Category: Guest Post


Mahala R. Burlingame: True Sadism

Filed Under: Amazon Fora Trolls, GR Bully, Guest Post by Johnny Be Good — 23 Comments
May 16, 2015

Below is a guest post that we promised one of our blog readers we would publish.  It is a warning about one of the nastier bullies we’ve seen online, Mahala R. Burlingame.

Edit: For our story on Mahala getting banned from Goodreads, click here.

***************************************************************************************************

We’ve often wondered why bullies do what they do. And as many have commented over the years, most believe it is done as a form of sadistic pleasure. Yet it isn’t often that those who engage in this behavior will actually to it.

What separates Mahala from the other bullies we’ve covered is how open she is about the sincere joy she gets from bullying authors. Miss Burlingame is a woman who, much like a yellow jacket, attacks without provocation, sometimes seemingly at random. She is a woman who will attack authors simply for posting an opinion she disagrees with or writing a Tweet she did not like.

And why? Well, much like the name of her blog, Spare Ammo, which claims in its title that it “targets the self-published author,” Mahala enjoys what she does. Whereas other bullies create nonsense lies to cover their actions, Mahala relishes in it, creating articles about authors telling them to “kiss their wish goodbye” (of becoming a successful author).

The message Mahala sends out is very simple: if you disagree with me, your dreams, your hopes, and your careers are done for.

Recently, an author had her life shattered after sharing a half-page essay regarding her own personal views on reviewing and books. This article was posted to her blog. It was impersonal, named no one, and spoke merely on the general subject of reviewing.

Post after post, the author was bullied until she was forced to take down her entire blog and write an apology to Mahala on behalf of sharing an opposing viewpoint that Mahala did not like. Mahala then refused to accept the apology (which she was not even entitled to in the first place).

Yes, you are reading this correctly. After bullying an author into deleting her entire blog and apologizing for her having an opinion, Mahala still had not had enough, finding that the apology she did not deserve was not good enough for her.

Eventually the bullying became so cruel that even her cohorts became weary of it.

But still she did not stop. After a month-long campaign to carpet bomb this young author’s books, insult her, and defame her for pure amusement, the author had to be hospitalized from the mental anguish that had been inflicted on her. Did Mahala stop then? No. She enjoyed this young woman’s suffering, bragging about it and even going so far as to ridicule the fact that she had fallen ill.

When an author tried to intervene and help his fellow indie writer, Mahala launched an attack on him, as well, threatening to give out the phone number to the author’s family.

Sadly, this is a recurring pattern for Miss Burlingame, who will attack…pretty much any author for any reason, such as another author who wrote a humorous Twitter post:

Or an entirely different author for writing a book she doesn’t like:

Or yet another author for wanting the bullying to stop:

We ask that you avoid Mahala at all costs, as her bullying is not limited just to destroying your careers, but your character as well. Please be careful and vigilant.

Tags: ,
Comment

What a Tangled Web Is Weaved, When Jane Litte Tries to Deceive

Filed Under: Guest Post, MISC by Johnny Be Good — 25 Comments
April 5, 2015

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.

*******************************************************************************************

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.

http://www.ohio.com/news/top-stories/mother-and-daughter-make-a-fortune-selling-erotic-novels-1.420106

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

FianancingStatement

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.

 *******************************************************************************************

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:

PearTreeLLC

W00831537

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:

JanePearTree

JaneHidesPublisher

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!

Tags: ,
Comment

PG’s Post on Jane/Jen

Filed Under: Guest Post by Johnny Be Good — 34 Comments
March 29, 2015

One last post we’d like to share with you (besides AA’s) regarding Jane as Jen, is the guest post PG published on his blog this past week.  The author of this article makes two excellent points, again points that we missed in our original article, and we’d like to share them with our readers.

PGGuestPost

PGGuestPost2

We’d have to say that one big mistake this author is making is that she assumes Jane had good intentions and didn’t mean to do any harm.  We’ve seen enough of Jane’s behavior to know better (see Why Jane Litte Was Banned from RWA, JS Cooper vs. Jane Litte, Beautiful Blunder, Dear Author Strikes Again, Jane Litte Defends Violent Readers, and Twitter Attack on Nathan Bransford).

But, to each her own.

Tags: ,
Comment

Write Absolute Reviews Announcement

Filed Under: Guest Post by Johnny Be Good — Leave a comment
May 12, 2014

The following is an announcement we were asked to share with our readers.

***************************************************************

Write Absolute Reviews (W.A.R.) is looking for commentary to post, with links, demonstrating the fraudulent “advice” being circulated around AW to writers. Please see examples already in the thread: 

The aim of the WAR blog is to demonstrate not only the bullying and put a face to it, but also the outright incompetency and fraud as regards so-called writer advice. The website forums are in reality a mish-mash of wildly varying and confusing amateur advice devoid of moderators able to intelligently comment.

Tags: ,
Comment

Consumers Using Free Service, Tired of Poor Quality

Filed Under: Guest Post by Johnny Be Good — 25 Comments
November 8, 2013

Below is a tongue-in-cheek article written by an anonymous blog reader.  It is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Thank you, Anon. We needed the laugh.

********************************************************************************************************************

Goodreads, US- Almost 2 months ago, local giant book entity Goodreads began enforcing its rules banning public defecation. Area residents have been mad as hell ever since, and they’re not going to take it anymore.

“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” shouted top reviewer Manny Beardie, observed as he was taking a crap on a local self-published book. “This is the crappiest service I’ve never paid for!” He then ran off, yelling “Viva la revolucion!”

Similar cries of “Hasta la victoria!” and “Give me liberty or give me death!” and “Where’s the toilet paper? Oh man, did Miranda use it all again?” echoed and still echo throughout Goodreads.

This sounds like a joke, but it’s not. When it started enforcing its rules, Goodreads did not foresee the epidemic of butthurt that would be the result. Emergency rooms, doctor’s offices and walk-in clinics have been overwhelmed by the sudden upsurge in cases.

“Cases of aggravated reviewer butthurt are up 800%” explains local medical professional Dr. Petra X. “These are far more serious than the run-of-the-mill author butthurt we see year-round. Mostly that only affects authors who don’t count.”

Outside in her waiting room, reviewers can be seen waiting patiently with duct tape over their mouths, or alternately wandering around, dropping their pants and howling in rage and pain.

“Their poor tushies” murmurs a nurse to me, munching on some Lindt chocolates. “I never saw it as bad as this.”

But the actual patients are not the only ones affected. There is a palpable sense of betrayal that Goodreads has not protected its reviewers from the vicissitudes of life. “Goodreads was a safe place for me, like a home” says one local resident. “I didn’t expect anyone to just come along and disagree with something I wrote in my own home. Now I feel unsafe, like it’s not my home anymore.”

Local housewife and romance reader Jane, 58, speaks for many when she says that Goodreads did a terrible, unforgiveable thing. Refusing to give her last name, she said: “It’s too bad Goodreads never charges its customers anything, because it makes it so much harder to boycott. I mean, you can still flounce off in a huff and then sneak back in under an assumed name, but it’s just not the same.”

Her friend Kat Ridley is even angrier. “Goodreads provides me a free space where I can practice my favorite hobby, crapping on people and books, and then tells me where and how to crap? It’s not like I’m paying them or anything! You would expect lousy quality from something you paid for, but Goodreads is free! This is an outrage!”

Her words of defiance were echoed by a group of students currently engaged in fighting their way out of a tangled snarl of reblogged blog posts at local cafe’ Booklikes.

“We, like, flounced off and came here, but it’s not the same. There are like, no public spaces where we can find authors to crap on. You have to make the effort to find them yourself.”
“Bummer.”
“Totally.”
“It’s worse than Hitler.”
Myfanwy Fantasy, 110, who runs a local Self-congratulators’ support group, has a slightly more articulate take on the problem. “I think it’s generally recognized in law that a small number of suckers pay for a service and a much larger number ride for free. I think it’s equally as beyond dispute that it’s the freeloaders who make the rules and the suckers who take whatever is handed out to them. So now Goodreads is trying to turn the laws of nature on their heads and demand that minimal respect for the suckers, on the grounds that if they continue to get crapped on they might take their business elsewhere? That doesn’t make any sense! We are through the looking-glass, people!”
Outside, in a local forest, a group of self-published authors are huddled around a campfire in the forest. Naked except for a few tattered shreds of dignity, they are surprisingly angry.
“Before Goodreads started enforcing the rules, we were getting attacked on a daily basis. Now, we’re still getting attacked on a daily basis. Nothing has changed.”
Suddenly, a terrifying roar reverberates throughout the forest. It is a sound very similar to the mating call of a bull moose in heat. The authors around the campfire begin quivering in terror, and one of them craps herself.
“Oh man! Now you’re in violation of the TOS!” the others say, but there’s no time for further talk. Shattering footsteps  can be heard coming in this direction. The naked authors scramble to their feet and dash off, before this reporter can ask what the problem is.
Dawid, head barista at the Booklikes cafe, explains it all for me.
“Eez the Great Beast. Sheez like Bigfoot. At first, I thought she was legend. Before that, there was the Great Looney Beast and the Linda Ness Monster. Dat one lives in da lake. Now eez Great Beast. Da kids call dis one Angela. I thought she would be good for business, you know, like Bigfoot. Good for tourists, they come. So I used to trow her scraps of food out da back. Lately though, she’s taken to breaking in at night and shitting on the counter. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.”
Outside in the street, as I’m heading home, an obese man in a toque shuffles ahead of me. Before I have time to think or realize what’s going on, he looks me in the eye, drops his pants and exposes his red, swollen backside. People talk about butthurt all the time, but until it drops trou right in front of you, I don’t think you really understand it. This was the most prodigious case of aggravated butthurt I have ever seen or want to see again. I take an involuntary step back, but then I’m ashamed at my reaction. So I throw him an old paperback I have in my coat pocket.
“Here man, shit on this” I mumble, and hurry away.
Tags:
Comment

Protected: Melody’s Story

Filed Under: Guest Post by Johnny Be Good — Enter your password to view comments.
September 24, 2013
Tags: ,
Comment

Judyann’s Story

Filed Under: Guest Post by Johnny Be Good — 12 Comments
August 25, 2013

Today we have a guest post by Judyann McCole who was smeared by Stephanie S. and her band of merry Cuddleboogery bullies.  Below is her post, What happened to me on Goodreads: #MyAuthorNightmares.

*********************************************************************************************

I would like to start of by saying I’m kind of ashamed that it has taken me so long to talk about this. However, with the growing backlash against trolls disguised as book reviewers, I finally feel safe enough to talk about this.

A few months ago I decided to stop querying agents and go indie! For any author that’s HUGE! You hear about all this stigma against indie authors and are told how impossible it is to get readers and you just want to run to the hills fast! But I wanted my book out there. I wanted to share the characters in my mind with other people because for once in my life I had thought I found my thing!

I’m not the best in math, science, sports, or english (not my first language) however as a child/teen, I tried my best to be. Everyone else in my family was. I found myself always running to books, but never imagined I could write one due to my dyslexia. I loved telling stories, but the moment I tried to put them into words, I got scared. I remembered the kids who would laugh at me for reading (which I still do), or for just talking too long.

However somehow last summer, I was able to write not one book, but four (I still don’t know how.) I had never felt so happy in my life. I went to my teachers, friends, and a few members of my family for advice and honesty. Of course they told me they liked it. I kind of expected that.  Of the four, I thought only two of them were good enough to publish.

Adela Arthur and the Creator’s Clock was one of them. You see, I had grown up on books in which black people were never really around. (I’m really not trying to make this a race thing.) And females didn’t go on the same adventures that guys did. (My opinion? It could have just been the books I chose.) So instead of complaining about it, I wrote.

Which brought me here:

ss1

And here:

ss2

All because of this blog post.

ss3

1. Only Steph S.—the writer of the blog post had read my book.

My Crimes against the “gods and goddess” of book bloggers have to be broken up into two categories:

What they said I did and what I actually did.

What they said I did:

Steph Sinclair said she believed my book was a Harry Potter rip-off… That was alright. It was the first time anyone had told me that since I sent my book to be reviewed, but again it was her right.

Another blogger by the name of Melody had actually liked my book and started talking about it in the book blogger community, which was great until she got into some hot water with other reviewers. She had posted fake reviews (the irony) to build street credit.

So how does this effect me?

Well good ol’ Steph here claimed I was Melody. That I had step up a fake twitter account and blog and bought followers not only for Melody, but for every review of my book! I was sock-puppet she claimed.

I tricked bloggers to read my book and so the post above was my master plan!

Step by step, she lays out “proof” on how I tricked her to read my book through fake accounts.

FALSE.

After posting her review, she went all over my social media to prove what a horrible author I was. Then, she got other bloggers to join in.

ss4

What she could have done? Checked the IP address, but if she had, sadly her post wouldn’t have gone up.

Instead, I sat there and watched as someone lied about me, made fun of me, and just plain degraded me over her beef with another blogger.

  1. Any person using WordPress should know that the amount of followers you have is a mixture of twitter, Facebook, and your actual blog. It isn’t “buying” bloggers. It’s the set up of WordPress. Or at least mine is.
  2. If a lot of people were talking about my book, it was because I went to any blog that would have me and sent out book review request along with giveaways.  Not because I was making fake accounts.

None of that mattered. I was a “bad author.”

What I actually did:

I may have been over zealous in booking blog tours. I’m a first time author who had no clue what to do, but was told over and over not to expect readers to just find my book. All the advice blogs said promote! Promote! So I tried. I wasn’t aware there was a limit of book tours you could use. But that didn’t matter either because after Steph’s post, I lost almost all of them.

One of the blog tour owners, Sharon Goodwin of fictionaddictionbooktours.com, went out of her way to make sure the other bloggers knew of Steph’s post.

ss5

Funnily enough, I was the one who contacted her to let her know. I wanted to be honest with her and anyone else working with my book. I told her I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to book so many tours. She told me it wasn’t, but the last thing she wanted was to be associated with an author like myself.

That weekend I had never cried so badly in my life. My parents were so proud of me, they kept telling me to share my book with other family members and even with my high school. But I felt ashamed and scared. This great thing I did felt like a curse. I wanted to stop writing.

I emailed Goodreads, begging for them to take my book down. But they told me no.

I deleted my Goodreads account and just tried to hide from the attacks.

ss6

ss7

Neither of them read my book.

However Steph made it her personal mission that weekend to make sure those who supported me were to afraid to review. (I understand and I wouldn’t want anyone to be attacked because of me.)

Unless she knew the blogger of course.

ss8

Someone you knew liked my book Steph? Not everyone in the world shares your opinion? No, say it ain’t so.

I forgot to mention two of my crimes.

  1. I asked Steph for a review.
  2. I spent the little money I had left to advertise on her blog and others.

A month ago, I wanted nothing more than to just die. That may seem dramatic. But when you’re afraid to open your email or get on twitter or Facebook because you’re afraid of being attacked, being alive sucks.

Steph can’t be much older then myself. I’m 20 (17 at heart) and I could never imagine doing this to another human being over a book…anything really. It just proves high school never really ends.

I was angry, hurt, and in a real dark place after this happened. Steph and her gang of trolls took away my passion for writing and my pride….for a whole month.

And that is what happened to me on Goodreads.

For those of you who say authors should have thick skin, you’re right. But that doesn’t give “readers” the write to ban together and go on a witch hunt.

Bullying is bullying.

At 20, I wrote a novel. You, Steph, you read a book and published a mean-spirited blog post.

In 10 years, I’m not going to feel like an asshole. I’m going to keep writing. Not because I’m dying to “get rich”, but because I love storytelling.

What’s next for Adela Arthur and the Creator’s Clock? 

I think that series will die with one book. I wanted to delete it off the web, but fans told me “I was letting them win”, so I just made the ebook free. I don’t really have control over the book price on amazon though.

ss9

My book is #109 on the list above. I wonder if I will break top 100 after posting this.

*********************************************************************************************

Good job, Judyann!  Keep writing.  Don’t let anyone ever make you feel like you aren’t worth it.  Because you are.  And don’t let anyone ever ruin your dreams.

Tags:
Comment

How Bully Trolls Are Born

Filed Under: Guest Post by Johnny Be Good — 12 Comments
July 20, 2013

Just recently, a blog reader sent us this story titled How Bully Trolls Are Born.  It contains a good lesson for all authors and gives some valuable insight into the mind of the literary bully troll.

MY PERSONAL STORY

This story will stick with me forever, but lately I’ve realized that this is really how bully trolls are born. 

Late last summer when my first manuscript was finished and I was handing it out to select friends for opinions, I had forgotten one casual acquaintance of mine named Mary.  She had pestered me for months to read it, but this woman really wasn’t a close friend, so I forgot about her.  Her husband had been friends with my husband for many years, but I never really became close to this woman, she seemed phony to me.  Her and her husband had money, owned their own business and had recently bought an old church to remodel into their home, a project that was costing tens of thousands of dollars.

Mary had often mentioned she was writing a book.  Anytime I would run into Mary she would be on her way to another very expensive writer’s retreat some where exotic, or she was ‘meeting up’ with groups of other aspiring authors.  The next thing I knew Mary was decorating her new renovated church home with statues of mystical creatures, all enclosed in expensive glass cases, as the main great room was quite magnificent in this old church.  Then came the magnificent winding staircase up to the ceiling, all custom carved woodwork, which arrived at the top of a beautiful custom created library loft at the top of the ceiling….it was quite impressive.  This was going to be Mary’s writing space. 

One evening while my husband was visiting with her husband, drinking some beers and hanging out in the man shed in the back of the church, Mary invited me in to show me her progress.  She also pulled out huge custom art drawings that she had hired an artist to do for her.  Everything looked so expensive.  As I was perusing the stack of art characters, all looking like something out of a Harry Potter movie, I casually said, “Mary, how long you been working on your book?”  She proceeded to tell me fifteen years!  Then I asked what the story was about.  She did not answer, so I just shut up.

Then she asked me again to email her my manuscript, saying she was excited to read it and give her opinion.  I obliged later that week.

A few days later, I started receiving emails from Mary, who was re-writing my book for me, all with red line edits included.

At first I didn’t get it, but then realized that Mary had no intention of reading my manuscript.  Mary, in her mind had developed some sort of I’M A LEGEND IN MY OWN MIND attitude, because of all the expensive retreats, conventions and travels around the world.

I also realized that in fifteen years, Mary probably hadn’t WRITTEN anything!  Her fantasyland world that she built for herself with winding staircases and statues, was all there really was for her.

Needless to say, I no longer speak to this idiot woman, and my husband does not speak to her husband either, simply because I had WORDS with Mary that were….well….BLUNT.

THIS, MY FRIENDS, IS A BULLY TROLL WAITING TO ATTACK ANYONE WHO PUBLISHES A BOOK

WHY?

BECAUSE SHE WILL NEVER WRITE OR PUBLISH ANYTHING.

Gosh, does this sound familiar?  Kind of like, oh I dunno, Kat and this book of hers she’s been talking about for so long?  Or how about Anna K. and her nonexistent book that she keeps raving on and on about on the Amazon discussion threads?

The story above is EXACTLY how these kinds of trolls are born.  What is sad is that we’ve heard so many stories just like this, only worse.  For example, we received one from an author who gave her manuscript to absolutely the wrong person and has regretted it ever since.  This woman (the troll) not only thrashed it with red ink, but left a scathing Amazon review after it was published and then asked all of her friends to do the same.  When the author came to us for help, we noticed that some of the Amazon reviews were actually sock-puppet reviews (which were very easy to spot just by looking at the account and the account’s review history).  So we reported the reviews to Amazon.  They were removed the next day.

Moral of the story:

Beware to whom you give your manuscript.  Make sure it is someone you absolutely trust.  Don’t get sucked into the black hole known as the literary bully troll.

Tags:
Comment

Protected: A Special Offer

Filed Under: Guest Post, News by Johnny Be Good — Enter your password to view comments.
July 1, 2013
Tags:
Comment

Protected: An Encouraging Message

Filed Under: Guest Post, Opinion Piece by Johnny Be Good — Enter your password to view comments.
May 6, 2013
Tags:
Comment
Powered by WordPress & Web Design Company