AP Miller AKA Patti Rebmann Apparently Has A New Job…
Sunday, September 20, 2009Posted in: e-book publishers behaving badly?, e-pubbed authors behaving like fucktards?
I received an email the other day informing me that AP Miller AKA Patti Rebmann has got a new job. Apparently she’s the acquisitions editor at the soon-to-be-opened (slightly dodgy looking) XoXo Publishing.
You guys remember Patti right? She’s that imbecile who emerged at the height of the Mardi Gras publishing scandal.
Remember this love letter she wrote to me?
Karen Scott has a big mouth when it comes to slandering authors. Seems I am not the only one being attacked here either. She knows NOTHING about writing or publishing yet finds it necessary to post advise to authors regarding their career! And how much of a college education have she had?? NONE. What are her writing credits?? BOOK REVIEWS…Author Groupie…
Yeah, she loved me loads.
This is what it says in the About Us section at the XoXo website:
We are XOXO Publishing™ a division of Ninni Group Inc. We specialize in captivating readers the world over with our diversity of genres and superb quality of authors. The genres we showcase include (but certainly aren’t limited to!) romance, erotica, general fiction, and quality non-fiction in both novella and novel formats as well as standard length short stories and poetry. You’re welcome to come in, browse and get to know us and our work. Pull up a seat and stay awhile. We guarantee you’ll come back often and stay long.
We are happy to have you all.XOXO Publishing™
A Division of Ninni Group, Inc
Pray tell who are the Ninni Group?
The name seems quite apt though, don’t you think? *g*
It strikes me that there is no information about who actually owns the company. None. It doesn’t even state who the editors are. They’re due to open in October for Oprah’s sake.
The only names that were listed on the website were the following ‘authors’:
Amelie Court
Angelique La Mone
Angelyn
Ray Gompf
Brianna Martini
Ever heard of any of them? No? Me neither.
Surely for the sake of transparency, they should at least list who the key principles are?
I have to say, I was less surprised by the discovery that The Batshit Loony One is an acquisitions editor for a yet-to-be-opened new e-press, than I was when I discovered that she was an author over at Noble Romance.
Jill Noble, what were you thinking?
Oh well, I guess even imbeciles deserve love too.
By the way, does anybody know anything about XoXo?
Thanks to you-know-who for the heads up
Tuscan Capo
September 20
2:26 pm
CEO of XOXO is listed as Gina Cianfarini
http://pickledcupid.blogspot.com/2009/09/xoxo-publishing-music-that-pains.html
maddie
September 20
2:52 pm
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=254008969&blogId=507237869
If Amelie Court wrote this little dippy above then they are in trouble already
http://angeliquelamone.blogspot.com/2009/08/calling-all-artists.html?zx=c18b59873626d65
West
September 20
2:58 pm
Okay, I’ll bite- who’s AP Miller, what’s Mardi Gras, and what happened there?
And seriously? Ninni? That’s a company name that’s supposed to inspire faith, trust and loyalty? People really need to think these things through.
Anya Howard
September 20
3:06 pm
All I know is AP Miller has been pushing XOXO promotions and the publisher Cianfarini is supposed to be a Toronto native. I’d be concerned about their submissions as there’s no indication that they pay royalties. By all appearances it seems this publisher is interested in author donations of stories. But how they plan to pay prize money (or prize contracts) is uncertain.
Also according to announcements on loops from AP Miller (Patti Rebman Miller and her husband, Andrew) one of their books is being made into a movie. If this news is true I congratulate the pair, but then again they said the same thing some years ago.
Myra Willingham
September 20
3:06 pm
From what I have heard from a couple of my authors: The above-mentioned publishing company in question is a non-paying royalty enterprise. It is a strictly ‘we’ll pub you for the exposure but we ain’t paying you’ site. It asked for admission into IWOFA and was turned down.
Anon
September 20
3:35 pm
I have had more than one run in with AP Miller/Patti Rebmann in the past. She is a hypocritical loon of the bat-shit-crazy first order. When she took over partial leadership of the published author network of my local RWA chapter, that was the last straw I needed to get out.
She’ll bad mouth e pubs and e pubbed authors in one breath and then sell the same stories over and over again to an epub when the one she was with either goes belly up or figures out that she’s a loon.
And don’t even get me started on her claims of having sold film rights and “anime rights.” If either of those turn out to be true, I’ll eat my TBR pile.
Heaven help any one or any pub that gets involved with her.
Tuscan Capo
September 20
4:27 pm
AP Miller claims on her/his Twitter that Billy Baldwin will be in “Cravings”. (I’m assuming that’s William Baldwin). The tweet just before that one states that AP is working on the movie script and loving it. http://twitter.com/APMillerauthor3
And according to their newest tweet their Beyond The Looking Glass is coming out as a film in fall of 2010. Strangely, there’s no mention of this at the publisher’s website (Red Rose Publishing).
And according to this blog post Mrs. Miller says she is originally from New Jersey.
http://living-las-vegas.com/blog/author/patti-miller/
Anon
September 20
5:46 pm
Funny how all the review links that I click on do not work.
maddie
September 20
5:49 pm
Funny but all of the links that are for her reviews do not work.
Anon76
September 20
5:54 pm
“bashing head on desk”
AP Miller as a pair and seperately are total divas, without any real talent to BE divas. They feed into each other’s grandoise plans that never come to pass.
And the saddest part, newbie authors get sucked into this whole thing. They believe what they are told, especially when the whole “movie” thing comes up. “Oh my gosh, this editor/writer has movie connections.”
Then when the Millers decide they have been wronged by a pub (and this means every pub they’ve ever encountered) they don’t just flounce off. They do a whole campaign to have the newbies villify the pub. Granted, some of these pubs suck, but it’s almost a cultish thing the Millers do.
Sigh
veinglory
September 20
6:37 pm
The CEO is listed as: Gina Cianfarani
veinglory
September 20
6:38 pm
Oops, I see Teddy beat me to it
Myra Willingham
September 20
9:25 pm
Might this Gina Cianfarani be Gina Haldane from the defunct RFI West that ripped off a bunch of authorsw?
maddie
September 20
10:02 pm
This is what I found when I googled Gina Haldane name.
Notice that there is a connection to New Jersey, I think the whole thing smells fishy.
Here is the link to what is posted below:
http://www.amberquill.com/piracy.html
Many of the Amber Quill Press, LLC, book titles—either already available for purchase through this or other AQP authorized websites or scheduled for release in the near future by Amber Quill Press, LLC—are illegally being offered for sale in both electronic and/or paperback formats under some of the following company names: RFI West, Inc., Moonlit Garden Books, Inc., and Romance Foretold, LLC (all formerly operating in Arizona and now supposedly based in Anaheim, California, under the ownership and direction of Ms. Gina Haldane), Romance Foretold, Inc., Starlight Writer Publications, Dark Star Publications, Pulsar Books (all defunct and previously operating in New Jersey under the ownership and direction of Ms. Gina Haldane) or Replica/Replica Books. These pirated books are registered with ISBN numbers beginning with: 1-58697-???-?.
These companies, nor any additional company Ms. Gina Haldane may create in the future in any state under any other name, have no legal contract with the authors of these titles, nor to the best of our knowledge, have they paid royalties on any products still being illegally sold or advertised. The vast majority of communication since June, 2002, with these companies to resolve this serious legal issue has been ignored. The only communication received from these companies has contained false promises, excuses, even threats of harrassment, and not one of these issues has been addressed by Ms. Gina Haldane herself, the owner and director of the aforementioned companies.
Amber Quill Press, LLC, is the ONLY authorized and legitimate publisher of the titles appearing on this website or listed as Amber Quill Press titles on other authorized bookseller websites. Any website or book merchant still distributing and selling pirated materials in either electronic and/or paperback formats by the aforementioned publishers or through Ms. Gina Haldane’s (or her current staff’s) written or verbal authorization is in direct violation of intellectual property theft laws, a punishable felony, and will be reported to the proper authorities. Please note that Ms. Gina Haldane also goes by the following aliases: Ellyn MacGregor, Jennie Collins, Madlyn Grey. The following individuals attached to Ms. Gina Haldane and listed on the RFI West website as current staff members are also unauthorized to represent these works in any way, shape, or form, and will also be held accountable on all further illegal sales of said works: Dara Haldane-Lindley, Peter Lindley, Dee Prutsman, Sharon Pangelinan, Joyce Lindbo, Maggie Johnstone, Carole Anne Armendariz, and Melanie Billings or any future employees of Ms. Gina Haldane in any of the aforementioned companies or any future companies registered to Ms. Gina Haldane or under the name of any of her aliases or employees’ names.
Should you discover any Amber Quill Press, LLC, titles still being sold or advertised as being available for purchase from these unauthorized publishers’ websites or various distributors’ websites, please contact us at customer_service@amberquill.com and provide us with details regarding these criminal activities.
The staff and authors at Amber Quill Press, LLC, thank you in advance for any additional information you can provide.
Tuscan Capo
September 20
11:28 pm
No Em, that was me! sniff, sniff..
AN
September 21
1:18 am
Apparently she claims the film is going into production now and is listed on IMDB, but I can’t find it…
Don’t forget that if an author “wrongs” AP Miller, they threaten to blacklist said author by alerting their numerous (and yet, strangely, anonymous) contacts in the publishing industry to keep them from ever getting a New York contract.
Must be nice to have a world entirely of one’s own construction.
Ann Bruce
September 21
1:34 am
I can’t be the only person who shook my head at the parent company name. Ninni Group?Ack. Okay. I really should read Karen’s post instead of skimming it before commenting.
veinglory
September 21
1:43 am
Oops, sorry. Maybe all men looks like pigs in the dark
Tuscan Capo
September 21
1:58 am
Excuse me lady, I’ll have you know my wife swears I look like a very handsome stallion in the dark. In the light of day, however…
Amanda
September 21
4:10 am
Ok Im gonna be me the person and not me the author right now. I have been selected as one of the new authors for xoxo. Ok please don’t mock me, peeps ok. I am very dedicated to my craft, have worked very hard and this is something that I have wanted for a long time. My work is always getting better and yeah, to be accepted into something like xoxo means that I finally did something right…but now I see its wrong. I was blinded by hope and that sucks. So I am asking where else can I go to find stuff??? I have been to three sites and I want to confront the people who own or whatever it is they do and find out just what the job entails. If you all could help me out I would be grateful.
Thanks,
Amanda
Karen Scott
September 21
7:48 am
Amanda, what “stuff” are you looking for?
I assumed you were an author, but your reference to “the job” leaves me a little confused.
If you’re an author, can I ask why you would offer up your book to an ‘e-publisher’ who apparently won’t be paying you for your work? It seems like a crazy thing to do.
No matter how desperate you are to get published, you need to make sure that your book is going to be looked after, and that you are going to be rewarded for your efforts. Don’t just hand your manuscript to any Tom, Dick, and Harry.
If you keep submitting your one book to loads of publishing houses, and you keep getting rejections, then you should consider putting that book to one side, and starting afresh with another book, and trying to improve. Once you get pubbed, you never know, that first book may get a second chance.
By the way Amanda, I’m no expert, the above is just common sense, but I find time and time again that normal sense seems to fly out of the window when it comes to writers who are desperately seeking publication, and I don’t get it.
If you’re looking for more info about XoXo, well there are a couple of links that may help you, in the above comments, but I’d say that at this point you probably just need to cut your losses, and run as fast as you can from these shysters.
Karen Scott
September 21
8:13 am
Apparently Gina Cianfarini is also Brianni Martini who was an author at the now defunct Silks Vault.
It seems to me that the more ‘creative’ some of these pseudonyms are, the more brainless these people seem to be.
I ask you, Brianni Martini? WTF?
Ghetto Diva
September 21
12:10 pm
Weird…so freaking weird. I used to write for Silks, a few years back. I learned my lesson big time. XOXO seems to be run by junkies waiting for readers to spend their money, so they could by crack.
Wouldn’t it be funny though if XOXO was run by: AP Miller, Teresa Wayne, and Jayden Sinclair? That would be a hoot. Because then the “idiot and freak” APP Miller, can be accompanied by Teresa “cheating, backstabbing” wayne, and Jayden “a dog ate the puter” Sinclair.
Hey I call it like I see it.
Ghetto Diva
September 21
12:15 pm
Oh and Amanda, RUN, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. Ask for your book back from XOXO. Submit to places like Loose ID, Samhain, Cobblestone, EC… I’ll tell you now XOXO won’t last long, and they sure as hell will not pay you your royalties. Sure, it’s all good and dandy, at the beginning when XOXO offers you “promises” of getting your name out there, paying royalties probably at the beginning- but eventually it’ll all die down… and you’ll be saying, I should have listened.
Anon76
September 21
12:44 pm
Oh, Amanda, my sympathy goes out to you. And while new authors should def do their research, you are among a huge number who have fallen under AP Miller and company’s wiles.
All their claims and reassurances are like crack. Totally addictive and just as destructive.
Every author, whether new or seasoned, should make search engines their bestest friends. Type the names in of the people you are speaking with and read, read, read the links that come up.
And finding no link is often as bad as finding a ton of bad ones. That means the people either have no experience or everything is hidden behind psuedos, not a healthy sign.
I don’t know how to advise you at the moment, but whatever you decide I wish you the best of luck.
Amanda
September 21
3:19 pm
The “stuff” I was looking for, I found, and tons of it. I guess I went in blind but I went in with the hopes of just getting a toe in. It’s not that my stuff isn’t good, it is probably my lack of knowledge and where to go.
I believe Gina Cianfarani is AP Miller, or Patti or whatever she calls her self these days. I found that Brianni Martini is also Angelique La Mone too. The Book Promotion People is not even an active site, it says that it is under construction. Late last night I also found that xoxo publishing’s blog was shut down do to “construction.” Which twenty minutes before hand when I looked it was open.
I also looked up Gina Cianfarani through Yahoo, I found that she has several sites, which if I took the time to post them here it would take a whole section to do. Anyway, the point is that everything she says is the same as what Patti has said. I also laughed (at myself mostly), at her because every achievement box said “Too many to list” It also said that she was a screenwriter, CEO(?) and a few other things. (I think I can laugh this morning at how gullible I was)
I guess I am angry at myself and angry that this site with these people(?), person(?) can do this. It enrages me that innocent people who just want a chance are subject for preditors like this Patti, Gina, oh f&^% me whoever the hell she is!
I am also a book reviewer with Dark Diva Reviews and because my boss believed in xoxo she put our site at risk and that just adds more to the pile of shit we have to wade through.
But at least I have come out with my head still attached and I didn’t sign anything. I have my story and no one will get it until I fully research any other publisher.
Lesson learned the hard way.
Barbara Sheridan
September 21
3:52 pm
@Amanda
Look at who publishes your favorites, who has the best covers, solid editing, etc. then make your “submit-to” list starting there.
Don’t beat yourself up too much if you feel you made or almost made a bad choice. You stay in this crazy business long enough you’re bound to make a choice or two that won’t go as you’d hoped.
Tuscan Capo
September 21
4:11 pm
I found today that XOXO has removed their details and pages. http://pickledcupid.blogspot.com/2009/09/updates-xoxo-publishing-and-ap-miller.html
Amanda, don’t feel bad. If I were an author starting out I might think the exposure these places promise is beneficial, too. Unfortunately the world can be a cruel place and not everything people promise is worth the virtual paper it’s typed on. You may wish to check out the helpful forums and resources at AbsoluteWrite:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/
Ghetto Diva
September 21
4:24 pm
Amanda congrats to you for getting out early. Not many writers do have the chance to get out early. They usually find the bullshit out months later.
Anon76
September 21
4:46 pm
AP Miller’s director as listed on her http://morganmandelbooks.ning.com/profile/APMiller site.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmaxxkelly
And if you are very brave:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.Channel&ChannelID=29350570
Anon76
September 21
4:55 pm
Wow. This is the first time I’ve been put on moderation to get my comments up. Must be the links I gave. LOL
AztecLady
September 21
4:57 pm
Too many links mean our spam hunter stops the comment. You are all approved now, though
Anon76
September 21
5:00 pm
Smooches to you AL. Tanks much. I found the links REALLY interesting.
Karen Scott
September 21
6:38 pm
Apparently AP Miller’s book Good Guys Deserve Bad Girls was book of the week at Whipped Cream Reviews. Woo hoo!
Jesus.
http://twitter.com/APMillerauthor3
Ghetto Diva
September 21
6:50 pm
I really do think AP Miller is a loon. A nut, a chicken…a ok I’ll stop.
Amanda
September 21
8:14 pm
Wait, Im lost and I hate to be catty here, but uhhhhhh didn’t she say that Beyond the Loony Glass I mean Looking Glass was supposed to be a film????? Now on Twitter it says HBO and DVD????? Did I miss something?
Just sayin.
Oh and wait there’s more….it would seem every book is being made into a film….wow…Im impressed. Where can I sign up to do something like that…oh wait, I know XOXO Publishing!
Sorry this is all cathartic for me right now.
Amanda
September 21
8:20 pm
http://whippedcream2.blogspot.com/?zx=dff554bcfbb64614
Unless I am looking at the wrong place, which I don’t think so, I dont see it.
OH THIS IS TOOO GOOD my best friend Dakota Trace is the feature author of the week at Whip Cream LOL!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.longandshortreviews.com/WC/index.htm
Mireya
September 21
9:56 pm
I can’t find the review at Whipped Cream Reviews, I wonder if those guys know that the name of their site is being misused.
I googled Billy Baldwin (as well as all his brothers). Nothing about anything titled “Cravings”.
I wonder what does she mean by “film”. She’s giving dates that are only months from now. Me thinks YouTube… yah, that’s it, YouTube!
Jill N. Noble
September 21
10:57 pm
The Whipped Cream Review:
http://whippedcream2.blogspot.com/2009/09/good-guys-deserve-bad-girls-by-ap.html?zx=8563bd21addf410c
Mireya
September 22
12:42 am
ah, thanks Jill. Normally, I am not this internet deficient. The site is not that easy to navigate am afraid.
Jill N. Noble
September 22
12:47 am
Not problem, Mireya. I couldn’t find it just by looking on the site, either. Had to go back to my email and find the notice that contained the link. LOL
Too Anonymous
September 22
4:06 am
Movies? Somewhere, on some group, I heard a different word used. *cough* porn *cough* Something about Vegas and meeting with producers in that industry.
Anonymous
September 22
3:52 pm
Hmmmm… Mardis Gras. Wasn’t the publisher at Red Rose involved in all that? I seem to recall a great deal of hoopla when she opened Red Rose. Authors were concerned over her reentry to the publishing world if I am correct.
And correct me if I am wrong, please.
And this AP Miller, who is somehow linked with XOXO which is now outed as a questionable publisher, is an author with Red Rose. Right?
Too many old names (and wounds) opening up here, getting linked again. I smell disaster on the way. And unfortunately authors will be the ones to pay.
Ghetto Diva
September 22
5:06 pm
The ever bullshit Red Rose- Anon you are correct. I’m very sure cheerleaders are going to jump on Karen’s blog, saying Red Rose is great. Red Rose is wonderful. NOT. Wendi Felter is just as insane as AP Miller, and Teresa Wayne. Wendi will tell you that she knows ex President Clinton, that she’s been invited to the white house, and on the publishing side, the editing at Red Rose is horrendous.
Correct me if I’m wrong- and I may be, BUT I thought Samhain sold Red Rose books at their site. Not a smart move at all. I don’t see Red Rose lasting any longer. They basically publish anyone who would submit to them.
Oh well. And cheerleaders, this is my opinion, and some of the words are actually based on first hand fact. Leaving the stage, let the “praising” begin.
Anonymous
September 22
5:57 pm
Okay. I wasn’t wrong. Glad to hear that, not glad to hear
that it was as bad as I thought I remembered though, lol.
Wow! There are some real personalities out there in e publishing for sure (and I use the term personalities for
lack of a nicer way to say it, lol). All of that Mardis Gras stuff and Red Rose opening stuff is really beginning to ring bells with me now.
I have to agree that some of what I’ve read in excerpts from Red Rose leaves a great deal to be desired editing wise.
Samhain? I’m thinking that it’s Siren who is selling Red Rose’s books. Siren has a distribution site. It’s selling books for a lot of publishers with porn right next to it. Some of these publishers should think about who they are getting into bed with.
Just goes to show it’s all about the buck and apparently authors have short memories, or else Red Rose would not be in business in the first place.
You know, a lot of these publishers have sister sites. Maybe one of them has decided to go into the porn business and that is why the need for that ridiculous corporation name. Ninni? Yeah, a ninny as in fool if you mess with them. lol Apologies to anyone who may have stumbled upon their site and been drawn into it all. It happens to the best of us.
Just too many coincidences that all these names are popping up. Together. Again.
maddie
September 22
8:54 pm
Karen what ever happened to the woman up in Canada or she ran to Canada, I think she promoted herself as an editor, and defrauded quite a few people out of money and took off, I think she also laid claim to being a trust fund baby too?
I remember reading it on this site (that how I found out about this site, it was from a link)
AN
September 22
10:06 pm
It’s both, Samhain’s My Books and More and Siren/Bookstrand.
I thought Red Rose had potential at first, but now it’s an author factor headed by a clearly insane woman. A shame.
Ghetto Diva
September 22
10:39 pm
It’s a shame that we don’t have a Beware of Publisher/Author website of some sort. It would clearly be for informative purposes of course. LOL.
vein
September 23
9:23 pm
There are a few incomplete sites that between them cover a lot of these publishers:
http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/peba.htm
http://www.hipiers.com/publishing.html
http://www.erecsite.com/PLIST.html (my site, somewhat out of date)
Lisa
September 30
12:23 am
Now this is the funniest blog I have ever read. AP Miller is Brianna Martini and Angelique Le Mone. Oh please! Why don’t you people get your facts straight for once. Angelique Le Mone and AP Miller are both authors. Brianna and Gina are sisters and they are both authors. Lets see here what else is new oh did you know that Karen Scott is Carmen St. James of the bankrupted Silk Vault. Go on let the rumors continue I’m laughing.
AnonymousLeo
November 6
9:20 am
Website registration search finds that Gina Cianfarani’s company, “Ninni” is listed as registrant of an “event planning” company called Angel Wings Over Toronto ANGELWINGSOVERTORONTO.COM(a place-holder page)
The Angel Wings Over trade mark is denoted as defaulted and abandoned with the CIPO
http://www.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/trdmrks/srch/vwTrdmrk.do;jsessionid=0000KDlTYO9vsS_DmxNRviIrxhy:1247nfca5?lang=eng&fileNumber=1270369&extension=0&startingDocumentIndexOnPage=1
Ninni, if it is legitimately incorporated, is not filed at this time as a trade mark entity, nor is it found filed as a corporation with Industry Canada ic.gc.ca
sexii_back_gurl
December 14
1:16 am
wow this whole thing sounds a hot mess. Someone said above that it would be funny if XOXO was owned by Jaden, AP and Theresa –it would be every author’s nightmare! Those women are an absolute disaster when it comes to people’s books and their names. I was with Mardi Gras and they still owe me money. But *sigh* what are you gonna do right?
But as for the the whole “not being trademarked as a business” with Industry Canada, I hope new authors who are considering sending works to XOXO google them and finds this because if the business is not registered with Industry Canada and they get caught, the authors lose too because the unregistered company can get fined up to ten grand or some outragous number like that and we all know they cannot afford that so guess what happens? The government then take everything the company owns in payment. That includes the rights of the authors’ works.
I don’t know. AP and a friend of mine just had a run in and my gurl simply ignored her. I think that’s what you have to do when people like that steps in your face, just ignore then because then it gets blown way out of proportion *sigh* remember the days when writing/publishing used to be fun?