Today, we are publishing a guest post given to us by an anonymous blog reader who has done quite a bit of research into Jane Litte and her true motives for libeling Ellora’s Cave. What we find striking about the information presented below is how much money Jane was making as a lawyer, as the owner of DA, and as an author, and yet she still had the audacity to ask for money for the lawsuit. The information below also proves another point that one of our blog readers put so well:
Honestly, I think the focus should be on the fact that the lawsuit was not an attempt to silence a “small blogger” but something that was building towards for the last ten years, while JL was trashing EC and other publishers, she was also promoting her own work and publisher. Instead of building her own readership/business, she was stealing it in a sense from EC primarily, but other publishers as well. A little research and SS of DA blog posts aimed at other publishing houses, will reveal just how she manipulated her position on DA, to scandalize EC.
It seemed to be a pattern for her. I think that can be proved. I bet no one really put 2 and 2 together, because she kept her author persona, hidden. Why? Because she knew exactly what she was doing, stealing from EC’s success, which unfortunately worked and did cause a drop in sales for them.
It’s mind boggling. All these poor readers who refused to buy EC books because she dished all their “dirty laundry” which was really not very dirty, but DA MADE it appear that way.
These readers of DA, who blindly believed her half-ass articles and gave to her lawsuit fund, when she had several different sources of income rolling in and making 3 times as much as the average reader of her blog.
That’s the real issue, as well as the fact this suit was a very long time coming. People need to decide for themselves who is in the wrong here. Who is most desperate to make money? Remember, EC IS a multi-million dollar company, and that was no secret.
What really irks me is that she suckered her readers and took full advantage of people who genuinely cared about what she had to report and about her, the poor little blogger who was getting bullied by a big corporation–yeah right!
After the following guest post, we will show you evidence that Jane’s husband was the owner of her publishing company, a company in direct competition with Ellora’s Cave. And we will show you screenshots of Jane trying to cover this up.
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More Jane Litte/Jen Frederick/ Jennifer Gerrish Lampe hypocrisy.
On December 30, 2014 Jane made the following blog post:
http://dearauthor.com/blog/page/57/
Dec 30, 2014:
Books have long been my refuge from the crazy, ugly real… Jane Essays 60 Comments
“It was also a year in which women were under attack. From being referred to as “binders full of women” to the horrific display of misogyny toward female gamers and gaming developers, the online community seemed especially vile. And it spilled over into the book community with regular ad hominem attacks being lobbed at readers for their reading choices, which had little to do with the books themselves for many times the critics hadn’t even read the books in question. Instead the ad hominem attacks had more to do with the fact that the online discussion wasn’t about the books they felt were stronger, better, worthier than these lesser ones being elevated and praised. Or it was authors who felt that readers didn’t appreciate or understand their work OR worse, assumed that the reader who didn’t like their work had a secret, evil agenda to bring that author down.”
I know she said this to convince those who are all about feminism and the first amendment and all that is sacred, blah blah blah…
But then here is information about her attorney:
https://randazza.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/did-rush-limbaugh-defame-sandra-fluke/
Read in his own words why Rush Limbaugh calling Sandra Fluke a slut is not defamation. Read the comments. A true feminist would find this intolerable.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/us/victims-push-laws-to-end-online-revenge-posts.html?_r=0
“Not everyone agrees that criminalizing revenge porn is the best strategy. Marc Randazza, a Nevada lawyer who represents plaintiffs against yougotposted, says that he thinks civil remedies are preferable.
“As horrible as I think people are who do this,” he said, “do we really need another law to put more people in jail in the United States?””
Now we all know that Revenge Porn is mostly aimed at women. It shouldn’t be criminal? Probably because then the state would pay to prosecute and that isn’t how Randazza makes his money.
And check this one out:
Mad Men: Inside the Men’s Rights Movement—and the Army of Misogynists and Trolls It Spawned
How did an ex-feminist once hailed by Gloria Steinem become a hero of the haters?
—By Mariah Blake
January/February 2015 Issue
“An opinion piece on cnn.com by Marc Randazza, a First Amendment lawyer who has spoken up for Rush Limbaugh, violent video games, and the pornography industry, suggested that A Voice for Men had endured protests and threats simply because it had the “audacity to question certain issues from a man’s perspective.””
I read the article on cnn (there is a link). He does make a decent argument, after all, he’s an attorney. But it is out of context in a feminist sense. While he makes a believable and legitimate argument, for anyone who has suffered from domestic violence or rape, it really doesn’t matter what the trigger was. This guy knocked her out and is an NFL player for shit sake. But decide for yourself.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/31/opinion/randazza-ray-rice-fiancee/index.html
I just don’t personally feel that a feminist who is so sad about all the misogyny would hire this guy. Except to both of them the ends justifies the means. Jane made that obvious during her recent “coming -out -earlier -than –expected – but -you -should -praise -me -for -being -soooo -successful – even- if- I –did- lie- and -cheat -to –get- there”-blog post. I don’t think it would have come out until she was absolutely sure the repercussions could never hurt her financially. But regardless she need not refer to herself as a feminist. I’m not saying he is a bad attorney – actually he is a very good and expensive attorney. But a true feminist just wouldn’t hire him. It is hypocritical.
Jane does NOT just publish NA. It is erotic romance and so IS a direct competitor of Ellora’s Cave:
http://missmepassionate.com/2013/12/04/blogmas-4-tour-stop-last-hit-jessica-clare-jen-frederick/
This link came from Jen Frederick blog tour website – I just tried it, but it seems to be gone all of a sudden or maybe it is my computer. I forget which book they took this from:
“But you have so much cum. Sometimes I can’t swallow it all. Sometimes it spills out the side of my mouth and dribbles onto my chin.”
“I get wet thinking about you,” she whispers. Her legs shift restlessly under me. I know what she wants. She wants my tongue. My fingers. My cock. And she’ll have it all.
I’m too horny right now to lick her slowly. I need to feel her orgasm all over my face, to have her thighs clench my head in a vise grip, like nothing is ever going to separate the two of us.
I’m going to come all over her belly if I don’t get a handle on things. And while I seriously enjoy seeing her warm skin dotted with streaks of my milky cum, I want to be inside her and feel her pussy walls convulse around me.”
That is NOT mainstream NA.
In November 2007, Jane wrote a four part series on dearauthor.com about defamation. It reads to me as a warning to anyone that she knows exactly what she can do not to step over the fine line from opinion to defamation and she need only do the minimum and then play innocent. Again, that is my opinion. You can find it on Dear Author keyword search “defamation”.
Jane and Sarah Wendell are partners in the LLC To Be Read, which is registered in New Jersey. Sarah is far from the “innocent friend”. Numerous people have said that Sarah Wendell was not in business with Jane/Jen the same time she was a publicist for authors. That is not true. According to SBTB Sarah says she stopped in 2012. The podcast LLC, To Be Read was filed in 2010 and both Sarah and Jane are owners of the LLC. The paperwork is here:
This is where you can look it up.
https://www.njportal.com/DOR/BusinessNameSearch/default.aspx
There is a small charge if you look it up, so I included it.
Again, that is public record: http://iowa-employees.findthedata.com/l/59898/Jennifer-S-Gerrish-lampe
Jennifer S Gerrish-lampeDeputy Workers Comp Comm
Jennifer S Gerrish-lampe is a Deputy Workers Comp Comm with the Workforce Development in Polk county. Gerrish-lampe has a salary of $112,067, which is 130% more than the average for all Workforce Development employees as of 2012.
So her salary (in 2012) is $112,067 as a commissioner for Worker’s Comp in Iowa. According to her counter complaint in Federal Court, she makes a minimum of $75,000 from the Dear Author Blog. She didn’t state what she makes from the podcast, but she is also a bestselling author and says she has a movie deal.
None of that was disclosed when Sarah took up the charity at her request.
Jane actually doxxed herself as Jennifer Gerrish-Lampe way back in 2007 and then took it down. But it was up there long enough and at the time there was a battle with Computer Colonics a blog by Cindy Cruciger. I can’t find earlier than 2011 on there now, but the following gives reference to it.
A little Jane Litte trivia: One of the partners at the personal injury/malpractice firm she worked at – well, his first name is, you guessed it – Frederick. Again – on the internet:
http://pview.findlaw.com/view/1704121_1
The James Law Firm, P.C. Equitable BldgSuite 630604 LocustDes Moines, IA, 50309 -3719
Phones:
Fax:
Contact Us
Law Firm Overview
Practice Areas
Personal Injury — PlaintiffsProducts Liability LawProfessional Malpractice Law
People
Attorneys
Gerrish-Lampe, Jennifer S. (Partner) James, Dwight W. (Shareholder) James, Frederick W.
Very Interesting….
Jane said that Ellora’s Cave made less in 2010 than in 2006.
“Yet something strange happened. Growth stagnated. In 2010, it was revealed that EC’s revenues were $5 million but a reported $6.7 million in 2006. How on earth was a digital publisher’s income declining in the biggest boom period of digital books? (This was before self publishing took off).”
The article was written in Feb 2010, so, unless the woman is a psychic, she would have no way of knowing what the income was in 2010 and EC is not a digital only publisher.
In 2006, Borders was in full swing with erotic romance. In the meantime, Engler boasts of her Rodeo Drive shopping trips and her new property purchase in West Hollywood on her Facebook page.
Where? I can find on her facebook where she said she was on Rodeo Drive. That in no way indicated she was on a single “high end shopping spree” let alone more than one.
Tina did not purchase any property in West Hollywood or anywhere in California. Since real estate purchases are public record, that would have been very easy for her to NOT FIND. Tina said she got the house she wanted. In Los Angeles rental property is hard to find because IT IS CHEAPER TO RENT IN LOS ANGELES THAN IT IS TO BUY!!!!
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/04/los_angeles_is_in_a_rental_crisis.php
Partial work that is completed should be sent in to be finished by an in house editor and no partial work will be paid for.
Failure to turn in either partial work or finished work will result in a 25% deduction of overall payment for that project.
This is just plain stupid. If no partial work is being paid for and if work isn’t turned in at all, of course it isn’t paid for. How can you take 25% of nothing???
A report from Ohio business record places Ellora’s Cave revenues at $15 million last year. So why is it that tax liens go unpaid as well as the salaries or royalties of creative individuals? It is unknown but it sounds like the money is being mismanaged at best and improperly diverted at worst.
This is absolutely a lie. Since Jane’s article was written in 2014, this refers to 2013. This is another case of Jane taking something out of context from an article that was written in the same year she is saying EC made the money.
Note: This article was released in August 2013, which means the interview probably took place in June or July. This time she didn’t even put in the link she was referring to because she knew damn well it was a lie and didn’t want anyone finding it.
Ellora’s Cave is supposed to pay monthly but even after this email went out, several authors report still not receiving their royalty payments or receiving lower than normal royalty payments. Purportedly Ellora’s Cave is hoping that the signing of celebrity authors like Farrah Abraham of Teen Mom and the James Deen sex tape is going to save their ship.
Truth – Ellora’s Cave contracts do not say that they are supposed to pay monthly. Marks made no bones about talking about the declining sales and thus declining royalties in a private business loop post. If sales are declining, royalty payments go down. And, in 2013 Farrah Abraham posted on Twitter or somewhere that she wanted to write an erotic romance. Ellora’s Cave contacted her and she agreed. So what. Don’t publishers do that kind of thing?
In a previous blog post, when she was discussing some issue with rights reversions with Samhain Publishing. While it was about Samhain, she had to throw in EC as worse.
http://dearauthor.com/ebooks/digital-first-publishing-troubled-fortunes-digital-first-publishers/
Samhain doesn’t have money problems. From all accounts, the company is still flush but experiencing some downturn in sales. No, the complaints about Samhain have to do with author contacts and contract terms. These more restrictive terms seem inspired to keep more rights within the company.
Did Jane even look in to this? Public record:
http://www2.sos.state.oh.us/pls/bsqry/f?p=100:12:0::NO:12:P12_FIN_NUM:OH00177488721
http://www2.sos.state.oh.us/reports/rwservlet?imgu&Din=201418102082
This may mean nothing, but if there are no money problem, why was everything (and it appears to be even the author contracts) put up for collateral for a loan which was received just one month after Jane made this statement?
Samhain downturn in sales is just downturn in sales. Ellora’s Cave’s downturn in sales means they must be lying to their authors. Years back when Angela James was still with Samhain, Jane, Sarah and Angela shared rooms at RT, I believe. I forget whose blog that was on.
What does Ellora’s Cave have to gain by being (not so good apparently because Jane has it all figured out) underhanded? Think about it. Certainly not Ellora’s Cave or the employees of Ellora’s Cave. Who really has to gain if Ellora’s Cave goes down?
Well, if Ellora’s Cave goes down, there are thousands of already edited books that could go straight to KDP or other publishers.
Speaking of other publishers. Berkley has all but the first eight or so Breed Series books by the #1 NYT Bestselling author Lora Leigh. I wouldn’t doubt they would like to have the rest. NYT Bestselling author Joanna Wylde’s hugely selling Reaper motorcycle series, Ellora’s Cave published the first one of those titles? And it wouldn’t be unlikely that Cindy Hwang would go heavy after Laurann Dohner’s NYT bestselling New Species series. These titles have definite monetary value to any publisher, not just Ellora’s Cave. Also, Jane/Jen has been in the proverbial bed with Cindy Hwang for years. If you keyword search the blog posts, you just look at how many times Cindy Hwang and Berkley are mentioned. Penguin has been sponsoring her and Sarah Wendell’s podcast for years (Berkley, Intermix, Signet and so on – they are all connected). Cindy Hwang let Jane be an editor for that Agony and Ecstasy anthology that was not extremely successful (being kind). In http://dearauthor.com/page/2/?s=tina+Engler, Tina commented in the comments section:
I am no longer under contract with Berkley. (No dramatic parting of ways; just one of those things where I got a better deal elsewhere.) My loyalties lie with EC & Pocketbooks so this is where I choose to write.
Could this have ticked someone off? After all, from 2005 on Penguin (Berkley, Signet, Random House, whoever) has been going hot and heavy after successful Ellora’s Cave authors. Not to blame Berkley – that’s business. Could Jane have been avenging her benefactor or could there be monetary reward (editor gig, sponsorships, book contract) for Jane scaring authors away by trashing Ellora’s Cave (and a couple of others) and trying to help squash the competition? After all, some of Ellora’s Cave discovered authors have brought millions in revenues to Berkley/Random House. Just a thought, but money can be a motivator.
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Jane, as Jen Frederick, was published by Pear Tree LLC., a publishing company owned by her husband, and thus by her, and a publishing company that is in direct competition with Ellora’s Cave:
Below, you will see how Jane tried to cover up the fact that her books were published by Pear Tree LLC by changing the publisher on her book pages to her pen name:
As far as we’re concerned, covering your tracks like that is an admission of guilt. She has been deceiving people for years and now all of this information is coming to light. What a tangled web indeed!
the article where Jane got her “stats” on what EC “supposedly made in 2010 is here, written in Feb 2010.
http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2010/learning-from-elloras-cave/
Oh wow… My head is spinning. I think it’s rather interesting how she managed to keep all these lies straight for so long. Most people would have tripped up long before this, but she’s managed these lies like a pro. A pro liar. Which I guess could be another name for lawyer… They are, after all, pro liars.
I don’t understand how anyone can lie like that. Definitely a double standard.
Side note: Maybe I’ll use my pen name, will that avoid confusion?:P
Question: Isn’t Ellora’s Cave also what Absolute Write tried to do a “background check on?” I don’t think either is affiliated with them, but in the weirdness of our times you never know.
So what interest does that board have against Ellora’s Cave?O_o Just something weird I noticed.
I never go to the Absolute Write boards. I’ve been told it attracts many questionable people with questionable motives.
Yea that’s why I no longer go. Just like at how they treat concepts of copywrite.:/
If the author needs a link to somewhere where Litte is identified as Jennifer Lampe, here is a New York Times article from 2009: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/books/08roma.html?_r=0
Well.
Wow.
I knew a great deal didn’t add up, but I NEVER thought it went to this extreme.
You also mention Angela James. I’ve been wondering about her for a long time, too. She’s one of those aggressive Twitter types who knows it all… and she’ll tell you, too.
I can’t help but recall more than one post Jane wrote about literary agents owning publishing companies and how it was a direct conflict of interest for them.
I just hope that anyone who has been supporting her will seriously think twice about it.
I wonder if that one friend of mine that’s a rabid supporter of trout also supports Jane? If so, if she would continue with it?
Clearly if she’s being sued by Ellora’s Cave–if I’m understanding correctly, she isn’t who she says she is.
I blocked most of whoever supports Jane on Twitter.
She has less supporters now, after this mess. Who wants to stand up for a liar?
Absolute Write is one of those places where a lot of Jane/Jen’s cult-like followers go. Even though there are no direction connections, there are subtle connections. If you follow these things closely you’ll see this in time. And, AW is notorious for misinformation…the kind that takes a life of its own because people who don’t know any better believe the nonsense on the boards. I used to believe it all, until I realized what they were doing over there. Last year a literary agent who blogs posted AW as a reference and her comment thread lit up like a Christmas tree with people informing her that AW is the worst place to go for solid publishing advice. But what’s really interesting is that a literary agent who should know better, didn’t know better. And that used to be the problem. People just didn’t know. But with web sites like this, and authors like Anne Rice speaking up, more and more are learning how to avoid places like AW and DearAuthor.
It’s also curious that there are plenty of fine agents who come from other places besides New York. Evidently they didn’t get AWs call that they were suppose to be in New York.
I just wondered, because it seems like there is an alarming number of people that review on goodreads that are psuedonyms of people on AW. Which saddens, but doesn’t really surprise me.
No one ever points out that AW is really best known as the place where the bullies can self-promote the crap they write. That’s probably the most irritating thing about that site. That Stacia Whatever person did it for years.
Jane Litte, Jen or whatever name she’s using this week, she’s got more identities than Sybil. She is so full of crap. I wish the courts would force her to pay out the nose plus interest to everybody she has screwed over. I hope they throw the book at her for libel. And they can throw in that band of witches at the TrashyBitches or whoever book site that were begging for and funneling money to Litte’s so called “legal fund”. Right, she’s probably on a cruise right now with all that money.
I’m kind of curious as to who this Deirdre Saoirse Moen person is. She’s got some big mouth and has an opinion on everything from the EC/DA lawsuit to who is and who isn’t real on Twitter. I just observe from a distance because I never even heard of her before the lawsuit. But I don’t think it’s wise to get involved in someone else’s litigation and make the kinds of comment she makes. She really crosses the lines, and I don’t think she’s very bright.
If she were to read this she would no doubt draw the conclusion that I’m in some way related to someone involved in the lawsuit with DA and EC. But I’m not connected to either party, I never was connected to either party, and I’m just one of the thousands of observers who have been watching Jane in action all these years as she creates one shitstorm after another.
If she’s the I’m thinking of, I think it’s her that’s trying to equate slamming Jane Litte with sexism. Play the princess game, then when they get caught abusing their power, call it out as sexism.
The term sexist used to actually mean something, but not it’s used so flippantly to describe anyone that doesn’t spoil them rotten with narcissistic praise and give them a cruise with caviar.
Rosa Parks didn’t sit in the bus for this Jane Litte garbage.
I don’t believe this will blow over anytime soon. The word sweeping around author groups is betrayal, hypocrite and liar. At first, everyone was aw, great for her but when people started speaking out about how betrayed they felt, the atmosphere changed. I don’t believe anyone, deep down inside will ever trust her again. Their biggest concern is that all parties involved did not apologize for the deception. They feel there should have been a ‘sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner’ type post. None of that happened and people are upset about it. Also some were defending her for the money she received for the attorney fees. It was to help the authors with EC but then others counter that it was all for her. She couldn’t have cared less for the authors which IMHO is true. She had the money for the defense plus. And if she was any type of ethical person she would have said no, I don’t want any help. This is DA’s involvement not yours. Odds are the defense fund will be paid from DA’s account and not hers. After all it is for something that happened on the blog and not in her personal life. That is if she kept the blog completely separate from her personal life.
Just don’t think this will blow over the way they had hoped it would.
Very well put. Reading this post and all the deception on DA and Jane Litte’s part is dispicable.
Jane was the champion of readers. She was the defender or romance. Now she’s a blog post about a scammer and a gamer on her own blog.
Champion of the readers? Defender of Romance? How can these words be so untrue? Easy. Jane started that blog to review romance books. It exploded with positive people coming to it cause it was new and different (similar to Ms. Giggles reviews). Her sarcastic, controlling ego started to show. I know, I watched all of it from the very beginning when Dear Author was nothing but just another blog. She attracted the same type of people who believe theirs is the only opinion that counted. If she was such a champion or defender then why did RWA give her boot for making fun of romance books and tearing down the authors of those books? Who made Jane Litte and her cronies god to decide what books are good and which ones aren’t? I saw all this. But it was Jane and her followers who had no mercy. I just hope very few have mercy on her now. Karma is a real pain in the butt. Do unto others as you want them to do to you is not just a corny saying. She had no compassion nor consideration of anyone when it came to her getting what she wanted. I just hope this bites her hard for all the things she’s done in the past.
Oh and another thing, that time when she started monitoring her comment section on the blog, remember that? You did a post where she spanked Ridley? Look at the date on that and then look at the date when her first book came out. Is it too hard to figure out that she realized she needed to improve things or her ‘author’ rep might be influenced by what went on at her blog?
Jane’s post to Ridley was on 4/1/2013.
Now look at the dates on Amazon when the 1st book came out. May 1, 2013.
Coincidence?
I don’t think so.
You are absolutely correct. The most ironic part about the lawsuit and this quest for free speech is that most people don’t realize how well the DA blog is monitored and censored. I don’t know who polices it, but it’s a 24 hour thing. If someone posts something DA doesn’t want up, it is deleted immediately. I don’t mind that with most blogs. I don’t mind bloggers using discretion. However, thousands of dollars were raised for Jane Litte and her quest to defend free speech.
Jane got exactly what she deserves. I have known her online for many years and finally people are seeing who she is. Most likely Jane/Jennifer/Jen feels that she is not required to give an explanation or, god forbid, an apology to anyone. Personally, I hope she is feeling some sort of pain after giving this some time and realizing she has lost many of her loyal followers, and they are not coming back. She can go la-la-laing all she wants in her Jen world, but I hope she is feeling the hit of being turned away because of her behavior as Jane Litte. After all these years of being a complete jerk, she deserves this.
Wow, that makes her attempt at campaigning for free speech even more egregious. Sounds more like she only wants free speech for herself.
She is at it again, trying to fool people into thinking she’s great. There’s a Facebook group ran by authors Ellen Kennedy, Monica Murphy, Kristen Callihan, Sarina Bowen and Cora Carmack called The Locker Room. She is always there, as guest coach, and promoting her books. The group has thousands of members. They obviously don’t know how shady she is. I wonder if the authors really know her as well as they think and why are they allowing her to be all over their group.