Was I the only person who read Kassia Krozser’s How I Spent My Summer Vacation post and felt that it was slightly…glib? Casual, even?

Welcome back from whatever you did this summer. Me, I spent my time building a digital publishing company. It went mostly okay, though, in the end, there was no company to show for it. That has nothing to do with the work and talent of the people involved. Talk about amazing, smart, and creative.

You’d never know that all that summer long we’d been bombarded with messages of how QP was going to revolutionize the e-book industry, and change the digital publishing world forever.

You’d never know that people who took a risk and jumped on board ended up losing their jobs, their time, their money.

You’d never know that they made big promises that they broke.

KK’s post seemed far too casual in my opinion. A lot of people commended them on the fact that they held their hands up, and shut up shop before the bodies started piling up, but I wasn’t one of those people. In fact it didn’t impress me much at all.

(more…)

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? (more…)

So you guys remember my post about the rumour that the disgraced ex-owner of the defunct Triskelion Publishing, Kristi Studts had opened a new publishing company?

And the follow-up post where I posted the comments of Kristi Studts Jennifer Mitchell, the owner of Mystic Moon Press, who not only took the time out to try to set the record straight, but also sent along her henchmen to support her?

OK, so it was a while ago, but bear with me will ya?

Anyway, this was the rebuttal comment from Jennifer Mitchell at the time: (more…)

Is there trouble at the Elloras Cave mill, I wonder?

I got this e-mail last night:

I’m surprised this isn’t out. EC was supposed to mail January royalty checks on Feb 25th, then an e-mail went out from management claiming that because they changed banks the checks were delayed. As of last Friday or so, they were still ‘working on sending out’ the Feb 25th checks. Authors are grumbling about it but nobody is saying anything to management that I know of.

I’m personally not saying anything because if you start asking questions you tend to end up on the ‘shit’ list.

Another author, one who has a huge following, …. is one of their highest sellers said she’s only been paid on time ONCE in the last twelve months and there is fear that something is seriously amiss in paradise, so to speak. I asked her what she thought was going on – poor fiscal management was the response. Now what that means is anybody’s guess, but I can say that I’m still waiting on my money.

I have no doubt that the authors will eventually get paid, but late payments would suggest that EC’s ship may not be as steady as it used to be.

Any anon authors out there willing to confirm or deny?

Thanks to you-know-who for the tip-off

Remember James Lightsey, AKA ex fucktard of the week here at KKB Central? Well a few people think that this person might be him.

If it’s him, it’s a bit cheeky isn’t it? I guess this way, none of the authors get their royalties, and they don’t have to pay tax on the books sold. If NCP have resorted to doing things like this, surely they can’t be doing all that well financially?

Can anybody shed any light on this? Are your books included in there somewhere?

Thanks to You-Know-Who for the heads up.

So, does anybody know why Madris DePasture (NCP Owner) felt the need to post the names of all the authors whose rights have reverted back to them?  I’m thinking that this was a directive from a legal source, but I cannot fathom out why, seeing as I’ve never seen anything similar at any of the other e-pubs.

Here’s the gist of what’s been written on the NCP site:

Notice of Breach of Contract and Intention to Resolve

In as much as author Shalon Stewart aka Sydney Somers has refused to honor her obligations to this company regarding completion of her novels Howl for Me and One Dark Knight. And, in as much as New Concepts Publishing has invested money in art, editing, and promotion of these two books as well as other considerations and Ms. Shalon Stewart having been informed of this circumstance has stated the intention of not completing the projects, New Concepts Publishing has taken such steps as they deem appropriate to resolve this situation.

Notice of reversion of rights

To whom it may concern, this is to serve as notification of the reversion of rights to Janet Luchinger, aka Lauren Agony/Janet Springer regarding novels previously contracted with New Concepts Publishing and sold through our website as well as through our distributors, webwide, and various independent bookstores under the titles of A Hitman for Hannah and Loverboy. Although both novels appeared together in the print version, Naughty Men, and New Concepts Publishing reserves the right to dispose of the returns due to the substantial monetary investment the company has paid for these books in print, all other rights have reverted to Janet Luchinger as well as future print rights of both or either book so long as it is understood that New Concepts Publishing will continue to sell Naughty Men until we have recovered our investment in these print versions of A Hitman for Hannah and Loverboy. We acknowledge that the author, Janet Luchinger, is entitled to any royalties that accrue from the sale of these print books. We further maintain that no royalties will be due to the author in the event that we are unable to sell the remainders and/or are forced to sell them below our cost, or give the books away as promotional items.

Madris DePasture
New Concepts Publishing

Notice of reversion of rights
To whom it may concern, this is to serve as notification of the reversion of rights to Ellen Ashman aka Ellen Ashe regarding novels previously contracted with New Concepts Publishing and sold through our website as well as through our distributors, webwide, and various independent bookstores under the titles of Love Not Forgotten, Lady Outlaws, Midnight Tryst, The Mountain Man, A Mistress for Marcos, Merlin’s Eye, and the Sorcerer’s Mark. Although the novel The Sorcerer’s Mark appeared in print version, and New Concepts Publishing reserves the right to dispose of the returns due to the substantial monetary investment the company has paid for these books in print, all other rights have reverted to Ellen Ashman as well as future print rights of the book so long as it is understood that New Concepts Publishing will continue to sell The Sorcerer’s Mark until we have recovered our investment in the print versions of The Sorcerer’s Mark. We acknowledge that the author, Ellen Ashman, is entitled to any royalties that accrue from the sale of these print books. We further maintain that no royalties will be due to the author in the event that we are unable to sell the remainders and/or are forced to sell them below our cost, or give the books away as promotional items.

Madris DePasture
New Concepts Publishing

Notice of reversion of rights
To whom it may concern, this is to serve as notification of the reversion of rights to Tracey Ranson regarding novels previously contracted with New Concepts Publishing and sold through our website as well as through our distributors, webwide, and various independent bookstores under the titles of The Conqueror, The Warlord’s Woman, Caribbean Splendor, and The Unforgiven: Raphael.

Madris DePasture
New Concepts Publishing

Notice of reversion of rights
To whom it may concern, this is to serve as notification of the reversion of rights to Louise Crawford regarding novels previously contracted with New Concepts Publishing and sold through our website as well as through our distributors, webwide, and various independent bookstores under the titles of Rhiannon and Spirit Heart.

Madris DePasture
New Concepts Publishing

There are a couple of authors on there that I know for sure have been dying to get away from the madness that is NCP, but what of the others?

For anybody with any inside information, you can e-mail me at hairylemony @ gmail . com, and as usual, total confidentiality guaranteed.

Remember my April 10th post, where I was sent an e-mail alleging that Kristi Studts, disgraced ex-owner of Triskelion Press may have opened up a new publishing company under the name of Mystic Moon Press?

Well, I had the CEO of Mystic Press over on the blog last night to set the record straight. The problem? She also sent across a number of her henchmen authors to tell me off for spreading scurrilous rumours. (Yes, I know we’ve been here before, but bear with me.)

Anyway, Ceo Jennifer Mitchell wrote:

Hello My name is Jennifer Mitchell, I am the CEO and owner of Mystic Moon Press.

All I can say is that Kristi has nothing to do with our company other then she is a cover artist. It saddens me to know that by hiring a cover artist who claims to be male and involved with a woman I have garnered bad press because of it.

Those that doubt please feel free to check out my personal writing webpage www.jenniferraemitchell.com

or by all means go to Writing.com which is where I got my start www.writing.com/author/gen13

both places have pictures of myself and my family and my book covers.

I originally started this company with a good friend of mine, who has passed away, her name was Keeley McGreggor, to help me run the company now is an author by the name of Kristina Chartrand.

I am offended that I have not had one query to the matter of the real identity of Magickal Media is to myself or Kristina, there is no fact to base this on other then that Kristi “Magickal Media” is a cover artist for me and my company. At this point without knowing the truth I will stand behind my employee, but if I do find out that I have been decieved then I will take the appropriate actions.

It saddens me that things in the E-publishing business have gotten a bad name. Mystic Moon Press, was a dream of my dear friend and one that I want to continue to share. We are small, new and family like. We endevour to treat our authors fairly and I will go to bat for any of them.

Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Mitchell
CEO of Mystic Moon Press, LLC
jen@mysticmoonpress.com

You’ll note Dear Readers, her use of the phrase “We are small, new, and family like”. This is a familiar refrain is it not?

Anyway, fair enough she wanted to set the record straight, but then Ana Star, one of the authors at MMP also posted:

Hi everyone,

My name is ana star and I’ve been a published author for almost a year with mystic moon press. I never had any problems what so ever with this company. Alot of the authors at mmp came from writing.com and some others came from other companies.

As I was reading the comments, there is absolutely no proof as to what you are accusing. Also I am not sure why this post is even here in the first place…sounds like rumours of people who have nothing else better to do than start bs.

Who ever this kristy is, she isnt in your life anymore so be a grown up and move on…

As for the covers, all covers of every company look alike. If you go to fictionwise, you have the largest example of similar covers. Everyone uses the same images and same programs to make them…

I have no doubt that Jennifer Mitchell put out a call to arms for her authors to come over and give the blogger what-for, for spreading malicious gossip, but as per usual, they’ve gone off the deep end without actually, A, doing any research of their own, and B, without taking the time to find out the kind of blog this is. Happy days for Karen.

Now, let me address that fucktard Ana Star.

Ana, you are indeed a fucktard. You know why? Because after all that’s happened with e-publisher after e-publisher imploding and screwing over their authors royally, you dare come on here and say “Who ever this kristy is, she isnt in your life anymore so be a grown up and move on…”

That statement, my dear friend, ensures that you wear the crown of Fucktard of The Week. You must be so proud.

This statement:

As I was reading the comments, there is absolutely no proof as to what you are accusing. Also I am not sure why this post is even here in the first place…sounds like rumours of people who have nothing else better to do than start bs.

Merely cements your fucktardly status.

I wouldn’t be so incredulous had she not admitted in a later post to having already been shafted and “taken advantage by a company who turned out to be fraudulent.”

Loyalty is an admirable trait. Blind loyalty such as the one that she displays, will no doubt ensure that she will be fucked over more than once, by her present/future e-publishers.

Anyway, somebody called Jim Richards, (another one of Dear Jen’s authors) also had his tuppence worth, but he stated his piece and nothing in his comment annoyed me. Although, if they ever go tits-up, you know I’ll be reposting his comments right?

Anyway, the original post was a ‘Rumour Has It’ post, with a request for more information. I suspect though that the authors didn’t bother reading it, and just launched straight into their staunch defence of Mystic Moon Press.

Will these people ever learn?

Apparently Excessica (you remember them, they’re the publishers who promise “to publish stuff other publishers wont” i.e taboo stories involving incest, Daddy/daughter play, etc) are spamming soliciting readers via Bebo.com.

A concerned reader sent me this e-mail:

Hey Karen, I checked my gmail this morning to find this message in my inbox. I think I’ve visited this publisher (Excissica) once when you did a blog post on them a little while back. But I certainly never gave them my email address or any other information, just browsed around a bit, and I’ve never heard of this bebo.com.

I know your blog requires an email address in order to leave a comment, but IIRC, I took one look at the Excissica thread and said “Not touching that with a ten-foot pole”. …

I’d like to know 1. if anyone else has gotten this unsolicited “invitation” and if they’re regular commenters on your blog (I read every day, but only chime in occasionally) and 2. if they collected my email when I visited their site (which isn’t possible as far as I know) or if they’re scouring your blog for email addresses (do they show up in comments? I didn’t think so). Oh, and if they’ve collected info from commenters on other blogs, if that is indeed what they’re doing.

This is the e-mail that the above reader received:

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Excessica Publishing
Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Subject: New invitation from Excessica Publishing
To: —@gmail.com

You have been invited to connect as friends with Excessica Publishing

Please accept or reject this invitation by clicking below:

http://www.bebo.com/in/6483185013a144877234b134

…………………………………………………………….
Please do not reply directly to this email.

This email was sent to you at the direct request of Excessica Publishing
. You have not been added to a mailing list.

If you would prefer not to receive invitations from ANY Bebo members please click here – http://www.bebo.com/unsub/6483185013a144877234

Bebo, Inc., 795 Folsom St, 6th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA.

So, have any of you had this e-mail, or was this just a one-off?

Apparently Deborah MacGillivray is claiming that she isn’t a co-publisher at Highland Press:

One should not believe everything they read on the net. lol. The RWA has a written
statement of my non-status as publisher, done two months ago. It’s on file and the
RWA has accepted it. Hilary is aware of the situation. If you have questions,
perhaps you might wish to speak to her?

RWA is the one who invited me to join PAN just yesterday, Carol Ritter, Relations
Manager for RWA. Why I was asking.

Thanks for the info, but it doesn’t apply to me.

Deborah

Well, unfortunately for her, Google Cache says otherwise: This was a deleted profile entry at The Best Reviews website:

Author with Kensington Books, Dorchester Books. Co-publisher, editor author with Highland Press. Represented by Brown Literary Agency. Her true love is Scottish history. She has spent the last 25 years helping her grandfather, a retired historian, sort, restore and rewrite the history of their family in Scotland and England.

That is where she came across the basis for her novel “A Restless Knight” (Kensington, July 2006), set in the year before the rising of William Wallace. She had begun work on those pages for the history of her family in the late 1200s and thought it was a perfect story to make a marvellous novel. Her second novel-in-the- works, “Ravenhawke” August 2007, Kensington, a series of books on the saga of Scotland’s war for independence. She also writes paranormal contemporary romances, which will be put out by Dorchester Publishing (2006).

The first two will be “The Invasion of Falgannon Isle” (December 2006, Love Spell) the second “Riding the Thunder” (Spring 2007), the first two in a series of seven books. She is also now Co-Publisher, editor and author with Highland Press.

This is what her profile at The Best Reviews looks like now:

Her true love is Scottish history. She has spent the last 25 years helping her grandfather, a retired historian, sort, restore and rewrite the history of their family in Scotland and England. That is where she came across the basis for her novel “A Restless Knight” (Kensington, July 2006), set in the year before the rising of William Wallace.

She had begun work on those pages for the history of her family in the late 1200s and thought it was a perfect story to make a marvellous novel. Her second novel-in-the- works, “In Her Bed” August 2007, Kensington, a series of books on the saga of Scotland’s war for independence. Next – One Snowy Knight (October 2008) and followed by Yield to the Knight.

She also writes paranormal contemporary romances, which will be put out by Dorchester Publishing (2006). The first two “The Invasion of Falgannon Isle” (December 2006, Love Spell) the second “Riding the Thunder” (October 2007), the first two in a series of seven books.

Funny that, no mention of her being the co-publisher at Highlands Press on this version.

However, trying to hide evidence when one has been obviously lying is hard work.

This is what it says at her Amazon Store:

About the Author
Deborah writes for Kensington Zebra Historical Books, Dorchester Publishing’s Love Spell. She is also an editor and co-publisher with the small print house Highland Press.

And again at the Coffee Time Romance About The Authors section:

She is co-publisher and editor at Highland Press and has short stories in several anthologies. Bad Cat, Getting it in the End, and Double, Double, Toil & Trouble are in No Law Against Love (February 2006).

Dear me.

Apparently one of the reasons that she’s trying so hard to hide the fact that she is co-publisher of Highland Press is because the rules would not permit her to be a member of RWA’s PAN (published author network), if she was a publisher.

Ahhh poor Debs, she makes Madris DePasture seem positively medicated.

EDITED TO ADD:

Here’s a First Sale Interview that she did in 2006. She clearly admits to being the co-publisher at Highland Press:

Lynda: What are your writing plans for the future?

Deborah: I have 2 books left in both contracts. The historical series, “The Dragons of Challon” have six books. So I would like to continue with Kensington in that series. In the “Seven Sisters” for Dorchester, I have four more books for the next contract. After that?oodles of ideas. Too many books to write, not enough time. I am also co-publisher for a small Tradesize press, Highland Press. Leanne Burroughs is owner. We hope in the next couple years to do some amazing projects.

Well and truly caught out. What an idiot.

I got this e-mail yesterday, and to be honest I can’t really make head nor tail of it, so because I simply don’t have time (Read: I can’t be arsed), I’ll let you clever people out there tell me whether DCL are being naughty or not.

They registered the company as a LLC in Ohio. (Contact Info Business Filing Info Prior Business Name Info
DCL PUBLICATIONS, LLC 1760375 Domestic Limited Liability Company Feb 19 2008 Active )

They register the books with the Australian address (of the co-owner) in Australia with their library of congress, because the ISBN’s are free.

According to the state of Ohio and the ISBN commission, you can’t do that, it is considered an illegal act.

http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/us/isbnus.asp
http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/us/major.asp

An example of the ISBN’s in question:

(Book title)
© 2008 by (Author name)
All rights reserved
First Edition April 2008
DCL Publications
36 Monash Street
Melton South
Victoria
Australia
3338
www.thedarkcastlelords.com
ISBN 978-1-921347- (shortened to protect the author in case this is just a misunderstanding)

This was published as DCL, being a registered company of Ohio, yet the ISBN is Australian.

It states on the first link that the US ISBN agency “cannot assign ISBNs to foreign publishers”, but I guess if DCL are registered in Ohio, then this might not even apply? Although the above ISBN details clearly lists the Australian address, rather than the Ohio one.

I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation, because I don’t for one moment believe that an e-book publisher would be so blatant about breaking the rules. *g*

I must admit, at first glance, I couldn’t see much wrong with it, but then I’m not an expert on these things.

Anybody out there want to shed some light on this for me?

Thanks to you-know-who for the e-mail.