Airleaf Victims Update – March 8, 2008
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
As of today, we have 420 members in our group. We welcome our new members.
This week, I contacted the Attorney General's office about the second hard copy of the complaint form that some of us were receiving. A number of you wrote to me stating you never received a hard copy at all. I planned to copy my form and send it to you, but I thought I would write to the Assistant AG, Tom Irons, to ask him first if the form had to be an original, and if so, how would they get one. Tom was very clear that the form had to be an original from their office which is why I didn't send out copies to some of you who requested them. Tom then referred me to paralegal Raven Bobbio, who has been compiling our records since October, for further clarification when I couldn't understand how this whole procedure worked. Here is how the correspondence went:
Ms. Kaye:
Please inform Airleaf consumers that if they have filed a complaint online and receive a hard copy from our office please sign and return the copy with any paperwork (i.e. contract, payment information, etc.). If the consumer filed a complaint online, but did not receive a hard copy, they need not send in any other form. The consumer should receive an opening letter form our office acknowledging their complaint. Bottom line, we need at least one complaint and any relevant paperwork.
Raven Bobbio
Paralegal to Deputy Attorney General Tom Irons
This information seemed confusing to me. I didn't understand it. Why would some people receive a form after filing on line and not others? So I asked:
Dear Raven,
A number of our people filed on line as you know. Please clarify this for me so I can let the group know.
1. Some of the people that filed on line received the original hard copy of a complaint to send back to your attention. Since that time, some, including me, have received a SECOND hard copy form. Am I correct in understanding that the SECOND hard copy form does NOT have to be sent back to you if the first one was sent back?
2. Some of our people that filed on line have NOT received a hard copy from you. They have not signed a form since they never received one. Do you want me to gather those names for you so you can send them a hard copy?
Thank you for your help.
Bonnie Kaye
This was the response:
In a message dated 3/5/2008 10:40:16 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, Raven.Bobbio@atg.in.gov writes:
1. Send all copies back signed with paperwork.
2. If the consumers who filed online received a file opening letter, they do not need to do anything further.
Okay, I was still confused. I wrote back:
Hi Raven,
So if I've already sent back the hard copy with my documentation, I have to send back the SECOND hard copy form?
Also, what is a file opening letter?
Thanks.
Bonnie
Her response:
Ms. Kaye:
I am not sure where the confusion is in translation, but will try to explain again. If a consumer has sent one complaint form in to our office, signed with documents, you do not need to send anything further until it is requested. A file opening letter is a letter explaining you have an open file with our office and acknowledging your complaint. I apologize, but due to the limited time we are given to serve thousands of consumers, I will have to cut short our email here. Thank you for your patience in the matter.
So, that's the situation. If you haven't received any confirmation of your file opening letter or a hard copy sent to your home to verify it, please feel free to contact Ms. Bobbio directly at the following address if you would like to verify that your complaint is there and if you have to take any further action: Raven.Bobbio@atg.in.gov
And, yes, I do admit I am still confused. I don't know why some of us received two hard copy forms to fill out, others received one, and still others received none. But then again, I'm still confused as to why Carl Lau is still a free man while our money, books, and materials are still being held hostage. That's me—just confused!
Detective Buskirk will send us an update this week. He has been very ill but is on the mend. We all wish him a speedy recovery. He assured me that he is spending every moment possible on our case.
One of our authors sent me this note:
Are there any victims who are California residents, in particular in the SF Bay Area? There is an organization called either Bay Area or California Lawyers for the Arts that will take on cases like this pro bono, especially one of such magnitude. I would
think they would also agree to take it as a class-action type case.
Contact any Bay Area residents on the list and have them start the ball rolling.
David
If any of you are in the Bay Area and would like me to connect you to David to see what can be done, please email me, and I'll put you in touch.
One of our authors, Anthony, sent me this note:
Bonnie once again, you gave us some great information. On the whole website thing, I've been getting a lot of traffic on MySpace, plus I'm a member of blackplanet.com and a few other online communities. This is a great way to promote and network, plus best of all it's FREE.
MySpace is an excellent way to advertise your books for free by setting up your own page that can be changed at any time. You can view the site at www.MySpace.com. I am sending you the link to my page on MySpace which I admit that I don't keep up with due to lack of time. I also admit I am clueless how to put the page together, but I have someone who put mine together which shows you my books. Many people visit the MySpace sites, so it certainly is a good way to get free publicity for your work. As with the websites, I have people who can design your MySpace account for a minimal fee if you can't do it yourself. Feel free to drop me a line, and I'll refer you to them.
Thank you, Anthony, for this good lead.
Link to Bonnie's MySpace page:
MySpace.com - Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed. - 56 - Female - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -
Our author Cliff Crow sent me this note in response to last week's discussion about "Return Policies" that book companies offer:
Hi Bonnie,
I would like to add a bit about what you reported on the “return policy” being offered by Xlibris and others. I realize this is probably not news to you, but you can pass this information on to the group if you think it would be helpful.
One side note: Xlibris published my book, and did an excellent job of it. The price was very reasonable, and it included packages, which I feel sure they went through with it, but that did not sell books. The main problem with Xlibris is that they decide what your book should sell for, and make their big money by selling you your own book. They chose a selling price of $21.99 for my 200 page paperback book. Including freight, I had to pay just under $10.00 each to buy copies of my book, and had to buy 500 copies to get that price.
Book Return Policy
For bookstores to be able to return books is a must if you expect them to buy, but this is also a great way for your publisher to get more of your money. Being needed, it is easy to talk people into buying this extra program. But buying this policy will usually not make any difference in the final results. IT DOES NOT SELL BOOKS!
The good news is that they can return books. The bad news is that they will! Without that policy, your book has to be a “special order” situation in most cases. With this policy, the store (using either the name of the book or ISBN number) can order your book while placing their daily or weekly book orders.
They will order books for book signings (often times more than needed because they can return them) and we love it. Unfortunately the book stores (especially the big ones) have been spoiled by this policy. They will order in 25 books for a signing, knowing that is more than enough. Everyone is so pleased when you sell 14 books at the signing. During an inventory a week or so later, they still have not sold any more books, so as per their normal policy, they return the remaining 11 books. One manager, responsible for two stores, brought in 40 books. I sold a total of 20. The remaining 20 were returned.
For unknown authors, getting books to sell is difficult. In most stores your book will just be put on a shelf, so very little of the book is showing. Even though my book, AFTER THE DIET’S OVER, was about diets, and could be useful to almost everyone, getting it to sell is difficult. Back in 2002 I placed two books in a store. I re-visited that store a short time ago. The books are still on the shelf. Months ago 19 of 19 Waldenbook stores that I visited were excited about my book, and they all bought. Many sold, but many were returned. I still feel that if Airleaf had done their job, things might have been different. My point here is that getting them excited was easy because of the return policy. It was also easy to get them to order, but I would have lost money if I had paid extra for that policy.
Another problem may show itself. If you do get a return policy, please try to control, and keep to a reasonable number, how many of books the stores order. An exaggeration, but if you have 150 books in stock, and you get word from the book distributor that they have sold out, you will no doubt be happy and excited. You order another printing. Then after having paid out more money, most of those books show up again. Five stores brought in 30 books (they loved it and are sure it will sell); a few weeks later returned what was left.
Two last concerns:
I do not understand why in their letter they say, “They can always return the unsold books to us and process a refund without affecting your sales or revenue from those books they have ordered.”
Their policy appears to allow people to return the books to THEM (Xlibris). NO bookstore can afford to order books from Xlibris, and most do not! So exactly what will you be paying for? If it does not allow books to be returned to companies like Ingram and Baker & Taylor, it is useless, even if they GIVE it to you.
That’s it!
Cliff
Thanks, Cliff for your sharing your personal experience.
As I said last week, paying large sums of money to companies like Authorhouse and Xlibris for a return policy is throwing away your money. That's why when seeking to republish your book or publish future books you need to ask those important questions. I mentioned last week, my new publishing company, CCB Publishing, is very reasonable in offering a return policy for $100.00. In addition, you can buy copies of your book for $2.00 over the cost of actual printing, which is usually in the $4.00 range for most paperbacks under 200 pages. This means if you want to buy your own copies for selling at events, you can make a nice profit for yourself. With a company such as iUniverse, your discount off the sales price of your book can range from 40% off for 20 – 99 books to 50% for 250 – 499 books. So if your book sells for $20.00, this means you can buy copies for $12.00 each for less than 99 books, $11.00 each (45%) when ordering 100 – 249 copies, and $10.00 each for over 250 books. With CCB, I'm paying approximately $6.00 a book no matter how many copies I buy, so you can see the difference in the profit you can make.
As a side issue, iUniverse offers royalties at 20% over the price of printing, shipping, and other charges. On a book that costs $20.00, if someone buys it online at Amazon or BN.com, you are looking at a 20% split of profits after the standard 55% discount. This means the starting price is really $9.00. Take off the printing cost and you're at $5.00. Take 20% of that and you royalty payment is $1.00. Need I say more? One of the big pulls for us when we went to Airleaf was that we were promised a 50% split on the royalties. Of course, for most people, 50% of nothing still translated into nothing.
Not all authors have the same publishing needs, which is why you owe it to yourself to do a thorough check on what a company is REALLY offering you. When I was seeking a new publisher after the Airleaf horror, I went through a list online compiled by Clea Saal, author of the Incomplete Guide to POD Publishers that compared companies. I narrowed my search based on what I thought would be the right company for me, and then I called four of the companies that seemed to make sense and interviewed them at length. There were a few companies that seemed reputable (after doing hours of research online), but I went with CCB Publishing. This has been the best publishing experience for me as well as other Airleaf victims who have decided to publish with a company that is an author's dream as far as integrity, price, and book printing timelines go. There is also a 50% royalty split which is greater than iUniverse and similar companies, and authors actually get accurate sales accounts and royalty checks ON TIME. You can view the website at www.CCBPublishing.com, or feel free to contact me if you need more information. If you have found another book publishing company and you would like me to do some preliminary research for you, feel free to let me know. I have checked out other companies for some of you, finding the little "loopholes" that I have learned to become familiar with.
Our Airleaf victim and my friend, Ken Pullen, sent a wake-up letter to our group. I have condensed it for this update, but you can read his full comments on our Airleaf Victims blog under the comments section from last week. Here's what Ken says:
Bonnie - and to the other 410;
I realize in our culture, with human nature being what it is, people do not want to think or believe anyone offering a service would do so just to take their money and not deliver, or not deliver corresponding to the fee paid.
I just want to say this - and hopefully you can convey this to all 412 people duped, conned, lied to, swindled, and taken advantage of by Airleaf Publishing...
NO SELF PUBLISHING SOLICITOR OR COMPANY WILL DO FOR YOU WHAT YOU BELIEVE THEY WILL, THINK THEY WILL, OR WHAT THEY PROMISE TO DO FOR YOU. NOT ONE OF THEM. PERIOD.
I can be objective about myself, my motivations, and my actions. More of us need to be objective and to the bone honest with ourselves. I attempted to by-pass the traditional publishing route because of the time frame involved in that process. It takes years unless a person possesses the genius and art of crafting words of a Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Uptown, Irving, or Vonnegut.
So in my arrogance - yes arrogance - I deemed myself a writer and was determined to get published. Oh, what I had to write people would want to read I thought to myself. I have written for years, and was even told by some in the movie industry - the REAL movie industry when I lived in Los Angeles, not the pretend movie industry Carl Lau fabricated and lied to everyone about - that I was good, that I had talent, and to keep at it. Well, at that point I'd been writing screenplays for 7 years without getting paid a dime. I might have made it and not be writing this to you today if I'd have stuck it out another 4, 5, 6, or 7 years. I might be in some great house on the beach in Malibu - but after 7 years I was tired. Point is people - nothing of quality or value comes easy or fast. Do not be duped by claims that you or your book are so special...please send us MONEY immediately and we'll provide you with personalized attention and make you a success. It's all bull feces--huge enormous piles of bull feces. If you want to fall into it, step into it...well keep on the course you are. Fail to be objective about yourself, your situation, or what people are really like in the world.
I had no grand illusions. I did not imagine myself becoming rich or famous or both, but I was arrogant enough, egotistical enough to believe I could eke out a moderate return.
Do not tell me none of you fit this profile, or you all had the most benign and innocent of expectations. You publish to sell books. Period. You expect to sell books and to make some money from it. Well, do not venture into the realm of ANY SELF PUBLISHING ENTERPRISE.
Why do I say this? I've been burned and experienced multiple horrendous experiences in the self publishing arena. Airleaf Publishing is not my only experience with liars, thieves, those with silky buttery tongues making all manner of promises about what they'll do specifically for me because my book is so special...why, it's been chosen they all proclaim! Of course it has. Because we appear to these vipers like a blind one-legged rodent and they know we are easy prey--prime for the picking.
It's very simple really. If you fail to learn you're doomed to repeat your mistakes. Losing and failure should teach us not to go down those paths again, and yet week after week I read nothing but how desperate people are so they turn to more of the same, convinced it's going to be better or different. It won't be. Believe me.
Airleaf Publishing was a con game. Carl Lau was no different than the shyster that pulled into the dusty town in a wagon 130 years ago and sold colored alcohol in bottles from the back of that wagon to the clueless clamoring masses. And the next month a different guy pulled into that same town with a different label and the people didn't learn a thing and bought more garbage from a different con man. They didn't learn.
People are no different today. The "snake oil" being sold now though is in the form of fame and riches and getting your writing published in book form, or on the Internet. Yet it's no different at all from some con man pulling into your present town and trying to sell you colored miracle water from the back of his beat up pickup truck. Wise up people. Self publishing (promotion) is a con game.
Do not be fooled. Do not be so desperate. Be honest. Don't place your daily life in jeopardy because you can't pay your bills, or you've spent your life savings, or you throw money at these vipers to make them rich while you don't have adequate food, shelter, or what have you.
NO SELF PUBLISHING HOUSE HAS HIGHLY READ HIGH SALES BOOK IN THEIR STABLE OF BOOKS. NONE HAVE BESTSELLERS OF ANY KIND. Do your research and homework people. Your present financial stability and peace of mind...and your future depends on your becoming attuned, smart, and aware...
Hopefully we'll all begin making better choices...and choose wisely for a change.
Thank you.
So, like Ken is saying, take a giant swig of humility before you invest in publishing promotions that add up to nothing more than heartache and disappointment.
That's the news of the week. I hope to have something more concrete next week from Captain Buskirk and the FBI. Don't lose the faith—and keep up the fight!
Love, Bonnie
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Airleaf Victims Update March 1, 2008
MARCH 1, 2008 AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
Welcome to our new members. We are now a group of 412 authors who are seeking restitution and retribution for the fraudulence done to us by Airleaf Publishing and members of its staff.
A number of you received a second form at home from the Attorney General's office. I contacted Tom Irons, our representative, and asked him if a third report had to be filled out. The first was on line; the second was a hard copy sent to your home. His response to me was:
Bonnie:
On the complaint issue, we need to have a signed copy of the complaint. As long as the author has sent in a “signed” copy, not just a complaint form filled out, they can disregard the yellow form (the signature assures us the author’s claims are true, under penalty of perjury-akin to an affidavit).
Tom
This means if you already sent back one form that was sent to your home, you do NOT have to send in this second form.
I appreciate all of the surveys that have been returned to me to date. If you haven't sent yours in or you're having a problem with it, please let me know. This information has been very valuable already in helping me prepare information for the various government agencies which will need them in moving forward with our case.
I am seeking your help with transactions that took place between the time period of November 2007 and December 2007 when Airleaf closed (December 21, 2007). I contend that the remaining staff at Airleaf knew that there was no way they could deliver on any promises because the production staff was gone and the printers were holding our books hostage for non-payment. Some of you were solicited for publishing and promotions throughout this period and paid for work during this time frame. If you were one of these victims, please let me know the circumstances and amount you paid as well as who you were working with. This includes offers of selling back your own books to you at a discount price.
I have no specific news for you this week; however, I feel confident that there is movement in our case. Please be patient. I did ask Captain Buskirk for an update but haven't heard from his this week. I told him that we are frustrated as far as getting back files and books. I'll write to him again on Monday.
Some of you suggested that I write to the Indiana Bar Association asking them for help. This week, I wrote first to the Indiana Legal Services asking them for help with a pro-bono lawyer. This was the response:
Ms. Kaye,
Generally Indiana Legal Services does not take cases that would result in a monetary settlement. However, you can contact your local legal service office and see if there is some way that we could assist. To locate your local legal service office, go to our web site, www.indianajustice.org and click on the "Find Legal Help". Put your county in the search box and all legal service offices that support Martinsville will come up with contact information.
Another option is to contact your local bar association president. She or he could provide a referral to a private attorney. This attorney would not be free but may be willing to take your case. You can find the bar association president on the same list from our web site.
Victoria Deak, Esq., Project Director
Access to Justice Project Indiana Legal Services, Inc.
www.indianajustice.org
I then wrote back to Ms. Deak explaining that I am not an Indiana resident and received this response:
Ms. Kaye,
If you use the web site and contact the referrals from the bar association perhaps you could do this by phone. Indiana Legal Services also does phone intake. The listings on the web site have the times and days that phone intake occurs. Your other option is to request someone from Indiana to make the contact.
Victoria Deak, Esq., Project Director
A special thank you goes to Ms. Deak who responded within an hour of my request early on a Sunday morning. This is truly a woman who cares about helping others.
I am still pursuing an attorney to do a class action suit, and I requested help from the Indiana Bar Association with no response as of yet. My friend Patty brought up a good suggestion for some of you who are in Indiana that I researched. If you live in Indiana, you may want to think about filing a claim in the small claims court. You can file a complaint if the value of your claim is up to $6,000.00. You don't need legal representation for this, and the cost of filing the claim is relatively inexpensive. I will try to reach the Morgan County Small Claims Court this week to see what we can do to file out-of-town claims with them. If you have tried this already, please let me know so I can share with others the results. If you live in Indiana and want information on how to do this or who to contact, please write to me and I'll send you the information that I have checked out.
This week, I would like to talk to you about information on what is referred to as a "Bookstore Return Policy."
One of our authors, Willard Gray, received this letter from Xlibris and asked my advice:
I have a very good marketing strategy that will give a greater chance for your book to be available in the physical bookstore, We call this Bookstore Returnability Program wherein your book will be listed under i-page (the latest software that all of the resellers/bookstores are using to check for new and returnable books). 30 biz days once the book is published your book is already listed under i-page so there is a greater chance that bookstores or reseller will just directly acquire or order your book because they can always return the unsold books to us and process a refund without affecting your sales or revenue from those books that they have ordered. Also you can go to any of the bookstore that you want and present this Bookstore Returnability Program for them to acquire your book. This is only $699 that you can pay using installment plan of $243/mo for 3 mos. This is good for 1 year and after a year bookstores/resellers will be given within 6 months for then to return the unsold copies of the book for refund. This is a very good hassle free marketing strategy. Thank you and have a wonderful day.
A number of authors have asked me about this because some of the more prominent book companies including AuthorHouse and Xlibris charge $599.00 or $699.00 for this package—FOR ONE YEAR!! Yikes! That's a lot of money, and especially when you understand what this means.
When I first heard about this return policy a couple of years ago, I found it exciting because it gave authors the ability to go to major bookstores for signings. Most major bookstores don't allow print-on-demand book authors to have book signings because if they order books and the books don't sell, they can't return them to the publisher and they are stuck with them. So a return policy was devised by some of the larger POD companies as a carrot to dangle in the faces of uneducated consumers—like us—to serve as an enticement.
By now, most of you know the reality of how much you can make on a book sale. Let's review the formula. If you have a book that sells for $14.99, book distributors such as Amazon.com get a 55% discount on the retail price. That means $8.24 comes off the book to begin with. That leaves you with $6.75 as your starting point. Take away the cost of printing of an average book of 175 page book of approximately $4.50, and you are now left with $2.24 per book. Even if you are receiving a 50/50 split with your POD company, you are looking at $1.12 for each book. As I warn all of you, it takes a lot of book sales to make back your initial investment of publishing, especially if you are paying big fees for special promotions.
Even if the profit percentage is somewhat higher at a bookstore because the discount ranges at approximately 40% instead of 55%, and even if you make $4.00 a book in profits, how many books do you have to sell to recoup your initial investment? The answer is A LOT. Unless you have a large local fan base or a book that is a hot topic, it will be very difficult to recoup that loss.
After my Airleaf nightmare, as I explored where to go from there for my upcoming book that came out in December, I researched over 40 different POD companies to see which one would meet my personal needs. There is no ONE solution to all of our publishing needs. I found a publisher, CCB Publishing, which met my needs, as well as a number of other Airleaf victims, for publishing. The website is at www.CCBPublishing.com. One of the many selling points for me was that I could buy a return policy for $100.00 a year. This seemed reasonable. It gives me the ability to do book signings and at least feel that I have a chance of recouping any investment.
To be sure that I was on the right track, I asked our expert advisor Victoria Strauss if I was accurate in my assessment. I wrote to her:
Hi Victoria,
I tell my authors who ask me about return policies from companies like AuthorHouse and Xlibris that charge 599.00 or 699.00 that this is a waste of money. It would take the selling of hundreds of books to make up for that each year. Do you think that is correct advice? I don't see where it can pay off for almost any author unless he/she is traveling around the country setting up book signings on a topic that is going to sell that many books. Please let me know if you think I'm right.
Bonnie
Here is Victoria's response:
Hi, Bonnie,
I do think you're right about this service not being worth the expense. Returnability might make some stores more willing to place orders--especially larger stores--but there are no guarantees, and as you say, writers would have to sell a lot of books to make back the extra expense. Given the average sales of books from these companies (less than 200), it is unlikely to be worth it for most authors.
Victoria
On another note, a number of you have recently written to me about special promotions that you are receiving for book marketing. These packages start at $750.00 and go as high as $3,500.00. Once again, do the math. See how many books you have to sell to make back this money.
Some of these promotions include placement on a POD website. Many of you are excited by that prospect. In reality, the only people who go to those websites are you and the other potential buyers of POD services. Some of you believe that at least your book can be seen on the Internet on a website. So here's a solution to you that is far more cost effective.
I have worked with some of you on obtaining your own websites. The best bargain in town can be found at Register.com. This is where I purchased some of my domain names including AirleafVictims.com. For $35.00, you can buy a domain name for a year. For that same $35.00, Register.com will give you a FREE one page website where you can advertise your book for no additional hosting fee. This is an excellent deal! If you have any computer savvy, you can design your own website for free. If you are like me, and you don't have that ability, you can find someone to do it for you. My web person for our Airleaf Victims website charges $200.00 for setting up your one page site with a link to your book and where it can be bought. She would be happy to work with any of our Airleaf Victims for that price. If you are interested in doing this, let me know. I can walk you through the steps of getting your own domain name and setting up your account. Then I can refer you to my webmaster if you would like her to do your site.
Talking about websites, I meant to tell you another way that Airleaf made money from authors. I recently found out from an author that he was paying $250.00 a month to be positioned on the first row of the Airleaf website. This was really disturbing to me. If any of you were paying for website positioning, please let me know. I'd like to add that to my research.
A few people have written to me recently about tracking down former Airleaf employee Gayla Swint. Gayla is now working with Fideli Publishing owned by former Airleaf employee Robin Surface. Some of you have written to me about the positive relationships you had with these women as well as other Fideli staff members. You can write to Gayla at gdswint@yahoo.com. She is happy to hear from any of her previous authors that she worked with. If you are seeking other former Airleaf employees, please let me know, and I'll do my best to track them down for you.
Have a good week and feel free to write to me about any questions or issues I can help you with.
With love and hope,
Bonnie
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
Welcome to our new members. We are now a group of 412 authors who are seeking restitution and retribution for the fraudulence done to us by Airleaf Publishing and members of its staff.
A number of you received a second form at home from the Attorney General's office. I contacted Tom Irons, our representative, and asked him if a third report had to be filled out. The first was on line; the second was a hard copy sent to your home. His response to me was:
Bonnie:
On the complaint issue, we need to have a signed copy of the complaint. As long as the author has sent in a “signed” copy, not just a complaint form filled out, they can disregard the yellow form (the signature assures us the author’s claims are true, under penalty of perjury-akin to an affidavit).
Tom
This means if you already sent back one form that was sent to your home, you do NOT have to send in this second form.
I appreciate all of the surveys that have been returned to me to date. If you haven't sent yours in or you're having a problem with it, please let me know. This information has been very valuable already in helping me prepare information for the various government agencies which will need them in moving forward with our case.
I am seeking your help with transactions that took place between the time period of November 2007 and December 2007 when Airleaf closed (December 21, 2007). I contend that the remaining staff at Airleaf knew that there was no way they could deliver on any promises because the production staff was gone and the printers were holding our books hostage for non-payment. Some of you were solicited for publishing and promotions throughout this period and paid for work during this time frame. If you were one of these victims, please let me know the circumstances and amount you paid as well as who you were working with. This includes offers of selling back your own books to you at a discount price.
I have no specific news for you this week; however, I feel confident that there is movement in our case. Please be patient. I did ask Captain Buskirk for an update but haven't heard from his this week. I told him that we are frustrated as far as getting back files and books. I'll write to him again on Monday.
Some of you suggested that I write to the Indiana Bar Association asking them for help. This week, I wrote first to the Indiana Legal Services asking them for help with a pro-bono lawyer. This was the response:
Ms. Kaye,
Generally Indiana Legal Services does not take cases that would result in a monetary settlement. However, you can contact your local legal service office and see if there is some way that we could assist. To locate your local legal service office, go to our web site, www.indianajustice.org and click on the "Find Legal Help". Put your county in the search box and all legal service offices that support Martinsville will come up with contact information.
Another option is to contact your local bar association president. She or he could provide a referral to a private attorney. This attorney would not be free but may be willing to take your case. You can find the bar association president on the same list from our web site.
Victoria Deak, Esq., Project Director
Access to Justice Project Indiana Legal Services, Inc.
www.indianajustice.org
I then wrote back to Ms. Deak explaining that I am not an Indiana resident and received this response:
Ms. Kaye,
If you use the web site and contact the referrals from the bar association perhaps you could do this by phone. Indiana Legal Services also does phone intake. The listings on the web site have the times and days that phone intake occurs. Your other option is to request someone from Indiana to make the contact.
Victoria Deak, Esq., Project Director
A special thank you goes to Ms. Deak who responded within an hour of my request early on a Sunday morning. This is truly a woman who cares about helping others.
I am still pursuing an attorney to do a class action suit, and I requested help from the Indiana Bar Association with no response as of yet. My friend Patty brought up a good suggestion for some of you who are in Indiana that I researched. If you live in Indiana, you may want to think about filing a claim in the small claims court. You can file a complaint if the value of your claim is up to $6,000.00. You don't need legal representation for this, and the cost of filing the claim is relatively inexpensive. I will try to reach the Morgan County Small Claims Court this week to see what we can do to file out-of-town claims with them. If you have tried this already, please let me know so I can share with others the results. If you live in Indiana and want information on how to do this or who to contact, please write to me and I'll send you the information that I have checked out.
This week, I would like to talk to you about information on what is referred to as a "Bookstore Return Policy."
One of our authors, Willard Gray, received this letter from Xlibris and asked my advice:
I have a very good marketing strategy that will give a greater chance for your book to be available in the physical bookstore, We call this Bookstore Returnability Program wherein your book will be listed under i-page (the latest software that all of the resellers/bookstores are using to check for new and returnable books). 30 biz days once the book is published your book is already listed under i-page so there is a greater chance that bookstores or reseller will just directly acquire or order your book because they can always return the unsold books to us and process a refund without affecting your sales or revenue from those books that they have ordered. Also you can go to any of the bookstore that you want and present this Bookstore Returnability Program for them to acquire your book. This is only $699 that you can pay using installment plan of $243/mo for 3 mos. This is good for 1 year and after a year bookstores/resellers will be given within 6 months for then to return the unsold copies of the book for refund. This is a very good hassle free marketing strategy. Thank you and have a wonderful day.
A number of authors have asked me about this because some of the more prominent book companies including AuthorHouse and Xlibris charge $599.00 or $699.00 for this package—FOR ONE YEAR!! Yikes! That's a lot of money, and especially when you understand what this means.
When I first heard about this return policy a couple of years ago, I found it exciting because it gave authors the ability to go to major bookstores for signings. Most major bookstores don't allow print-on-demand book authors to have book signings because if they order books and the books don't sell, they can't return them to the publisher and they are stuck with them. So a return policy was devised by some of the larger POD companies as a carrot to dangle in the faces of uneducated consumers—like us—to serve as an enticement.
By now, most of you know the reality of how much you can make on a book sale. Let's review the formula. If you have a book that sells for $14.99, book distributors such as Amazon.com get a 55% discount on the retail price. That means $8.24 comes off the book to begin with. That leaves you with $6.75 as your starting point. Take away the cost of printing of an average book of 175 page book of approximately $4.50, and you are now left with $2.24 per book. Even if you are receiving a 50/50 split with your POD company, you are looking at $1.12 for each book. As I warn all of you, it takes a lot of book sales to make back your initial investment of publishing, especially if you are paying big fees for special promotions.
Even if the profit percentage is somewhat higher at a bookstore because the discount ranges at approximately 40% instead of 55%, and even if you make $4.00 a book in profits, how many books do you have to sell to recoup your initial investment? The answer is A LOT. Unless you have a large local fan base or a book that is a hot topic, it will be very difficult to recoup that loss.
After my Airleaf nightmare, as I explored where to go from there for my upcoming book that came out in December, I researched over 40 different POD companies to see which one would meet my personal needs. There is no ONE solution to all of our publishing needs. I found a publisher, CCB Publishing, which met my needs, as well as a number of other Airleaf victims, for publishing. The website is at www.CCBPublishing.com. One of the many selling points for me was that I could buy a return policy for $100.00 a year. This seemed reasonable. It gives me the ability to do book signings and at least feel that I have a chance of recouping any investment.
To be sure that I was on the right track, I asked our expert advisor Victoria Strauss if I was accurate in my assessment. I wrote to her:
Hi Victoria,
I tell my authors who ask me about return policies from companies like AuthorHouse and Xlibris that charge 599.00 or 699.00 that this is a waste of money. It would take the selling of hundreds of books to make up for that each year. Do you think that is correct advice? I don't see where it can pay off for almost any author unless he/she is traveling around the country setting up book signings on a topic that is going to sell that many books. Please let me know if you think I'm right.
Bonnie
Here is Victoria's response:
Hi, Bonnie,
I do think you're right about this service not being worth the expense. Returnability might make some stores more willing to place orders--especially larger stores--but there are no guarantees, and as you say, writers would have to sell a lot of books to make back the extra expense. Given the average sales of books from these companies (less than 200), it is unlikely to be worth it for most authors.
Victoria
On another note, a number of you have recently written to me about special promotions that you are receiving for book marketing. These packages start at $750.00 and go as high as $3,500.00. Once again, do the math. See how many books you have to sell to make back this money.
Some of these promotions include placement on a POD website. Many of you are excited by that prospect. In reality, the only people who go to those websites are you and the other potential buyers of POD services. Some of you believe that at least your book can be seen on the Internet on a website. So here's a solution to you that is far more cost effective.
I have worked with some of you on obtaining your own websites. The best bargain in town can be found at Register.com. This is where I purchased some of my domain names including AirleafVictims.com. For $35.00, you can buy a domain name for a year. For that same $35.00, Register.com will give you a FREE one page website where you can advertise your book for no additional hosting fee. This is an excellent deal! If you have any computer savvy, you can design your own website for free. If you are like me, and you don't have that ability, you can find someone to do it for you. My web person for our Airleaf Victims website charges $200.00 for setting up your one page site with a link to your book and where it can be bought. She would be happy to work with any of our Airleaf Victims for that price. If you are interested in doing this, let me know. I can walk you through the steps of getting your own domain name and setting up your account. Then I can refer you to my webmaster if you would like her to do your site.
Talking about websites, I meant to tell you another way that Airleaf made money from authors. I recently found out from an author that he was paying $250.00 a month to be positioned on the first row of the Airleaf website. This was really disturbing to me. If any of you were paying for website positioning, please let me know. I'd like to add that to my research.
A few people have written to me recently about tracking down former Airleaf employee Gayla Swint. Gayla is now working with Fideli Publishing owned by former Airleaf employee Robin Surface. Some of you have written to me about the positive relationships you had with these women as well as other Fideli staff members. You can write to Gayla at gdswint@yahoo.com. She is happy to hear from any of her previous authors that she worked with. If you are seeking other former Airleaf employees, please let me know, and I'll do my best to track them down for you.
Have a good week and feel free to write to me about any questions or issues I can help you with.
With love and hope,
Bonnie
Saturday, February 23, 2008
AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE FEBRUARY 23, 2008
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
As of today, we have 408 Airleaf Victims in our group. Welcome to our new members.
Tonight and tomorrow evening on the History Channel, you can watch our own Jack Powell in a special on Hillbillys--The Real Story hosted by Billy Ray Cyrus. It's a fascinating documentary which will teach you about a little known part of our country's history. It airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. Check your local listings.
First, I want to thank you, as a group, for taking the time to write to Indiana's U.S. Attorney Timothy Morrison last weekend and throughout the week. I want to go over his response to us to clarify where he stands and where we as a group stand.
Last weekend, I sent Mr. Morrison this email before I asked you to do the same:
From: BonKaye@aol.com [mailto:BonKaye@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 12:23 PM
To: USAINS-Webmaster
Subject: From Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed., Organizer Airleaf Victims
Dear Mr. Morrison,
I am respectfully requesting that your office communicate with me as the organizer of our group of 405 authors in the Airleaf Victims group. My website is at www.AirleafVictims.com.
I had originally been in touch with Steve DeBrota, but my phone calls for the past two weeks are going unreturned. Perhaps he is no longer on the case.
Please let me know if your office is assisting our victims who have been taken in excess of one million dollars by the fraudulent practices of Carl Lau and Airleaf Publishing. You can check with the FBI and Postal authorities through Captain Jeff Buskirk in Martinsville, Indiana, who has put our case together.
We are very distraught at the responses of the Indiana government agencies including the Attorney General's office, the Governor's office, and the two State Senator offices. We are frustrated and would like to know how you can help us.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
Organizer, Airleaf Victims
Here was his response on Tuesday, February 19, 2008:
Dear Ms. Kaye:
This matter has not yet been referred to our office by any law enforcement agency. We have seen no reports nor results of any interviews. We are not an investigative unit but are dependent upon work-ups by groups like the FBI and the Postal Inspection Service, both whom you have involved in this.
The Assistant United States Attorney you contacted, Steve DeBrota, was the duty attorney for the office on the day you called. He is not assigned this case, because, as I explained above, no investigative agency has referred it to us. Your telephone calls have been unreturned for the past few weeks, because Mr. DeBrota has been committed to a multi-victim, child exploitation case in the northern part of our district. That case was referred to us and prosecution has commenced.
I am sure the Governor, the Indiana Attorney General, and the offices of Senators Bayh and Lugar are also “distraught.” None of these entities have any criminal jurisdiction in Indiana. The only entities that do—and have relevance here—is the Morgan County, Indiana, Prosecuting Attorney and our office. What can these offices you contacted do for you?
I hope that this group has retained counsel to sue the responsible parties and attempt to seize any relevant assets prior to adjudication on the merits. The burden of proof is lower than in a criminal prosecution and speed of initiation of suit can be faster. Furthermore, restitution is more limited under the criminal law. A successful criminal prosecution will not result in restitution for lost profits.
Finally, your ability to marshal an e-mail campaign that fills our webpage mailbox with more than 120 e-mails may be impressive but unproductive. One referred to me as Attorney General and castigated me for failing to return your calls. I have never spoken to you and I am not the Attorney General. Another told me his books were printed and shipped, but 100 of them were defective. (This is more evidence of breach of contract than criminal fraud) Consolidated communication will save time. Feel free to distribute this e-mail to your group.
We will work through this as we are provided with sufficient information.
Sincerely,
Timothy M. Morrison, Acting U.S. Attorney
I felt somewhat "stung" by this response. I thought it was petty of Mr. Morrison to bring up two insignificant points of being referred to as the AG and the defective books. Instead, I would have liked for him to note that he was very saddened to hear about the fraudulence that our group had been part of and that he would do whatever he could to check this for us. Instead, he was asking me what the offices we contacted could do for us.
He acknowledged that my phone calls had not been returned because the attorney on duty was assigned to a more pressing case. I can understand that—but all it takes is communication to relay that. A call back from his department explaining this would have been sufficient and avoided the mass emails. I am not a party of one calling on my own behalf—I am representing a group of over 400 people who are looking for answers.
Mr. Morrison made the comment that restitution is more limited under criminal law, suggesting we find an attorney to sue for us. This was my response that I sent to him later that day:
Dear Mr. Morrison,
Thank you for your quick response to the Airleaf Victims. Quite frankly, we are very disgusted and frustrated at this point. Other than the police captain in Martinsville, Captain Jeff Buskirk, we have heard virtually no news about our case for over six months. We are not versed in the legal means of getting action in Indiana. We do know how virtually every government official has told us that this is not his responsibility and bumped us over to the next official.
Please understand that we are not in a position to hire an attorney. Many of our members are elderly and disabled, and they have invested every last penny they have into this predatory publisher who has now closed down. An attorney would cost us a lot of money, and most of us are tapped out from investing our money in Airleaf. With a company that has closed, it's hard to find an attorney who wants to take the case because there will be limited assets to retrieve. We understand that the owner, Mr. Carl Lau, is claiming bankruptcy.
At this point, we know that there are limited funds that may be returned. Regardless, we would like to see criminal charges pressed against Carl Lau and other employees who knowingly defrauded our authors. We need to send a message that is loud and clear that robbing people of their hopes, dreams, and money is not an allowable practice in Indiana where so many print-on-demand companies are now set up or setting up.
It was not my intention to clog your email system, but rather to make a mass plea to you to help us. We are feeling very lost in this matter. It seems to me that if one person was robbed in your state, action would be taken. We have over 400 people at this point who are part of our group who have been robbed, and yet all we hear is that it's no one's real responsibility and we should get an attorney.
Maybe you can still help us by contacting the FBI and Postal Authorities to make sure that this case is being investigated and that the criminal (s) will not be allowed to go unpunished. I will not have people write to you anymore. If I need information, I will come to you directly and relay your messages. If there is any information that I can provide for you that will help this case move along, please let me know.
Thank you for listening, and I appreciate whatever you can do for us.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
www.AirleafVictims.com
As a P.S., I received confirmation from 23 more of you who sent out the note to Mr. Morrison during the week, so nearly 150 of us have written to that office. There is no need to send out an email at this point if you haven't done so. Mr. Morrison certainly knows about the Airleaf Victims. One thing that this experience is teaching me at this stage of my life is how wrong my perceptions of government were. Morrison stated: "I am sure the Governor, the Indiana Attorney General, and the offices of Senators Bayh and Lugar are also “distraught.” None of these entities have any criminal jurisdiction in Indiana." This was amazing to me. I never realized that these political offices have no criminal jurisdiction. Did you?
On a personal note, I do know that things are moving, even if the wheels are spinning slowly for our satisfaction. Many of you are left in limbo at the moment because you are anxious to receive your files and books. I am hoping that Captain Buskirk will have some news for us this week.
Some of us received forms this week from the Attorney General's office once again called Consumer Complaint Forms. I called Tom Irons from the AG's office who is the most responsive of all government officials I have dealt with. He is checking to see why this second form was sent to us since we filled out the original form online and then received a hard copy form to fill out after that. He will get back to me this week, so you can wait until you hear from me before you fill this one out. Please be assured that since Tom took over our case a few weeks ago that he is working on getting our case together. Hopefully, he will be able to pursue a civil case on our behalf.
One of our authors wrote to me about a publishing company, Capstone Fiction, for Christian FICTION. This is in NO WAY to be confused with Capstone Productions, the Hollywood movie company that Carl Lau claimed he was working with. A number of our victims fit into this category. I checked out the company through the Internet and our wonderful resource Victoria Strauss to see if this would be a viable avenue for some of our authors. When I felt comfortable with the results, I wrote to one of the owners, Ramona Tucker, about our situation and asked if our Christian fiction authors could apply to be published with them. Here are some excerpts from Ramona's response:
Hi Bonnie,
I am SO saddened to hear about the experience of your group members with AIrleaf! I hate hearing such stories (and unfortunately, in 25 years of publishing, I’ve heard quite a few of them.) I had never heard of Airleaf, but was able to read through your website information about it just now), but it sounds to me like it was a “self-publisher” (in other words, each of your writers PAID that company to publish their book. There wasn’t really any personal investment from the publisher that they loved/believed in that book. Such things happening—and authors getting taken for a ride because they are so desperate to be published that they’re willing to pay anything—are one of the many reasons we launched Capstone! To give new authors an opportunity to publish and to slowly start growing their reader base…since every good thing takes its time! Capstone is not about “competing” to get the top book/top author; it’s about our passion to get wonderful books that we believe could make it nationally--books with fresh plots, quirky characters into the hands of readers of a broad spectrum of readers. And without the “fear” that if they don’t sell enough the first year that the book will get “axed” by the publisher, as is happening more and more frequently these days.)
Capstone is a one-year-old company (we celebrated our first anniversary on Dec. 31, 2007) but founded by myself and Jeff Nesbit, both veterans of the publishing industry. You can find out a lot about us by googling our names, Capstone Fiction, and going to our website at www.Capstonefiction.com.
Who is Capstone? We are a traditional publisher (in other words, just like Tyndale, Zondervan, Nelson, etc.); when we sign an author’s work, that means we believe in the work and feel strongly that it needs to have a chance in the marketplace (whether it sells 500 copies, 5,000 copies, or 50,000 copies over its lifetime!). Our primary mission is to create opportunities for new, talented Christian writers, while also promoting leading-edge fiction by established Christian authors. Today’s market is very tough for new writers. Most publishing houses, due to tightening the belts with the economy, sign/promote 2-3 top authors, but there’s little room for anyone new (that doesn’t already have a huge platform) to make an inroad. A walk through any Christian bookstore will show you that many of the titles are by the same authors. Also, Christian/inspirational publishers publish very little in the realms of sci-fi, fantasy, juvenile/children’s literature. And it is rare for a publisher to produce a 4-color children’s book since Berryman Graphics (the one huge color press) shut their doors a couple years ago (yet Capstone has produced 2 color titles in the first year of our publication. In a process that normally takes 3 years (6-9 months to read/acquire a manuscript, 3 months for a contract, 6-9 months in editorial/design, and 6-9 months in production, Capstone had already produced 47 titles (going through the same process of acquiring, contracting, editing, designing, etc., that all traditional publishers use) by the end of our first year, on Dec. 31, 2007!
Our titles represent numerous genres of inspirational fiction: historical, fantasy, sci-fi, romance, literary, mystery, biblical, detective, humor, legal/political thrillers, biblical, and suspense. And in a day when, in light of economic realities, publishers have chosen to publish very few children’s and young adult titles, we have published 10 titles spanning those categories.
So, Bonnie, that’s a little bit about us. (And probably more than you wanted!) Take a look at our site, too. We’re straightforward kind of folks. We believe in honesty, integrity, have a passion for broadening the scope of inspirational publishing and giving new authors of brilliantly crafted novels (fiction, only—for all ages). We would welcome submission from any writers, once you and they have checked us out. (And no, we are not an “e” publisher, to combat that notion: when you order a Capstone title from amazon.com for example, you get it in exactly the same timeframe you’d get any other book you order, and in hard copy!) We also work with one of the most creative and brilliant head designers in the publishing business, who has over 22 years in the field, as well (and you can see the result in the wonderful Capstone titles pictured on our site). You’ll find submission guidelines, etc., online, as well. The only thing that has really changed in the interim (which we haven’t been able to update in the flurry), is that it takes us about 4-6 weeks to respond to queries, since we were recently deluged with 800 manuscripts. Word is getting around, and it’s very exciting to see the wonderful manuscripts coming our way!
Thanks for writing, Bonnie! I hope this information is helpful to you and the rest of your group.
If you have a Christian fiction book and would like to submit your query, you can visit their site at www.CapstoneFiction.com. It is a very informative and easy to use site.
To date, I have received 163 surveys back from you. Thank you so much for taking the time to fill these out. I will be compiling the data during the first week of March and getting back to you with the results. If you haven't sent yours in, there is still time. You can do it by email or snail mail. If you need help, just let me know.
The most important thing to remember is that we have to remain vigilant and not get discouraged by the lack of visible progress. Carl Lau is counting on time being on his side and our frustration making us give up. Remember—good things come to those who wait, and they will certainly come to us.
With love and hope,
Bonnie
Dear Airleaf Victims and Friends,
As of today, we have 408 Airleaf Victims in our group. Welcome to our new members.
Tonight and tomorrow evening on the History Channel, you can watch our own Jack Powell in a special on Hillbillys--The Real Story hosted by Billy Ray Cyrus. It's a fascinating documentary which will teach you about a little known part of our country's history. It airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. Check your local listings.
First, I want to thank you, as a group, for taking the time to write to Indiana's U.S. Attorney Timothy Morrison last weekend and throughout the week. I want to go over his response to us to clarify where he stands and where we as a group stand.
Last weekend, I sent Mr. Morrison this email before I asked you to do the same:
From: BonKaye@aol.com [mailto:BonKaye@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 12:23 PM
To: USAINS-Webmaster
Subject: From Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed., Organizer Airleaf Victims
Dear Mr. Morrison,
I am respectfully requesting that your office communicate with me as the organizer of our group of 405 authors in the Airleaf Victims group. My website is at www.AirleafVictims.com.
I had originally been in touch with Steve DeBrota, but my phone calls for the past two weeks are going unreturned. Perhaps he is no longer on the case.
Please let me know if your office is assisting our victims who have been taken in excess of one million dollars by the fraudulent practices of Carl Lau and Airleaf Publishing. You can check with the FBI and Postal authorities through Captain Jeff Buskirk in Martinsville, Indiana, who has put our case together.
We are very distraught at the responses of the Indiana government agencies including the Attorney General's office, the Governor's office, and the two State Senator offices. We are frustrated and would like to know how you can help us.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
Organizer, Airleaf Victims
Here was his response on Tuesday, February 19, 2008:
Dear Ms. Kaye:
This matter has not yet been referred to our office by any law enforcement agency. We have seen no reports nor results of any interviews. We are not an investigative unit but are dependent upon work-ups by groups like the FBI and the Postal Inspection Service, both whom you have involved in this.
The Assistant United States Attorney you contacted, Steve DeBrota, was the duty attorney for the office on the day you called. He is not assigned this case, because, as I explained above, no investigative agency has referred it to us. Your telephone calls have been unreturned for the past few weeks, because Mr. DeBrota has been committed to a multi-victim, child exploitation case in the northern part of our district. That case was referred to us and prosecution has commenced.
I am sure the Governor, the Indiana Attorney General, and the offices of Senators Bayh and Lugar are also “distraught.” None of these entities have any criminal jurisdiction in Indiana. The only entities that do—and have relevance here—is the Morgan County, Indiana, Prosecuting Attorney and our office. What can these offices you contacted do for you?
I hope that this group has retained counsel to sue the responsible parties and attempt to seize any relevant assets prior to adjudication on the merits. The burden of proof is lower than in a criminal prosecution and speed of initiation of suit can be faster. Furthermore, restitution is more limited under the criminal law. A successful criminal prosecution will not result in restitution for lost profits.
Finally, your ability to marshal an e-mail campaign that fills our webpage mailbox with more than 120 e-mails may be impressive but unproductive. One referred to me as Attorney General and castigated me for failing to return your calls. I have never spoken to you and I am not the Attorney General. Another told me his books were printed and shipped, but 100 of them were defective. (This is more evidence of breach of contract than criminal fraud) Consolidated communication will save time. Feel free to distribute this e-mail to your group.
We will work through this as we are provided with sufficient information.
Sincerely,
Timothy M. Morrison, Acting U.S. Attorney
I felt somewhat "stung" by this response. I thought it was petty of Mr. Morrison to bring up two insignificant points of being referred to as the AG and the defective books. Instead, I would have liked for him to note that he was very saddened to hear about the fraudulence that our group had been part of and that he would do whatever he could to check this for us. Instead, he was asking me what the offices we contacted could do for us.
He acknowledged that my phone calls had not been returned because the attorney on duty was assigned to a more pressing case. I can understand that—but all it takes is communication to relay that. A call back from his department explaining this would have been sufficient and avoided the mass emails. I am not a party of one calling on my own behalf—I am representing a group of over 400 people who are looking for answers.
Mr. Morrison made the comment that restitution is more limited under criminal law, suggesting we find an attorney to sue for us. This was my response that I sent to him later that day:
Dear Mr. Morrison,
Thank you for your quick response to the Airleaf Victims. Quite frankly, we are very disgusted and frustrated at this point. Other than the police captain in Martinsville, Captain Jeff Buskirk, we have heard virtually no news about our case for over six months. We are not versed in the legal means of getting action in Indiana. We do know how virtually every government official has told us that this is not his responsibility and bumped us over to the next official.
Please understand that we are not in a position to hire an attorney. Many of our members are elderly and disabled, and they have invested every last penny they have into this predatory publisher who has now closed down. An attorney would cost us a lot of money, and most of us are tapped out from investing our money in Airleaf. With a company that has closed, it's hard to find an attorney who wants to take the case because there will be limited assets to retrieve. We understand that the owner, Mr. Carl Lau, is claiming bankruptcy.
At this point, we know that there are limited funds that may be returned. Regardless, we would like to see criminal charges pressed against Carl Lau and other employees who knowingly defrauded our authors. We need to send a message that is loud and clear that robbing people of their hopes, dreams, and money is not an allowable practice in Indiana where so many print-on-demand companies are now set up or setting up.
It was not my intention to clog your email system, but rather to make a mass plea to you to help us. We are feeling very lost in this matter. It seems to me that if one person was robbed in your state, action would be taken. We have over 400 people at this point who are part of our group who have been robbed, and yet all we hear is that it's no one's real responsibility and we should get an attorney.
Maybe you can still help us by contacting the FBI and Postal Authorities to make sure that this case is being investigated and that the criminal (s) will not be allowed to go unpunished. I will not have people write to you anymore. If I need information, I will come to you directly and relay your messages. If there is any information that I can provide for you that will help this case move along, please let me know.
Thank you for listening, and I appreciate whatever you can do for us.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
www.AirleafVictims.com
As a P.S., I received confirmation from 23 more of you who sent out the note to Mr. Morrison during the week, so nearly 150 of us have written to that office. There is no need to send out an email at this point if you haven't done so. Mr. Morrison certainly knows about the Airleaf Victims. One thing that this experience is teaching me at this stage of my life is how wrong my perceptions of government were. Morrison stated: "I am sure the Governor, the Indiana Attorney General, and the offices of Senators Bayh and Lugar are also “distraught.” None of these entities have any criminal jurisdiction in Indiana." This was amazing to me. I never realized that these political offices have no criminal jurisdiction. Did you?
On a personal note, I do know that things are moving, even if the wheels are spinning slowly for our satisfaction. Many of you are left in limbo at the moment because you are anxious to receive your files and books. I am hoping that Captain Buskirk will have some news for us this week.
Some of us received forms this week from the Attorney General's office once again called Consumer Complaint Forms. I called Tom Irons from the AG's office who is the most responsive of all government officials I have dealt with. He is checking to see why this second form was sent to us since we filled out the original form online and then received a hard copy form to fill out after that. He will get back to me this week, so you can wait until you hear from me before you fill this one out. Please be assured that since Tom took over our case a few weeks ago that he is working on getting our case together. Hopefully, he will be able to pursue a civil case on our behalf.
One of our authors wrote to me about a publishing company, Capstone Fiction, for Christian FICTION. This is in NO WAY to be confused with Capstone Productions, the Hollywood movie company that Carl Lau claimed he was working with. A number of our victims fit into this category. I checked out the company through the Internet and our wonderful resource Victoria Strauss to see if this would be a viable avenue for some of our authors. When I felt comfortable with the results, I wrote to one of the owners, Ramona Tucker, about our situation and asked if our Christian fiction authors could apply to be published with them. Here are some excerpts from Ramona's response:
Hi Bonnie,
I am SO saddened to hear about the experience of your group members with AIrleaf! I hate hearing such stories (and unfortunately, in 25 years of publishing, I’ve heard quite a few of them.) I had never heard of Airleaf, but was able to read through your website information about it just now), but it sounds to me like it was a “self-publisher” (in other words, each of your writers PAID that company to publish their book. There wasn’t really any personal investment from the publisher that they loved/believed in that book. Such things happening—and authors getting taken for a ride because they are so desperate to be published that they’re willing to pay anything—are one of the many reasons we launched Capstone! To give new authors an opportunity to publish and to slowly start growing their reader base…since every good thing takes its time! Capstone is not about “competing” to get the top book/top author; it’s about our passion to get wonderful books that we believe could make it nationally--books with fresh plots, quirky characters into the hands of readers of a broad spectrum of readers. And without the “fear” that if they don’t sell enough the first year that the book will get “axed” by the publisher, as is happening more and more frequently these days.)
Capstone is a one-year-old company (we celebrated our first anniversary on Dec. 31, 2007) but founded by myself and Jeff Nesbit, both veterans of the publishing industry. You can find out a lot about us by googling our names, Capstone Fiction, and going to our website at www.Capstonefiction.com.
Who is Capstone? We are a traditional publisher (in other words, just like Tyndale, Zondervan, Nelson, etc.); when we sign an author’s work, that means we believe in the work and feel strongly that it needs to have a chance in the marketplace (whether it sells 500 copies, 5,000 copies, or 50,000 copies over its lifetime!). Our primary mission is to create opportunities for new, talented Christian writers, while also promoting leading-edge fiction by established Christian authors. Today’s market is very tough for new writers. Most publishing houses, due to tightening the belts with the economy, sign/promote 2-3 top authors, but there’s little room for anyone new (that doesn’t already have a huge platform) to make an inroad. A walk through any Christian bookstore will show you that many of the titles are by the same authors. Also, Christian/inspirational publishers publish very little in the realms of sci-fi, fantasy, juvenile/children’s literature. And it is rare for a publisher to produce a 4-color children’s book since Berryman Graphics (the one huge color press) shut their doors a couple years ago (yet Capstone has produced 2 color titles in the first year of our publication. In a process that normally takes 3 years (6-9 months to read/acquire a manuscript, 3 months for a contract, 6-9 months in editorial/design, and 6-9 months in production, Capstone had already produced 47 titles (going through the same process of acquiring, contracting, editing, designing, etc., that all traditional publishers use) by the end of our first year, on Dec. 31, 2007!
Our titles represent numerous genres of inspirational fiction: historical, fantasy, sci-fi, romance, literary, mystery, biblical, detective, humor, legal/political thrillers, biblical, and suspense. And in a day when, in light of economic realities, publishers have chosen to publish very few children’s and young adult titles, we have published 10 titles spanning those categories.
So, Bonnie, that’s a little bit about us. (And probably more than you wanted!) Take a look at our site, too. We’re straightforward kind of folks. We believe in honesty, integrity, have a passion for broadening the scope of inspirational publishing and giving new authors of brilliantly crafted novels (fiction, only—for all ages). We would welcome submission from any writers, once you and they have checked us out. (And no, we are not an “e” publisher, to combat that notion: when you order a Capstone title from amazon.com for example, you get it in exactly the same timeframe you’d get any other book you order, and in hard copy!) We also work with one of the most creative and brilliant head designers in the publishing business, who has over 22 years in the field, as well (and you can see the result in the wonderful Capstone titles pictured on our site). You’ll find submission guidelines, etc., online, as well. The only thing that has really changed in the interim (which we haven’t been able to update in the flurry), is that it takes us about 4-6 weeks to respond to queries, since we were recently deluged with 800 manuscripts. Word is getting around, and it’s very exciting to see the wonderful manuscripts coming our way!
Thanks for writing, Bonnie! I hope this information is helpful to you and the rest of your group.
If you have a Christian fiction book and would like to submit your query, you can visit their site at www.CapstoneFiction.com. It is a very informative and easy to use site.
To date, I have received 163 surveys back from you. Thank you so much for taking the time to fill these out. I will be compiling the data during the first week of March and getting back to you with the results. If you haven't sent yours in, there is still time. You can do it by email or snail mail. If you need help, just let me know.
The most important thing to remember is that we have to remain vigilant and not get discouraged by the lack of visible progress. Carl Lau is counting on time being on his side and our frustration making us give up. Remember—good things come to those who wait, and they will certainly come to us.
With love and hope,
Bonnie
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