how she does this step by step, and this is what she shared with us:
Network Brule: A Recipe for a Fine Networking Experience
You hear it all the time. Someone tells you that networking is as important to writing as the actual manuscript. You're told it is the key to publicity, which in turn is key to your sales. The message is always the same: "Get your name out there".
Okay. That's great advice. "But how do I do it?" you might ask. Successful networking is like creating that perfect Crème Brule. With one look, it seems impossible to do. Have no fear. A recipe follows that is sure to get you started on your networking experiences.
First, you need all the ingredients: websites, e-mail, blogs, social groups and professional organizations. Handle with care and attention. Then, follow these steps carefully:
Step One: The Base
Start a website and/or blog. Add a page about you, your works and your links. This will help you build a platform and make you more visible. When your book comes out, you've already started a reader base. It also makes it possible for future readers to learn about who you are.
Step Two: The Seasoning
Season with e-mail signatures. Carefully place your links in the bottom of your e-mails. Now, every time an e-mail goes out, so do your links. Many times when you least expect it, someone will see your link and visit your site. If they like it, they may even pass on the link to a friend.
Step Three: The Flavor
Visit other blogs and websites. This helps you get ideas to flavor your own sites. In addition, leave a comment. Often the blog owner will visit your link in return. There you go. One more person knows about you. They may even want to exchange links with you.
Step Four: The Sugar
Sweeten your experience by joining online listservs such as Yahoo Groups or Google Groups. Choose groups with the same writing interests as you. You'll make many friends. Visit their sites. Ask if anyone's interested in a link exchange where you'll put their link on your site and vice versa. In fact, most of my contacts came from social groups.
Step Five: An Added Touch
Enhance the pot with professional writing organizations such as The Author's Guild or if you're a children's author the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. You can meet fellow authors or other important contacts through sites like these. Many organizations have writing conferences where you don't just learn about your craft, you're meeting other writers and editors.
Mix everything together. Garnish by serving business cards, complete with your name and website, at conferences. Keep them handy when you go out. You never know who you may run into.
Like creating that perfect Crème Brule, these steps might not seem like much by themselves. However, together you have a recipe for a fine networking experience.
Here is Jennifer's bio:
Jennifer Gladen lives and writes for children in Philadelphia. Her short stories and articles have appeared in Stories for Children Magazine. Her future publications include three articles to appear in Once Upon a Time Magazine. In addition, her first children's book, A Star in the Night, will be released this summer. To learn more about Jennifer and her work, visit any of her links:
www.jennifergladen.com
http://jgladen.blogspot.com
http://www.authorsden.com/jennifergladen
http://jengladensmusingswordpress.com/
Thank you, Jennifer for sharing with our readers. If you have a chance, please visit her sites to see how networking really works!
Another good idea came from our fellow Airleaf victim, Chris Varga. He wrote:
Bonnie,
Thanks for trying to assist me and the others. Unless my books actually sold and I just wasn't told, I don't need to put up a big fight about getting my fee back. I've been learning from publishing mistakes for 5 years.
I guess the image of the reclusive writer sitting alone in his mansion on the mountain is a thing of the past, if it ever really existed. I did not pay as much for "publicity" as some of the other victims, since I already knew that free publicity or in-person connections are the best way to go.
When I got the letters offering a $5000 "bestseller" package, I scoffed. Most traditional published books with publicity paid by the publisher are lucky to earn $5000 in royalties so fast (could be about 5000 books with author receiving $1 per book). Right now, the odds are staggered and I'd advise people to rent a beach house for two weeks with their $2000. They'll get much more enjoyment out of it.
I also, from reading reviews and traveling around the internet, have found that for most American consumers, knowing a book is self-published is an automatic, unconditional disqualification. They won't even read one chapter if you paid them. It's kind of ironic when you think of how the self-publishers praise themselves. If the attitudes of the American public changes, then maybe struggling writers will have a shot. But right now, I don't see things going that way.
If we really want to help each other, one idea is to build a network of struggling writers or former self-published authors. I've already bought over 20 self-published books by authors I never heard of, just to support the cause.
Just an added note, the Authorhouse website claims that over 30,000 authors have published with them. I'm sure the big companies like Infinity, Xlibris, and others have at least 10,000 each. That's a lot of people who probably made little to no money off their hopes. I think the business of self-publishing started out with noble intentions, but then got turned into a bad rap and now it just seems to be getting out of control.
Personally, I would be open to having gatherings of self-published authors by geographical region. Constructive criticism and feedback from people who understand is important, especially since success at writing takes persistence and dealing with rejection from "the mainstream".
Also, the thousands of victims have to each have at least one close family member, friend, or significant other. It seems like a big hurdle to overcome, but I would be willing to assist spread the word and remind the public of the respect creativity and freedom of speech once had.
Chris Varga
"A Frightful Move"
I think Chris has a great idea. It's so important for us to support each other. It would be great if we could start a support group for each other where we can buy each other's books and spread the word to our own network. We have such a richly diverse group of writers with so many different genres. If you would be interested in joining me in this venture, let me know. If we have enough of a positive response, I will propose several ways that we can do this to help each other.
Have faith, my fellow victims. All of your hard work to put this case together will pay off in the near future.
With love and great hope,
Bonnie
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
As of today, March 15, 2008, we have 421 members in our group. Welcome to our new members.
I have had a number of conversations this week concerning our case. All I can say at this time is that the wheels of justice are turning. In order not to compromise the case, I won't say more. However, for the first time, I am feeling optimistic that there is meaningful action going on.
I am asking for your help. Many of you have sent me back your surveys that have been very helpful. Sadly, due to my very busy season at work, I won't have the time to thoroughly go through all of the files for a few more weeks. In my attempt to help the authorities who are handling our case, I am asking you to send me a note if you were the victims in any of the following fraudulent Airleaf scams:
1. The Carnival Cruise that was never booked
2. The Frankford, Germany book fair
3. The London book fair
4. Kirkus Reviews from the winter of 2007
5. Ads in the NY Times and LA Times
If you paid for any of those promotions, would you be kind enough to email me even if you have sent me the hardcopies? Thank you.
A number of you emailed me that you sent letters to Bob Denton since he offered to return your books. Please keep me posted on how that is going. If you haven't heard back from Bob, feel free to call him at (765) 349-8908. He was very willing to help any Airleaf author retrieve his or her books, disks, and other materials—no strings attached.
Several of you wrote to me that Carl Lau has sent you back your disks and letters stating that your book rights are your own. One author wrote to me saying that Carl was willing to SELL him his books for $1.00 each. If you are getting those letters from Carl, please save them, let me know, and call Bob Denton instead. He is willing to give you your books for just the price of shipping. You can write to Bob at bdenton308@insightbb.com.
This is a friendly reminder to those of you who are getting books returned by Bob or who have surplus books to sell. You can take your books and sell them on Amazon and make back almost the entire cover cost. In order to do this, you must first register at www.Amazon.com. Then type in the title of your book. You will see the link for your book come up. When you click into your book title, next to your book, you will see the link that says: "See All Buying Options." In that box it will say, "Have one to sell?" Then you'll see a box under that saying, "Sell yours here." Click into the link and it will take you to the page where you can type in your information. When it states the "Condition of the book," you can put in "Authors Copy – Personally Autographed." I have sold over three dozen of my books that way in the past two months. If you need help with this, just email me and I'll walk you through the process if you are having a problem.
MARKETING TIP OF THE WEEK
Through our nightmare with Airleaf, one thing that we have learned is that it takes a lot of hard work to market your book. Many of us paid for marketing scams that produced nothing but a hole in our bank accounts. I get your notes saying, "I'm an author, not a marketer," which led you to Airleaf to start with. But as I keep trying to hit home, you need to take control of your book marketing, and there are some easy and inexpensive steps to doing so.
Last year, I was conducting free 2-hour workshops in Philadelphia on "How To Get Your Book Into Print" to help aspiring authors learn about the traditional and non-traditional routes of getting published. At one of my workshops, I had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful young author named Jennifer Gladden. Jennifer has her first children's book, "A Star in the Night" coming out this summer.
Jennifer is an INCREDIBLE marketer. I became part of her mailing list as she announced her progress. I was very impressed on how she is marketing herself and this is before the book is out! I asked her if she would write something for our group on how she does this step by step, and this is what she shared with us:
Network Brule: A Recipe for a Fine Networking Experience
You hear it all the time. Someone tells you that networking is as important to writing as the actual manuscript. You're told it is the key to publicity, which in turn is key to your sales. The message is always the same: "Get your name out there".
Okay. That's great advice. "But how do I do it?" you might ask. Successful networking is like creating that perfect Crème Brule. With one look, it seems impossible to do. Have no fear. A recipe follows that is sure to get you started on your networking experiences.
First, you need all the ingredients: websites, e-mail, blogs, social groups and professional organizations. Handle with care and attention. Then, follow these steps carefully:
Step One: The Base
Start a website and/or blog. Add a page about you, your works and your links. This will help you build a platform and make you more visible. When your book comes out, you've already started a reader base. It also makes it possible for future readers to learn about who you are.
Step Two: The Seasoning
Season with e-mail signatures. Carefully place your links in the bottom of your e-mails. Now, every time an e-mail goes out, so do your links. Many times when you least expect it, someone will see your link and visit your site. If they like it, they may even pass on the link to a friend.
Step Three: The Flavor
Visit other blogs and websites. This helps you get ideas to flavor your own sites. In addition, leave a comment. Often the blog owner will visit your link in return. There you go. One more person knows about you. They may even want to exchange links with you.
Step Four: The Sugar
Sweeten your experience by joining online listservs such as Yahoo Groups or Google Groups. Choose groups with the same writing interests as you. You'll make many friends. Visit their sites. Ask if anyone's interested in a link exchange where you'll put their link on your site and vice versa. In fact, most of my contacts came from social groups.
Step Five: An Added Touch
Enhance the pot with professional writing organizations such as The Author's Guild or if you're a children's author the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. You can meet fellow authors or other important contacts through sites like these. Many organizations have writing conferences where you don't just learn about your craft, you're meeting other writers and editors.
Mix everything together. Garnish by serving business cards, complete with your name and website, at conferences. Keep them handy when you go out. You never know who you may run into.
Like creating that perfect Crème Brule, these steps might not seem like much by themselves. However, together you have a recipe for a fine networking experience.
Here is Jennifer's bio:
Jennifer Gladen lives and writes for children in Philadelphia. Her short stories and articles have appeared in Stories for Children Magazine. Her future publications include three articles to appear in Once Upon a Time Magazine. In addition, her first children's book, A Star in the Night, will be released this summer. To learn more about Jennifer and her work, visit any of her links:
www.jennifergladen.com
http://jgladen.blogspot.com
http://www.authorsden.com/jennifergladen
http://jengladensmusingswordpress.com/
Thank you, Jennifer for sharing with our readers. If you have a chance, please visit her sites to see how networking really works!
Another good idea came from our fellow Airleaf victim, Chris Varga. He wrote:
Bonnie,
Thanks for trying to assist me and the others. Unless my books actually sold and I just wasn't told, I don't need to put up a big fight about getting my fee back. I've been learning from publishing mistakes for 5 years.
I guess the image of the reclusive writer sitting alone in his mansion on the mountain is a thing of the past, if it ever really existed. I did not pay as much for "publicity" as some of the other victims, since I already knew that free publicity or in-person connections are the best way to go.
When I got the letters offering a $5000 "bestseller" package, I scoffed. Most traditional published books with publicity paid by the publisher are lucky to earn $5000 in royalties so fast (could be about 5000 books with author receiving $1 per book). Right now, the odds are staggered and I'd advise people to rent a beach house for two weeks with their $2000. They'll get much more enjoyment out of it.
I also, from reading reviews and traveling around the internet, have found that for most American consumers, knowing a book is self-published is an automatic, unconditional disqualification. They won't even read one chapter if you paid them. It's kind of ironic when you think of how the self-publishers praise themselves. If the attitudes of the American public changes, then maybe struggling writers will have a shot. But right now, I don't see things going that way.
If we really want to help each other, one idea is to build a network of struggling writers or former self-published authors. I've already bought over 20 self-published books by authors I never heard of, just to support the cause.
Just an added note, the Authorhouse website claims that over 30,000 authors have published with them. I'm sure the big companies like Infinity, Xlibris, and others have at least 10,000 each. That's a lot of people who probably made little to no money off their hopes. I think the business of self-publishing started out with noble intentions, but then got turned into a bad rap and now it just seems to be getting out of control.
Personally, I would be open to having gatherings of self-published authors by geographical region. Constructive criticism and feedback from people who understand is important, especially since success at writing takes persistence and dealing with rejection from "the mainstream".
Also, the thousands of victims have to each have at least one close family member, friend, or significant other. It seems like a big hurdle to overcome, but I would be willing to assist spread the word and remind the public of the respect creativity and freedom of speech once had.
Chris Varga
"A Frightful Move"
I think Chris has a great idea. It's so important for us to support each other. It would be great if we could start a support group for each other where we can buy each other's books and spread the word to our own network. We have such a richly diverse group of writers with so many different genres. If you would be interested in joining me in this venture, let me know. If we have enough of a positive response, I will propose several ways that we can do this to help each other.
Have faith, my fellow victims. All of your hard work to put this case together will pay off in the near future.
With love and great hope,
Bonnie
Saturday, February 23, 2008
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE FEBRUARY 23, 2008
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
As of today, we have 408 Airleaf Victims in our group. Welcome to our new members.
Tonight and tomorrow evening on the History Channel, you can watch our own Jack Powell in a special on Hillbillys--The Real Story hosted by Billy Ray Cyrus. It's a fascinating documentary which will teach you about a little known part of our country's history. It airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. Check your local listings.
First, I want to thank you, as a group, for taking the time to write to Indiana's U.S. Attorney Timothy Morrison last weekend and throughout the week. I want to go over his response to us to clarify where he stands and where we as a group stand.
Last weekend, I sent Mr. Morrison this email before I asked you to do the same:
From: BonKaye@aol.com [mailto:BonKaye@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 12:23 PM
To: USAINS-Webmaster
Subject: From Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed., Organizer Airleaf Victims
Dear Mr. Morrison,
I am respectfully requesting that your office communicate with me as the organizer of our group of 405 authors in the Airleaf Victims group. My website is at www.AirleafVictims.com.
I had originally been in touch with Steve DeBrota, but my phone calls for the past two weeks are going unreturned. Perhaps he is no longer on the case.
Please let me know if your office is assisting our victims who have been taken in excess of one million dollars by the fraudulent practices of Carl Lau and Airleaf Publishing. You can check with the FBI and Postal authorities through Captain Jeff Buskirk in Martinsville, Indiana, who has put our case together.
We are very distraught at the responses of the Indiana government agencies including the Attorney General's office, the Governor's office, and the two State Senator offices. We are frustrated and would like to know how you can help us.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
Organizer, Airleaf Victims
Here was his response on Tuesday, February 19, 2008:
Dear Ms. Kaye:
This matter has not yet been referred to our office by any law enforcement agency. We have seen no reports nor results of any interviews. We are not an investigative unit but are dependent upon work-ups by groups like the FBI and the Postal Inspection Service, both whom you have involved in this.
The Assistant United States Attorney you contacted, Steve DeBrota, was the duty attorney for the office on the day you called. He is not assigned this case, because, as I explained above, no investigative agency has referred it to us. Your telephone calls have been unreturned for the past few weeks, because Mr. DeBrota has been committed to a multi-victim, child exploitation case in the northern part of our district. That case was referred to us and prosecution has commenced.
I am sure the Governor, the Indiana Attorney General, and the offices of Senators Bayh and Lugar are also “distraught.” None of these entities have any criminal jurisdiction in Indiana. The only entities that do—and have relevance here—is the Morgan County, Indiana, Prosecuting Attorney and our office. What can these offices you contacted do for you?
I hope that this group has retained counsel to sue the responsible parties and attempt to seize any relevant assets prior to adjudication on the merits. The burden of proof is lower than in a criminal prosecution and speed of initiation of suit can be faster. Furthermore, restitution is more limited under the criminal law. A successful criminal prosecution will not result in restitution for lost profits.
Finally, your ability to marshal an e-mail campaign that fills our webpage mailbox with more than 120 e-mails may be impressive but unproductive. One referred to me as Attorney General and castigated me for failing to return your calls. I have never spoken to you and I am not the Attorney General. Another told me his books were printed and shipped, but 100 of them were defective. (This is more evidence of breach of contract than criminal fraud) Consolidated communication will save time. Feel free to distribute this e-mail to your group.
We will work through this as we are provided with sufficient information.
Sincerely,
Timothy M. Morrison, Acting U.S. Attorney
I felt somewhat "stung" by this response. I thought it was petty of Mr. Morrison to bring up two insignificant points of being referred to as the AG and the defective books. Instead, I would have liked for him to note that he was very saddened to hear about the fraudulence that our group had been part of and that he would do whatever he could to check this for us. Instead, he was asking me what the offices we contacted could do for us.
He acknowledged that my phone calls had not been returned because the attorney on duty was assigned to a more pressing case. I can understand that—but all it takes is communication to relay that. A call back from his department explaining this would have been sufficient and avoided the mass emails. I am not a party of one calling on my own behalf—I am representing a group of over 400 people who are looking for answers.
Mr. Morrison made the comment that restitution is more limited under criminal law, suggesting we find an attorney to sue for us. This was my response that I sent to him later that day:
Dear Mr. Morrison,
Thank you for your quick response to the Airleaf Victims. Quite frankly, we are very disgusted and frustrated at this point. Other than the police captain in Martinsville, Captain Jeff Buskirk, we have heard virtually no news about our case for over six months. We are not versed in the legal means of getting action in Indiana. We do know how virtually every government official has told us that this is not his responsibility and bumped us over to the next official.
Please understand that we are not in a position to hire an attorney. Many of our members are elderly and disabled, and they have invested every last penny they have into this predatory publisher who has now closed down. An attorney would cost us a lot of money, and most of us are tapped out from investing our money in Airleaf. With a company that has closed, it's hard to find an attorney who wants to take the case because there will be limited assets to retrieve. We understand that the owner, Mr. Carl Lau, is claiming bankruptcy.
At this point, we know that there are limited funds that may be returned. Regardless, we would like to see criminal charges pressed against Carl Lau and other employees who knowingly defrauded our authors. We need to send a message that is loud and clear that robbing people of their hopes, dreams, and money is not an allowable practice in Indiana where so many print-on-demand companies are now set up or setting up.
It was not my intention to clog your email system, but rather to make a mass plea to you to help us. We are feeling very lost in this matter. It seems to me that if one person was robbed in your state, action would be taken. We have over 400 people at this point who are part of our group who have been robbed, and yet all we hear is that it's no one's real responsibility and we should get an attorney.
Maybe you can still help us by contacting the FBI and Postal Authorities to make sure that this case is being investigated and that the criminal (s) will not be allowed to go unpunished. I will not have people write to you anymore. If I need information, I will come to you directly and relay your messages. If there is any information that I can provide for you that will help this case move along, please let me know.
Thank you for listening, and I appreciate whatever you can do for us.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
www.AirleafVictims.com
As a P.S., I received confirmation from 23 more of you who sent out the note to Mr. Morrison during the week, so nearly 150 of us have written to that office. There is no need to send out an email at this point if you haven't done so. Mr. Morrison certainly knows about the Airleaf Victims. One thing that this experience is teaching me at this stage of my life is how wrong my perceptions of government were. Morrison stated: "I am sure the Governor, the Indiana Attorney General, and the offices of Senators Bayh and Lugar are also “distraught.” None of these entities have any criminal jurisdiction in Indiana." This was amazing to me. I never realized that these political offices have no criminal jurisdiction. Did you?
On a personal note, I do know that things are moving, even if the wheels are spinning slowly for our satisfaction. Many of you are left in limbo at the moment because you are anxious to receive your files and books. I am hoping that Captain Buskirk will have some news for us this week.
Some of us received forms this week from the Attorney General's office once again called Consumer Complaint Forms. I called Tom Irons from the AG's office who is the most responsive of all government officials I have dealt with. He is checking to see why this second form was sent to us since we filled out the original form online and then received a hard copy form to fill out after that. He will get back to me this week, so you can wait until you hear from me before you fill this one out. Please be assured that since Tom took over our case a few weeks ago that he is working on getting our case together. Hopefully, he will be able to pursue a civil case on our behalf.
One of our authors wrote to me about a publishing company, Capstone Fiction, for Christian FICTION. This is in NO WAY to be confused with Capstone Productions, the Hollywood movie company that Carl Lau claimed he was working with. A number of our victims fit into this category. I checked out the company through the Internet and our wonderful resource Victoria Strauss to see if this would be a viable avenue for some of our authors. When I felt comfortable with the results, I wrote to one of the owners, Ramona Tucker, about our situation and asked if our Christian fiction authors could apply to be published with them. Here are some excerpts from Ramona's response:
Hi Bonnie,
I am SO saddened to hear about the experience of your group members with AIrleaf! I hate hearing such stories (and unfortunately, in 25 years of publishing, I’ve heard quite a few of them.) I had never heard of Airleaf, but was able to read through your website information about it just now), but it sounds to me like it was a “self-publisher” (in other words, each of your writers PAID that company to publish their book. There wasn’t really any personal investment from the publisher that they loved/believed in that book. Such things happening—and authors getting taken for a ride because they are so desperate to be published that they’re willing to pay anything—are one of the many reasons we launched Capstone! To give new authors an opportunity to publish and to slowly start growing their reader base…since every good thing takes its time! Capstone is not about “competing” to get the top book/top author; it’s about our passion to get wonderful books that we believe could make it nationally--books with fresh plots, quirky characters into the hands of readers of a broad spectrum of readers. And without the “fear” that if they don’t sell enough the first year that the book will get “axed” by the publisher, as is happening more and more frequently these days.)
Capstone is a one-year-old company (we celebrated our first anniversary on Dec. 31, 2007) but founded by myself and Jeff Nesbit, both veterans of the publishing industry. You can find out a lot about us by googling our names, Capstone Fiction, and going to our website at www.Capstonefiction.com.
Who is Capstone? We are a traditional publisher (in other words, just like Tyndale, Zondervan, Nelson, etc.); when we sign an author’s work, that means we believe in the work and feel strongly that it needs to have a chance in the marketplace (whether it sells 500 copies, 5,000 copies, or 50,000 copies over its lifetime!). Our primary mission is to create opportunities for new, talented Christian writers, while also promoting leading-edge fiction by established Christian authors. Today’s market is very tough for new writers. Most publishing houses, due to tightening the belts with the economy, sign/promote 2-3 top authors, but there’s little room for anyone new (that doesn’t already have a huge platform) to make an inroad. A walk through any Christian bookstore will show you that many of the titles are by the same authors. Also, Christian/inspirational publishers publish very little in the realms of sci-fi, fantasy, juvenile/children’s literature. And it is rare for a publisher to produce a 4-color children’s book since Berryman Graphics (the one huge color press) shut their doors a couple years ago (yet Capstone has produced 2 color titles in the first year of our publication. In a process that normally takes 3 years (6-9 months to read/acquire a manuscript, 3 months for a contract, 6-9 months in editorial/design, and 6-9 months in production, Capstone had already produced 47 titles (going through the same process of acquiring, contracting, editing, designing, etc., that all traditional publishers use) by the end of our first year, on Dec. 31, 2007!
Our titles represent numerous genres of inspirational fiction: historical, fantasy, sci-fi, romance, literary, mystery, biblical, detective, humor, legal/political thrillers, biblical, and suspense. And in a day when, in light of economic realities, publishers have chosen to publish very few children’s and young adult titles, we have published 10 titles spanning those categories.
So, Bonnie, that’s a little bit about us. (And probably more than you wanted!) Take a look at our site, too. We’re straightforward kind of folks. We believe in honesty, integrity, have a passion for broadening the scope of inspirational publishing and giving new authors of brilliantly crafted novels (fiction, only—for all ages). We would welcome submission from any writers, once you and they have checked us out. (And no, we are not an “e” publisher, to combat that notion: when you order a Capstone title from amazon.com for example, you get it in exactly the same timeframe you’d get any other book you order, and in hard copy!) We also work with one of the most creative and brilliant head designers in the publishing business, who has over 22 years in the field, as well (and you can see the result in the wonderful Capstone titles pictured on our site). You’ll find submission guidelines, etc., online, as well. The only thing that has really changed in the interim (which we haven’t been able to update in the flurry), is that it takes us about 4-6 weeks to respond to queries, since we were recently deluged with 800 manuscripts. Word is getting around, and it’s very exciting to see the wonderful manuscripts coming our way!
Thanks for writing, Bonnie! I hope this information is helpful to you and the rest of your group.
If you have a Christian fiction book and would like to submit your query, you can visit their site at www.CapstoneFiction.com. It is a very informative and easy to use site.
To date, I have received 163 surveys back from you. Thank you so much for taking the time to fill these out. I will be compiling the data during the first week of March and getting back to you with the results. If you haven't sent yours in, there is still time. You can do it by email or snail mail. If you need help, just let me know.
The most important thing to remember is that we have to remain vigilant and not get discouraged by the lack of visible progress. Carl Lau is counting on time being on his side and our frustration making us give up. Remember—good things come to those who wait, and they will certainly come to us.
With love and hope,
Bonnie
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
As of today, we have 408 Airleaf Victims in our group. Welcome to our new members.
Tonight and tomorrow evening on the History Channel, you can watch our own Jack Powell in a special on Hillbillys--The Real Story hosted by Billy Ray Cyrus. It's a fascinating documentary which will teach you about a little known part of our country's history. It airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. Check your local listings.
First, I want to thank you, as a group, for taking the time to write to Indiana's U.S. Attorney Timothy Morrison last weekend and throughout the week. I want to go over his response to us to clarify where he stands and where we as a group stand.
Last weekend, I sent Mr. Morrison this email before I asked you to do the same:
From: BonKaye@aol.com [mailto:BonKaye@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 12:23 PM
To: USAINS-Webmaster
Subject: From Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed., Organizer Airleaf Victims
Dear Mr. Morrison,
I am respectfully requesting that your office communicate with me as the organizer of our group of 405 authors in the Airleaf Victims group. My website is at www.AirleafVictims.com.
I had originally been in touch with Steve DeBrota, but my phone calls for the past two weeks are going unreturned. Perhaps he is no longer on the case.
Please let me know if your office is assisting our victims who have been taken in excess of one million dollars by the fraudulent practices of Carl Lau and Airleaf Publishing. You can check with the FBI and Postal authorities through Captain Jeff Buskirk in Martinsville, Indiana, who has put our case together.
We are very distraught at the responses of the Indiana government agencies including the Attorney General's office, the Governor's office, and the two State Senator offices. We are frustrated and would like to know how you can help us.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
Organizer, Airleaf Victims
Here was his response on Tuesday, February 19, 2008:
Dear Ms. Kaye:
This matter has not yet been referred to our office by any law enforcement agency. We have seen no reports nor results of any interviews. We are not an investigative unit but are dependent upon work-ups by groups like the FBI and the Postal Inspection Service, both whom you have involved in this.
The Assistant United States Attorney you contacted, Steve DeBrota, was the duty attorney for the office on the day you called. He is not assigned this case, because, as I explained above, no investigative agency has referred it to us. Your telephone calls have been unreturned for the past few weeks, because Mr. DeBrota has been committed to a multi-victim, child exploitation case in the northern part of our district. That case was referred to us and prosecution has commenced.
I am sure the Governor, the Indiana Attorney General, and the offices of Senators Bayh and Lugar are also “distraught.” None of these entities have any criminal jurisdiction in Indiana. The only entities that do—and have relevance here—is the Morgan County, Indiana, Prosecuting Attorney and our office. What can these offices you contacted do for you?
I hope that this group has retained counsel to sue the responsible parties and attempt to seize any relevant assets prior to adjudication on the merits. The burden of proof is lower than in a criminal prosecution and speed of initiation of suit can be faster. Furthermore, restitution is more limited under the criminal law. A successful criminal prosecution will not result in restitution for lost profits.
Finally, your ability to marshal an e-mail campaign that fills our webpage mailbox with more than 120 e-mails may be impressive but unproductive. One referred to me as Attorney General and castigated me for failing to return your calls. I have never spoken to you and I am not the Attorney General. Another told me his books were printed and shipped, but 100 of them were defective. (This is more evidence of breach of contract than criminal fraud) Consolidated communication will save time. Feel free to distribute this e-mail to your group.
We will work through this as we are provided with sufficient information.
Sincerely,
Timothy M. Morrison, Acting U.S. Attorney
I felt somewhat "stung" by this response. I thought it was petty of Mr. Morrison to bring up two insignificant points of being referred to as the AG and the defective books. Instead, I would have liked for him to note that he was very saddened to hear about the fraudulence that our group had been part of and that he would do whatever he could to check this for us. Instead, he was asking me what the offices we contacted could do for us.
He acknowledged that my phone calls had not been returned because the attorney on duty was assigned to a more pressing case. I can understand that—but all it takes is communication to relay that. A call back from his department explaining this would have been sufficient and avoided the mass emails. I am not a party of one calling on my own behalf—I am representing a group of over 400 people who are looking for answers.
Mr. Morrison made the comment that restitution is more limited under criminal law, suggesting we find an attorney to sue for us. This was my response that I sent to him later that day:
Dear Mr. Morrison,
Thank you for your quick response to the Airleaf Victims. Quite frankly, we are very disgusted and frustrated at this point. Other than the police captain in Martinsville, Captain Jeff Buskirk, we have heard virtually no news about our case for over six months. We are not versed in the legal means of getting action in Indiana. We do know how virtually every government official has told us that this is not his responsibility and bumped us over to the next official.
Please understand that we are not in a position to hire an attorney. Many of our members are elderly and disabled, and they have invested every last penny they have into this predatory publisher who has now closed down. An attorney would cost us a lot of money, and most of us are tapped out from investing our money in Airleaf. With a company that has closed, it's hard to find an attorney who wants to take the case because there will be limited assets to retrieve. We understand that the owner, Mr. Carl Lau, is claiming bankruptcy.
At this point, we know that there are limited funds that may be returned. Regardless, we would like to see criminal charges pressed against Carl Lau and other employees who knowingly defrauded our authors. We need to send a message that is loud and clear that robbing people of their hopes, dreams, and money is not an allowable practice in Indiana where so many print-on-demand companies are now set up or setting up.
It was not my intention to clog your email system, but rather to make a mass plea to you to help us. We are feeling very lost in this matter. It seems to me that if one person was robbed in your state, action would be taken. We have over 400 people at this point who are part of our group who have been robbed, and yet all we hear is that it's no one's real responsibility and we should get an attorney.
Maybe you can still help us by contacting the FBI and Postal Authorities to make sure that this case is being investigated and that the criminal (s) will not be allowed to go unpunished. I will not have people write to you anymore. If I need information, I will come to you directly and relay your messages. If there is any information that I can provide for you that will help this case move along, please let me know.
Thank you for listening, and I appreciate whatever you can do for us.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
www.AirleafVictims.com
As a P.S., I received confirmation from 23 more of you who sent out the note to Mr. Morrison during the week, so nearly 150 of us have written to that office. There is no need to send out an email at this point if you haven't done so. Mr. Morrison certainly knows about the Airleaf Victims. One thing that this experience is teaching me at this stage of my life is how wrong my perceptions of government were. Morrison stated: "I am sure the Governor, the Indiana Attorney General, and the offices of Senators Bayh and Lugar are also “distraught.” None of these entities have any criminal jurisdiction in Indiana." This was amazing to me. I never realized that these political offices have no criminal jurisdiction. Did you?
On a personal note, I do know that things are moving, even if the wheels are spinning slowly for our satisfaction. Many of you are left in limbo at the moment because you are anxious to receive your files and books. I am hoping that Captain Buskirk will have some news for us this week.
Some of us received forms this week from the Attorney General's office once again called Consumer Complaint Forms. I called Tom Irons from the AG's office who is the most responsive of all government officials I have dealt with. He is checking to see why this second form was sent to us since we filled out the original form online and then received a hard copy form to fill out after that. He will get back to me this week, so you can wait until you hear from me before you fill this one out. Please be assured that since Tom took over our case a few weeks ago that he is working on getting our case together. Hopefully, he will be able to pursue a civil case on our behalf.
One of our authors wrote to me about a publishing company, Capstone Fiction, for Christian FICTION. This is in NO WAY to be confused with Capstone Productions, the Hollywood movie company that Carl Lau claimed he was working with. A number of our victims fit into this category. I checked out the company through the Internet and our wonderful resource Victoria Strauss to see if this would be a viable avenue for some of our authors. When I felt comfortable with the results, I wrote to one of the owners, Ramona Tucker, about our situation and asked if our Christian fiction authors could apply to be published with them. Here are some excerpts from Ramona's response:
Hi Bonnie,
I am SO saddened to hear about the experience of your group members with AIrleaf! I hate hearing such stories (and unfortunately, in 25 years of publishing, I’ve heard quite a few of them.) I had never heard of Airleaf, but was able to read through your website information about it just now), but it sounds to me like it was a “self-publisher” (in other words, each of your writers PAID that company to publish their book. There wasn’t really any personal investment from the publisher that they loved/believed in that book. Such things happening—and authors getting taken for a ride because they are so desperate to be published that they’re willing to pay anything—are one of the many reasons we launched Capstone! To give new authors an opportunity to publish and to slowly start growing their reader base…since every good thing takes its time! Capstone is not about “competing” to get the top book/top author; it’s about our passion to get wonderful books that we believe could make it nationally--books with fresh plots, quirky characters into the hands of readers of a broad spectrum of readers. And without the “fear” that if they don’t sell enough the first year that the book will get “axed” by the publisher, as is happening more and more frequently these days.)
Capstone is a one-year-old company (we celebrated our first anniversary on Dec. 31, 2007) but founded by myself and Jeff Nesbit, both veterans of the publishing industry. You can find out a lot about us by googling our names, Capstone Fiction, and going to our website at www.Capstonefiction.com.
Who is Capstone? We are a traditional publisher (in other words, just like Tyndale, Zondervan, Nelson, etc.); when we sign an author’s work, that means we believe in the work and feel strongly that it needs to have a chance in the marketplace (whether it sells 500 copies, 5,000 copies, or 50,000 copies over its lifetime!). Our primary mission is to create opportunities for new, talented Christian writers, while also promoting leading-edge fiction by established Christian authors. Today’s market is very tough for new writers. Most publishing houses, due to tightening the belts with the economy, sign/promote 2-3 top authors, but there’s little room for anyone new (that doesn’t already have a huge platform) to make an inroad. A walk through any Christian bookstore will show you that many of the titles are by the same authors. Also, Christian/inspirational publishers publish very little in the realms of sci-fi, fantasy, juvenile/children’s literature. And it is rare for a publisher to produce a 4-color children’s book since Berryman Graphics (the one huge color press) shut their doors a couple years ago (yet Capstone has produced 2 color titles in the first year of our publication. In a process that normally takes 3 years (6-9 months to read/acquire a manuscript, 3 months for a contract, 6-9 months in editorial/design, and 6-9 months in production, Capstone had already produced 47 titles (going through the same process of acquiring, contracting, editing, designing, etc., that all traditional publishers use) by the end of our first year, on Dec. 31, 2007!
Our titles represent numerous genres of inspirational fiction: historical, fantasy, sci-fi, romance, literary, mystery, biblical, detective, humor, legal/political thrillers, biblical, and suspense. And in a day when, in light of economic realities, publishers have chosen to publish very few children’s and young adult titles, we have published 10 titles spanning those categories.
So, Bonnie, that’s a little bit about us. (And probably more than you wanted!) Take a look at our site, too. We’re straightforward kind of folks. We believe in honesty, integrity, have a passion for broadening the scope of inspirational publishing and giving new authors of brilliantly crafted novels (fiction, only—for all ages). We would welcome submission from any writers, once you and they have checked us out. (And no, we are not an “e” publisher, to combat that notion: when you order a Capstone title from amazon.com for example, you get it in exactly the same timeframe you’d get any other book you order, and in hard copy!) We also work with one of the most creative and brilliant head designers in the publishing business, who has over 22 years in the field, as well (and you can see the result in the wonderful Capstone titles pictured on our site). You’ll find submission guidelines, etc., online, as well. The only thing that has really changed in the interim (which we haven’t been able to update in the flurry), is that it takes us about 4-6 weeks to respond to queries, since we were recently deluged with 800 manuscripts. Word is getting around, and it’s very exciting to see the wonderful manuscripts coming our way!
Thanks for writing, Bonnie! I hope this information is helpful to you and the rest of your group.
If you have a Christian fiction book and would like to submit your query, you can visit their site at www.CapstoneFiction.com. It is a very informative and easy to use site.
To date, I have received 163 surveys back from you. Thank you so much for taking the time to fill these out. I will be compiling the data during the first week of March and getting back to you with the results. If you haven't sent yours in, there is still time. You can do it by email or snail mail. If you need help, just let me know.
The most important thing to remember is that we have to remain vigilant and not get discouraged by the lack of visible progress. Carl Lau is counting on time being on his side and our frustration making us give up. Remember—good things come to those who wait, and they will certainly come to us.
With love and hope,
Bonnie
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Airleaf Victims Update February 16, 2008
FEBRUARY 16, 2008 UPDATE
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
I would like to welcome our new members. As of today, we have 405 members of our Airleaf Victims group.
I would like to thank those of you who took the time to complete the survey from last week and sent me either via email or regular mail the information. This information is vital to our case to help in proving the fraudulence in Airleaf. I believe that when we have all of the information compiled together, we will be able to show that this was the greatest case of predatory publishing in the history of the country. To date, 63 of you have completed the information and sent it to me. If you need assistance in filling out the form, or if you would like me to send you the form as an email if you aren't able to print it out or download the form, please let me know.
We have been conducting our campaign since August 2007. Although it has been six months, and we feel the frustration of not having concrete results from the government authorities, I believe that this case will have some results by the spring. It is essential for us as a group not to get discouraged but to remain vigilant until we accomplish our goals of restitution and retribution. The work we are doing is not only for ourselves, but also for thousands of other authors who will also fall victim to dishonest publishing companies which have no problem stealing the dreams and money away from trusting and unsuspecting people. I believe that this will become a landmark case in the world of publishing and send a message loud and clear to others who are making their dishonest living off the hard work of good and honest authors.
This week, I am asking you to assist me in putting pressure on the U.S. Attorney's office in Indiana. This is the federal agency that has the power to move this case along. This is NOT the Attorney General's office that most of you have contacted for the civil suit, but rather the office in charge of bringing federal charges against Airleaf in conjunction with the FBI and Postal Authorities. I am feeling a sense of frustration because I have left four messages in two week with that agency and have not received a call back since my initial conversation with them last month. The email address is: usains.webmaster@usdoj.gov . You can cut and paste that address into an email or just click into the link. The Indiana U.S. Attorney's name is Timothy M. Morrison. Please tell Mr. Morrison that you are a member of the Airleaf Victim's group and that you have been defrauded out of money and services by this company. You can mention anything you like about your personal experience, and ask him when you can expect his office to take the necessary action to bring justice to our case. There is power in numbers, and if Mr. Morrison receives several hundred emails on Tuesday morning when he returns to work, I am hoping he'll realize how serious this case is. Please send me a note after you do this so I can track how many of you sent this note. It's not a form—just a note, so it should only take a few minutes.
One of our group members spoke with a former Airleaf employee last week who was closely involved in Airleaf until the near end and now has set up in his own publishing business. He told our member that Carl Lau is moving ahead with his new company Novels to Films. I assured this member that the only film that Carl Lau will be working on is "Escape from Alcatraz, Part 2," an autobiographical movie.
Carl Lau's dream of becoming a movie mogul has as much chance as your book becoming a major motion film hit. Ex-employees have told me that he paid money to both Cinemagic (the company that came from Japan and magically went back to Japan with your money but no movies) and LiteStone Entertainment (Al Smith and Lawrence Dixon, which has zero movies to their credit except the trailer for Jessie's Girl) in hopes of being part of the film industry. We all know the story of that fraudulence that I exposed last November. And yet, our member Debbie Stiles received this email from Carl Lau on December 17, 2007, two days before Airleaf shut down:
Hi Ms. Stiles
I’m sure that you have heard many things, however if you read between the lines you can see that Brien Jones and Bonnie Kaye are out to put me out of business and or destroy me personally which is something that they have done very well. It took me 55 years to establish my person and 10 months to destroy everything I worked for.
However the movie deal is real and I am meeting with the money people right after the first of the year in Hollywood. I will know more of the time frames and details at that time.
I will refund the monies as I can, right now money is very tight and I’m trying to get as many books done as I can, so we can more on to 2008 and I label the yeart the movie year. I will make it up to you somehow for being patient.
Thanks so much for your business
Carl
I left this letter un-edited so you can once again see the literary literacy skills of Carl Lau. Once his ghostwriting staff was gone, and he was on his own to correspond with customers, we had the opportunity to see the lack of literacy skills of the man at the top of the company ladder. Unreal! Prior to working for Author House in their sales department before getting fired, Carl Lau was a car salesman for 15 years--and it shows.
While on the subject of Carl and Hollywood, this was on a post of Writer's Weekly back in May 2007:
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 9:37 AM
To: [TF]
Subject: RE: Compalaint About Airleaf
Dear [TF]
We have told you in the past that your books are at the printers and when I called them yesterday and told them to hurry on your books, they sent me a report that shows that you are 8th on the list. I asked them to please make your book a priority and get it out this week.
I´m sorry that you had to wait however I want t make it up to you; because we are having such great success in Hollywood I will more than happy to take it there for free and present it at the pitchfest in July.
I have been very busy and I thought that others were handling your problem which I see wasn´t the case and just copying me on the emails.
Thanks
Carl Lau
President, Airleaf LLC
The highlighted red is mine; the mistakes are Carl's. Of course, he was having such great success in Hollywood even back then and of course, very busy. Priceless!
I would like to spend a few moments discussing book promotions and the reality of investing money in this. The majority of our victims paid large sums of money for a variety of different promotions including book reviews, advertisements in newspapers, press releases, vanity radio programs, website positions, letters sent to book stores. I cringe every time I look at the money that was spent for these campaigns.
The point I'd like to make is that even if all of these campaigns were actually fulfilled, please keep in mind the money you are spending vs. the money that will be returned to you. After all of the upfront costs that most of us don't realize which include the printing and the standard 55% discount on book sites such as Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com, you are realistically looking at $2.50 – $3.50 per book. In many cases, you are receiving less than that. If you invest $1,000.00 for promotion, you will have to sell at least 300 – 500 books to recoup that investment. A number of you invested thousands of dollars, meaning you would have to sell thousands of books to recoup your loss not including the price of upfront publishing.
This is why it is so important to be realistic about what your goals are and how they can be accomplished. It is virtually impossible to have a hit seller when your book is Print-On-Demand or a book published by a vanity publisher. I know that we all see advertisements for "Chicken Soup for the Soul" and how that book started out as self-published and became a huge financial success. But how many other self-published books can boast about the same experience? Ummm…I don't know of any others. And even if there are, it's such a slim and remote possibility. Miracles do happen, but very rarely in the POD publishing business.
I am sending you some links on how to do your own marketing and publicity from several websites where I have found some good, solid tips that you can do yourself with little or no expense. Don't feel compelled to buy any books or services from these sites since there are lots of free tips.
LINKS FOR MARKETING:
BOOK MARKETING / BOOK PUBLICITY / BOOK SALES
Free Book Marketing Ideas by Christine Hohlbaum: The Sideroad
Another inexpensive way of marketing your book is through sponsored ads on Goggle through Google Adwords. I use this form of advertising for Airleaf Victims as well as my own personal books. It has been relatively successful for me with a minimal investment. If you would like more information about this or need help in getting started, feel free to write to me, and I'll call you to walk you through the process.
LINK FOR GOOGLE ADWORDS:
Welcome to AdWords
I found a site that lists book publicists. I can't recommend any of them since I have no knowledge of any of them. But you may want to contact a few to see what they can do for you. So let's learn our lesson from Airleaf, so we don't repeat our past mistakes. If you contact a book publicist, make sure to ask the important questions. This would include asking what books they have marketed successfully, asking what their methods are for marketing books, (if it's just sending out press releases to a database, you can do that yourself with the same results for much less money), what are the press contacts that they have, and absolutely ask for references that you can call of authors who have been successful. Ask to see articles where these books have appeared and a list of radio and television shows where their authors have appeared. Think of a list of questions before you call, and if you need any help or want to run it by me first, please do. PLEASE DON'T SIGN INTO ANY AGREEMENT UNTIL YOU CHECK IT OUT. I'm happy to review any agreement before you sign so I can look for holes or other questions you need to ask.
LINK FOR PUBLICISTS:
Book Publicity Services
Please check out our Airleaf Victims blog to see some of our authors' book now displayed. If you have a book that is being sold on Amazon, I will be happy to list your book upon request.
LINK FOR THE AIRLEAF VICTIMS BLOG:
Airleaf Victims
That's the news for this week. Please feel free to send me any comments or questions at Bonkaye@aol.com.
With love and hope,
Bonnie :)
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
I would like to welcome our new members. As of today, we have 405 members of our Airleaf Victims group.
I would like to thank those of you who took the time to complete the survey from last week and sent me either via email or regular mail the information. This information is vital to our case to help in proving the fraudulence in Airleaf. I believe that when we have all of the information compiled together, we will be able to show that this was the greatest case of predatory publishing in the history of the country. To date, 63 of you have completed the information and sent it to me. If you need assistance in filling out the form, or if you would like me to send you the form as an email if you aren't able to print it out or download the form, please let me know.
We have been conducting our campaign since August 2007. Although it has been six months, and we feel the frustration of not having concrete results from the government authorities, I believe that this case will have some results by the spring. It is essential for us as a group not to get discouraged but to remain vigilant until we accomplish our goals of restitution and retribution. The work we are doing is not only for ourselves, but also for thousands of other authors who will also fall victim to dishonest publishing companies which have no problem stealing the dreams and money away from trusting and unsuspecting people. I believe that this will become a landmark case in the world of publishing and send a message loud and clear to others who are making their dishonest living off the hard work of good and honest authors.
This week, I am asking you to assist me in putting pressure on the U.S. Attorney's office in Indiana. This is the federal agency that has the power to move this case along. This is NOT the Attorney General's office that most of you have contacted for the civil suit, but rather the office in charge of bringing federal charges against Airleaf in conjunction with the FBI and Postal Authorities. I am feeling a sense of frustration because I have left four messages in two week with that agency and have not received a call back since my initial conversation with them last month. The email address is: usains.webmaster@usdoj.gov . You can cut and paste that address into an email or just click into the link. The Indiana U.S. Attorney's name is Timothy M. Morrison. Please tell Mr. Morrison that you are a member of the Airleaf Victim's group and that you have been defrauded out of money and services by this company. You can mention anything you like about your personal experience, and ask him when you can expect his office to take the necessary action to bring justice to our case. There is power in numbers, and if Mr. Morrison receives several hundred emails on Tuesday morning when he returns to work, I am hoping he'll realize how serious this case is. Please send me a note after you do this so I can track how many of you sent this note. It's not a form—just a note, so it should only take a few minutes.
One of our group members spoke with a former Airleaf employee last week who was closely involved in Airleaf until the near end and now has set up in his own publishing business. He told our member that Carl Lau is moving ahead with his new company Novels to Films. I assured this member that the only film that Carl Lau will be working on is "Escape from Alcatraz, Part 2," an autobiographical movie.
Carl Lau's dream of becoming a movie mogul has as much chance as your book becoming a major motion film hit. Ex-employees have told me that he paid money to both Cinemagic (the company that came from Japan and magically went back to Japan with your money but no movies) and LiteStone Entertainment (Al Smith and Lawrence Dixon, which has zero movies to their credit except the trailer for Jessie's Girl) in hopes of being part of the film industry. We all know the story of that fraudulence that I exposed last November. And yet, our member Debbie Stiles received this email from Carl Lau on December 17, 2007, two days before Airleaf shut down:
Hi Ms. Stiles
I’m sure that you have heard many things, however if you read between the lines you can see that Brien Jones and Bonnie Kaye are out to put me out of business and or destroy me personally which is something that they have done very well. It took me 55 years to establish my person and 10 months to destroy everything I worked for.
However the movie deal is real and I am meeting with the money people right after the first of the year in Hollywood. I will know more of the time frames and details at that time.
I will refund the monies as I can, right now money is very tight and I’m trying to get as many books done as I can, so we can more on to 2008 and I label the yeart the movie year. I will make it up to you somehow for being patient.
Thanks so much for your business
Carl
I left this letter un-edited so you can once again see the literary literacy skills of Carl Lau. Once his ghostwriting staff was gone, and he was on his own to correspond with customers, we had the opportunity to see the lack of literacy skills of the man at the top of the company ladder. Unreal! Prior to working for Author House in their sales department before getting fired, Carl Lau was a car salesman for 15 years--and it shows.
While on the subject of Carl and Hollywood, this was on a post of Writer's Weekly back in May 2007:
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 9:37 AM
To: [TF]
Subject: RE: Compalaint About Airleaf
Dear [TF]
We have told you in the past that your books are at the printers and when I called them yesterday and told them to hurry on your books, they sent me a report that shows that you are 8th on the list. I asked them to please make your book a priority and get it out this week.
I´m sorry that you had to wait however I want t make it up to you; because we are having such great success in Hollywood I will more than happy to take it there for free and present it at the pitchfest in July.
I have been very busy and I thought that others were handling your problem which I see wasn´t the case and just copying me on the emails.
Thanks
Carl Lau
President, Airleaf LLC
The highlighted red is mine; the mistakes are Carl's. Of course, he was having such great success in Hollywood even back then and of course, very busy. Priceless!
I would like to spend a few moments discussing book promotions and the reality of investing money in this. The majority of our victims paid large sums of money for a variety of different promotions including book reviews, advertisements in newspapers, press releases, vanity radio programs, website positions, letters sent to book stores. I cringe every time I look at the money that was spent for these campaigns.
The point I'd like to make is that even if all of these campaigns were actually fulfilled, please keep in mind the money you are spending vs. the money that will be returned to you. After all of the upfront costs that most of us don't realize which include the printing and the standard 55% discount on book sites such as Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com, you are realistically looking at $2.50 – $3.50 per book. In many cases, you are receiving less than that. If you invest $1,000.00 for promotion, you will have to sell at least 300 – 500 books to recoup that investment. A number of you invested thousands of dollars, meaning you would have to sell thousands of books to recoup your loss not including the price of upfront publishing.
This is why it is so important to be realistic about what your goals are and how they can be accomplished. It is virtually impossible to have a hit seller when your book is Print-On-Demand or a book published by a vanity publisher. I know that we all see advertisements for "Chicken Soup for the Soul" and how that book started out as self-published and became a huge financial success. But how many other self-published books can boast about the same experience? Ummm…I don't know of any others. And even if there are, it's such a slim and remote possibility. Miracles do happen, but very rarely in the POD publishing business.
I am sending you some links on how to do your own marketing and publicity from several websites where I have found some good, solid tips that you can do yourself with little or no expense. Don't feel compelled to buy any books or services from these sites since there are lots of free tips.
LINKS FOR MARKETING:
BOOK MARKETING / BOOK PUBLICITY / BOOK SALES
Free Book Marketing Ideas by Christine Hohlbaum: The Sideroad
Another inexpensive way of marketing your book is through sponsored ads on Goggle through Google Adwords. I use this form of advertising for Airleaf Victims as well as my own personal books. It has been relatively successful for me with a minimal investment. If you would like more information about this or need help in getting started, feel free to write to me, and I'll call you to walk you through the process.
LINK FOR GOOGLE ADWORDS:
Welcome to AdWords
I found a site that lists book publicists. I can't recommend any of them since I have no knowledge of any of them. But you may want to contact a few to see what they can do for you. So let's learn our lesson from Airleaf, so we don't repeat our past mistakes. If you contact a book publicist, make sure to ask the important questions. This would include asking what books they have marketed successfully, asking what their methods are for marketing books, (if it's just sending out press releases to a database, you can do that yourself with the same results for much less money), what are the press contacts that they have, and absolutely ask for references that you can call of authors who have been successful. Ask to see articles where these books have appeared and a list of radio and television shows where their authors have appeared. Think of a list of questions before you call, and if you need any help or want to run it by me first, please do. PLEASE DON'T SIGN INTO ANY AGREEMENT UNTIL YOU CHECK IT OUT. I'm happy to review any agreement before you sign so I can look for holes or other questions you need to ask.
LINK FOR PUBLICISTS:
Book Publicity Services
Please check out our Airleaf Victims blog to see some of our authors' book now displayed. If you have a book that is being sold on Amazon, I will be happy to list your book upon request.
LINK FOR THE AIRLEAF VICTIMS BLOG:
Airleaf Victims
That's the news for this week. Please feel free to send me any comments or questions at Bonkaye@aol.com.
With love and hope,
Bonnie :)
Saturday, February 9, 2008
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE FEBRUARY 9, 2008
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
First, welcome to our new members. We have passed the 400-member mark this week with 401 members in our group.
This week, I have no new news to report concerning our case. I anticipate that some action will be taken by later this month. I have calls in to the US Attorney in Indiana, and I hope to hear from him by next week for an update.
This week, I am asking you to help me get our case organized because I believe that we will see some results in the near future from all of our efforts. I have attached a profile sheet for each of you to fill out so I can compile the data for all of us, the government agencies who will be bringing charges against Carl Lau, and the media. All information will be kept confidential from the public unless I personally ask you individually to allow me to share it with an agency or news source. I would never compromise anyone's integrity by giving out information without your permission.
I am trying to pinpoint when the fraudulence started to escalate at Airleaf and who the employees were who knowingly participated in it. I am also trying to differentiate between the publishing services versus the promotional services. Some of you paid for books to be published by Airleaf, some of you paid for your own books to be promoted by Airleaf, and some people paid for publishing and promotion by Airleaf. From our 400 members, I want to get a significant sampling to make comparisons.
For example, I went to Airleaf to publish my book Straight Wives: Shattered Lives. I paid $1,895.00 for publishing, 50 copies, and placement in 15 book stores. That price also included a return policy so I could have books signings. My book was published quickly, and I did receive the 50 copies. However, my book copies did not show up to my first book signing (problems with the printer was the excuse), it never appeared in 15 bookstores (I checked), and when I requested a book signing to be set up in Southern California last summer, I was told that there were no bookstores interested in this in Southern California. Since my book was publicized on national news stories, I found this amazing. I also was promised quarterly royalties, but we all are familiar with that story.
In my early days with Airleaf while I was still in the "honeymoon phase," I bought a promotional package for a book I published through iUniverse called ManReaders: A Woman's Guide to Dysfunctional Men. I paid $350.00 to have the press release for the book sent to "important decision makers" in the television market. Of course, there were no responses, but as my Airleaf consultant told me, "Lots of interest." So in my case, I paid for publishing and promotion of an Airleaf book, and promotion of my own book published elsewhere. On the survey form, please check all of the services that you paid for.
Some of you may need reminders to jog your memories, so I have gone back to some of my old emails and looked at some of the promotions that were sent to me. These include:
You have until November 30, 2006 to save on selected bookselling
services!
Reach 2000 bookstore owners for just $239.40! You save $160!
Reach 1000 Filmmakers for just 210! You save $140!
Reach 400 Traditional Publishers for just $270! You save $180!
Sell your book on 10 websites for $299.40! You save $200!
Reach 10,000 bookstore owners with our Maximum Impact Service which
includes direct telephone calls to bookstores for just $990. You save
$660!
SAVE $900 ON DIRECT CALLING TO BOOKSTORES!
While our email, fax and direct mail campaigns have all been successful,
nothing sells books better than a telephone call to the owner of the
bookstore. We want all of our authors' books to sell, so we are making
our Direct Telephone Calling Service affordable for everyone.
Usually, Direct Telephone Calling is only available as part of our
Maximum Impact Bookselling Package which sells for $1650. However, for
the month of June, we are offering our Direct Telephone Calling as a
stand-alone service for just $750! This is our most effective service
at our lowest price ever.
NEW BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB
While we have sold thousands of books to hundreds of book stores, we have
never focused on selling books directly to individual readers--Until now!
With Airleaf's new Book of the Month Club we will be tapping into this
multi-billion dollar consumer market for the first time.
Book clubs like Oprah Winfrey's and The Today Show's generate millions of
dollars in book sales every month. We hope our book club will do the same.
We have selected a few of our best titles for club members, but we believe
the Book of the Month Club will benefit ALL Airleaf authors.
Please take a look!
SAVE $900 ON DIRECT CALLING TO BOOKSTORES!
While our email, fax and direct mail campaigns have all been successful,
nothing sells books better than a telephone call to the owner of the
bookstore. We want all of our authors' books to sell, so we are making
our Direct Telephone Calling Service affordable for everyone.
Usually, Direct Telephone Calling is only available as part of our
Maximum Impact Bookselling Package which sells for $1650. However, for
the month of June, we are offering our Direct Telephone Calling as a
stand-alone service for just $750! This is our most effective service
at our lowest price ever.
And my personal favorite lure to author fame from 3/28/07
Is your book the next to appear on the big screen?
Check out www.airleaf.com to see the trailer for our first film, Jessie’s Girl.
We are making another trip to Hollywood in April to present all new books to all new Producers and Directors! We will present your book in face to face meetings for just $650.
So, hopefully some of these campaigns will help you remember which ones you bought. And for sure—they all sounded so, so good—and legitimate!
I would like to share two links with you today. One is from our friend Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware, a website that gives excellent advice to writers and warms them about possible scams. I told Victoria that I am working on some helpful links to help our writers with their book promotions in a meaningful way. I believe that most POD companies that offer package deals are misleading and/or ineffective. All of us want our books to sell, but there are many things that we can do on our own for little or no money rather than pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to promoters.
Victoria welcomed me to share her link about services for writers, and I know you'll find some excellent ideas there.
Link to Writer Beware: Writers' Services
The second link I would like to share with you is the link to help find a literary agent. I have found this link to be extremely helpful when trying to find an agent. It was sent to me by an agent friend, and I have been using it to test it out. There is no cost for using this link, Agent Query. Some of you have written to me that you would like to go through a "traditional" publishing route, so here is the way to start.
Link to Agent Query:
AgentQuery :: Find the Agent Who Will Find You a Publisher
Some words of advice when seeking a literary agent: Expect rejection and don't personalize it. I have gone through the traditional route twice. I have found two excellent agents, one who was able to sell my first book, and a second one who believed in my book but was unable to sell it. I sent out 60 targeted inquiry letters both times and only received three people who were interested the first time and two people interested the second time. And although I was able to sell my first book, there was a long turn-around time between throughout this journey. So if you are expecting a quick fix—forget it. Make sure that if you choose this route that you have a strong query letter done in the proper format. There are lots of websites that give great advice in how to prepare one, and I am always happy to look it over for you and give suggestions. Also keep in mind if you are lucky enough to find an agent, there is usually a back up time in publishing once they find a publisher of between 12 and 18 months.
Last week, I sent you to our Airleaf Victims blog site. If you looked there, you saw my books were listed on the right hand side and available on Amazon. If you are selling your books on Amazon, my blog-keeper will be glad to have your book or books listed on our Airleaf Victims site. Just drop me a note, and I'll tell you what I need.
Here is a link to the Airleaf Victims blog site so you can see my books listed:
Airleaf Victims
In the upcoming weeks, I will share some excellent ideas and links with you to help you with your book promotion. These links and ideas are mostly free ideas that you can do yourself.
Please remember to fill out your survey and get it back to me with any documentation you have. If you want to send it to me by mail, my home address is listed on the bottom of the form. In three weeks, I will take a few days off from my job so I can compile all of the information that you are sending in and give you the results. If you do not have a printer and you would like me to send you the form as an email, just let me know.
With love and hope,
Bonnie Kaye :)
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
First, welcome to our new members. We have passed the 400-member mark this week with 401 members in our group.
This week, I have no new news to report concerning our case. I anticipate that some action will be taken by later this month. I have calls in to the US Attorney in Indiana, and I hope to hear from him by next week for an update.
This week, I am asking you to help me get our case organized because I believe that we will see some results in the near future from all of our efforts. I have attached a profile sheet for each of you to fill out so I can compile the data for all of us, the government agencies who will be bringing charges against Carl Lau, and the media. All information will be kept confidential from the public unless I personally ask you individually to allow me to share it with an agency or news source. I would never compromise anyone's integrity by giving out information without your permission.
I am trying to pinpoint when the fraudulence started to escalate at Airleaf and who the employees were who knowingly participated in it. I am also trying to differentiate between the publishing services versus the promotional services. Some of you paid for books to be published by Airleaf, some of you paid for your own books to be promoted by Airleaf, and some people paid for publishing and promotion by Airleaf. From our 400 members, I want to get a significant sampling to make comparisons.
For example, I went to Airleaf to publish my book Straight Wives: Shattered Lives. I paid $1,895.00 for publishing, 50 copies, and placement in 15 book stores. That price also included a return policy so I could have books signings. My book was published quickly, and I did receive the 50 copies. However, my book copies did not show up to my first book signing (problems with the printer was the excuse), it never appeared in 15 bookstores (I checked), and when I requested a book signing to be set up in Southern California last summer, I was told that there were no bookstores interested in this in Southern California. Since my book was publicized on national news stories, I found this amazing. I also was promised quarterly royalties, but we all are familiar with that story.
In my early days with Airleaf while I was still in the "honeymoon phase," I bought a promotional package for a book I published through iUniverse called ManReaders: A Woman's Guide to Dysfunctional Men. I paid $350.00 to have the press release for the book sent to "important decision makers" in the television market. Of course, there were no responses, but as my Airleaf consultant told me, "Lots of interest." So in my case, I paid for publishing and promotion of an Airleaf book, and promotion of my own book published elsewhere. On the survey form, please check all of the services that you paid for.
Some of you may need reminders to jog your memories, so I have gone back to some of my old emails and looked at some of the promotions that were sent to me. These include:
You have until November 30, 2006 to save on selected bookselling
services!
Reach 2000 bookstore owners for just $239.40! You save $160!
Reach 1000 Filmmakers for just 210! You save $140!
Reach 400 Traditional Publishers for just $270! You save $180!
Sell your book on 10 websites for $299.40! You save $200!
Reach 10,000 bookstore owners with our Maximum Impact Service which
includes direct telephone calls to bookstores for just $990. You save
$660!
SAVE $900 ON DIRECT CALLING TO BOOKSTORES!
While our email, fax and direct mail campaigns have all been successful,
nothing sells books better than a telephone call to the owner of the
bookstore. We want all of our authors' books to sell, so we are making
our Direct Telephone Calling Service affordable for everyone.
Usually, Direct Telephone Calling is only available as part of our
Maximum Impact Bookselling Package which sells for $1650. However, for
the month of June, we are offering our Direct Telephone Calling as a
stand-alone service for just $750! This is our most effective service
at our lowest price ever.
NEW BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB
While we have sold thousands of books to hundreds of book stores, we have
never focused on selling books directly to individual readers--Until now!
With Airleaf's new Book of the Month Club we will be tapping into this
multi-billion dollar consumer market for the first time.
Book clubs like Oprah Winfrey's and The Today Show's generate millions of
dollars in book sales every month. We hope our book club will do the same.
We have selected a few of our best titles for club members, but we believe
the Book of the Month Club will benefit ALL Airleaf authors.
Please take a look!
SAVE $900 ON DIRECT CALLING TO BOOKSTORES!
While our email, fax and direct mail campaigns have all been successful,
nothing sells books better than a telephone call to the owner of the
bookstore. We want all of our authors' books to sell, so we are making
our Direct Telephone Calling Service affordable for everyone.
Usually, Direct Telephone Calling is only available as part of our
Maximum Impact Bookselling Package which sells for $1650. However, for
the month of June, we are offering our Direct Telephone Calling as a
stand-alone service for just $750! This is our most effective service
at our lowest price ever.
And my personal favorite lure to author fame from 3/28/07
Is your book the next to appear on the big screen?
Check out www.airleaf.com to see the trailer for our first film, Jessie’s Girl.
We are making another trip to Hollywood in April to present all new books to all new Producers and Directors! We will present your book in face to face meetings for just $650.
So, hopefully some of these campaigns will help you remember which ones you bought. And for sure—they all sounded so, so good—and legitimate!
I would like to share two links with you today. One is from our friend Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware, a website that gives excellent advice to writers and warms them about possible scams. I told Victoria that I am working on some helpful links to help our writers with their book promotions in a meaningful way. I believe that most POD companies that offer package deals are misleading and/or ineffective. All of us want our books to sell, but there are many things that we can do on our own for little or no money rather than pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to promoters.
Victoria welcomed me to share her link about services for writers, and I know you'll find some excellent ideas there.
Link to Writer Beware: Writers' Services
The second link I would like to share with you is the link to help find a literary agent. I have found this link to be extremely helpful when trying to find an agent. It was sent to me by an agent friend, and I have been using it to test it out. There is no cost for using this link, Agent Query. Some of you have written to me that you would like to go through a "traditional" publishing route, so here is the way to start.
Link to Agent Query:
AgentQuery :: Find the Agent Who Will Find You a Publisher
Some words of advice when seeking a literary agent: Expect rejection and don't personalize it. I have gone through the traditional route twice. I have found two excellent agents, one who was able to sell my first book, and a second one who believed in my book but was unable to sell it. I sent out 60 targeted inquiry letters both times and only received three people who were interested the first time and two people interested the second time. And although I was able to sell my first book, there was a long turn-around time between throughout this journey. So if you are expecting a quick fix—forget it. Make sure that if you choose this route that you have a strong query letter done in the proper format. There are lots of websites that give great advice in how to prepare one, and I am always happy to look it over for you and give suggestions. Also keep in mind if you are lucky enough to find an agent, there is usually a back up time in publishing once they find a publisher of between 12 and 18 months.
Last week, I sent you to our Airleaf Victims blog site. If you looked there, you saw my books were listed on the right hand side and available on Amazon. If you are selling your books on Amazon, my blog-keeper will be glad to have your book or books listed on our Airleaf Victims site. Just drop me a note, and I'll tell you what I need.
Here is a link to the Airleaf Victims blog site so you can see my books listed:
Airleaf Victims
In the upcoming weeks, I will share some excellent ideas and links with you to help you with your book promotion. These links and ideas are mostly free ideas that you can do yourself.
Please remember to fill out your survey and get it back to me with any documentation you have. If you want to send it to me by mail, my home address is listed on the bottom of the form. In three weeks, I will take a few days off from my job so I can compile all of the information that you are sending in and give you the results. If you do not have a printer and you would like me to send you the form as an email, just let me know.
With love and hope,
Bonnie Kaye :)
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