Writers Beware reports the very good news that vanity press scammer Airleaf Publishing, aka Bookman Marketing, was shut down on Dec. 19th, thanks to the aggressive efforts of a group of 275 defrauded authors. Their fight isn’t over — the authors are seeking criminal prosecution against Airleaf founder Carl Lau.
But what about Airleaf execs/defenders Brien Jones and Krystal Hatfield? How culpable were they in the alleged fraud?
I don’t know what happened to Hatfield but Jones, who worked at Bookman for four years, is still out there, only now he’s operating as Jones Harvest Publishing.
For the outrageous sum of $1750, he will produce your book in POD format…and maybe even feature you among his "Author Celebrity Associates." The first thing you’ll notice about the those Author Celebrity Associates is that 99% of them are elderly, which makes me wonder if Jones is trolling old folks homes for suckers these days instead of the iUniverse book catalog.
He’s also making the same pitch that he did at Airleaf:
Not only do we publish every kind of book, more
importantly we sell those new books to bookstores. In addition, we
promote our authors books by contacting newspapers, radio and
television stations.
Most exciting of all, we pitch our client’s books in Hollywood, CA to
producers and directors.
At Airleaf, those claims turned out to be false. The closest Airleaf got to Hollywood was reportedly a trip to the Universal Studios Tour.
Jones’ idea of "pitching" his clients to Hollywood is to attend The Great American Pitchfest with some of his suckers. It’s not like Jones is opening any doors with his stellar Bookman reputation… Pitchfest is open to the public. Anyone can attend and pitch their ideas without having to pay Jones a penny.
If Jones keeps following the Airleaf/Bookman playbook, I”m sure we will be hearing more about him very soon.
(FYI: Jones is also doing business as authorcelebrity.com , starredreview.com, greatconceptbooks.com, bookwheat.com and authorprofile.com.)
UPDATE: Poor, misunderstood Airleaf scammer Carl Lau blames his woes on Bonnie Kaye, who is the founder of Airleafvictims.com, and his former exec Brien Jones in a newspaper article published earlier this month.
Dear Lee,
Thank you for posting the information about Airleaf Victims. Carl Lau can sit and blame whoever he wants for his fraudulence, but the bottom line and the one who is responsible is HIM. He can blame ex-employees, but he was well aware of the fraudulence going on throughout the entire ordeal. He’s the man who held the money; he’s the man who allowed fraudulent promotions to be made including a cruise that never left port but people paid for; he’s the one that made promises to people that their books were being made into movies. He especially took advantage of people who were elderly and disabled, giving them hope that if they invested their life savings they would be certain to find fame and fortune.
This group effort needs to be a warning to any other publisher who is scamming people. Victims of predatory publishing will not sit back and allow themselves to be victims anymore. We are now a force to be dealt with, and we will not stop our efforts until restitution is made and criminal charges are pressed.
If you are an Airleaf Victim, please feel free to contact me at Bonkaye@aol.com, and I will be happy to have you join our group to find justice in this matter.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
Organizer, Airleaf Victims
Indiana Attorney General Prosecutes Airleaf
The Airleaf Victims blog reports the terrific news that Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter has filed a lawsuit against Carl Lau, founder of Airleaf and Bookman Marketing, for violating the state’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act by taking money without…
My association with Brien Jones has been excellent in service-proffesionalism-courtesy. I wish my first books had been published with Mr. Jones.
Semper Fi,
S. Portela
Stewart,
It’s sad that after being taken by one outrageously over-priced vanity press scam (Tate Publishing) that you have been suckered by yet another one (Jones Harvest). At least Brien isn’t using “Christian values” as his come-on to sweet-talk the gullible and naive out of thousands of dollars.
Lee
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone…Judge not lest ye be judged…Alright, already, folks, let’s get off those high horses and back down to earth where each person is responsible for his/her own actions. I’ve been published with Jones Harvest, and am very pleased. I don’t understand why, if an author believes in their own work, they can’t sell it themselves. Go ahead, buy my book, DEAR LELAND…A Special Request. I dare you! Annie Monsen
MY PIONEERING EFFORTS IN INDIANA ARE ALL IN MY BOOK MARVINS MILLENNIUM .OWNED BY SOME OF SOME OF THE BIGGEST PEOPLE IN AMERICA .. LOOK ON THE INTERNET ANYWHERE I.E. AMAZON , ETC .. THEY STILL HAVE REMNANTS OF MY MESSED UP BOOKS FROM BOOKMAN , ALSO, FIRST BOOKS , LATER AUTHOR HOUSE .. I OWN 12 BOOKS , 4 , I STILL HAVE ON THE INTERNET WITH XLIBRIS.. BECAUSE I HAVE THOSE 4 IN LIBRARY OF CONGRESS . MY PRINTING CO. IS FIDLAR DOUBLEDAY . MY MONEY , NOT ALL WAS SENT TO THE STATES ATTORNEY IN INDIANA .. THEN FORWARDED TO ME BY THEM . A LARGE STORY THERE ..BBB , POLICE ETC .. XLIBRIS OPENS IN INDIANA AS WELL AFTER THIS . IT WAS AFTER MY EFFORTS THEYB CHANGED THEIR NAMES , ETC. I HAVE WRITTEN BONNIE KAYE ABOUT ALL THIS .. ANY QUESTIONS? CONTACT ME .. MMR
YOU CAN CONTACT BONNIE KAYE FOR OUR TALKS , ETC .. MMR
OWECAHA@YAHOO.COM