Afleveringen
-
Music: "Light Rays" used with permission from Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters.
https://theboxmasters.com/store
Do you remember the movie based on the Stephen King novel "Misery?"
An author is stalked and captured by an obsessed fan. She proceeds to torture him while still professing her admiration of his works. âIâm your number one fan!â
Although most stalkers don't resort to such extreme behavior, being stalked can be a terrifying experience for anyone. Knowing that someone who is clearly not thinking right has set their sights on you is stressful, to say the least. Not knowing what that person is capable of means you must constantly be looking over your shoulder and never letting your guard down. That's a very traumatic way to live.
In today's episode, editor and college English professor Clayton Jones joins Angela and Brian to delve into the dark world of authors who have been stalked by unhinged "fans" and how those events ended up. Clayton, Angela and Brian all share their own experience with stalkers. We even have an example of an author who stalked someone who left her a bad review!
Grab some popcorn and prepare to immerse yourself into psychological darkness and drama (with a little humor on the side.) You won't be disappointed!
Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
We decided to have a silly episode.
Clayton Jones and Brian go head to head to see who knows more about little factoids in the literary world.
How many of Angela's questions can YOU answer?
Join us for fun, laughs, and some interesting information you may have never hear before as we play the Weird & Fun Book & Author Trivia Game.
Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
-
Guest: Gary Sturgis, The International Bestselling Author of Surviving Grief â 365 Days a Year
In this episode, we continue our interview with BookLocker.com's international bestselling author Gary Sturgis!
Do you have a book on the market that's not accumulating the sales you'd like to see? It's likely due to your marketing strategy, and how you communicate with potential readers online.
In these two episodes, Angela and Brian welcome back Gary Sturgis, BookLocker's best-selling author, who earns thousands per month in royalties from his book sales.
Gary also has more than half a million followers on his social media channels now! How does he do it?! Heâll tell you in this episode!
If you want to succeed in any endeavor, it's best to find someone who has already succeeded, learn what they did, and imitate them. Listen to this episode (and the next one, episode 56!) to learn how you, too, can increase your sales, and maintain a positive cash flow from your books.
You don't want to miss this interview! Youâre going to learn a LOT!Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
Guest: Gary Sturgis, The International Bestselling Author of Surviving Grief - 365 Days a Year
Do you have a book on the market that's not accumulating the sales you'd like to see? It's likely due to your marketing strategy, and how you communicate with potential readers online.
In the next two episodes, Angela and Brian welcome back Gary Sturgis, BookLocker's best-selling author, who earns thousands per month in royalties from his book sales.
Gary also has more than half a million followers on his social media channels now! How does he do it?! Heâll tell you in this episode!
Gary endured the loss of a spouse years ago, and began searching for online support for his grief and recovery. That led him to write his first book, "Surviving: Finding Your Way from Grief to Healing." That began a journey of sharing and interaction with his online community, leading to him becoming a grief counselor, a public speaker, and an online facilitator specializing in grief and recovery.
In this episode, Gary shares his journey, and the specific techniques he used to build a massive online following. Heâs also written six more books, including one for children, to help people continue through their own paths to recovery and self-healing.
His consistency and persistence have led to ever-increasing book sales, earning him thousands in royalties every month.
If you want to succeed in any endeavor, it's best to find someone who has already succeeded, learn what they did, and imitate them. Listen to this episode (and the next one, episode 56!) to learn how you, too, can increase your sales, and maintain a positive cash flow from your books.
You don't want to miss this interview! Youâre going to learn a LOT!
Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
You've heard us say it over and over again: DO NOT PAY FOR BOOK REVIEWS!
So, what is an author supposed to do? Wait around, hoping for readers who might decide to take the time to review their book? Beg people on social media for positive write-ups? Ask their family and friends to post reviews on Amazon? (DONâT DO THE LATTER! You could get banned from Amazon for doing that! We explain why in this episode.)
Getting real, legitimate reviews for your book doesn't have to be a passive exercise. There are plenty of regular, prolific reviewers (even "professional" reviewers) out there who won't charge you a penny to review your book, and who will do it fairly and honestly. Better yet, many of them have tens of thousands of followers! When they post a review for a book, their followers are notified!
But, how do you find them, and what should you say when you contact them?
In this episode, Angela and Brian explain, step-by-step, how you can find PROLIFIC and popular book reviewers with thousands of followers. And, weâll teach you exactly how reach out to them, greatly increasing your chances of getting your book reviewed by them.
You might be asking why these book reviewers review books for free? How do they make money? Itâs NOT on the backs of authors! Quite the opposite, in fact! We explain that in this episode as well.
Getting good book reviews from well-known reviewers can mean significantly more BOOK SALES! And, the entire process is FREE! Nothing we recommend in this episode costs any money at all.
You donât want to miss this episode!
Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
Approximately 90% of banned Amazon KDP accounts are never reinstated!
We were recently contacted by yet ANOTHER terminated Amazon KDP author. His unpaid royalties are $38K (!!!), and there is NOTHING he can do to get his account back (heâs tried!), nor to get his $38K. He canât even access his files, nor see his past sales reports. Heâs completely and permanently LOCKED OUT of his Amazon KDP account.
Could it happen to you? According to Google, itâs happening to thousands of authors per year now. Think about that. You've had your book(s) on Amazon KDP for several years. Sales have been pretty good. You may not be getting rich, but the royalties have been regular and dependable. Things have been good!
Then one day, you receive an email from Amazon KDP saying your account has been terminated. You think itâs a scam email, or a joke. But, itâs NOT! You quickly go to KDP to login to your account. Your username and password donât work. The âforgot your password?â option doesnât work. Your account is simply GONE. Youâve been permanently banned by Amazon KDP. Worse, they tell you that youâre not permitted to open any other Amazon KDP accounts in the future. EVER. (Many authors have tried that, even under different names and email addresses, and it never works. Amazon always knows everything!)
You go back and read the email from Amazon in its entirety. It says your account has been terminated. It says you violated KDP's terms of service, but it doesn't say which term(s) you violated. It simply says your account has been permanently closed, and that you can never open another account with Amazon KDP.
You send multiple messages to Amazon asking (begging!) for some explanation. You have every intent to correct anything you may have done wrongâŠif only you knew what that was! Their automated replies just keep saying theyâre upholding their decision to ban you from their platform.
You start to panic, of course! You've not only lost your account, but you've lost whatever royalties you had coming from the previous two months. More emails simply get the same canned response: "We are upholding our original decision to terminate your account."
Here's the real rub: You AGREED to all of this when you signed up with Amazon KDP. It was in the "Terms of Service" when you clicked "I AGREE," including the fact that they get to keep ALL of your unpaid royalties. For some authors, thatâs in the thousands of dollars.
In this episode, we crawl under the dark underbelly of Amazon KDP, and the growing problem of authors having their accounts closed down for any number of reasons, known only to KDP's AI/bot systems.
Amazon has specific reasons why they donât tell so many authors why their accounts were terminated. We discuss those reasons in this episode as well.
Amazon KDP can immediately terminate your account at any time, at their sole discretion, with no warning, and with no human being at the helm to rationally weigh the facts and listen to your side of things.
If you are currently using Amazon KDP, or thinking about using Amazon KDP, you need listen to this episode to know the potential risks of working with that organization! There are OTHER WAYS to get your book on Amazon, and those wonât lead to your books being taken down, nor your royalties being withheld!
Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
In this episode, Professor Clayton Jones joins us again! Being an English Professor at the University of Tennessee, a professional editor, AND a professional book marketer, heâs seen it ALL! And, so has Angela, who has been in the business for 28 years! While Clayton discusses authors who have behaved badly when working with him, the examples Angela shares are from folks who contacted her through WritersWeekly.com asking for advice. Of course, we havenât used any names in this episodeâŠexcept for the celebrity authors who got caught doing stupid stuff!!
Hereâs just a tidbit of what we have for you in this episode (and thereâs a LOT more!):
The author who got scammed three separate times after Angela WARNED HIM THREE SEPARATE TIMES!
Famous authors who got caught using AI, and even left AI prompts in their books!!! One of the authors was accused of using AI in his anti-AI book!!
Authors who got VERY upset after they couldnât land a traditional publishing contractâŠbecause their mother told them their book was the best one ever written. Weâve received the same comment from authors who didnât win writing contests. âMy mom says my story was better than the winning stories!â
The author who got scammed for thousands, and then asked Angela for advice on how to hide what happened from his wife.
Authors who libel others in their books, and state, âI donât care if I get sued!â
The co-authors who provided zero proof of severe allegations they made against many individuals and businesses. Some authors, who clearly donât have attorneys, believe that publishing the book alone will be âproof enough.â
Authors who committed copyright infringement under the false (but common!) belief that âeverything on the Internet is free!â
Parasite Book Marketers! Yes, thatâs a real thing, and itâs very low-class!! DONâT DO IT!
Authors who donât read the fine print, and who are allowing AI programs (like Grammarly) to âtrainâ their systems.
Authors who are beating the pro-AI drum, and using AI to write their books, while not realizing they themselves can get sued for copyright infringement someday.
AND SO MUCH MORE!!!
Letâs be honest. There are things that work in the publishing industry - and things that do NOT work in the publishing industry.
Today we reveal ideas, attitudes, habits, and actions we have seen that inevitably tank authors' chances for success (and that can lead to not only embarrassment, but also litigation). We weigh these behaviors against the realities that exists in the publishing and writing worlds.
There are two approaches you can take with this episode:
Some authors who have done some of the things we discuss might be insulted and offended by what we say. However, weâre using real examples and humor because, if we donât laugh about these situations, we might just cry! Some of the stories are actually not funny at all. They are simply sad. We donât laugh at those.
If you want to learn from othersâ mistakes, listen to and learn from two experts in the field, and apply the "Don't do this" lessons that they offer from their vast experience in watching bad ideas and actions fail time and again.
This episode will teach you what NOT to do if you want a smooth, efficient, and non-embarrassing book publishing experience.Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
Could that very active fellow Facebook author group member really be a SCAMMER? Chances are pretty high THEY ARE!
Publishing scammers have infiltrated Facebookâs author groups to perform DATA MINING! Whatâs the problem, you ask? All they have is your Facebook profile link. So, whatâs the big deal?
Nope, thatâs not ALL they have! They start with your profile, and within minutes, they likely know more about you than your next-door neighbor.
When someone in your Facebook Author/Writer group posts thing like this, BEWARE!
"Authors, drop your book cover! Show us your masterpiece!"
âPost the links to your books! Letâs help each other out!â
âShow us your author website!â
But, what if they simply ask a very general âticklerâ question of all the members? Theyâre starting a specific discussion for a specific reason! They know what theyâre doing, and hundreds of unwary authors respond!
"Tell us what you're currently working on!"
"Tell us what makes your book special in one sentence!"
"What's the best platform for me to market my book?"
And, guess what? Some of these data mining scammers are actually the MODERATORS of author groups on Facebook! And the group members have NO IDEA!
If you respond to those ridiculous posts, it may seem innocent on your part (and it is) but it is NOT innocent on the part of the scammers. How can engaging them hurt you? A bunch of other folks in the group are doing it. It's free publicity. You are proud of your book. And who knows: someone may BUY A COPY! So, you engage the scammer (who you think is just another author.)
CONGRATULATIONS! You've just painted a target on yourself for scammers.
Many Facebook groups for authors and writers have hundreds and even thousands of members. Many of those require nothing more than to click a "JOIN" button. Many in the group, however, never post in the group, or even look at it again. Some groups are old and the âmembersâ have gone stagnant on Facebook. The scammers are looking for living, breathing members who have active manuscripts to publish, and books to promote. That means YOU are far more likely to become their next target!
Overseas scammers want to target authors with offers to publish their books, edit their books, offer fake movie deals, promote their books â you name it. They have literally dozens of fake services to offer! And, finding an active author with a book to publish or sell is the very FIRST step they take with data mining.
Listen to this episode to learn how scammers can take one small link (your Facebook profile) to gather TONS of personal information about you from across the Internet!
And, weâll tell you how they use that information to fool potential victims, and suck their wallets dry.
Listen to this week's episode, #41, and learn the tricks and tactics these parasites are using to get your personal information to target you with opportunities to give your money away, and never see it again. You will also learn how to protect yourself.
Join us as we dissect the dark underbelly of Facebook Author Groups!
Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
In Episode 10 of the WritersWeekly Podcast (one of our most popular ones!), you heard the story of how Angela Hoy started WritersWeekly.com as a young, single mother, with MANY challenges along the way. Those included skipping meals early on to ensure her children were well-fed (her ex wasnât paying court-ordered child support), and later suing Amazon.com for federal anti-trust violations, and winning! She turned a fledgling hobby website into an internationally known publishing powerhouse and, 28 years later, itâs still going strong!
Now we present Brian Whiddonâs story. Brian is the Managing Editor at WritersWeekly.com, and the Operations Manager at BookLocker.com, a full-service book publishing company. He is also the author of Blue Lives Matter: The Heart Behind the Badge.
Brian grew up rough (to put it mildly!), had run away three times by the age of 14, and then moved back home with the help of a friendly police officer. That gentleman was Brianâs inspiration to later serve vulnerable members of the population himself. Listen to this episode to find out what happened to the amazing police officer who literally changed Brianâs life.
Brian was kicked out of his home by his parents at 17 but was determined to finish high school, because a diploma was required to become a police officer. He then served in the United States Army for five years, which included a combat deployment in Somalia. (Wait until you hear the camel dust story, and about the time Brian and his two soldier buddies mooned a Colonel!)
After leaving the Army, Brian finally got to live his dream career as a police officer. In this episode, youâll hear first-hand Brianâs story of how he and another officer got repeatedly burned while pulling a man from a burning airplane. He shares other stressful, exciting, and even hilarious stories as well.
Tragically, after 15 years, the career he had dreamed about since the age of 13 was tragically stolen away from him, simply because he did the right thing. After witnessing police misconduct, and reporting it, Brian prevented an innocent young man from going to prisonâŠand got fired for doing so.
How does a former law enforcement officer later become the Managing Editor for one of the first writing websites on the Internet, and the Operations Manager for one of the most well-known book publishing companies?
This episode is packed with emotion, humor, inspiration, and lots of human interest! (Did you know âbeef sticksâ in Korea are actually dog meat? No, Brian didnât eat those!).
If you have ever wondered about the man behind the voice here on the WritersWeekly Podcast, you DONâT WANT TO MISS THIS ONE!Repeat: GRAPHIC WARNING AT 1 HOUR, 3 MINUTES! (1:03)
Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
In this episode, Angela and Brian share real stories about lawsuits that were filed against authors, and how those proceedings affected them financiallyâŠand otherwise.
So many authors feel that, even if they get sued, they might winâŠso, no problem, right? WRONG! In the U.S., unless a case is declared frivolous by a judge, you might never get back all the money you spent defending yourself.
Another problem is the tremendous amount of stress authors must endure throughout the legal process, which can take months, or even years.
Listen to this episode, which is filled with examples of lawsuits filed against authors (and why), so you can hopefully avoid the legal pitfalls that could land you in court and can potentially lead to bankruptcy.Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
If you hate scammers, you're gonna LOVE this episode!
Angela actually convinced this scammer to write an ARTICLE telling all about how he fools people into thinking he is a book marketer/freelance writer based in the USA, and convinces them to pay him for his "services."
What's best is that he have all the messages and emails between Angela and this scammer, in which he reveals his deceptive techniques. Even after Angela revealed that she was a journalist who exposes scammers, he STILL tried to scam her!
We even tried to pay him the $60 we offer for article submissions to WritersWeekly via PayPal. However, he insisted on being paid through a BANK TRANSFER!!
We have a ton of laughs and education in store for you in this episode as we reveal this fool's brazen attempts to convince Angela that he was a legitimate writer and book marketer, all the while trying to get money from her. And the excuses he gives for what he's doing will FLOOR YOU.
Don't miss a second of this episode. You'll laugh yourself silly.Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
In this episode, Angela and Brian go over the latest âservicesâ that international scammers have dreamed up to suck authorsâ bank accounts dry. They will even tell you that not buying some of these services could land you in jail!
Donât be taken in by these fraudsters! No longer is it simply offering âfull publishing servicesâ for rock-bottom, unbelievable prices (the âpublisherâ then disappears with your money).
No, theyâve taken their criminal activities to a whole new level! Now, once they reel you in as a âclient,â you will then be offered things like an âinternational publishing licenseâ or âauthor insuranceâ (theyâll tell you itâs illegal to publish a book without those!), fake book-to-movie deals, a âglobal copyrightâ (thereâs no such thing), premium editing services (by AI or someone who doesnât speak English), and more completely fake âservicesâ that will never get performed anyway.
They will even tell you that they have royalties waiting for you, but that YOU have to pay a processing fee up front to get them! (Of course, the royalty numbers are fake and the author never gets paid.) Theyâll also give you a fake purchase order from a large bookstore (on that storeâs stolen letterhead), saying YOU need to pay THOUSANDS to print the books up frontâŠbut youâll get paid back later. Thatâs not how it works, folks, and no copies will get printed anyway!!!
We discuss many other creative FAKE services as well.
Donât miss this episode! Please share it with your friends and writing groups. It could save you or someone you care about THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!Be sure to contact us if you suspect you might be the victim of a publishing scam!
https://WritersWeekly.com/podcast
https://Publishing.BookLocker.comText us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
Traditional publishing? Self-publishing? Hybrid publishing? What's best for YOUR book? Is your manuscript even ready for publication? Who can help you determine that, ensuring a polished manuscript, and the best possible chance for future sales? The good news is, there is no need to walk the publishing path alone!
In this episode, Angela and Brian explore the benefits of hiring an Author Coach to guide you through the publishing process.
They go by a number of names: Publishing Coaches, Author Coaches, Book Coaches, Publishing Consultants, Author Representatives, and more. These are people who are well-versed in the book writing/publishing business, and can help you navigate through the publishing process, removing stress, and potentially saving you a LOT of time AND money. But, you need to make sure you hire a REAL coach,one who is a professional editor, a book marketing expert, and someone who can easily guide you to the finish line.
For many authors (new authors and senior citizens who may not be tech savvy), signing up with a publisher can be the beginning of an anxiety-riddled journey, filled with new terms, details, and processes they never imagined existed...much less understand. And, how do they know that the publisher they're considering using is fully working in their best interests?
That's where an Author Coach comes in. A good coach has already been through the publishing process numerous times, and knows what to expect, and what needs to be done. They can break down the process, which can seem overwhelming, into manageable parts. When you're not sure what the publisher is doing, or why, they can fill you in on the details so you'll be more at ease with the journey. And, they'll get you from A to Z much faster than if you were going it alone.
Would a publishing coach be a good investment for your book project? Tune in to this episode and find out.Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
In this episode, we are joined by BookLocker.com author, Rickey Pittman, The Bard of the South!
Rickey is an author, musician, storyteller, historian, and college professor. His major focus is on Southern America. He unearths and creatively covers old stories that tell of the Southâs rich history, struggles, and unique identity. And, his fiction is AMAZING, too! (Read more about that under Episode 35 at https://writersweekly.com/podcast.)
Rickey performs all around the Southern states as âThe Bard of the South,â with a style that mixes old southern ballads with even older Celtic folk music. He is just as comfortable playing for a Highland Days event as he is playing for a Civil War re-enactment. Some of his songs seem reminiscent of something one may have heard while sitting around a fire with Davie Crockett and the boys. You can find many of his songs on YouTube.
Rickey's writing interests span from biographies of little-known local celebrities (like the sea captain who became a mayor of New Orleans) to dark fiction that brings you into the mysterious underground occult world of the Big Easy. (That one is part autobiographical, by the way!).
Did you know that Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States, actually adopted a young black boy to rescue him from abusive parents, only to have the child snatched away when the South lost the war? Rickeyâs book, Jim Limber Davis: A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House, tells the sad story.
Rickey has published twelve books with BookLocker.com, and has published 18 books in all over the years.
Rickey also puts a lot of miles on his car, AND on his guitar. He travels all over the south, performing and marketing his books.
Here, on Episode #35 of the WritersWeekly Podcast, Rickey discusses where he gets the ideas for what books to write, his writing style and schedule, and, most importantly, his marketing strategy.
Join us for a fun-filled hour with a man who can be described as an âencyclopediaâ of the South. You might just find yourself craving some cornbread and crawdads!Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
Have YOU, too, received a bad book review that was all about you and not about your book at all? JOIN THE CLUB! In this episode, we share several real examples sent to us by authors who have been the victims of this type of vendetta online. We also share how you can respond to these personal attacks with maturity and class. And, by doing so, you can save your book sales!
=======================================================
Youâve finally gotten your book published! With pride similar to a new parent, you keep checking the various sales platforms, and watch the reviews start coming in.
Suddenly, a 1-STAR review comes in. Is someone is trashing your book? You read through the review to figure out what the person disliked about it. But, it doesnât mention anything specific about your book at all. They didnât even read it!
What's worse than someone trashing your book without reading it? When a so-called âbook reviewerâ attacks you, personally, as an author. Instead of writing anything about the book, they criticize you, attack your character, and worse! Itâs happening ALL OVER!!! In many instances, the authors knows exactly who posted the fake 1-star review!
But, Amazon still wonât remove those fake 1-star reviews!
Welcome to the Wild West World of online book reviews in the current age! People have left the manners and morals at the door!!
In this episode, we explore the issues that accompany this feature of online mega-bookstores. We share real stories from authors who have had their books maligned by family members, ex-lovers, rival authors (yes, really!), disgruntled employees, neighbors, and, in some cases, online bots! Did you know there are businesses people can PAY to bombard someone elseâs book listings with bad reviews?
Itâs the Internet, folks â and almost anything goes. You need to listen to this episode to prepare yourself for what is out there, learn how to counter those fake 1-star reviews, and prevent your book sales from tanking.
Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
In this week's episode, Brian and Angela welcome friendly and feisty Bob Wahl to the podcast!
Bob is 91 years young, and is the author of five books. He contacted a company called Authors Hike / AuthorsHike.com to help promote his books.
After paying them $4,000, he was shown a web page that had a graphic of more than 1400 (fake!) "orders" for his book. Author's Hike then tried to scam Mr. Wahl into paying to have those books printed.
He reached out to WritersWeekly, which, of course, exposed Author's Hike's scam to the world.
When Author's Hike realized they'd been exposed, that's when the threats and attempted extortion began...
You don't want to miss this one!!!Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
Could this publisher be a scammer???
We keep receiving emails asking this exact question DOZENS of times every week.
Now, in this Episode, using the examples of Ashbery.com, NYBookPublishers.com, and McGilliganpublishing.com, we SHOW you, step by step:
WHERE to look for the evidence that an online publisher is potentially a scam.WHAT to look for to determine if an online publisher is potentially a scam.HOW to sort out the evidence you find and determine the likelihood that an online publisher may be a scam.Follow along on your computer, as we walk through this process, and you will walk away with the skills and confidence to determine for yourself if a potential publishing partner will rip you off!
You have our promise that, with a little practice, you will be able to identify a potential scammer in less than 10 minutes.
Do you have an extra $5000, $10,000, or $20,000 to throw away and donate to a scammer in Pakistan, India, Nigeria, or the Philippines? If your answer is "NO," then listen to this episode, learn the easy process weeding out these crooks, and save yourself from financial ruin.
Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
Michaele Aldophe had a heart-wrenching but also hopeful and faith-filled story to tell the world.
As a 14-year-old migrant from Haiti, Michaele (Mickka) was raised by her abusive father. She grew up, graduated from college, got married, and gave birth to a premature child who wasn't expected to live. Through prayer and the grace of God, he did! A divorce then left her raising her child alone. Then, both of her brothers were killed.
Yet, one thing has kept Mickka strong through all of that - her faith in God.
Mickka wanted to share her story and her faith with the world, so she wrote her book: It Wasn't for Nothing: A True Story of Faith - https://www.amazon.com/Wasnt-Nothing-Powerful-Story-Faith/dp/B0FBKT93RB/ref=sr_1_1
She searched online for someone to publish her book, and found Ashbery Publishing / ashberry-publishing.com / ashberypublishing.com. They seemed so helpful, so professional, and so caring. Mickka didn't know it at the time but the female "rep" was grooming her, calling all the time, and pretending to really care about Mickka (straight from the scammers' playbook!).
They were going to edit her book, and create a cover for only $499 (a ridiculous and unbelievably low price, designed to draw her in, and upsell her later...for thousands).
Then they started talking about marketing. That was going to cost a little over $17,000. Mickka paid.
Then, they wanted $12K more!! Mickka balked and that's when the nightmare began. They took control of HER website and HER social media accounts and she was not able to get them back. Yes, the scammer was (and still is) holding HER website and social media accounts hostage.
Brian and Angela team up once again with attorney James M. Walsh to listen to Mickka's story, and hear firsthand about her experience with this online scam "publishing company" (and other websites we connected them to!).
Mickka is highly educated, extremely intelligent, and a successful entrepreneur. If these highly-trained scammers could fool her, they can fool anyone...
SCAMMERS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Ashbery Publishing / ashberry-publishing.com / ashberypublishing.com
Click here for the warning we already published about this scammer:
https://writersweekly.com/this-weeks-article/i-was-scammed-by-ashbery-publishing-ashberypublishing-com
McGilligan Publishing / mcgilliganpublishing.com (Exact same website as Ashbery Publishing, and even the same book covers!)
Ghostwriting Hub / ghostwritinghub.com
See 1-star reviews on TrustPilot:
https://www.trustpilot.com/review/ghostwritinghub.com?stars=1
New York Publishers / NY Publishers / nypublishers.co
See 1-star reviews on TrustPilot:
https://www.trustpilot.com/review/nypublishers.co?stars=1
Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
It was all coming together. His five-book series were going to become a movie!
A "literary agent" had reached out to him via email just last month.
Then, in emails shared with the author, that agent was negotiating between a âFox Entertainmentâ executive, and a famous screenwriter (a member of the Writers Guild of America) who is currently in California, working on the next season of "NCIS."
The names checked out. The Fox executive and screenwriter were real people. The author had even seen a business card in the emails. And, he also had a Zoom video conference with the Fox executive. He'd been copied on every conversation between the three people who were going to launch his books into Hollywood fame.
The pieces were quickly coming together but there was just one sticking point:
They wanted $50,000 dollars from the author to get the project started. That was just for the film treatment by the âscreenwriter.â
The authorâs attorney thought it looked legit. So did the authorâs friend, who was a banker for more than two decades. It looked so legit that the authorâs investor friend offered to pay the fee.
There was only one problem. All three people, the agent, the executive, and the screenwriter, were one person - a scammer! And, Angela and Brian were able to connect them to a known publishing scammer that was previously featured on WritersWeekly.com! They were STRONGLY pressuring the author to pay RIGHT AWAY or the project would get cancelled! Their offer, on official letterhead, promised him millions of dollars in the future! What would YOU do if you were in this authorâs shoes?
Lucky for him, he reached out to his publisher, Angela Hoy at BookLocker.com. Angela only had to ask the author one question. And, his one-line answer proved it was an elaborate and sophisticated scam. Youâll hear how he responded, and what cracked the case! The pieces came tumbling down and it was AWESOME!
In this episode, we will explain how Angela uncovered the clues that the author, a lawyer, AND a banker with over 20 yearsâ experience didn't see.
She reached out to the REAL Fox Entertainment and the REAL screenwriter, who is a celebrity himself. He responded to Angela. Youâll hear what he said in this episode.
Angela and the BookLocker.com team saved this author from a $50,000 trap!
You don't want to miss this disturbing episode!!
UPDATE: After the episode was recorded, Angela Hoy was contacted by the REAL screenwriterâs law firm and agent. Theyâre going after the scammer. They asked for all of the emails and contact information for the three fake individuals and, of course, we provided it.Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
-
We've heard it a thousand times: "I KNOW my mother (father, sister, brother, Uncle Cletus, Aunt Ethel, etc.) bought my book! Where are my royalties?!"
And, a thousand times over, we've had to break it to an author: "We're sorry but your relative actually did not buy your book. They lied to you to keep the peace." And, we provide proof to the author that the sale never occurred. In every single instance, the author's relatives refused to send the author copies of their receipts proving they actually bought the book (because the receipts didn't exist).
This is an awkward situation that we run into over and over again, especially around the holidays. We get it. You wrote a book. More than anyone else in the world, you want your family and closest friends to read your book, and be proud of what you've accomplished. That's human nature!
But, are your expectations realistic?
The reality we've seen is that most people who are closest to an author actually do not purchase or read the author's book for a variety of reasons. We'll tell you why in this episode.
And, to be perfectly honest, it doesn't matter that much. If you want to impressive book sales, it's a matter of marketing. Market to the masses, not your friends and family. We discuss that in this episode as well with our special guest, book editor and marketer, Clayton Jones, who is also an English Professor at the University of Tennessee.Text us directly and tell us what you think of this episode!
Learn more at https://www.WritersWeekly.com
- Laat meer zien
