Dan Alatorre's Blog, page 8
February 23, 2020
Terminal Sequence causes reader to get on wrong train!
Loved the book!
Earlier this week, I was reading this on my way home after work and got on the wrong train Boarded the blue line train instead of the orange. Deep into the story and went 5 stops before I realized I was on the wrong train! It was when Trinn was being chased in the train tunnels but the London mob. Very well written and exciting!
Can’t wait for the next one!
– My sister
February 22, 2020
Dan Alatorre is the master of medical thrillers! Diabolical!
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Dan Alatorre is the master of medical thrillers! Diabolical!
Dr. Hauser is dead and Angelus Genetics has been dismantled so who is kidnapping cryobiologists in broad daylight? The crime has Hauser’s “fingerprints” all over it, but that would mean that Hauser survived the shotgun blast to his chest and that DeShear, Tristan, Trinn, Maya and the rest of the team who fought against Hauser’s human trafficking and illegal organ harvesting atrocities will be in the crosshairs and targeted for elimination.
This fast-paced medical thriller had me in its grip from page one.
I couldn’t put it down until I finished it.
If you haven’t read the first two books in the series yet, this book will make you want to. This is an incredible, spine-tingling series!
– J Youngs Reviews, Goodreads
Get Terminal!
(price goes up soon!)
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February 19, 2020
Authors: Protect Yourself from book marketing scams and embezzlers like convicted felon Wid Bastian
TODAY, MY REPLY – and steps YOU can take to protect yourself.
Pardon my excessive carefulness in my wording here because I assume you’ll want to share this with your other author friends, so I want to be as truthful and accurate as possible.
First, Wid Bastian served 10+ years in prison for embezzling clients and stealing from them.
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It is my belief, based on countless testimonials at this point, that he is doing the same thing again as we speak.
The way a ponzi scheme works is, the initial investors get paid through the funds the later investors put in, so it looks legit for a while and the returns are goods. The ponzi schemer typically spends the money on a lavish lifestyle.
If YOU give access to your Amazon account to anyone, that person has access to your bank information, credit cards and social security number, among other things
(it may be different in other countries.) According to someone purporting to be Wid’s ex-wife, Wid has done identity theft, so giving a person like that access to your bank account and social security number is extremely risky. If you or your author friends did that, here is what I would recommend – and I am not a lawyer.
At my financial institution, it took under an hour to close an account and open a new one, transferring the money.
It took about fifteen minutes to reset the online place that deposited to the old account.
Not hard to do, but it severs any possibility of misuse by a scammer you gave access to.
Convicted felon Wid Bastian is currently seeking federal bankruptcy protection in Utah. He created a letter attempting to explain away what landed him in prison and how he has “helped hundreds of authors,” but that letter is filled with lies and misrepresentations.
My sources say Wid Bastian was escorted out of Merrill Lynch after being fired and then was imprisoned for embezzlement.
He was ordered to pay $3 million in restitution not because the market went south but because a
Federal jury system found him guilty of a dozen counts of fraud, wire fraud, embezzlement, etc.
He was wanted by the FBI because he fled, not because making a wanted poster is standard procedure!
Why does a marketer need access to your account? They will give lots of reasons but they DO NOT need access to your account.
Why would a marketer need your original manuscripts? If you sign away or give away your manuscript, or allow someone to steal it, you may open yourself to piracy but also may allow them to post it as theirs and they may gain your ongoing revenue through page reads and units sold, etc.
You can see sales reports on Amazon; convicted felon Wid Bastian required access to manuscripts and sent reports that he created.
Why?
A screen shot of an Amazon sales report takes ten seconds and make and post. I believe by forcing clients/victims to operate this way, he intentionally misrepresented things to them.
K-Boards, The author’s information exchange
K-Boards conversations with very reputable authors about convicted felon Wid Bastian, indicated they believed:
convicted felon Wid Bastian was violating Amazon’s terms of service,
possibly had utilized click farms to generate fake interest in a client’s book, and
employed review manufacturers to post fake reviews.
(Convicted felon Wid Bastian actually attempted to defend his actions in K-Boards but the veteran authors know their stuff and he stopped attempting to reply.)
One can easily see if:
1. The sales reports come from the scammer
2. The book royalty money comes from scammer
3. The scammer uses hundreds of purchased, fake reviews to pile up on Amazon AND sends a check making it appear that the book is doing well as a result, THEN:
4. The client is happy and refers everyone.
Is that PONZI SCHEME 101???
WHY CAN’T THE AUTHOR GET THE CHECK FROM AMAZON?
BECAUSE IT’S REALLY FROM OTHER AUTHORS’ FEES?
Convicted felon Wid Bastian appeared to get results. Part of that may be explained by the above. It is impossible to know because
as of today despite repeated requests, convicted felon Wid Bastian has never shown one receipt from a 3rd party for expenses he allegedly incurred in marketing
the box set he did for me and 17 other authors, the other 6 or so box sets we are aware of, and none of the clients he took money from who have contacted me.
Let me say that again:
To my knowledge, NO client/victim of Wid Bastian’s who has contacted me has EVER been shown a receipt for any ads, newsletters, or other services Wid allegedly did on their behalf.
On the other hand, MANY have said he took money and didn’t do the work.
In my case, 17 authors paid a $750 fee to join a box set that convicted felon Wid Bastian was to market for us (BTW, we aren’t certain he did anything at all except steal our money). I knew a successful person in the set, so I thought as you might – if person X uses Wid, Wid must be okay. The $750 was to cover ALL expenses. We then engaged charities for whom the proceeds from pre-sales would go if they mentioned us in their newsletters to their donors. Many charities have hundreds of thousands of donors, so pre-sales were good and post-release sales volume was high.
Our set generated about $20,000 in royalties but we were told the set lost money after expenses,
and one person was given an email that said Wid’s salary and his partners salaries exceeded the cost of the set.
Now, those expenses were to be paid from the $750 fee. Wid had the checks from Amazon sent to him, so:
The authors never got a cent
The charities never got a cent
Wid immediately declared bankruptcy – that means you can’t go after him for your money he owes you, BUT if fraud occurred, bankruptcy doesn’t protect that – so we’ll see.
To my knowledge,
no box set Wid has ever done made money
because his expenses were higher than the revenues every time, and then he filed bankruptcy.
To my knowledge,
MANY authors have paid Wid $2000 and sometimes $10,000 to turn a book into a screenplay, or market their book, etc – but the work never got done.
Since people are trusting and optimistic, it’s hard for them to see a predator who, from day one, only sees them as a dollar amount, but sociopaths are that way. They feel nothing for your pain and humiliation after they steal from you. They needed to eat. Or drive a Mercedes. Or take a vacation to Africa.
Why should a scammer work a regular job when taking your money in exchange for a few promises is much easier?
Why take a 15% commission on $10,000 when you can take the whole $10,000?
Federal prison for embezzlement and fraud, that’s one reason.
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But some people never learn. Well, I’m trying to help them learn a little.
At the end of the day, I am relating what I know to be the truth about a con artist. Convicted felon Wid Bastian will have “explanations” for all of it, but no verified documentation to back any of it up. I make no money from saying what I’m saying; Wid is alleged to be taking money from people as we speak.
Why, then, would I do this?
Because I believe the federal prison process got it right. I believe Wid Bastian is a con artist who is actively preying on people right now, and for evil to triumph good people must do nothing.
I refuse to do nothing.
February 18, 2020
(More) Advance Praise for TERMINAL SEQUENCE
I’d blush but I know it’s true.
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Actual comments from Amazon reviews:
Incredibly diabolical plot
ANOTHER WINNER!
An excellent book !!!!!
Another Hit
5.0 out of 5 stars WOW Dan Alatorre does it again Terminal Sequence in the Gamma Series. It is the BEST!
I loved this book
This was the best of all three so far…..
My favorite part…
…when I found out there’s going to be a book 4!
WOW, you WILL NOT believe what convicted felon Wid Bastian just did to another author!
“Just wanted to thank you VERY MUCH for your info on Wid. I’ve been doing business with him (I might just use a different word for that after reading your blog post) – and had decided to drop him at the end of this month. Thankfully I don’t think I’ve lost a great deal of money apart from that I believe the physical/financial effort he’s put in for the advertising fees I’ve paid him don’t add up, over time. Possibly hundreds of dollars a month tossed down the toilet for 9 months or so. I feel like an idiot!
“Today when another author alerted me, I found out someone had changed the password on my KDP account.
Had to phone Amazon to get everything reset.
Coincidence? I think not … because Wid called literally 10 minutes after I changed it, and FB messaged as well.
Gang, THAT. IS. SCARY.
It seems like old habits die hard for convicted felon Wid Bastian
and he’s getting more and more desperate.
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How Does CONVICTED FELON Wid Bastian’s Fraudulent Marketing Scheme Work? Terrifying insights from yet ANOTHER victim!
For evil to triumph, good people must do nothing.
Remember that as you read.
Here is yet another letter from an author that convicted felon Wid Bastian is preying upon. If you thought con artist and convicted felon Wid Bastian had stopped doing illegal activities, you were wrong.
Today’s Letter:
Hi Dan
I can send his (convicted felon Wid Bastian’s) emails, or on the phone, whichever works for you.
The way he (convicted felon Wid Bastian) hooked me was he sent me an endorsement of a writer I know in Ethiopia (we’ve emailed each other) who is very successful.
I’m the gullible type, trust people, and therefore thought Well, if (ETHIOPIAN AUTHOR, NAME REMOVED) endorsed him, and (ETHIOPIAN AUTHOR) is very successful, that sounds good.
I first heard of him (convicted felon Wid Bastian) at Genius media (now bankrupt) and they wanted too much money and their authors were not ranked high, so another marketing writer said give them a pass $2k spend).
This time around he (convicted felon Wid Bastian) only wanted $399, and no access to accounts, so I thought, what the heck…
Here is what he (convicted felon Wid Bastian) JUST sent me:
(Victim name)
Sorry for the delay in responding to your email. I was away from the office until late yesterday.
I’m ready for our meeting, sent you the outline.
What has come up. Geoff? Is it something I can address?
Best,
Wid
VICTIM’S LETTER CONTINUES:) Two things niggled at me. 1. The fact that he had (ETHIOPIAN AUTHOR) endorsement. He (convicted felon Wid Bastian) originally sent me an email, saying my blurbs were too long and needed a CTA and I should check out (ETHIOPIAN AUTHOR) I responded by saying that I knew (ETHIOPIAN AUTHOR) personally.
FYI (ETHIOPIAN AUTHOR) just emailed me, WID (convicted felon Wid Bastian)… does have access to his accounts, so I advised (ETHIOPIAN AUTHOR) to cut Wid (convicted felon Wid Bastian) out of access ASAP… WID hasn’t ripped him off yet, he knew nothing about WID’s background…
(Marketing)… seems like a very tough road at times… That’s what attracted me to WID, he promised he could do much better, sent photo shots of success stories, (ETHIOPIAN AUTHOR’S) endorsement. I got excited to get my books out there…marketing is harder than writing at times…
Gang, you can see the con artist is still looking for more victims. Help stop this assault on our industry by thieves like convicted felon Wid Bastian and others like him.
TOMORROW, MY REPLY
to this letter PLUS steps you can take to protect yourself.
February 16, 2020
Wid Bastian Scam Letter: The Truth vs His Lies (And Why he Went To Prison For Embezzlement, Theft and Fraud)
If you work hard as an author, you may eventually get several books that are doing well and get lots of good reviews. That’s when you think life gets easier, and in certain regards, it does.
You also get just high enough of a profile for a con artist to come after you,
telling you things you want to hear so that you will give them lots of money
to make your dreams come true.
Yes I’m oversimplifying it but I’m doing so to make a point.
What follows will be a letter from a con artist who’s going to flatter you to get you to start having conversations with them so they can market your books. Keep in mind, this guy will not market your books. He will simply take your money.
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He might even put a fake testimonial “from you” on his website saying how happy you are with him.
Second, you will see a letter from this con artist saying that he successfully managed lots of authors’ books, and implying he worked hard and sometimes things just don’t work out.
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However, as part of this exposition, the third document shows what he went to prison for.
He didn’t go to prison because the economy was soft.
He didn’t go to prison because he worked hard and things just didn’t work out.
Wid Bastian went to prison for MORE THAN A DECADE because he embezzled peoples money. He lied to them and said he was going to do things and then took their money and didn’t do those things. For the most part, the FBI has lots of better things to do than make up lies about a low level thief. So when you get this letter and if you get one of these “explanations,” remember this blog post and look again at this document.
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It says the United States of America versus Wid Bastian. It doesn’t say disgruntled author client or unhappy guy in Florida venting about an @sshole.
It’s the United States of America, a federal court, saying Wid Bastian did things like:
Theft
Embezzlement
Money Laundering
Embezzlement
Scheme to Defraud
Fraud by wire
Swindles
and finally, the coup de grace
Bankruptcy fraud
By the way, Wid AGREED he did those things! He pled guilty to ALL of that!
The named individual, convicted felon Wid Bastian, has once again filed for bankruptcy. I don’t know how many times he’s filed for bankruptcy, but it’s a lot. You have to ask yourself: do you really want to hire a “marketer” who’s going to take $2000 or $5000 or $10,000 from you when he just declared bankruptcy a couple of weeks ago and he owes in excess of $100,000 to a bunch of different authors?
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Seems like this loser files bankruptcy every week!
At some point you have to realize for this man’s whole adult life he has been a thief.
But I will let you decide.
Here’s what the loser looks like now. I wonder how he lost that front tooth?
But remember, THIS IS WHO HE IS:
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CONVICTED FELON WID BASTIAN
CONVICTED FELON FOR FRAUD
CONVICTED FELON FOR EMBEZZLEMENT
CONVICTED FELON FOR SCHEMES
CONVICTED FELON FOR LYING TO INVESTORS
CONVICTED FELON FOR THEFT
CONVICTED FELON FOR MONEY LAUNDERING
CONVICTED FELON FOR SCHEMING TO DEFRAUD
CONVICTED FELON FOR FRAUD BY WIRE
CONVICTED FELON FOR SCHEMES
CONVICTED FELON FOR BANKRUPTCY FRAUD
More people are coming forward to voice their complaints about Wid every day.
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But for me it’s all about the IRS.
Them Internal Revenue Service fellas play for keeps.
“The Gamma Series scares the hell out of me”
5 stars
“The characters are so real, as are most of the situations.
As far as we know the science in this book is much more advanced than in reality, but
how do we really know?
the past few years have shown us political corruption in reality just as deep and disgusting as is depicted in these fictional pages. New virus’s we can’t cure, human clones. Today’s improbable may be tomorrow’s possible, and next weeks out-of-date!
Frankly, the Gamma series scares the hell out of me,
not because it’s horror, it’s not.
It is, in my opinion all too believable
in a perhaps not so distant future, with a very different ending, and that is terrifying.”
– Amazon review
Get your copy of Terminal Sequence here:
Click HERE to preorder the eBook for Feb 28 delivery
Click HERE buy the paperback NOW
OR click HERE own the entire eBook box set NOW. Contains all three novels AND two exclusive interviews, PLUS a behind the scene peek at the writing of the series.
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It’s time to get TERMINAL
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“I shall be very disappointed if you do not.”
February 15, 2020
“Terminal Sequence is AMAZING” 5 STARS
Terminal Sequence
(The Gamma Sequence #3)
by Dan Alatorre (Goodreads Author)
Cyndi‘s review
Jan 28, 2020
“IT WAS AMAZING”
Wow!
Another exciting, action packed suspense
in the search to shut down all the facilities carrying out Dr. Hauser’s horrible experiments. Trinn finds herself in all kinds of trouble when she is unable to get in contact with the rest of her team members. When she goes to London the last place she had contact with Maya she is recognized as the Port Bomber and finds herself in a race for her life.
This book is every bit as exciting as the previous books in the series.
I loved a couple of the new characters in this book.
We meet sweet and brilliant 5 year old Constantine. She is one of Hauser’s creations that has been hand picked to take over for Hauser. Another of Dr. Hauser’s creations is Keeper 27 who is responsible for the care of Constantine.
There are some very unexpected twists to this book that I didn’t see coming.
A really great story that you can read alone but is so much better if you read the series.
I am very excited to know that there is going to be another book in this series and I am really looking forward to it.
I received a free download of this book from the publisher. I am leaving a review because I wanted to share my own honest opinion of this book.
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Get your copy of Terminal Sequence here:
Click HERE to preorder the eBook for Feb 28 delivery
Click HERE buy the paperback NOW
OR click HERE own the entire eBook box set NOW. Contains all three novels AND two exclusive interviews, PLUS a behind the scene peek at the writing of the series.
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It’s time to get TERMINAL
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“I shall be very disappointed if you do not.”
February 13, 2020
TERMINAL SEQUENCE is a roller coaster ride!
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“A roller coaster ride!”
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2020
“After reading “Rogue Elements”, the second book in this medical thriller series, I realized that
Dan Alatorre set the bar extremely high if he wanted to write a better novel…
HE DID!
The character development is excellent, the story and plot keep you engaged and he does not disappoint his fans with
edge-of-your seat action and thrills.
I believe Dan had to have spent hours upon hours researching cryogenics and it shines through. The attention spent on detailed description is paramount to this story and is written in such a way that it is totally believable.
Dean Koontz, watch out! Dan Alatorre is on his way.
– Amazon review
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It’s time to get Terminal.
Terminal Sequence
preorder the eBook HEREfor $0.99 for a very limited time. Delivered to your device February 28
Buy the paperback now! Click HERE to get it now.
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Book 3 in USA Today bestselling author Dan Alatorre’s The Gamma Sequence series.
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Buy the limited edition ebook BOX SET TRILOGY Now!
Contains all three volumes PLUS:
interviews with the author and
a special behind the scenes look at the writing of the series
INCLUDES THE NOT-YET-RELEASED TERMINAL SEQUENCE EBOOK
