Julie R. Neidlinger: Lone Prairie Art and Writing (via Mowser)

The way to destroy a professional veneer.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 0 comments link this post

The hot post of the moment is still hot. It even caused me to turn comment moderation on for this blog, which it hadn't had before. In fact, I even saved a copy of the page in case any of those who left comments get some sense in their heads and come back to delete.

What in the world possesses supposedly professional writers and publishers to act like a bunch of monkeys on a dung heap?

We have writers who can't write/spell/use paragraphs. We have a publisher insulting writers and daring them to sue him. We have snipers hiding behind anonymity.

Monkeys.

Dung heap.

And, I might point out, very likely newbies. Only a person who hasn't been online much would be foolish enough to leave comments like that on a blog, name attached and all. Just do a Google search on Airleaf Publishing and see what comes up. In just a few days, those who left their names will also bring Google searches here, and therein lies the sad truth: what you write on the web does matter and will be found and it can hurt your professional veneer.

Veneer being the key word.

These people are like monkeys on a dung heap, throwing their outraged writerly crap at each other. I can't say that enough. Unbelievable.

Take your grievances to a less public realm, or handle yourself in a factual, controlled manner. That's my advice for today. That, and do a save a screenshot of web pages which contain material that can come back and haunt someone. You never know when I'll be needing a new car.

Related links:

The hot post of the moment. Watch out for Airleaf Publishing.

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The hot post of the moment.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 0 comments link this post

For some reason, the hot post of the moment (and I do mean hot, by number of hits and a rush of seriously determined comments left there in recent days) is: Watch out for Airleaf Publishing.

I'm getting a lot of visitors on searches, but even more coming in from email sites, meaning someone is sending the link around.

I wonder what's happened? Something implode in the self-publishing world? I would love to know...

So far, this is the only somewhat recent article I can find on Airleaf.

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Publishers?

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 0 comments link this post

In a search for web sites that had links for readers, I found a page that seemed to list a lot of little publishers.

I didn't check it out.

Too lazy.

However, in case one of you writers out there is interested, perhaps you'd find something you were looking for.

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The fine print of self-publishing.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 1 comments link this post

I still get a lot of emails from my Airleaf Publishing post, some from writers asking me in-depth questions and all kinds of other help which I am not equipped or experienced enough to give. Nor do I have the extra time in which to respond to all the emails. I merely wrote the post at the time as a way to make others aware of one incident I'd experienced.

However, John, from the writers' group I attend, found a link that might be beneficial to those of you who aren't certain of which publisher to use for your self-published book. The web site gives readers a sneak peek at a book of the same title, The Fine Print of Self-Publishing. It seems pretty packed with information with the intention of giving you just enough to buy the book.

Kind of ironic. But still interesting.

Go check it out and see what you think. Is it worth the book? Maybe. If you're serious about self-publishing and not sure which publisher, maybe wary of scams? Very likely.

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Watch out for Airleaf Publishing

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 21 comments link this post

Keep Yog's Law in mind, always.

You know you've arrived as a writer when you start getting publishing enticements in the mail and in email.

Airleaf Publishing swears up an down that my self-published book, Of Rats and Men, is going to be a breakout hit if I only spend nearly $7500 with them to help promote it (a second letter offered a similar program for half that; what a deal). In fact, I received the letter in the mail just about two weeks after I finalized and uploaded my book onto Lulu.com. I'm very satisfied with Lulu.com because I'm not really out there to push the book; I'm only interested in a few copies for friends right now. Still, I'd sure hate to think they had anything to do with Airleaf getting a list of recently "published" authors. I know they hadn't read the book. I checked my Lulu.com account and could see I hadn't sold one to them before the letter arrived.

I read the letter with curiousity, but skepticism.

The first paragraph described in glowing detail how Airleaf had, for three years, "blazed a groundbreaking trail" in the independently published book arena. It further described their goal: to market a national bestseller sold in every bookstore.

Then came the paragraphs that seemed hilarious to say the least.

Only 50 titles will be selected! Act fast or miss out! We want to include Of Rats and Men in an intensive six-month program which includes:

Two, fifteen-minute interviews on a nationally syndicated AM/FM radio show. One television appearance. Ten face-to-face meetings with television and feature film producers and directors about my book. An in-person introduction of your book to the decision-makers at five regional bookstore chains including Hastings. A specific, full-time telemarketer assigned to you for daily calls directly to stores to sell books and to set up book signings. Representation in a half-page print ad in a national magazine. A featured position on the home page of our books-to-films website www.marquisbooks.com A featured position on the home page of our bookselling website www.thebigbooks.com

Only 500 authors have been invited for this offer!

Right. $7500 marketing plan for basically a picture book based on a Blogathon event. I'm pretty sure there was nothing special about their invitation seeing as how most of this over-priced service isn't even appropriate to my book. I don't think they've been so careful at selecting authors; their only criteria seems to be authors that are still breathing.

Would you go see a movie based on photographs of dolls and furniture? I wouldn't.

I was suspicious; I checked out their web site and didn't recognize a single book. I then tried to find out more about them, heading right over to Writers' Weekly first and then further searching on the web, but couldn't find any information about them on the web. Until now.

I got my second letter last week; I've been getting tons of spam from them which I don't think is legal because I never signed up for their service - EVER - but they just added me to their list. They either have someone watching Lulu.com and other self-publishing services full-time or Lulu.com and other companies have sold their customer lists. I'll be making an inquiry into that.

I can't imagine any bookseller appreciating their snail mail and email spam technique because I sure don't.

Either way, just as a reminder, I am not an Airleaf customer. I can't speak for those who have had success with them. I can only speak for my own experience: getting a letter that seemed to want a lot of money for a book they'd NEVER read.

UPDATE: Here's more on Airleaf, and not all of it will warm your heart. In this thread, Airleaf employees and customers do respond, so you can judge for yourself. I do want to point out one little snarky thing: the emails by satisfied Airleaf customers (replies #9 and #10) are, uh, badly written for having been written by writers. I know it should be a small thing but if the happy customers of a publisher are writers who can't put together coherent emails with half-decent grammar, capitalization and thought, there's a problem.

More links on Airleaf (formerly known as Bookman):

Brady Magazine Forum
Absolute Write Forum
Making Light Scam Discussion (you should read this)
Making Light Follow-up Discussion (you should read this)
The Return of Airleaf

UPDATE 1-12-06: Writers Weekly has another forum discussion on Airleaf that you won't want to miss.

If you have a link to a blog post or forum on this topic, please email me.

UPDATE: You might want to check this link out if you're looking for a self-publisher and not sure which one to pick.

UPDATE 2/1/07: I just received this email and thought I'd post it for you to read and come to your own conclusion.

Dear Julie,

As you may have heard, Mr. Brien Jones resigned from Airleaf Publishing and Bookselling on January 19th, 2007, to pursue other goals. We know that there has been conflict, even animosity, between some of your readers and Airleaf, but we wanted to let you know about this important change, and to inform you that we have chosen to treat it as an opportunity to turn over a new leaf, so to speak: we are taking this chance to rededicate ourselves to open and honest dealings with our clients and, yes, our detractors. I plan to keep these goals in mind as we re-staff Brienâ€™s position and several others within our growing organization.

Sincerely,

Carl A. Lau
President, Airleaf Publishing Please accept our apology for any misunderstanding or lack of respectful communication in the past, and consider this missive an open invitation to you or your readers to contact us with questions about the services we offer and how they are carried out, whether they have never had any dealings with us or are already clients. If you or your readers have any questions or concerns, or if you just want to discuss what changes are on the horizon, please give me a call at 1-800-342-6068 or send me an e-mail at carl@airleaf.com. We understand that it will take some time to rebuild trust with our clientele, but we wanted to take this important first step in reopening the channels of communication.

UPDATE 9/24/07: There is a new web site where people who have had a bad experience with AirLeaf can get involved. In a direct email, site owner Bonnie Kaye informed me of its existence: http://www.airleafvictims.com

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