Teresa Wayne AKA Teresa Jacobs Selling Mardi Gras Books Under LA Media Banner?
Sunday, January 27, 2008Posted in: Mardi Gras Publishing
I got this e-mail this morning:
Apparently, Teresa Wayne has transfered all the old Mardi Gras Publishing books to LA MEDIA. Yes all the ones that went to print now say LA Media on them, all except Kenna Fallon’s book Untamed.
Is this true? Can any former Mardi Gras authors out there, search for their print books at Barnes and Noble to double check?
The e-mail went onto say that apparently a lot of these authors didn’t sign an agreement for their books to be sold at LA Media.
Once a ISBN is used once for a company, the # is listed world wide… under the company. to change it is a criminal act because the authors didn’t sign on to be part of the new company.
Also allegedly, Teresa Jacobs didn’t pay some of the authors for their print books:
She never paid anyone for their print, and gave us a bogus print fee of about $400 when the fee is about $100. So she still cheating and stealing off many authors who got their rights back and moved on.
Can anybody verify this, because surely if the above is true, then Teresa Jacobs is being a very very naughty girl?
Teresa Jacobs
January 28
4:13 am
I’m sorry everyone is in a venting mood. I came here to respond to Q’s. The lttle ditty about other authors books – not sure where that came from. I am selling NO books belonging to anyone, other than myself, Savannah and Jaden.
The anthology is a load of crap – because the story that is being released is mine – no one elses. It was at one time part of the anthology, but as writerdish said, contracts were released.
Teresa Jacobs
January 28
4:15 am
I bid everyone a happy goodnight, as it appears civilized conversation is done here.
writersdish
January 28
4:24 am
Oh big lie there Teresa! http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780979064982&itm=13 Thats premonitions by Leah Vaughn (She may be Savannah or Jaden writing under a new name I dont know…but there’s a link to it)
and then there’s
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/ISBNInquiry.asp?EAN=9781934329184 — The Pirate Anthology (I’m pretty sure it says right there Ann Cory and Cara North)
And sweetie if you’re going to quote me, do it right. I said this story was supposed to be in an anthology to go to charity. That means, that no matter how many times you release this story, it’s supposed to go to charity. I just hope that your new publisher knows the shit you’ve been causing and see the trouble that you are going to potentially bring them.
And oh! So glad you said civilized, you may want to look up what that word means.
arceneaux
January 28
4:24 am
Back to your hole, Teresa!!!
We’ll be waiting for you when you come out again!
Kayleigh Jamison
January 28
4:50 am
lol, writersdish, Teresa’s new publisher is…well, Teresa.
writersdish
January 28
5:01 am
Hey Kayleigh didn’t you hear? Apparently she’s going to be with Midnight Showcase now! It’s a laugh and I hope it’s not true but here it is. This was sent to me:
{{{{My BIG BAD ghost is under construction and has been contracted with MidnightShowcase! This title is due to release July 8, 2008. A Pirate’s Love Releases February 4th and Distributed by L.A. MediaKidnapped by the worst kind of pirate scum, Gabrielle is in trouble.Is there anyone capable of saving her from the clutches of a cutthroat pirate?Or will she be forced to succumb to his sexual ravaging?Captain Marco Vega is hired to rescue a lady of substantial importance.Placing himself in danger to protect the Princess of Spain is one thing.But a simple pirate of the sea falling for Royalty is entirely out of thequestion…isn’ t it? Keep your eyes open for more exciting news from Teresa Wayne!http://teresawayneo%20nline.com/}}}
azteclady
January 28
5:05 am
As a befuddled bystander, here’s my question: why are the writers who were ripped off by this person waiting for her to make a move? isn’t there a way for at least a number of them to pool their resources and get something filed to stop this person from making money off their work? (Whether it is selling the stories under the ‘new/old’ company, or using the ISBNs to create the FictionWise account, she’s using the writers work without paying them of said use, correct?)
I have a feeling that people from Absolute Write or Editors and Preditors would be willing to steer you guys towards some sound legal advice.
Just speaking out of utter ignorance, by the way–and with no dog whatsoever in this fight either.
writersdish
January 28
5:10 am
trust me azteclady, this person (I was about to write lady but she isn’t worth it) is going to get what’s coming to her. She keeps harping on Karma? Well she’s going to find out first hand that Karma is a bitch because when you screw people, there’s alway someone out there waiting to screw you.
Indida
January 28
5:14 am
Wow!
Marianne LaCroix
January 28
12:31 pm
Wow, you guys were up late last night. Hmmm…I wanted to say that I do know my former MGP title is out of print as Teresa says. I contacted LS months ago, before I contracted the book with NCP. They confirmed it was OOP. It does just look like a name change on B&N. As far as I am concerned, I just don’t want the book sold by LA Media. As for getting paid, The book wasn’t in print for very long….like a month…and I didn’t pay any set up. So, I am done. This is obviously too much drama. I have a life other than looking back at my mistake signing with MGP.
Jade James
January 28
12:44 pm
I truly feel bad for the authors that had to go through all of this. It really is a shame, that we as writers put our hard work in a publishers hands, and they turned out to be cheats.
Karma is a bitch, and it definitely has a way of biting you in the ass.
Jackie L.
January 28
4:51 pm
You can run and you can hide. . .
But you can’t run and hide, then seek all this publicity. Someone seems to have a few screws that require tightening.
Terri Pray
January 28
9:01 pm
On ISBN’s,
they cannot be reassigned if the company changes the name to my knowledge, and the knowledge of a man who has been in the business over 30 years. We cannot even ‘assign’ them to an imprint that is part of the company. The only time he’s heard of this happening is via bankrupt court, and that’s rare as it takes a damn court order to get Bowker to change the listings.
Teresa, are you telling us that Bowker have done for you, as a special favor, something that they’ve not done for anyone else to my knowledge?
Hm must check with Bowker to see about that one, as I’d love to know when the rules changed. We’ve asked about this one before, within the last 6 months in fact, and have always been told no. Heck we can’t even assign a sub block of ISBN’s to an imprint which is why our ISBN’s trace back to Final Sword Productions and we’re Under the Moon is an IMPRINT of Final Sword.
What you’ll see is UTM on the books when they hit B&N, but the ISBM traces back to Final Sword, legal and fine with Bowker. (yes we checked)
So the only way this makes sense is if MGP is the imprint, or parent company of LA Media.
(now I need a large coffee)
as for the listing name, when you go into LS you can see the files and books you have listed. They wouldn’t just appear a year, six months after closing under a new name. Heck, LS make you jump through hoops to even upload and confirm a book is ready to go on sale… as I’m sure other publishers who work with LS will be able to confirm.
First the file
then the proof.
It doesn’t even,normally, hit the B&N site until you have the proof in hand and you’ve checked the little ‘ok’ box.
Terri Pray
January 28
9:04 pm
Marianne, that means she never removed the files, or the project name from her LS account and has it set as being ready/listed to go. Sloppy at best, destructive at worst.
Teresa Jacobs
January 28
9:14 pm
I just received a call from the ISBN office. They said they had received a call from someone (no name mentioned) that was trying to use their old MGP numbers at their new (no name mentioned) publishing house and get them listed with books in print. Hummm….pot calling the kettle black I see.
They also said I can change the name of the original company all I want to. Companies do it all the time. All ISBN’s will show that company, and records will show back to original name as well as new.
Terri Pray
January 28
9:17 pm
Hate to say this, that’s not ‘reassigning’ it’s company name change.
You do realize by stating that all the authors involved now have a good case for coming after LA Media profits as you ‘just changed the name’…
Teresa Jacobs
January 28
9:20 pm
Thats what I did. Changed the name to L.A. Media, LLC
But if you are referring to L.A. Media my site – its a whole different monster. Sorry.
Kayleigh Jamison
January 28
9:53 pm
And why would you change the name of a company that is closed and preparing for bankruptcy?
As for you having two separate operations, I don’t buy it, and neither will a bk judge or trustee. Looks like a set up for fraudulent transfers to me.
Teresa Jacobs
January 28
10:05 pm
What would I be transferring? Gold, or maybe diamonds? Not hardly.
I didn’t come over here to argue – its so petty. I came over to put this ISBN thing to rest. Now I have to go play on my own blog. Folks are trying to bring me down. I can’t have that now, can I?
Kayleigh Jamison
January 28
10:54 pm
Eh, I’m not arguing. I’m asking questions that you conveniently refuse to answer, and watching you dig that hole a bit deeper every time you open your mouth.
You brought yourself down, Teresa, back when you decided to cheat, lie, and steal your way to the top. But hey, I can understand not wanting to look at yourself in the mirror or, in this case, the blog. So, run along back to your shell company; I’m sure you’re very busy with taking peoples’ money, subverting author rights, authorizing plagiarism, and whatnot.
We wouldn’t want to keep you away from all that too long.
KJ
writerdish
January 29
12:04 am
and Teresa, yet you keep coming back. And every time you open your mouth (sit down at your keyboard) you get caught into a nother lie….see what I mean about a hard learner?
Gina
January 29
1:04 am
So, um when are the authors going to get their 1099s so they can accurately report their losses to the IRS.
Oh wait…the books were cooked…even if Teresa does issue 1099s who will know if the numbers are correct or not?
Opps!
writerdish
January 29
2:02 am
Ouch Gina! lol way to go Gina!
Diana Castilleja
January 29
2:14 am
Not to add fuel, but if 1099’s are not issued by the 31st, she has to apply for an extension, with fees. And that has a deadline, which might have already passed (it’s been a while since I had this discussion elsewhere). Once the IRS gets involved, you can kiss any type of easy bankruptcy buh-bye.
Tonya Nagle aka Cara North
January 29
2:56 am
Well thank you for violating confidentiality. I write under a pen name for a reason to keep my day job and my writing seperate. Fortunately other people who read this blog let me know that this conversation was going on ( No offense Karen- I barely have time to write much less make the rounds in blogland)
THis is the response I got form Lightning Source:
Please feel free to call me to discuss this further if you’d like. The ISBN’s listed for the titles under “L.A. Media LLC” are in our system under “Mardi Gras”. However, they are cancelled. Even if someone were to place an order for one of these titles through Barnes and Noble, we would not print it. You may also want to note that Barnes and Noble is not currently taking orders on these ISBN’s and is showing them as “Out of Stock”.
Thank you,
Carol A. Egan
Client Services Representative
This is how I handle things, I am told about something, then I approach the proper channels to find out what is fact or fiction before I begin throwing accusations around. As you can see Lightning Source supports that things are not available. I do not doubt that the change is to LA MEDIA due to the ISBN company switch, however, I asked Bowker, I did not publicly trash anyone. In fact, had you e-mailed me to let me know I might see this, I wouldn’t have bothered e-mailing them.
I never contacted Bowker to use your ISBN’s that would be pretty stupid since if they allowed it you would have earned the royalties as everyone knows ISBN’s identify the publisher and the book title.
All I ask now as that you let me write in peace. You can copy this becasue I am telling you I don’t care if you never pay me, I just want to be free and clear of any affiliation with the whole debacle. You reverted the rights to my titles back to me months prior to closing, that was all I wanted and the only thing I cared about.
I hate that this has blown up into such a production, but again switching the company name on the ISBN account would of course raise eyebrows, a little note to notify people would have saved a lot of grief for everyone.
Cara
Shiloh Walker
January 29
3:12 am
Teresa
As a totally objective party here~I don’t know you, I’ve never had any business dealings with you and I don’t tend to let the comments or viewpoints of others affect how I form an opinion.
That said… you’re digging yourself a hole here. A hole as in Grand Canyon sized. Your comments have come off as insulting, and some of that is directed towards readers. Us authors like readers, remember?
It might be wise to remember that every thing you post on the blog could be here, haunting you, for years to come.
BTW, Karen! I dunno what happened on the tech end of things, but the blog is loading so much faster now. 🙂
writerdish
January 29
4:14 am
Well Shiloh I told her that and it doesn’t seem as if she is listening so maybe she will listen to you. And Tonya, I understand how you feel about the confidentiality thing…but Teresa seem to have this incredible knack for sticking her foot in her mouth every time she turn her computer on…
And now ladies, let’s watch her burn…
bam
January 29
5:14 pm
fights are awesome.
Sybil
January 30
8:38 pm
I am not a writer so I am sure I am missing something but uh… fuck karma why isn’t someone sueing?
Isn’t it illegal to take something not yours and sell it and make money off it?
If you have a contract and don’t pay what you contracted to pay and you can just say one day I plan to file bankrupcy so no money for you?
Really? Damn. Hey bam and karen… wanna start an epub? It is the new black this season, we can be styling.
Jackie L.
January 30
8:57 pm
Sybil–I’m not a writer, but I could plagiarize some stuff for your new E-pub. And you could claim it was for charity, but then, wink, wink.
Sybil
January 30
9:04 pm
OMG! Jackie L.!!!!! I didn’t even THINK of that. I need a moment… I am so ashamed at myself.
But in awe of you! YOU ARE SO IN!
I am thinking TEH Fisrt CharITy of Sybils it helps all the sybils it can. So like it is wrong… but oh so right….