August 9, 2009
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
I am writing this last correspondence to you to let you know that I am wrapping up my efforts on the Airleaf case. At this point of time, I have gone as far as I can go, and it’s time to let go. All of the petitions that many of you were kind enough to sign will be sent to the U.S. Attorney Timothy Morrison this week. If by some miracle he changes his mind after reading them, I will notify you immediately.
I wanted to make sure that I explored every possible course of action, but I have to accept that I have come to a dead end. As so many of you have told me, it’s time to let go. From my point of view, there has been no justice for the Airleaf Victims. The fact that Airleaf closed down was due to our efforts in stopping their cash flow—not government efforts to stop the fraudulence. Airleaf was run by con men. They were experts in making people believe that we could become famous authors through a series of publicity efforts, which in almost every case, never happened. There were no European book fairs, no Bowker reviews, no Carnival cruise, or no Hollywood movies. There was just continued scamming of good people who worked long and hard at becoming authors.
Should you be angry? Of course you should. Most of you were taken for your hard work and hard earned money while others profited off of your innocence with airplanes, boats, trips to Hollywood where sordid affairs took place, and a plush life style built off of your suffering. In addition to the thieves who took your money so willingly but refused to provide you with the promised services, we had the State of Indiana to contend with. Its lack of concern for thieves in their State will always be my greatest reminder of how government doesn’t care about its people.
This has been a wonderful experience for me because it has given me the unique opportunity to get to know so many of you. I have developed life-time friendships with some of the most wonderful people I have ever met. I have read the words of some of the most prolific and profound writers imaginable. I had the fortune of meeting a number of you in my travels and in yours. So every moment that I put into this effort was well rewarded with new friendships that have enriched my life.
Although most of you don’t know much about me, I will share some things with you at this time. In the 1970’s, I spent nearly ten years of my life as an activist for a cause I believed in. I learned a lot in those days about organizing people and using the media to our advantage. I tried to take those skills and use them in our Airleaf campaign. Now with the advent of the Internet, it was easier in many ways. It allowed me to put up websites to alert people, send out press releases to the media, and stay in touch with many of you via email. In the past when I was in my 20’s, I went up against some of the most worthy opponents—and won--including the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in my battle to have Nazi War Criminals removed from this country, the New York Federal Court who did not allow people to view the deportation of a Nazi War Criminal, the City of Chicago (stopping neo-Nazi marches in Skokie, Illinois), the Russian government demanding the release of Russian Jews, and many others who were quite offensive to many people. I may not have won the war, but I certainly did win many battles.
Because of my younger years as an activist, I thought the Airleaf battle would be a piece of cake. It seemed so easy—people being robbed of their money. This was criminal—or so I thought. Little did I know that it wasn’t a crime to take people’s money under false pretenses in the State of Indiana. Silly me. I thought that robbing hundreds if not thousands of people would truly be against the law in any state in this country. It seemed so very cut and clear.
Sadly, at this point of time, I have come to realize that robbing people of millions of dollars is not a crime in Indiana—rather it is what they call “bad business.” Wow, I wish I was a crook. I know where I would relocate to. Indiana would be calling my name loud and clear. As I have told all of the officials that I have tried to convince to be on our side, I could set up a business selling dreams to people at $500.00 a shot, and if they didn’t come true, well, I could say at least I tried. Ha ha. No one there seemed to disagree with me.
The real culprits here are not just Carl Lau and Brien Jones. It’s the government of Indiana. In May of 2007, Airleaf was given an order through the Attorney General’s office stating that they would not conduct any more bad business with customers after having to pay out $12,000.00 to two authors and being issued an AVC order. When our first complaints started going to the AG’s office back in August when I sent the first of hundreds to come, nothing happened. Well, almost nothing. Actually, the Assistant AG at that time, Terry Tolliver, went with our police detective Jeff Buskirk to raid the Airleaf computers in October. This made me feel optimistic. But that was the end of the road. Nothing more came from that. When the new assistant AG took over, Tom Irons, he went to battle for us and a judgment was handed down five months after Airleaf closed. The problem was that the case stopped there. It was a “good will” gesture with no results. Carl Lau lost his home to the IRS, and supposedly his boat wasn’t worth going after. His partial ownership in the airplane wasn’t worth it either I suppose.
I believe that if anyone is guilty, it’s the government of Indiana that could have acted months before Airleaf shut down to demand that our money be returned, but they didn’t. And the final blow was when the U.S. Attorney, Timothy Morrison, refused to consider our case “criminal.”
I have pursued every possible course of action including writing to government officials in Washington, the President, every state representative and state senator in Indiana, the congressmen of the state, and the senators of the state. Heck, I even wrote to the governor’s wife pleading for help. Only one in over 80 representatives that I wrote to responded telling me that it wasn’t a State issue. So what’s new? I already figured that out with the overwhelming mounds of rejection that came my way in the form of silence.
I recently spoke to the lawyer of one of our victims who said we could pursue the case if we put up money. It would take lots of money—thousands of dollars. Then there is no guarantee that we would see anything. After all, Carl Lau lost his home and his business. What will we be able to take from? However, if a group of you would like to spend money pursuing this, please let me know.
So let me share some final thoughts with you.
Last year, a group of us began an author’s co-op, Books of Excellence. It’s a way for people to have a site they can refer people to if they don’t have their own website. We were overly ambitious in hoping people would buy five books a year from other authors. Some did; others did not. The majority of us decided this year just to pay yearly due for upkeep and publicity. I will be starting a new internet radio show in September with our authors one hour a week. This way, authors can promote their books via the computer radio stations and generate some business. We would be happy to have you join us. The cost to join is $60.00 for the first year which gives you a place on the front page of the website as well as your own page where you can advertise you and your books. After the first year, the dues are $25.00 a year. You can visit our site at www.BooksOfExcellence.com.
Many of you came to me with questions about republishing. There are three publishers that I feel confident in recommending to you. The first is my own publisher, CCB Publishing. Several dozen of us have republished there. You can read our testimonials on the website at www.CCBPublishing.com. The price is excellent, the service superb, and in a few weeks, your book is out in the market. Paul Rabinowitz, my publishing hero, works closely with each and every author day and night. He has all books distributed through not only local channels including Amazon and Barnes and Noble, but also the European channels, e-books, and his newest venture, The Expresso Book Machine. Here is some information about EBM:
CCB Publishing is pleased to announce a new distribution channel for its authors’ books. Placed primarily in bookstores and libraries, the Espresso Book Machine® (the “EBM”), a Time Magazine “Best Invention of 2007,” is essentially an ATM for books. The EBM automatically prints, binds and trims on demand at point of sale perfect-bound library-quality paperback books with full-color covers that are indistinguishable from most books on a bookstore shelf. The EBM can manufacture a 300-page book in less than 4 minutes while the customer waits. Books with black and white interiors will be universally available, while books with color interiors will only be available from certain sites. In addition to Time Magazine, this revolutionary new technology has been featured by The New York Times, Newsweek, Fortune, CNN and NPR.
Other participating publishers of note include John Wiley & Sons, Hachette Book Group, McGraw-Hill, Simon & Schuster, Clements Publishing, Information Age Publishing, Macmillan, University of California Press and W.W. Norton.
In addition to being featured at the Book Fair in London, England and at BookExpo America in New York City, there have been 16 EBM installations to date with many more planned. In addition to the following locations, current plans for 2009 include new installations in the United Kingdom through the Blackwell Ltd. chain of bookstores, in Australia through the Angus & Robertson chain and related bookstores, as well as in multiple locations at universities, bookstores and other retailers in North America and around the world.
Current locations:
• World Bank InfoShop, Washington, D.C., USA
• New York Public Library, New York, NY, USA
• New Orleans Public Library, New Orleans, LA, USA
• Internet Archive, San Francisco, CA, USA
• University of Michigan Library, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
• Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, VT, USA
• Brigham Young University Bookstore, Provo, UT, USA
• University of Alberta Bookstore, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
• McMaster University Bookstore, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
• University of Waterloo Bookstore, Ontario, Canada
• McGill University Library, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• Newsstand UK, London, England
• Blackwell’s Bookstore, London, England
• Angus & Robertson Bookstore, Melbourne, Australia
• University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
• Library of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt
Paul delivers what he promises—and everything is included in his one price of $750.00. This also includes 20 FREE BOOKS. If you would like to have your book listed as “returnable” for book store book signings, CCB can do this for the low cost of $100.00 for one year. If you check with other companies like Authorhouse, you’ll see that they charge $599.00 for this service. (Of course they are located in Indiana too, so don’t try to fight it!) You can also buy your books from Paul at $2.00 over the cost of printing plus shipping and handling.
The second publisher that I would like to recommend is Mountain Valley Publishing, owned by Bob Denton. I have come to know, care about, and appreciate Bob over the past year and a half. I wasn’t very nice to him in our early days, accusing him of working with Airleaf to hurt writers. I was wrong, and I know I’ve said it before—and I’ll say it again. Bob was used and manipulated by Airleaf as many other well-meaning employees were, and he did quit when he realized that there was no hope and authors were being screwed two months before the closing of Airleaf. He did try hard for authors, especially once Airleaf closed down. Bob was able—and is still able and willing-- to retrieve authors’ disks, and for many of them before the flood, their books that were sitting in the Airleaf offices. Sadly, once the flood came, Airleaf was flooded out along with nearly 50,000 books—and of course, no flood insurance.
Bob has republished books for many Airleaf authors. I have spoken with a number of them and they are always thrilled by his quickness, quality, and customer service. I have not heard one complaint yet from anyone using Mountain Valley Publishing—only words of praise. Bob does everything for authors from cover design, ISBN number, and bar code to Internet distribution. He has a special deal for Airleaf authors to republish your Airleaf book for $750.00 which includes 25 copies for free. If you want to buy your books, he only charges for the cost of printing plus shipping and handling which is an excellent deal. If authors have a new book, Bob will publish that for $995.00 and give authors 25 copies of the book which is still an excellent deal. You can write to Bob at bdenton308@comcast.net. You will find his contact information if you want to chat with him. You can also see his website at: www.MoutainValleyPublishing.com. Please read his list of testimonials from happy authors if you would like to become one of them.
One other publisher that I have heard wonderful things about is Helen Compton from Artship Publishing. Helen is a sponsor at our Books of Excellence co-op. Several of our victims are republishing with her and have the kindest words to say about their experiences with Helen. She gives tremendous thought and help with putting books together, designing the covers, and taking it through the publishing process. You can feel free to visit her site and get her contact information by visiting: http://www.galleryartship.com/ebook.html
On a side issue, I received a letter last week from a woman in Indiana. She wrote:
Bonnie,
My name is Linda and I have been following the Airleaf story with your group. I think you have a great group of writers there and I wondered if they would want to participate in a fundraiser to help raise money for cancer research. My relay for life team is going to have a celebrity auction and we're looking for writers willing to donate an autograph book or photo. If anyone would want to participate they can send them to
Linda Williams
309 E South St
Martinsville, IN 46151
This auction is in memory of two friends who lost their own battles with cancer; Rita Greenwood and Brenda Wisman. Thank you for your time.
Linda
If you would be willing to donate a book or two to this worthy cause, know that it will go for something positive in life. Please send your books to Linda at the above address.
Finally, I would like to thank all of you who put your faith in me. The battle of Airleaf Victims started for me during the year that I lost my beloved son, Jason, at the age of 23 due to his rare illness that was misdiagnosed in his final battle to live. Three years earlier, I had lost my daughter, Jennifer, age 22. My life was in a dark place when this battle began. I felt that life had robbed me of my greatest treasures, and now, once again, I was being robbed. I knew I couldn’t save my children—that was out of my control. But I didn’t want to feel like a victim. I always taught my children to stand up for something you believe in. I taught them that there are always hands reaching out to you—some to pull you up; other to drag you down. It’s my “Misery loves Company” theory of why people look to drag you down. I extended my hand with kindness in the hopes of pulling all of us out of the darkness that entered our lives when men with dishonorable intentions were lurking in our midst. Nearly 600 of you reached back and made this battle your battle so that you wouldn’t remain a victim—but rather a victor.
As I said earlier, I have met some of the finest people imaginable through this battle. I have relived your horrors story after story of how you were fooled and tricked into throwing your hard earned money out the window. There were many nights I cried myself to sleep thinking about your pain, and I made it my pain. Then I went through this horror all over again when some of our victims told me how they were being “re-victimized” by Brien Jones in his new company, Jones Harvest. Again I sent out notices to people to stop paying for services that will never happen. I gave Mr. Jones a run for his money, but he runs faster than me. I have over 80 letters from victims of his, but once again, the government of Indiana is impotent about making this a crime. At this point, I’m ending my battle against him as well. Too much negative energy is being wasted on one pathetic man. If authors aren’t willing to believe all the warnings put in front of them, well, so be it. Let their money be taken from them once again.
I would like to thank my predatory publishing guru Victoria Strauss for helping me through this maze and mess. Victoria was a constant source of inspiration, who helped me during some of my darkest moments when I kept feeling like throwing in the towel. Victoria and her partner, Ann Crispin, are the true fighters for the cause of predatory publishing. They have made this their life’s mission through their website Writer Beware. You can view their site at http://www.sfwa.org/beware/. Put that site in your favorites to keep referring back to because it will be a continued source of inspiration. Anytime you’re not sure about a company, check there first. Ask the experts who keep on top of this daily.
I would also like to thank Detective Jeff Buskirk from the Martinsville, Indiana police department. He made a hero’s effort to put this case together for us. He worked diligently day and night—and there were many nights—helping us present our proof of criminal action. Sadly, all of his efforts were also ignored. Jeff Buskirk helped me believe in the kindness of strangers. He could have said this wasn’t a case for him, but he never did that. He really needs to be commended for his good deeds in trying his best to “do the right thing.” I wish he lived in Philadelphia near me. He would truly be recognized for his good work.
Know that in moving ahead, I am always here for anyone who wants advice or for me to check out something for you. Please email me anytime at Bonkaye@aol.com. Many of you are my friends; some of you have become my extended family. We will always be linked through our tragedy, but we are survivors and have put life back together in spite of this.
Learn from this lesson, and hold your heads up high. You are receiving this email because you refused to walk away and chose to stand up and fight. For that reason alone, you are no longer a victim, but a victor.
Love, Bonnie Kaye
Showing posts with label Jones Harvest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jones Harvest. Show all posts
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Sunday, September 7, 2008
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE PREDATORY SCAMS
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE SEPTEMBER 7, 2008
Dear Fellow Airleaf Victims and Friends,
Next Sunday is the annual Brooklyn Book Fair in Brooklyn, New York. I am excited about attending the event so I can promote our new co-op, Books Of Excellence. If any of you are in the New York area and would like to meet up with me, please email me at Bonkaye@aol.com and I’ll make arrangements to meet you. We are constantly adding new members to our co-op, so if you haven’t had a chance to look at it lately, check us out at www.BooksOfExcellence.com.
I have been in touch with the U.S. Attorney in Indiana to see how our criminal case is coming along. I have been assured that the investigation is still being worked on and conversations by investigators taken place. I am hoping to have more information for you within the next several weeks.
I would like to take some time to talk about members of our group becoming VICTIMS all over again. This week, I have been working with five of our victims to help them with publishing and publicity scams where once again they have been taken for large sums of money. Omni Publicity, owned by Joe Ullrich in Tampa, Florida, promised one of our authors this deal:
PROPOSED CAMPAIGN
Research & Development
Omni Experts Online Directory Listing (1 year – a $399.00 value)
Press Release Creation
Broadcast (Online) Press Release Distribution
Direct Email
Aggressive Marketing
Twelve (12) Talk Radio Interviews
Any additional Interviews are no charge
Total Investment: $ 2395.00
And then came the GUARANTEE--
OMNI PUBLICITY AND PUBLIC RELATIONS GROUP GUARANTEE
Omni Publicity And Public Relations Group placements are no risk to you!
You only pay for the interviews you receive…period!
We assume all the financial risk! The professional staff of Omni Publicity And Public Relations Group will aggressively market you to talk radio shows throughout the country. Our efforts will yield the desired results of interviews – and you only pay for the interviews you receive!
We strongly recommend this campaign to you with complete confidence as it has been so successful for so many of our other clients. This exact campaign has secured interviews for our authors on a national, regional and local level. Some of our authors have also appeared on national TV as well as in print - most notability Dr. Phil, A Current Affair, Geraldo, FOX News Channel, NPR radio, The Miami Herald and GLOBE to name just a mere few – as a direct result of this campaign! The rates within are guaranteed for 30 days from the date of this proposal!
Our author fell for these smooth talking promises. This happened two years ago, and there was never one interview. When I called the Joe Ullrich on the victim’s behalf, explaining I was the leader of a predatory publishing/publicity group, he was very defensive telling me that the author was “crazy.” Often, disgruntled authors are classified as “crazy” by predatory publishers when they express their dissatisfaction. Good comeback, huh?
Anyway, I told the owner that he promised services that were never received, and that I have emails between the two parties where he offers a lot of “excuses” but no action. He claimed that he sent out emails to the media. When I asked him who the media was, he replied, “We can’t reveal that list.” When I asked him who he personally called as he guaranteed, again, “I don’t give out that information.” Okay, what information do you give out? That’s when the phone slammed in my ear. No doubt there may be authors who are happy with Mr. Ullrich, but that’s irrelevant to our author victim who received NOTHING that she was promised.
The “EXCUSES” need to be a RED FLAG to those of you who are currently paying for services that aren’t being delivered or paying for services that are free like book reviews from Barnes and Noble and Midwest. So now, I will be making a case through the Florida law enforcement agencies to help our victim get her money back.
Another one of our victims recently paid for a “Hollywood Dream” scheme in Atlanta, Georgia. The company, Jigsaw Filmwork, owned by a Timothy Crenshaw, promised her to put together a package for a Hollywood deal. He convinced her that there were investors ready to pay for the production, and the famous key gripper turned producer, Courtney Jones, would produce her movie. If you go on the Jigsaw Filmwork website at the following address, http://jigsawfilmworks-llc.com/mainmenu.html, you can see Mr. Jones as part of the staff. Is he? No clue. I just know this author was scammed. She paid the money, and waited and waited for a production package to be presented to her. In fact, she was supposed to be flown to “Hollywood” next week to meet with the production crew. They even had the nerve to have her make a list of who she would like to star in the movie. And even better—this company was found on the same website as Carl Lau, Go Big Network, looking for an investor. Here’s his profile that I found:
Timothy Crenshaw
Company: Jigsaw Filmworks
Industry: Entertainment
Location: Atlanta, GA (USA)
My Focus: Startup;
Startup Company Profile
Startup Name Jigsaw Filmworks
Location Atlanta, GA (United States)
Industry Entertainment
Year Founded 2007
Legal Status Unspecified
Business Stage Unspecified
Number of Employees Unspecified
Company Description We are an independent film company that produces films for the big screen, television and video releases. Timothy Crenshaw(Jigsaw Filmsorks) has been in the Entertainment field for 15 years working with artists such as JaRule, 112,Black Reign to name a few in the recording field. Now that he has moved over to the motion pictures industry business he has the pleasure of teaming with well know director/producer Courtney Jones based out of California.Courtney Jones has been involved with several motion pictures such as Star Wars, The Bratz, Fronterz plus many others.
Somehow, Mr. Crenshaw has come down with some rare illness called, “Don’t look for me after I get your money, ” and has failed to deliver the goods. I think he would be an excellent partner for Carl Lau or maybe Litestone Entertainment, don’t you?
As of late, some of you know I have been working with our victims who have become victims once again through Jones Harvest Publishing. To address this problem, I put up another website at www.JonesHarvestFraudVictims.com. I felt compelled to do this at the point when I had over a dozen new victims of this company. Jones Harvest has rallied their select fans to attack me for exposing them, but I stand by my claims that people are being defrauded through this company. At first, people were able to get their money back through threats, but now that has changed, no matter how much they “guarantee” your satisfaction or giving your money back. Well, actually, on their website, they make that guarantee to…“all new clients a money-back guarantee on our publishing, promotional and bookselling services.” Hmmm, what about their old clients who are asking for their money back?
Fans of Jones Harvest (3 to be exact) have written to me directly or via blogs to state that they are thrilled with the services from the company. And for those authors, I am thrilled for them. Remember—Airleaf had clients who loved them also. I wasn’t fighting for the ones who loved the company—I was fighting for those of us who were victims of the company.
When Brien Jones left Airleaf and started his own company, he promised that he would be “different.” He frowned on all of those schemes that made people have dreams that would never come true—or so he said. He only wanted to “sell books.” For that reason, I gave him a chance. I never knew him at Airleaf and he offered to republish my Airleaf book for free in return for allowing him to post my picture on one of his numerous websites, Author Celebrity. Jones also claims that I “forced” him to publish 40 other books for free in various emails he has sent to authors attacking me. Truth be told, I only asked him to publish one book for free—the book of Jason Hubal’s who was a disabled young man near death’s door. Jason and his mom, Gracie, invested $8,000.00 at Airleaf for nothing, and Jason was hoping to see his book before he passed on. I told Brien Jones it would be the right thing to do—and he did it. This was the only book I personally requested that he reprint for free.
Although numerous members of our group complained to me about Jones, I told you that we had to focus our campaign on Carl Lau because he was the owner of the company. When I would tell Brien about the complaints, he would always tell me that he was just a worker—in fact a victim too—of Airleaf. He wasn’t even allowed to open the mail. Whatever. In reality, he was the Vice President. He was the one who came up with the schemes. If you look at his promotions now—as many of you do and send them to me—it’s the same promotions as he did at Airleaf. And the promises:
• Weekly calls with progress reports
• Calls to every newspaper, magazine, and radio station in her hometown with a report
• One television appearance including a DVD version
• Three radio interviews including one on a nationally syndicated AM/FM radio show
• Submission of your book to a film producer for review and recommendations
And best of all, Jones Harvest states in their agreement: Each of these commitments is guaranteed. We will not be satisfied until we place your book in bookstores everywhere and you are a celebrity.
Does this sound all too familiar? Well, it’s déjà vu all over again for too many people.
I spoke to an author this week whose books were turned in over a YEAR ago—along with her money--to Jones Harvest and they are still not out or even corrected with galleys. EXCUSES, EXCUSES, EXCUSES are all she is receiving.
Wake up authors—there are no excuses for taking a year to put out a book. My publisher, CCB Publishing (www.CCBPublishing.com) does it in a month—4 weeks--and so does Bob Denton from Mountain Valley Publishing (www.MountainValleyPublishing.com). Both of them provide excellent publishing and distribution services and get your book out for a reasonable amount of money quickly and with integrity. Read the testimonials on their website and see for yourself.
As for the Better Business Bureau rating of Jones Harvest let me say this—when over 50 of our victims sent in complaints to the Indiana BBB about Airleaf, and just weeks prior to the shut down, the BBB was still giving Airleaf a positive rating. I called them a few weeks ago and asked how that happens. The woman explained to me that changing a rating takes time—it could even take more than a year. First, the BBB has to do an investigation which can take months. So, just because someone buys membership into the BBB and pays for the top of the line rating doesn’t mean a thing. Trust me when I tell you the BBB has complaints about Jones Harvest. I know. And so does the Attorney General and U.S. Attorney’s office.
The irony here is that I am being blamed for the future collapse of Jones Harvest. Once again, am I to blame that authors don’t get what they’re promised or pay for? Am I the culprit when people are being misled and lied to? I don’t think so. Quite frankly, I would have been very happy to end my predatory activism days with Airleaf. But too many of you are like my extended family. I will devote my time to any of you who are being burned again. That’s what family is about.
I felt the need to write about this now so that in the future, authors won’t come to me and say why didn’t I warn them earlier. I already feel bad that I’ve kept quiet too long in hopes of things changing for the better. Don’t allow yourselves to fall prey to savvy sales con men who promise you outrageous promises that can’t come true. Always do a thorough check first—or write to me and I’ll do a thorough check for you.
If you have any other companies you would like me to check for you, please write to me any time. Don’t allow yourself to be a victim AGAIN!
Love, Bonnie Kaye
Dear Fellow Airleaf Victims and Friends,
Next Sunday is the annual Brooklyn Book Fair in Brooklyn, New York. I am excited about attending the event so I can promote our new co-op, Books Of Excellence. If any of you are in the New York area and would like to meet up with me, please email me at Bonkaye@aol.com and I’ll make arrangements to meet you. We are constantly adding new members to our co-op, so if you haven’t had a chance to look at it lately, check us out at www.BooksOfExcellence.com.
I have been in touch with the U.S. Attorney in Indiana to see how our criminal case is coming along. I have been assured that the investigation is still being worked on and conversations by investigators taken place. I am hoping to have more information for you within the next several weeks.
I would like to take some time to talk about members of our group becoming VICTIMS all over again. This week, I have been working with five of our victims to help them with publishing and publicity scams where once again they have been taken for large sums of money. Omni Publicity, owned by Joe Ullrich in Tampa, Florida, promised one of our authors this deal:
PROPOSED CAMPAIGN
Research & Development
Omni Experts Online Directory Listing (1 year – a $399.00 value)
Press Release Creation
Broadcast (Online) Press Release Distribution
Direct Email
Aggressive Marketing
Twelve (12) Talk Radio Interviews
Any additional Interviews are no charge
Total Investment: $ 2395.00
And then came the GUARANTEE--
OMNI PUBLICITY AND PUBLIC RELATIONS GROUP GUARANTEE
Omni Publicity And Public Relations Group placements are no risk to you!
You only pay for the interviews you receive…period!
We assume all the financial risk! The professional staff of Omni Publicity And Public Relations Group will aggressively market you to talk radio shows throughout the country. Our efforts will yield the desired results of interviews – and you only pay for the interviews you receive!
We strongly recommend this campaign to you with complete confidence as it has been so successful for so many of our other clients. This exact campaign has secured interviews for our authors on a national, regional and local level. Some of our authors have also appeared on national TV as well as in print - most notability Dr. Phil, A Current Affair, Geraldo, FOX News Channel, NPR radio, The Miami Herald and GLOBE to name just a mere few – as a direct result of this campaign! The rates within are guaranteed for 30 days from the date of this proposal!
Our author fell for these smooth talking promises. This happened two years ago, and there was never one interview. When I called the Joe Ullrich on the victim’s behalf, explaining I was the leader of a predatory publishing/publicity group, he was very defensive telling me that the author was “crazy.” Often, disgruntled authors are classified as “crazy” by predatory publishers when they express their dissatisfaction. Good comeback, huh?
Anyway, I told the owner that he promised services that were never received, and that I have emails between the two parties where he offers a lot of “excuses” but no action. He claimed that he sent out emails to the media. When I asked him who the media was, he replied, “We can’t reveal that list.” When I asked him who he personally called as he guaranteed, again, “I don’t give out that information.” Okay, what information do you give out? That’s when the phone slammed in my ear. No doubt there may be authors who are happy with Mr. Ullrich, but that’s irrelevant to our author victim who received NOTHING that she was promised.
The “EXCUSES” need to be a RED FLAG to those of you who are currently paying for services that aren’t being delivered or paying for services that are free like book reviews from Barnes and Noble and Midwest. So now, I will be making a case through the Florida law enforcement agencies to help our victim get her money back.
Another one of our victims recently paid for a “Hollywood Dream” scheme in Atlanta, Georgia. The company, Jigsaw Filmwork, owned by a Timothy Crenshaw, promised her to put together a package for a Hollywood deal. He convinced her that there were investors ready to pay for the production, and the famous key gripper turned producer, Courtney Jones, would produce her movie. If you go on the Jigsaw Filmwork website at the following address, http://jigsawfilmworks-llc.com/mainmenu.html, you can see Mr. Jones as part of the staff. Is he? No clue. I just know this author was scammed. She paid the money, and waited and waited for a production package to be presented to her. In fact, she was supposed to be flown to “Hollywood” next week to meet with the production crew. They even had the nerve to have her make a list of who she would like to star in the movie. And even better—this company was found on the same website as Carl Lau, Go Big Network, looking for an investor. Here’s his profile that I found:
Timothy Crenshaw
Company: Jigsaw Filmworks
Industry: Entertainment
Location: Atlanta, GA (USA)
My Focus: Startup;
Startup Company Profile
Startup Name Jigsaw Filmworks
Location Atlanta, GA (United States)
Industry Entertainment
Year Founded 2007
Legal Status Unspecified
Business Stage Unspecified
Number of Employees Unspecified
Company Description We are an independent film company that produces films for the big screen, television and video releases. Timothy Crenshaw(Jigsaw Filmsorks) has been in the Entertainment field for 15 years working with artists such as JaRule, 112,Black Reign to name a few in the recording field. Now that he has moved over to the motion pictures industry business he has the pleasure of teaming with well know director/producer Courtney Jones based out of California.Courtney Jones has been involved with several motion pictures such as Star Wars, The Bratz, Fronterz plus many others.
Somehow, Mr. Crenshaw has come down with some rare illness called, “Don’t look for me after I get your money, ” and has failed to deliver the goods. I think he would be an excellent partner for Carl Lau or maybe Litestone Entertainment, don’t you?
As of late, some of you know I have been working with our victims who have become victims once again through Jones Harvest Publishing. To address this problem, I put up another website at www.JonesHarvestFraudVictims.com. I felt compelled to do this at the point when I had over a dozen new victims of this company. Jones Harvest has rallied their select fans to attack me for exposing them, but I stand by my claims that people are being defrauded through this company. At first, people were able to get their money back through threats, but now that has changed, no matter how much they “guarantee” your satisfaction or giving your money back. Well, actually, on their website, they make that guarantee to…“all new clients a money-back guarantee on our publishing, promotional and bookselling services.” Hmmm, what about their old clients who are asking for their money back?
Fans of Jones Harvest (3 to be exact) have written to me directly or via blogs to state that they are thrilled with the services from the company. And for those authors, I am thrilled for them. Remember—Airleaf had clients who loved them also. I wasn’t fighting for the ones who loved the company—I was fighting for those of us who were victims of the company.
When Brien Jones left Airleaf and started his own company, he promised that he would be “different.” He frowned on all of those schemes that made people have dreams that would never come true—or so he said. He only wanted to “sell books.” For that reason, I gave him a chance. I never knew him at Airleaf and he offered to republish my Airleaf book for free in return for allowing him to post my picture on one of his numerous websites, Author Celebrity. Jones also claims that I “forced” him to publish 40 other books for free in various emails he has sent to authors attacking me. Truth be told, I only asked him to publish one book for free—the book of Jason Hubal’s who was a disabled young man near death’s door. Jason and his mom, Gracie, invested $8,000.00 at Airleaf for nothing, and Jason was hoping to see his book before he passed on. I told Brien Jones it would be the right thing to do—and he did it. This was the only book I personally requested that he reprint for free.
Although numerous members of our group complained to me about Jones, I told you that we had to focus our campaign on Carl Lau because he was the owner of the company. When I would tell Brien about the complaints, he would always tell me that he was just a worker—in fact a victim too—of Airleaf. He wasn’t even allowed to open the mail. Whatever. In reality, he was the Vice President. He was the one who came up with the schemes. If you look at his promotions now—as many of you do and send them to me—it’s the same promotions as he did at Airleaf. And the promises:
• Weekly calls with progress reports
• Calls to every newspaper, magazine, and radio station in her hometown with a report
• One television appearance including a DVD version
• Three radio interviews including one on a nationally syndicated AM/FM radio show
• Submission of your book to a film producer for review and recommendations
And best of all, Jones Harvest states in their agreement: Each of these commitments is guaranteed. We will not be satisfied until we place your book in bookstores everywhere and you are a celebrity.
Does this sound all too familiar? Well, it’s déjà vu all over again for too many people.
I spoke to an author this week whose books were turned in over a YEAR ago—along with her money--to Jones Harvest and they are still not out or even corrected with galleys. EXCUSES, EXCUSES, EXCUSES are all she is receiving.
Wake up authors—there are no excuses for taking a year to put out a book. My publisher, CCB Publishing (www.CCBPublishing.com) does it in a month—4 weeks--and so does Bob Denton from Mountain Valley Publishing (www.MountainValleyPublishing.com). Both of them provide excellent publishing and distribution services and get your book out for a reasonable amount of money quickly and with integrity. Read the testimonials on their website and see for yourself.
As for the Better Business Bureau rating of Jones Harvest let me say this—when over 50 of our victims sent in complaints to the Indiana BBB about Airleaf, and just weeks prior to the shut down, the BBB was still giving Airleaf a positive rating. I called them a few weeks ago and asked how that happens. The woman explained to me that changing a rating takes time—it could even take more than a year. First, the BBB has to do an investigation which can take months. So, just because someone buys membership into the BBB and pays for the top of the line rating doesn’t mean a thing. Trust me when I tell you the BBB has complaints about Jones Harvest. I know. And so does the Attorney General and U.S. Attorney’s office.
The irony here is that I am being blamed for the future collapse of Jones Harvest. Once again, am I to blame that authors don’t get what they’re promised or pay for? Am I the culprit when people are being misled and lied to? I don’t think so. Quite frankly, I would have been very happy to end my predatory activism days with Airleaf. But too many of you are like my extended family. I will devote my time to any of you who are being burned again. That’s what family is about.
I felt the need to write about this now so that in the future, authors won’t come to me and say why didn’t I warn them earlier. I already feel bad that I’ve kept quiet too long in hopes of things changing for the better. Don’t allow yourselves to fall prey to savvy sales con men who promise you outrageous promises that can’t come true. Always do a thorough check first—or write to me and I’ll do a thorough check for you.
If you have any other companies you would like me to check for you, please write to me any time. Don’t allow yourself to be a victim AGAIN!
Love, Bonnie Kaye
Sunday, June 29, 2008
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE JUNE 28, 2008
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet nearly five hundred of you via email, telephone, mail, and in-person visits. I feel as if you are my extended family because we've shared so much together. Some of us will remain lifetime friends long after Airleaf is behind us.
It has been nearly a year since I started my campaign to stop the fraudulence at Airleaf. In this past year, together we have done what people said was impossible—namely put Airleaf out of business and have charges brought by the Indiana Attorney General's office all within this relatively short time period. I have no doubt that other charges will be brought on the criminal end even though things are not moving as quickly.
For the past 10 months, I have sent out my updates on a weekly basis to expose the fraudulence that went on at Airleaf as well as to give important information about republishing your work. Recently, I exposed similar Airleaf-type fraudulence going on at Jones Harvest Publishing. Brien Jones has sent out notes asking people why I am doing this to him. All I am doing is alerting people to the marketing fraud that Brien is repeating at his own company in the same contemptuous way he did at Airleaf.
I would like to tell you something of my past relationship with Brien. When I started my group of Airleaf Victims, a number of people believed and accused me of working with Brien Jones to start the group. They thought he was using me to get back at Airleaf and Carl Lau. Although Brien was very helpful in giving me information about Airleaf, as were other former employees, he was certainly not responsible for my actions. In fact, he was not in favor of them and discouraged me from starting the Airleaf Victims campaign. He still felt some sense of loyalty to Lau or perhaps it was fear of repercussions to him if Lau suspected Jones of working with me.
Many of you wrote to me in the early days when I started my campaign that Brien was the person you held responsible for the loss of your money. I tried to "redirect" your anger against Carl Lau because he was ultimately the person responsible for not providing the services and taking the money into the Airleaf bank account.
From our first conversation, Brien swore to me that he was going to be different than Airleaf. He only wanted to sell books. He said his goal was to travel from bookstore to bookstore asking them to take books because authors want their books in bookstores. In the beginning of his business, he told me that the Hollywood pitches were a waste of time and knocked Airleaf for doing that. He promised me that every promise he made to authors would be kept. HE WAS DIFFERENT THAN CARL LAU AND AIRLEAF. And guess what? I believed him. Because I believed him, I allowed him to use me to gather other authors for his business. That would have been fine if he was doing an honest job. But he wasn't—and he isn't. So many of our authors told me horror stories about Brien, and in time, it became impossible to overlook them. He had an excellent explanation for every accusation, but could so many people be wrong? Now I realize I was naïve and trusting even after being stung. So if it happened to you TWICE, know that you're not alone. But guess what? It won't happen to me ever again. I've learned to be smarter.
Since exposing the fraudulence of Jones Harvest three weeks ago, two people have written to me to tell me that they are happy with Brien Jones and Jones Harvest Publishing. I'm glad to hear that. But I've explained to these authors that there were people who were very happy with Airleaf as well; however, that didn't mean the majority of us weren't victims of predatory publishing. Brien makes promises in writing that he is not keeping nor does he have any intention of keeping. Even stamping that a book is has a copyright when there is no copyright is a blatant slap in the face of every author when that happens. Promising people fame when there is no fame to be had is repeating the same scam as Airleaf did. As so many of you have written to me over the past six months, you can no longer tell the difference between the Jones Harvest ads and the Airleaf ads. This is sickening for sure.
The lesson to be learned from our tragedy with Airleaf is not to make the same mistake twice—or in some of our cases, three times. And, if you made the mistake a second time, you can fix it. Make sure that you have a signed contract in hand from whomever your new publisher is. Make sure you get statements and payments as you were promised. Write down on your calendar the quarterly dates they are do. When you go to a publisher, have him put INTO writing what you can expect to make with the sale of your book. Seeing the profit margin may drive you to keep checking out other possible solutions. Do research on Google. Put in the name of the company and put Complaints about…. And see what comes up. You learn a whole lot that way. And then check with others who have used the company. Check with me! I'll research it for you and let you know what I find out. I have friends now in the predatory publishing world—thank you Victoria, Anne, and Dave! You are all guardian angels of our vulnerable and believing authors. Check out their Preditors and Editors and Writers Beware columns. Learn how to be a good detective before falling for promises that will be broken.
At this point, you will stop receiving the Airleaf Victims update on a weekly basis. I will send you all a blitz whenever there is news on the case. If I need help in getting results, I will write to all of you for your help. I am trying to refocus myself into positive action such as our Books of Excellence Author Co-op and exposing other predatory publishing to make sure victims have a platform.
If you need help in anything and want my help, don't hesitate to write to me. Otherwise, you'll hear from me on an informational basis only. I will let all of you know once our site for the authors' co-op is up and functioning. We will be very proud to accomplish this to show the world that our books will continue to be seen and read.
Incidentally, if you have the WE Entertainment channel on your cable (Women's Entertainment), you can see me in an episode of Secret Lives of Women being rebroadcast on July 1st at 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. You can also catch it on July 4th at 8 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. The episode is "Dirty Little Secrets of Suburban Housewives." It is certainly quite a shocking hour not for the faint of heart—or those under aged! I'm in the segment with the woman who has a gay husband. They interviewed me doing a counseling session with the woman. It's on the second part of the show.
Love to all of my victim fighters who helped make history happen. Better days are ahead.
With love and hope,
Bonnie
I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet nearly five hundred of you via email, telephone, mail, and in-person visits. I feel as if you are my extended family because we've shared so much together. Some of us will remain lifetime friends long after Airleaf is behind us.
It has been nearly a year since I started my campaign to stop the fraudulence at Airleaf. In this past year, together we have done what people said was impossible—namely put Airleaf out of business and have charges brought by the Indiana Attorney General's office all within this relatively short time period. I have no doubt that other charges will be brought on the criminal end even though things are not moving as quickly.
For the past 10 months, I have sent out my updates on a weekly basis to expose the fraudulence that went on at Airleaf as well as to give important information about republishing your work. Recently, I exposed similar Airleaf-type fraudulence going on at Jones Harvest Publishing. Brien Jones has sent out notes asking people why I am doing this to him. All I am doing is alerting people to the marketing fraud that Brien is repeating at his own company in the same contemptuous way he did at Airleaf.
I would like to tell you something of my past relationship with Brien. When I started my group of Airleaf Victims, a number of people believed and accused me of working with Brien Jones to start the group. They thought he was using me to get back at Airleaf and Carl Lau. Although Brien was very helpful in giving me information about Airleaf, as were other former employees, he was certainly not responsible for my actions. In fact, he was not in favor of them and discouraged me from starting the Airleaf Victims campaign. He still felt some sense of loyalty to Lau or perhaps it was fear of repercussions to him if Lau suspected Jones of working with me.
Many of you wrote to me in the early days when I started my campaign that Brien was the person you held responsible for the loss of your money. I tried to "redirect" your anger against Carl Lau because he was ultimately the person responsible for not providing the services and taking the money into the Airleaf bank account.
From our first conversation, Brien swore to me that he was going to be different than Airleaf. He only wanted to sell books. He said his goal was to travel from bookstore to bookstore asking them to take books because authors want their books in bookstores. In the beginning of his business, he told me that the Hollywood pitches were a waste of time and knocked Airleaf for doing that. He promised me that every promise he made to authors would be kept. HE WAS DIFFERENT THAN CARL LAU AND AIRLEAF. And guess what? I believed him. Because I believed him, I allowed him to use me to gather other authors for his business. That would have been fine if he was doing an honest job. But he wasn't—and he isn't. So many of our authors told me horror stories about Brien, and in time, it became impossible to overlook them. He had an excellent explanation for every accusation, but could so many people be wrong? Now I realize I was naïve and trusting even after being stung. So if it happened to you TWICE, know that you're not alone. But guess what? It won't happen to me ever again. I've learned to be smarter.
Since exposing the fraudulence of Jones Harvest three weeks ago, two people have written to me to tell me that they are happy with Brien Jones and Jones Harvest Publishing. I'm glad to hear that. But I've explained to these authors that there were people who were very happy with Airleaf as well; however, that didn't mean the majority of us weren't victims of predatory publishing. Brien makes promises in writing that he is not keeping nor does he have any intention of keeping. Even stamping that a book is has a copyright when there is no copyright is a blatant slap in the face of every author when that happens. Promising people fame when there is no fame to be had is repeating the same scam as Airleaf did. As so many of you have written to me over the past six months, you can no longer tell the difference between the Jones Harvest ads and the Airleaf ads. This is sickening for sure.
The lesson to be learned from our tragedy with Airleaf is not to make the same mistake twice—or in some of our cases, three times. And, if you made the mistake a second time, you can fix it. Make sure that you have a signed contract in hand from whomever your new publisher is. Make sure you get statements and payments as you were promised. Write down on your calendar the quarterly dates they are do. When you go to a publisher, have him put INTO writing what you can expect to make with the sale of your book. Seeing the profit margin may drive you to keep checking out other possible solutions. Do research on Google. Put in the name of the company and put Complaints about…. And see what comes up. You learn a whole lot that way. And then check with others who have used the company. Check with me! I'll research it for you and let you know what I find out. I have friends now in the predatory publishing world—thank you Victoria, Anne, and Dave! You are all guardian angels of our vulnerable and believing authors. Check out their Preditors and Editors and Writers Beware columns. Learn how to be a good detective before falling for promises that will be broken.
At this point, you will stop receiving the Airleaf Victims update on a weekly basis. I will send you all a blitz whenever there is news on the case. If I need help in getting results, I will write to all of you for your help. I am trying to refocus myself into positive action such as our Books of Excellence Author Co-op and exposing other predatory publishing to make sure victims have a platform.
If you need help in anything and want my help, don't hesitate to write to me. Otherwise, you'll hear from me on an informational basis only. I will let all of you know once our site for the authors' co-op is up and functioning. We will be very proud to accomplish this to show the world that our books will continue to be seen and read.
Incidentally, if you have the WE Entertainment channel on your cable (Women's Entertainment), you can see me in an episode of Secret Lives of Women being rebroadcast on July 1st at 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. You can also catch it on July 4th at 8 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. The episode is "Dirty Little Secrets of Suburban Housewives." It is certainly quite a shocking hour not for the faint of heart—or those under aged! I'm in the segment with the woman who has a gay husband. They interviewed me doing a counseling session with the woman. It's on the second part of the show.
Love to all of my victim fighters who helped make history happen. Better days are ahead.
With love and hope,
Bonnie
Saturday, June 14, 2008
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE JUNE 14, 2008
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE JUNE 14, 2008
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
This will be a short but important update. Last Saturday, Indiana was hit by some of the most horrific storms in its history. One of the towns ravaged by the flooding was Martinsville. More specifically, the Airleaf building was totally flooded out. Every remaining book stored there was destroyed as well as all other files including disks and other items you may have sent there. The building itself was under at least four to five feet of water throughout the facility.
The Airleaf flood will bring many new questions to light. Did Carl Lau have flood insurance? If he did, will he be reimbursed for all of the tens of thousands of books that were there? If he didn't, will this force him into greater financial stress pushing him into bankruptcy? We don't have the answers to those questions, but I hope to find them out as the weeks progress.
A number of our victims were fortunate to recover their property over the past six months thanks to Bob Denton, now owner of Mountain Valley Publishing Company. I asked Bob if he would be willing to help our authors get back their books and materials stored in the building, and he was extremely responsive. I have received dozens of letters from you, our victims, about Bob's helpfulness and courteousness in helping you with this task without charging any money for his own time—only for the cost of postage.
Although I was not very nice about Bob in my early updates because of Airleaf and his connection there until nearly the end, I do believe that he truly feels very bad for all of the authors who were fraudulently taken by Airleaf and has tried to make up for that. I have heard very positive feedback from some of our victims who republished with Bob concerning his timeliness, excellent customer service, and professionalism in getting a job done and their books into print.
But most importantly, we owe Bob thanks because he worked tirelessly in filling those requests from numerous victims who asked for his help in retrieving materials back from Airleaf. He tried to get to everyone who came to him, and he did get many of you back your valuable belongings. For the others who were not as fortunate, whatever was at Airleaf is now gone.
As you all know by now, I'm the first to pull a punch where it needs to be pulled. If someone is taking advantage of our authors like I reported about Brien Jones of Jones Harvest was last week, I will do everything to expose it to you.
And talking about Jones Harvest, in this week's Writer's Beware, my predatory publishing guru, Victoria Strauss, followed up on my Jones Harvest expose from last week in her own column and added some additional information that you may like to read. Here is the link to Victoria's column.
Link:
Writer Beware Blogs!
Thank you, Victoria, for working endlessly to expose the predatory leeches in our midst. You and Anne Crispin make this a safer world for unsuspecting authors.
I'd like to also mention that Fideli Publishing Company, owned by Robin Surface and staffed by ex-Airleaf employees (who left there due to the fraudulence), was also destroyed in the flood. Robin and her staff have worked diligently with some Airleaf victims to put their books into print and to return books that were left at Airleaf. They are now trying to put life back together for the company. We wish Fideli good luck in getting restarted.
On a positive note, our authors' co-op is moving along nicely. If you have signed up to be part of this new, exciting venture, you will be hearing from me this week as we finalize our plans to get started. If you did not notify me yet and would like to be part of our group, Authors New Start, there is still time. Just email me at Bonkaye@aol.com. We have nearly 50 people which was my start-up goal. The group will be limited to 100 members.
That's the news for this week.
With love and hope,
Bonnie
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
This will be a short but important update. Last Saturday, Indiana was hit by some of the most horrific storms in its history. One of the towns ravaged by the flooding was Martinsville. More specifically, the Airleaf building was totally flooded out. Every remaining book stored there was destroyed as well as all other files including disks and other items you may have sent there. The building itself was under at least four to five feet of water throughout the facility.
The Airleaf flood will bring many new questions to light. Did Carl Lau have flood insurance? If he did, will he be reimbursed for all of the tens of thousands of books that were there? If he didn't, will this force him into greater financial stress pushing him into bankruptcy? We don't have the answers to those questions, but I hope to find them out as the weeks progress.
A number of our victims were fortunate to recover their property over the past six months thanks to Bob Denton, now owner of Mountain Valley Publishing Company. I asked Bob if he would be willing to help our authors get back their books and materials stored in the building, and he was extremely responsive. I have received dozens of letters from you, our victims, about Bob's helpfulness and courteousness in helping you with this task without charging any money for his own time—only for the cost of postage.
Although I was not very nice about Bob in my early updates because of Airleaf and his connection there until nearly the end, I do believe that he truly feels very bad for all of the authors who were fraudulently taken by Airleaf and has tried to make up for that. I have heard very positive feedback from some of our victims who republished with Bob concerning his timeliness, excellent customer service, and professionalism in getting a job done and their books into print.
But most importantly, we owe Bob thanks because he worked tirelessly in filling those requests from numerous victims who asked for his help in retrieving materials back from Airleaf. He tried to get to everyone who came to him, and he did get many of you back your valuable belongings. For the others who were not as fortunate, whatever was at Airleaf is now gone.
As you all know by now, I'm the first to pull a punch where it needs to be pulled. If someone is taking advantage of our authors like I reported about Brien Jones of Jones Harvest was last week, I will do everything to expose it to you.
And talking about Jones Harvest, in this week's Writer's Beware, my predatory publishing guru, Victoria Strauss, followed up on my Jones Harvest expose from last week in her own column and added some additional information that you may like to read. Here is the link to Victoria's column.
Link:
Writer Beware Blogs!
Thank you, Victoria, for working endlessly to expose the predatory leeches in our midst. You and Anne Crispin make this a safer world for unsuspecting authors.
I'd like to also mention that Fideli Publishing Company, owned by Robin Surface and staffed by ex-Airleaf employees (who left there due to the fraudulence), was also destroyed in the flood. Robin and her staff have worked diligently with some Airleaf victims to put their books into print and to return books that were left at Airleaf. They are now trying to put life back together for the company. We wish Fideli good luck in getting restarted.
On a positive note, our authors' co-op is moving along nicely. If you have signed up to be part of this new, exciting venture, you will be hearing from me this week as we finalize our plans to get started. If you did not notify me yet and would like to be part of our group, Authors New Start, there is still time. Just email me at Bonkaye@aol.com. We have nearly 50 people which was my start-up goal. The group will be limited to 100 members.
That's the news for this week.
With love and hope,
Bonnie
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Airleaf Victims Update June 7, 2008
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
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
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