E-Publisher Does A Runner And Screws Her Authors? Say It Aint So J.M…
Monday, July 20, 2009Posted in: e-book publishers behaving badly?
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?
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:
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
Remember now? No? Never mind, I’ll just get to the point shall I?
Anyway from out of the blue, Michelle Marquis, Mystic Moon Press author, and former MMP Loyalist, left this comment on the second thread:
Well Karen I hate to say you were right but you were…right that is. Looks like JR Mitchell has ripped off her authors, taken the money and run. We are all really pissed.
Spread the word not to buy from Mystic Moon Press
Have a better weekend than I’m having
Michelle
If Michelle is to be believed, then it would seem that that bastion of goodness, Jennifer Mitchell, has shafted the Mystic Moon Press authors royally again.
Anybody know the story behind this?
Anyway, if there’s any truth to Michelle Marquis’ allegations, then I have no problem saying I told you so. Especially to this MMP author (Shiloh Darke), Jim Richards, another MMP author, Ana Star, MMP author, this commenter, and this arsehole.
In case anybody is interested, the original blog was posted on April 10th 2008. I’m sure you can all do the maths.
Before I go, let me leave you with this quote from the first thread, from MMP loyalist, KSeriphyn:
Not sure where you’ve gleamed this information from, but rest assure that MMP is uniquely run by Jen and a few others, and is doing very well as an ebook publisher.
Indeed.
Shiloh Darke
July 23
12:31 pm
I do not take offense to anything said. At this point I am the first to admit I am still very naive. Hell, I signed up in a company that took advantage of what I did NOT know. FOR TWO YEARS.
I only mentioned reviews after it was suggested that work was picked up by this shity* DID I SAY THAT?* publisher, because works weren’t good enough for the better ones.
If and when I send my works to other publishers, It can’t hurt to be able to show those reviews.(then again, that could just be my naiveness talking.) Who am I kidding. Maybe I do suck. But I love to write. At the end of the day, it is my biggest joy. Always was.
I admit to not being COMPLETELY in the know about all this. I am a teller of stories. I am NOT much on the business side of things. (I honestly admit it.)
Truth is, I am shamefully shy and would never even come back to your site if it had not been for my desire to let people know what had happened to MMP. And the fact that I respected you for your open honesty.
I like your honesty, Karen. Not many people are anymore. And I am listening to any and all advice from all of you. I have NOTHING but the most respect for all of those that are offering sound advice.
Darke
Anon Y Mouse
July 23
1:16 pm
Ms. Darke, I’m honestly not trying to attack you, but you seem so very uneducated about this industry and what does and does not matter to publishers.
The truth is, you have gained nothing from this experience with MMP. Your reviews mean nothing and mentioning them, or your ‘publishing experience’ with MMP, is going to do nothing but cast you in a poor light. You haven’t gotten a leg up at all.
What matter to publishers is the book you’ve written. Believe me when I say you do not want to include this experience in any way in your future submissions/queries. For NY publishers or agents, there are very few epublishers that count as actual writing credits to an author. I can think of only two epubs where it *might* make a bit of difference to mention being previously published with, and even then only some agents/NY pubs even care about those. Informing them that you were previously published by such a sham operation isn’t going to be a positive.
Your very best bet is to forget this experience. Write new books and when you submit them, do not bother to mention this debacle. Doing so would only serve only to put a negative mark in their minds. Forget it and move on and please god don’t put your MMP reviews or books in your queries as ‘experience’.
Ghetto Diva
July 23
2:20 pm
When I first mentioned LI, EC, and SP it’s because those are the publishers (successful) that first came to mind. It took me a long time to get published with LI, after numerous rejections. But you know what you live and you learn. Not to say that Liquid Silver and Amber Quill aren’t successful too-they have been around for quite some time.
My point is you just have to try and try, and keep trying until you get in with a company that’s going to be around for a long time, and then you begin to feel even more proud of your work. My work has been at OMP, Venus, and another dump company. It took me 3 years to be successful at what I do. You can’t just give up, because you get a few rejection letters. I’ve had quite a few of those.
Shiloh Darke
July 23
9:26 pm
Thanks for that. Believe me, I am NOT quitting. I love the characters in my stories too much for that! LOL… Does that sound stupid? Funny, but to me, if I give up, then that would be like letting them die.
Rita
July 24
8:06 pm
I have to say I did go with a small epub. Not becuase I didn’t think bigger epubs wouldn’t have time to evaluate my work, or that they wouldn’t like it. I listened to fellow authors and decided to give a few a try. So far my experiences have been positive.
Does that mean I’ll never shoot for one of those bigger houses? No. That would be stupid on my part. However being new to the publishing game I have heard stories about how long ago people would start of with houses like Harlequin while still learning the craft before moving on to bigger houses.
So why is it a crime to want to give a newer epub a try? Not all of them are shifty.
Myra Willingham
July 26
7:19 am
It’s not a crime to try a new epub. Just be very careful. Ask around about the owners of that epub. If they’ve failed once, chances are very good they’ll fail again. If they’ve cheated writers the first go ’round, you can bet your bottom dollar they will cheat them again. You may regret your involvement or you may rejoice in it. You have to hope for the best and if it doesn’t work out, just remember to maintain a professional attitude throughout.
Ghetto Diva
July 27
1:18 pm
Rita- I never said it was a crime to try a new publishing house, BUT most of them cannot be trusted. It’s a sad fact. OMP, Mardigras, Venus Press, Silks Vault, New Concepts Publishing, and I can name some more-that have robbed people of their royalties.
Myra-Again I never said it was a crime, but most of them don’t last. And basically, most of the owners of the epubs have never been heard of. Who the hell are you going to ask about them if that’s the case? And what if the owners, desperate to steal royalties, spreads lies? Your taking a huge chance of being screwed up the ass.
Harsh, but true.
Roslyn Holcomb
July 27
5:29 pm
I too agree that it’s nonsense to think that publishers ignore newbie writers. Are you going to get the same attention as a big name? Of course not. After all, they’re in business to make money. And big names are a bird in the hand. But I can’t imagine that there’s a publisher out there who ignores newbie submissions, and I would be very shocked if there was an epub who did so.
Having already been hosed by a print publisher I was very careful when I chose epublishing. I asked around. Read the blogs. In a word, did my homework. I knew that no matter what, I wanted to avoid drama at all costs. I submitted my manuscript to five epubs that had good reputations. Keep in mind, I’m no ‘big name,’ but I heard back from Loose-Id in less than two weeks. So far I’ve had two books with them and am about the contract the third.
My advice would be to stick with the folks who’ve been around a while and have a good name. If they reject you, table that book and write another. In fact, once you finish a book, you should immediately start working on the next one. When they buy your book the editor always wants to know what else you have. I know that I made the mistake of writing one book and then working so hard on selling it that I didn’t bother to write another. Don’t do that. Keep writing, no matter what.
Mitch P.
November 24
5:39 am
Gina Haldane and I were engaged to be married back in 1966. I had absolutely no hint that she was as nefarious as people claim she now is. All I saw was a petite (5′) auburn-haired girl with whom I was madly in love with.
Mr. D.
May 11
2:57 am
@Mitch P.:
Take it from me, Gina put on a great act, but as many people discovered the hard way, it was just an act. She would screw people over the moment she decided they no longer worshiped her. I had a ring-side seat as I watched her work her mind games on innocent new writers but I couldn’t stop the carnage.
My best guess is that having failed at: (a) finishing college at Santa Monica, (b) holding a steady job, and (c) being an author, she re-defined herself in the role of people who accept or reject the work of other authors. In short, she saw publishing as the “fast track” to fame and fortune.
I recall her glee when aspiring authors would “kiss up” to her, instead of the other way around. She was glib enough to give them as much false hope as they wanted, then (literally) toss their unread manuscript in a corner.
What these poor authors didn’t know was that having wrung the initial thanks and praise from them, Gina had no further use for them or their books. She found it easier to keep finding “fresh meat” who were unaware of her mind games and drawn in by her charisma which was little more skin deep. In fact, that’s not a bad characterization of most of her life–skin deep.
I’m not a medical professional, but my rudimentary understanding of psychiatric disorders leads me to think she might be textbook narcissist. She was very insecure, and had a “revolving door” of friends–dumping the ones who ultimately questioned her “greatness” and replace them with new ones she could initially impress.
Deep down, all she ever wanted was some kind of success (with something) without having to expend the effort to achieve it legitimately. So she simply took the easier road and tried to “bluff her way to the top”.
Was bothers me is how many people got hurt along the way. Just don’t expect an apology from her any time soon–she’s found a way to convince herself that she was the victim in all of this. Amazing! Not surprising, but amazing!