Shiloh Walker's Blog, page 14
April 21, 2019
April 14, 2019
The latest letter to Amazon
FYI…this is long. This was written in word first and it was nine pages long. However, six pages were nothing but lists of the books we’ve confirmed to be recycled. I did remove the names and titles for purposes of this letter, as we’ve found more names and digging deeper into this mess. I’ve removed other information, too. Some of this I’m still working on, so will update as possible.
Letter as below
Mr. Bezos
It’s been several weeks since I last reached out regarding the problem on the Amazon KDP platform, where content providers upload material, leave it for a period of months, and then remove it. Several months later, they’ll upload another ‘name’ with a new title, although there are no differences to the story itself. These content providers offer these books as new, with no disclaimer to the reader. Readers have noticed and have complained but nothing has been done.
This isn’t a matter of a couple of authors, either, and it’s far more than just the constant cycling of books. There are reports of top earning Kindle Unlimited authors who XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. (Will share later).
As you well know, this is a violation of FTC regulations.
While Amazon cannot control the actions of authors, they do
have a responsibility to enforce their own guidelines and maintain standards of
the products being sold on the platform.
When it’s pointed out that specific content providers are
manipulating and gaming the system, misleading readers, deceiving them, selling
previously published books as new—running afoul of FTC guidelines again by
violating the truth in advertising guidelines—you have a responsibility to look
into these issues and you haven’t done so.
When it’s pointed out that content providers are XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. (Not sharing this yet.)
Let me offer a glimpse, once more, into the issues plaguing
the Kindle Unlimited Select Platform.
I’m including a small sample of the deception going on on the platform. These authors write under several ‘umbrellas’. There are at least two core groups within the romance sub-categories of MC Romance and Mafia, with a few ‘Bad Boys’ thrown in for variety. This list is by no means complete because these issues aren’t just limited to MC Romance, Mafia… or Bad Boys.
These problems plague the historical romance genre,
too. Historical romance writers are
still dealing with the bookstuffing issue that was so proliferate in
contemporary romance the summer of 2018.
Amazon failed to address it in the historical subgenre and I have little
doubt similar problems abound there, too.
To give an indication of how widespread this problem has
become while it was ignored by Amazon, despite the readers who reported and
complained, consider this:
These aren’t ‘authors’ involved in this. They are companies,
of sorts. So far a couple of ‘companies’ have been identified. One has a
minimum of eight names involved, while the other has ten.
They publish and unpublish on a specific schedule, moving
the unpublished books to a ‘fresh’ name so as to release it with a ‘fresh’ look
and sell as a new release.
Each ‘name’ identified in the two main umbrellas as several
dozen works to their name, some numbering over seventy or eighty.
Marci Fawn, a pen name of author Isabella Starling, sells
her recycled works on Dirty Discourse. The batch I’m speaking of had ten books
from the ‘Marci Fawn’ catalog as she described it. She sold all ten, if I understand it right
and two of those have been republished by N. Alleman and J. Chase.
Consider that a minimum of eighteen to twenty authors are
republishing recycled books amongst their ‘umbrellas’. They all have multiple
works. We’ll estimate the low end of the
equation and go with sixty.
That’s a likely 1,200
books cycling through KU each year in just
a couple of romance subgenres alone, choking out new, fresh original voices on
Kindle Unlimited, depriving readers of a chance to discover new, fresh original
content simply by gaming the system and manipulating the rankings through
keywords and reader farms.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. You’ve got other bad players involved XXXXXXXX (redacting).
Below is a list of confirmed
books that have cycled through Kindle Unlimited, books that had been sold to
readers as new by deceptive content
providers. And you do nothing.
NAMES AND TITLES
REDACTED FOR THE TIME BEING
Pub Years Author
Name Book
Title
January 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
March 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
April 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
June 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
July 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
December 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
January 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
January 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
January 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
October 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
May 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
March 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
Feb 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
April 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
March 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
November 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
October 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
October 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
May 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
June 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
July 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
Feb 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
May 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
April 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
June 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
June 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
September 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
July 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
April 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
March 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
April 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
May 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
April 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
July 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
December 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
May 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
May 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
November 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
December 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
October 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
April 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
Feb 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
April 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
April 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
June 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
May 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
2014? XXXXXX XXXXXX
2014 XXXXXX XXXXXX
November 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
June 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
December 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
October 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
July 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
April 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
April 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
March 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
December 2016 XXXXXX & XXXXXX XXXXXX
March 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
March 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
XXXXXX XXXXXX
April 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
October 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
August 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
January 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
October 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
March 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
May 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
September 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
June 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
July 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
June 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
January 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
January 2016 XXXXXX XXXXXX
May 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
November 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
2019?? XXXXXX XXXXXX
July 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
May 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
February 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
September 2015 XXXXXX XXXXXX
January 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
October 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
November 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
June 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
July 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
June 2018 XXXXXX XXXXXX
March 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
Nov 2017 XXXXXX XXXXXX
July 18 XXXXXX XXXXXX
March 2019 XXXXXX XXXXXX
Amazon has the ability to spot works that have been
published on their platform before. This
isn’t a secret. This could easily be stopped on the provider end – if you mandated
that any previously published work
must have include a statement of such in the book’s description, along with the
names of each previous version/author, as well as listing them as on the
copyright page, as ethical publishers do. That they do not already disclose
this information, that they use different names, rewrite the blurbs, change the
covers and titles, it’s clear their intent is to mislead readers in hopes of
selling book as new and netting more sales.
At what point does Amazon become complicit? You’re allowing
this to continue, despite the fact that you’ve been made aware of the problem.
For a company that prides itself on providing stellar customer
service, it appear in this situation, the ones you’re serving are scammers and
cheats.
As before, I’ll be CCing this letter to RWA and I’m sending
an additional report to the FTC through their online complaint system. I’ve
also been in contact with another venue and I’ll be notifying them as well.
I urge you to take action—again—and this time, comprehensive
action that will improve standards across the entire Kindle Unlimited platform,
with specific mandates that will prevent content providers from rehashing
recycled books and selling them as new solely with the intent to deceive
readers and game the system.
Thank you,
Shiloh Walker
The post The latest letter to Amazon appeared first on Shiloh Walker.
April 2, 2019
Coming in Last…Reissuing this month!
Private investigator Jamie McAdams couldn’t exactly say the quiet woman running the daycare at his godfather’s factory looked like an embezzler, but all the clues did point to her. She wouldn’t have easy access to the money but out of everybody he’d investigated, she was the only one sticking out and she lived seriously outside her means.
He didn’t like it and not just because things didn’t add up in a way he liked.
Andi Morrow smelled like vanilla, tasted like sex, and moved like sin. Before long, he was hooked. It only took a few more days for him to figure out the obvious–she was being framed. But maybe he should have told her that, before they used her as bait to catch the real embezzler.
Jamie always gets his man, even if it means coming in last with the woman he’s fallen in love with.
This title has been previously published.
Add on Goodreads
Buy the Book:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords
Excerpt
Nearly an hour later, Andi closed her eyes and relived those
brief moments in the tiny little office, relived the feel of his hands on her,
his mouth on her, and the dazed look in his eyes when he had said, I can’t keep my damn hands off of you.
Nothing could stop the swell of feminine pride that bubbled
within her.
As drop-dead gorgeous as he was, as smart and funny and sly
as he was, Jamie could probably have damn near any woman he wanted, and
probably had. And he was unable to keep his hands off of her.
I want the first time to be someplace quiet, someplace private, where I can make you scream yourself hoarse while I fuck your brains out.
Quiet, ordinary Andi Morrow, who had gone through high
school with only a handful of dates. Granted, her sharp tongue and wisecracks
had scared more than a few away. Not too many had been willing to risk getting
close to her. She had handed out barbs and cold glares the way other girls had
handed out flirtations and smiles.
Jamie had not only gotten past that, he had gotten close
enough to touch her. To make her yearn to touch him. And he wanted more.
He wants me.
It wasn’t that she had never been told that before. She had.
But she had never been tempted before, had never felt this drawn to a man
before. And never had she been told that by a man like Jamie, a man who
commanded attention simply by walking into a room, a man that had women rolling
their eyes and smiling as he walked by. Never by a man who made her mouth go
dry and other parts turn wet. Even thinking about him was enough to make her
wet, enough to make a slow, aching throb pulse through her cleft.
Her head fell back and she stared at the ceiling. How in the
hell would he react to her being a virgin?
She wasn’t too concerned about the actual act. For crying
out loud, she wrote romances. She knew plenty about sex. But all of her
knowledge was second hand. She had never burned for a man’s hands on her
before, had never craved to feel a man’s weight atop her.
Had never thought that just listening to a man talk to her
the way Jamie did would turn her on.
She’d been perfectly happy to live vicariously through her
heroines.
Not anymore.
She wanted to be in his bed, wanted to wake up next to him
in the morning.
She wanted to know if he could actually fulfill the promises
his eyes and hands had made. Wanted to lie under him while he made her scream
herself hoarse.
And she’d be damned if she let the chance slip past her.
The post Coming in Last…Reissuing this month! appeared first on Shiloh Walker.
March 29, 2019
Mr. Bezos, following up on the issue with scammers on the KU platform
Mr. Bezos
I wrote you a few weeks ago about content providers who are using the Kindle Unlimited platform to scam/game the system. I’ve recently contacted the FTC about dishonest practices and abuse of the system as well as defrauding readers (lack of disclosure/selling old books as new), and Amazon’s lack of interest in stopping this practice.
My complaint to the FTC included the books listed below, as well as the following text:
(for those reading, I was advised by the FTC to select “other” then choose Books/Magazines, etc)
This is regarding scammers who use Amazon’s Kindle platform to upload content in a deceptive manner that defrauds readers and in a manner that unfairly rigs the system against other authors, depriving them of a chance to earn income. Amazon’s Kindle platform offers a service called Kindle Unlimited Select, which is a paid service that readers can opt into, paying 9.99/mon. These funds go into a monthly ‘pot’. This month’s pot is $23 mill plus. All authors who participate in this are paid from this fund. Those who manipulate/rig the system get the lion’s share of profits, including ‘bonuses’ in excess of $20,000 each month. These content providers package and repackage previously published material which is deceptive to readers and use clickfarms that mimic page readers (how amazon determines how authors are paid). Amazon has been advised of these practices but refuses to take action. These content providers mislead readers and present an unfair playing field for small authors who have little marketing capitol. Next is a list of titles involved in the practice. I have screenshots and data proving all of this that I can provide in email.
Below is a list of titles that are samples of the practice. Note, these are just samples. I have a strong belief that April Lust, Heather West, Sophia Gray & Ada Stone are all either the same person or practicing under an umbrella that recycles the ‘author’ names and works endlessly. You’ll see several books, all of them series works, that have been published and republished, 3-4 times in over a period of just a couple of years.
These actions are deceptive to readers, conning them into believing they’re buying ‘new’ works. Several of the links below include links to reviews where readers have noticed the recycled works although they believe the books have been plagiarized and that isn’t the case.
It’s a quality issue, flooding the KU market with recycled material that is drowning out the fresh, new books by authors who don’t use click farms, who don’t recycle works, who don’t use deceptive practices.
Readers have been the ones who uncover this issue and they have complained–loudly–and their complaints go unheard. Many have been hassled and harassed but they continue to speak out.
Here is a screenshot from a member on the KBoards site, Bob Frost, who defends this abhorrent practice as something publishers do but that’s clearly not the case. I apologize for the added text-I was calling him out for his actions after he made several veiled references to me–not that he responded, although he did delete the comment shortly after. He is wrong on all fronts, however. Publishers and authors who reissue backlist books include the original publication dates and do not attempt to hide the book’s previous publication history by changing title/name and publishing as a ‘new’ book with a ‘new’ copyright year. Copyright is established with the initial publication year and doesn’t change, which is yet another unethical tactic.
[image error]
Again, please note this is just a sampling. I do believe each of these books are part of a series, and each content provider (I can’t call them authors because they aren’t really authoring anything) has a number of books and these aren’t even all of the books/content providers involved in this.
I’m inserting screenshots of many of the below works, and attaching shots from sites like dirty discourse where content providers like Isabella Starling uses a private forum to ‘sell’ used-up works from her pen names like Marci Fawn that are then sold like new by providers like N. Allenman/J.Chase.
(image provided by reader N)
Recently, the Guardian addressed this issue as well.
Isn’t it time that Amazon take action?
Kindle Book Scammers
[image error]
previously pubbed Jenny Jax’s Broken
A web search pulled pulled up a book, Broken, by Jenny Jax. Same book. More searching showed the same.[image error]
[image error]
published as Monster by Heather West
[image error]
previously published as Rafe by Ellen Harper (not linking as it’s a pirate site)
[image error]
[image error]
pubbed as Wed to the Devil by Ada Stone
(she doesn’t name the hero, but reviewers do and note, both series, Inked Angels)
also, both of these are up on Amazon, which is a flagrant violation of KU TOS
Heather West Lawless (2019)
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
pubbed by Zoey Parker in 2018 as Devil’s Blaze
July 2, 2018
I feel like I’ve read this book before but it says it’s just been released.
pubbed by Sophia Gray 2017 as Mine
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
ORIGINALLY Raw by Ada Stone in 2016
previously published as His Baby by April Lust
The Biker’s Baby N. Alleman, J. Chase
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
Marci Fawn The Outlaw’s Baby
[image error]
[image error]
Hands Off My Wife Claire St Rose
Previously published as King by Evelyn Glass
Amazon, Customers & Author Innovation
If Amazon truly prides itself on being so customer focused, why is this practice of misleading readers being allowed to continue? Why have the readers who’ve complained been ignored?
If Amazon really considers itself to be such a dominant force in changing how authors change the face of digital publishing, why are you allowing con-artists and hacks to drive truly creative voices out of the picture?
Recycling content isn’t innovation or creativity and it gives the appearance that all Amazon cares about it money.
I hope to hear back from you on this matter.
Again, I’m ccing RWA’s Board of Directors and the President of RWA. I’ll also be posting this letter in its entirety to my blog and the Published Author’s Network loop on the RWA website.
The post Mr. Bezos, following up on the issue with scammers on the KU platform appeared first on Shiloh Walker.
March 26, 2019
“I don’t see color…” What it means.
This is going to be an abbreviated, somewhat modified version of a post I put out on the PAN loop of RWA. For those who aren’t familiar… RWA is the Romance Writers of America, and PAN is the Published Authors Network.
I strongly feel that the message I put out to PAN is one all white authors need to be aware, but I’m going to put this out there to RWA members and the white members specifically, because…well, there is a systemic problem of racism in the publishing world and white folks…we’ve got the power to fix it, but we can’t do it by sitting on laurels, or nodding soberly when somebody says…RWA, we have a problem.
We fix it by speaking out. By speaking up. By supporting writers of color and calling out the racist actions of our fellow authors, despite our fellow writers who may shake their hands and clutch their pearls and insist that we’re professionals and we should all be nicer.
To that, I loudly say BULLSHIT.
There’s a saying…nice women never made history. Well, I’m not looking make history, but I’m also not content to let things stay as they are in the present and I firmly believe that the reason we have the status quo is because so many of us women were expected to be nice and play by the rules…to stay silent.
For years, black women in the industry have been overlooked. I know this affects black men, other minorities and marginalized groups as well, I know, but as I’m speaking specifically about the romance industry, I’m going to focus mostly on my fellow RWA members, and especially on black women who have been fighting so long for the recognition and fair treatment they deserve. But don’t take this to mean I’m ignoring or unaware of other marginalized groups. I’m not. I see you. Your work matters. All of you deserve to be recognized and given the same treatment and chances a white writer gets.
If I recall correctly and if I understand my research, in twenty years, there hasn’t been a single black RITA winner. Not one. This is our industry award and black women who write powerful, beautiful stories aren’t just underrepresented by our industry award…they’re absent. They don’t exist.
A lot of discussion is going on within RWA, by the board, within PAN, etc, on how to fix this. Some people don’t think there’s a ‘this’ to fix. Some have suggested there’s a ‘quality’ problem and that’s why WOC don’t finalize as much, why black women haven’t ever won.
To that… let me just say…your ignorance and prejudice is showing and no attempts to clarify and ‘explain’ are going to change that.
Some acknowledge there is a ‘problem’ but surely we’re all professionals and we can figure out how to fix this by being professional (polite) and not name-calling (pointing out when somebody is being racist.)
But we’ve tried that. For years. It’s not working. It’s time to try something else–let’s start with calling these problematic behaviors what they are. If you act like a racist and say racist BS? Then you need to be called out for it.
I’ve mentioned before that I grew up surrounded by racism. It was something that bothered me from a very young age, although I really don’t know what it was that set me off. I do recall hearing a very racist joke about a black man that made everybody around me laugh. I didn’t laugh. It made my belly hurt in that way it does when you’re a kid and something feels wrong, but you don’t know why. I was probably five and the only reason I remember that was because of the dog I had. She was my favorite dog, up until the little monsters I have now. One day, she got her head stuck in the wooden gate. Everybody was panicking. I was scared to death. Mom mentioned calling the fire department. Along comes the neighbor. This ancient little Asian man. I think he was Vietnamese but I’m not certain. Like I said, I was young and this one incident is really the one clear memory I have of him. He’s as calm as he can be while everybody else is freaking out. He has a tub of butter or margarine and proceeds to slick up my dog’s big, silly head…and pop. Out she slides. This sweet old guy had saved my dog. He smiles at me and shuffles on back to his house without saying anything.
It’s one of the clearest memories from childhood, although really all I remember is the panic of my dog being stuck…and him saving her.
As I grew older, I spent a lot of time in books and my ‘world view’, as we call it, grew. By the time I hit middle school, I knew that funny feeling in my gut and those jokes had to do with racism.
Very arrogantly, I decided, I wouldn’t see color.
Too many of the people I knew, people I went to school with…they saw color and it made them ugly.
That wouldn’t be me.
Man, was that arrogant. Was it well-meaning on my part? Yes.
Was it right? No. Was it racist? Yes.
Monica Jackson, God rest her soul, changed the conversation for me. She changed a lot of things, made me a better person.
She’s gone now but she’s the reason I realized I was looking at race and the inequalities black people face entirely wrong, and she’s why I started fighting and pushing.
Don’t get me wrong… I definitely had the best of intentions when I decided I wouldn’t see color. Too many around saw color–particularly black and they acted ugly for it.
Monica and I were talking one day. I don’t remember how it came up, what started it… but I said… I don’t see color, I look for the character.
And, keep in mind I’m paraphrasing…this was fifteen or so years ago…but she told me:
“Being black isn’t just a skin color. It’s a life experience. Everything we do and go through and deal with is influenced by the color of our skin. So when you tell me you don’t see color, you’re telling me that you don’t see me.”
Monica Jackson
Think about that. Seriously. THINK ABOUT IT.
How often do we look past the black person entirely because we’re ‘not seeing color’?
Do you know that studies show people with ethnic sounding names are less likely to hired or called for interviews than those with names that sound obviously white? So if you’re a Mary or John or Susan, you’ve already got an advantage over a Dontrelle, Aayisha or D’Amari.
Black women & Latinas earn 64 & 56 cents on the dollar compared to white men. White women aren’t making bank, but we do better than our black/Latina counterparts at 70 cents on the dollar. (figures from 2015 and I don’t think those numbers have changed much.)
Black mothers know that when they send their teen sons out, when their young adult sons leave for work, they are twice as likely to die before the age of twenty than white teens and young age. Documented fact.
Additionally, consider how many young, unarmed black men are killed by cops and these cops are never charged. Black men from the ages of 15-34 are between 9-16x more likely to be killed by the police than other people. Unarmed victims of police shootings are more likely to be minorities… according to the FBI.
Systemic racism affects a POC’s school from preschool on up. Even their chances at getting help when struggling are affected. Read http://bit.ly/2HUOF1N, http://bit.ly/RacismInSchool, http://bit.ly/discilpine for examples.
A comment from a piece on Thought Co. is particularly interesting… AND RELEVANT because didn’t we have somebody suggesting that it was quality preventing black authors from finaling and winning the RITA?
In 1994, a book called The Bell Curve posited that genetics were to blame for African Americans’ traditionally lower scoring than whites on intelligence tests. The book was attacked by everyone from New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, who argued that social factors were responsible for the differential, to Stephen Jay Gould who argued that the authors made conclusions unsupported by scientific research.In 2007, Nobel Prize-winning geneticist James Watson ignited similar controversy when he suggested that blacks were less intelligent than whites.
Thought Co WHAT IS RACISM:I
REALLY.
I mean, well, it’s not surprising, I guess, that people think this way, considering we’ve got members making it clear that AOCs aren’t winning the RITA because the AOCs just don’t write ‘quality’.
Please.
For years, this pervasive attitude of be nice, don’t hurt anybody’s feelings has dominated the discussion when the subject of racism comes up. Don’t use vile names like racist… Wasn’t there a media commentor who said, “There’s nothing worse than being called a racist?’
I dunno but it seems to me that actually being racist and perpetuating racism is more vile than being called a racist.
People are too often concerned with putting the feelings of nice white ladies first, careful not to hurt their feelings, but when do we address the disease that is racism?
Maybe it’s my nursing background, but I’ve always been of the mind to that the sooner a disease is addressed, the better the chance of recovery. And racism has been choking this country for centuries. We really need to do an intensive therapeutic regimen of kick-ass, done-with-this-bullshit prophylaxis, treatment and detox, with some follow-up to make sure that crap stays gone.-
It’s time we look at the fact that black authors are being denied their chance in the sun, their chance to prosper and thrive. Demanding that isn’t unprofessional. It’s actually the very definition of it.
More, it’s the right thing to do. Black authors have been fighting this battle mostly alone for too long and that needs to stop.
When they speak out, then others who want to support them add our voices, there are nice white ladies who come clutching pearls and waving handkerchiefs… we should nice! We’re professionals! No name calling!
Well here are the problem with that idea.
Black women have been nice. They’ve been patient. They’ve waited their turn, they’ve asked permission. They’ve been polite and waited for their chance for a seat at the table.
“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”
Shirley Chisholm
Some people in RWA clearly don’t want to make room at the table. They don’t even seem to care about allowing room for those who bring the frigging chair.
These are the people who get upset when black authors speak their displeasure and hurt after years of being overlooked and ignored in the RITA.
These authors say racism isn’t an issue in RWA despite the fact that black authors have spoken up about being whispered about, snickered about, excluded, shut down within this very organization, at the national conference-yes, it happens and if you aren’t aware, it’s because you aren’t paying attention and that’s on you.
If that sounds harsh, too bad. This has been talked about for years. People have asked for change, suggested change. People have requested that those with the hidden biases look at them.
And we still have those people trying to act like racism within RWA isn’t a problem.
That’s the biggest load of crap to come out of this loop in ages.
We’ve got professional, educated authors who use the world lynching in these discussions, then get pissy when called on it and pull out the dictionary definition to defend it and claim lynching wasn’t a racial issue.
From 1882-1968, 4,743 lynchings occurred in the United States. Of these people that were lynched 3,446 were black. The blacks lynched accounted for 72.7% of the people lynched. These numbers seem large, but it is known that not all of the lynchings were ever recorded. Out of the 4,743 people lynched only 1,297 white people were lynched. That is only 27.3%. Many of the whites lynched were lynched for helping the black or being anti lynching and even for domestic crimes.
NAACP
Almost seventy-five percent of those lynched were black people. White people were lynched, but they were typically lynched because they had views against the act itself or because they spoke up in defense of the black community.
Topics like this often make white people uncomfortable and that happens for a reason. If that applies to you, you need to look deeper, because chances are there are hidden biases you need to explore and work at overcoming. I check myself all the time because I don’t want to be that person and those subtle, hidden biases are often more subtle than a lot of people realize.
See a story about an unarmed black man getting shot by a cop?
If your first response is …what did he do to provoke it… you’ve got a bias.
See a story about how white mass shooters are lone wolves, not terrorists with points on how POC are treated differently and you instinctively think otherwise?
You’ve got a bias.
Read about a black kid getting roughed up at a middle school by a cop who is twice the size of that kid and you think…well, maybe the kid should have listened instead of why the hell didn’t that cop use de-escalation techniques?
You’ve got a bias.
Maybe if some of us worried half as much about the hurt feelings of black women, we could have fixed this problem years ago.
I’m about as white as they come and I know I’m missing things, but I care enough to look. I care enough to listen. I care enough to believe authors of color who say there’s a problem, this hurts me, please listen.
If you insist that we wait until the appropriate time, that we can do this without causing hurt feelings, that things are being misinterpreted, all the things that put white women’s feelings over the hurt and oppression black women have faced within RWA & publishing in general for years…?
Well, you might as well get used to having people like me make you uncomfortable. Get used to being called out. The time for making nice, waiting for the right time is so, so, so far gone.
If you aren’t willing to change, if you aren’t willing to grow, if you aren’t willing to be a frigging adult and look at the truths laid out before you, to listen to the voices of hurting people, especially when they are pointedly telling you ,t“You are hurting me, please listen,”…
Then maybe RWA isn’t the organization for you anymore.
If you can’t see that that black women deserve all the chances you and I have, that we need to do more to make that happen?
Maybe this organization is outgrowing you.
The post “I don’t see color…” What it means. appeared first on Shiloh Walker.
March 22, 2019
Seeing Daylight
Warning: This post talks about depression, my brother’s suicide, my struggle to cope with it and all kinds of issues that are likely to be seriously triggering.
It’s been a rough couple of years in Shiloh land but for the past couple of months, I’ve been seeing more daybreak.
It’s been over two years since things with my brother D started to go downhill so fast.
This coming May will be two years since we lost him. Sometimes, it still catches me off guard and the pain hits me so fast, it’s like somebody swung a sledgehammer, straight at my heart.
The Long Dark Road Down
I don’t think I’ve ever gone into much detail about what happened and there’s a lot I won’t say because it’s personal and family, but there is so much stigma that surrounds mental health and addiction and these are things that need to be talked about. Maybe if society wasn’t so closed-minded about mental health, maybe if addiction was treated as the illness it is…who knows, maybe tens of thousands of lives would still be with us.
I don’t know if it would have stopped my brother from walking the path he walked, but if talking about things can make more people aware, and maybe affect even just one life in a positive way, then…hey. I’ll talk about it.
Mental health plays heavily into the suicide epidemic affecting the country, with nearly 45,000 lives lost annually in 2016, and well over that in 2017. Men are more likely to commit suicide than women (3.54x more often) despite that fact that more women attempt suicide than men. But a lot of people who commit suicide…the community, the friends, the family… a lot of them are surprised. Look at how hard Robin Williams’ death hit people. Kate Spade’s death’ caught a number of people off guard.
I never thought… I didn’t realize…
People wonder how you can be friends with somebody, or brothers, sisters, parents…how you can be so very close to these people and yet not know.
But it happens.
I’ve battled depression–and I win every damn day–since I was about fifteen or so. Even on the days when I’m feeling good, I know the depression isn’t gone, it’s just lying in wait. For me, I have no doubt there’s a family history of chemical imbalances in the brain and I suspect it’s on both sides of my family. I’ve learned to cope with my depression and for the most part, it’s always been relatively stable. Nobody in my family knew until things with my brother started getting rough and I tried to explain things from the view point of somebody who has been in that low, low, low point. And…surprise, surprise…nobody ever seemed to realize that depression was something I’d been quietly dealing with more than half my life.
I didn’t hide it. I wasn’t ashamed. It was just something I dealt with. When the rough patches came, I’d talk to my doctor and get on medication. It used to be I’d only need it for a year or two, but…well…the past five years or so, it’s like one thing after another has happened and as soon as things level off, something else sends me spiraling.
I’m not doing research on this, but it seems to me that creative types are more prone to having issues with depression and by and large, when we hear about somebody famous taking their own life, it’s almost always a musician, a talented comedian, a movie star…somebody who lives and breathes creativity. I’ve got my own personal theories on why this may be that I’m not going to get into because that’s a whole other kettle of fish.
I’d always had more in common with my brother D than with my other two. There were four of us and D and I were right in the middle. We were also the two creative ones. He was an artist and could draw the most amazing pictures. When I was younger, still a kid and ignorant about how the world worked, I’d tell him that if I ever became a famous author, I’d hire him to draw the artwork for my book covers.
Sometimes I miss being young and ignorant like that.
Maybe it’s because we’re both alike in some aspects… the creative thing, for one, but I suspected he had issues with depression long before he was diagnosed. That didn’t even happen until a few months before he died and he was also diagnosed as bi-polar. I also found out just much of a problem he had with substance abuse. He’d gotten injured on the job and pain likely played into it at some point, but realistically, I understand that he was doing what many people with depression and/or bi-polar and any number of mental health issues have done for ages. Self medicating with drugs or alcohol.
There have been times when my depression is hitting me damn hard and I’ve had more to drink than I should.
I know all too well how easy a trap that is to fall into.
The addiction and depression alone was going to be hard. But learning he had bi-polar disorder…the fear I felt was almost debilitating. If you know anything about bi-polar, then you might understand how much a struggle that can be. Too often, people with this diagnosis will take their meds until they ‘feel’ what they think is normal, then they stop and the merry-go-round starts all over again.
Compound that with the fact that he dealt with so many of the other things that you fight when you’re struggling with any one of these…the self-doubt, the guilt, the helplessness. Those utter feelings of aloneness that you can’t overcome and that nobody can talk you out of.
I saw the warning signs early on. I talked to him, told him I’d help as much as I could…in trying to help him, I did things that made him hate me. I thought, hoped he’d realize I was trying to help, but he didn’t. He lashed out, and he did it in an epic manner this time.I was so fed up and done, I decided it was time to just wall myself and my family off because I couldn’t take the hurt he was doling out upon me–it was starting to affect my mental health to the point that I felt shaky and I couldn’t risk that, not with my family and everything.
So I kept him at a distance. He made it clear that was what he wanted and I was happy to do it.
Then things started to change and when he tried to apologize, I wasn’t ready to hear it.
And I should have been. Because I’d seen the warning signs. I thought he was manipulating me–or trying to. He’d never been as good at it with me as he was with others, although it wasn’t him doing the manipulation as much as the addict, the bi-polar. When he was healthy, when he was whole…he was the sweetest guy, protective even if he was being a butt. But the chinks and wear from the battle he didn’t want to share with anybody had been eating away at him inside like a cancer. And he’d made a choice.
It was roughly two weeks from the time he tried to talk to me and I didn’t want to listen. He talked to my guy instead and my guy tells me he wasn’t mad at me. He says he didn’t hate me. Logically, I know this. But I still remember walking away from him that day. We talked one more time after that. I hugged him and I told him I loved him, but that didn’t mean things were okay between us yet.
The chance to make things okay died the end of May when he took his life.
Some people talk about how suicide is an act of cowardice, but something I’ve come to learn is that it’s not always as cut and dried as some make it out to be. Somebody with severe depression, struggling with bi-polar disorder…this isn’t something that developed overnight, or over a period of weeks, months, even a period of a couple of years.
These are lifetime struggles and they come with bone-aching weariness and soul-deep pain. Sometimes, it’s not an act of cowardice, so much as a need for peace.
No, I’m not advocating for suicide, but for understanding.
People who’ve lost a loved one to it do not.need to hear pithy comments about how cowardly an act it is. For some, it might be and people can feel it’s cowardly all they want…but tossing those comments out doesn’t help when it comes to confronting the problem, either. It also stifles the conversation because so many people who commit, or consider it, have had these thoughts repeatedly and they may consider reaching out…maybe to the person who just casually tossed out, only a coward takes their own life. How much of a lifeline will that person be to somebody who’s drowning in pain?
And it can feel like that. I’m 43 and for close to thirty years I’ve been dealing with the ups and downs of depression. The past two years have been the darkest, bleakest of my life, even with a beautiful family of my own…and I haven’t been the best person I could be during the past two years, either. But they are there. I know my guy loves me. I know my kids do, even as much as I mess up. They all know I love them. And yet there are times when I don’t feeI that because that’s what depression does. It lies and it tricks and it deceives and battling that day in and day out is so emotionally exhausting. It can be physically painful even, with body aches and headaches, aggravated by sleepless nights and so many other physical symptoms.
Depression is truly an emotional vampire, one that just sucks everything good out of the world. You might be able to see it, but you can’t feel it or experience it for yourself.
And it’s exhausting. I was already exhausted, emotionally, the day it happened, well before I knew what was coming. I was helping my sister-in-law, his wife with some matters and I got the call. I had to tell her. She collapsed on me at first. Then we were rushing over there. I barely remember calling my husband. He couldn’t even understand what I was saying, but he said, I’m coming. I held on to that and all but flew with my SIL to my brother’s house.
He was gone. My dad had found him. Mom and Dad had planned on trying one more time to get him help. He didn’t answer the door and Dad forced his way in.
The paramedics and law enforcement were on hand when my dad collapsed from a heart attack. His heart stopped. Just stopped. I’d lost my brother. And I almost lost my dad, too. While I was still reeling from losing D, I ended up at the hospital so I could stay on top of what was going on with Dad.
I threatened the doctor.
Yes, I literally threatened him and he tattled on me when my dad finally woke up days later. But I’d already lost my brother. I wasn’t losing my dad, too. Besides, I don’t think think it’s all that extreme to look a heart doc dead in the eyes right before surgery and tell him, My dad is NOT dying today. We’ve already lost enough and you will NOT let him die. I mean, threat-wise, that’s not much of anything.
Of course, I also threatened my dad. Right before they wheeled him into surgery, I told him he wasn’t allowed to die. I doubt he remembers, but he did respond. He squeezed my hand.
Dark jokes aside, the only reason Dad survived at all was because emergency medical personnel were already on scene. They brought him back and after a week in ICU, he went into rehab, then moved in with me for a few months. My SIL, nephew and niece…they were all living here, too for a time. Then it was my niece and my dad.
Things got…rough. Emotionally. Mentally. Financially. Personally. Writerly.
There wasn’t much time or energy to write.
Crying all the time? Routine.
People blamed the blame game.
My mom heard me talking about my issues with depression and it freaked her out. She thought that meant I had bi-polar disorder, too. I explained no, it was depression and I’d been dealing with it for years. I’d never told her because…well, there are some families where you just don’t talk about those things.
But some things can become poison if you keep them trapped inside, or worse…they make a ten pound weight that turns into a hundred, then a thousand, then you’re drowning and you can’t even figure out how you got wet to begin with.
One of the people I talk to the most about things in my life is my preacher. One time, years ago, it was about a fight between me and my husband and a woman overheard us and she said, to my face, I think marriage issues should stay between a man and his wife. And that happened in church.
No wonder this world, this country is so screwed up. Even the people we should see as completely safe to talk to? Somebody looks to chastise us.
It shouldn’t be that way. If you’re hurting inside, if you’re feeling alone…reaching out isn’t just okay. It’s brave, because so many fear doing it. They fear looking weak, but it takes strength to know when you need to reach for somebody else. Depression, bi-polar, addiction…all of these are hard crosses to bear and you don’t have to do it alone.
Seeing the end of the tunnel, and the light
I’ve never hidden the fact that I struggle with depression, although I don’t wear it like a badge either. For the most part, it’s always been stable and I’m lucky in that. Until this latest bout, it hadn’t ever affected me the way I know it impacts many, many others. I could almost write it off as part of being a ‘suffering artist’ except…well, I don’t produce very well when I’m down. The one other time it severely affected my life, and my writing, was after the guy and I lost our baby back in 2005. That was one of the lowest points in my life…at that time. But God works in weird ways and almost a year to the day that we lost her, we had bratlet and she’s a joy I wouldn’t give up for the world.
Because of that, and other lessons I’ve learned in life, I’ve always been able to just push on.
The only way out, sometimes, is through.
I kept telling myself that. I emptied my savings out that summer, fell behind on just about everything. Still haven’t caught up.
My agent dropped me, partly because I wasn’t having my luck selling to traditional publishes, partly because I was doing a lot of stuff independently and writing had become almost impossible anyway. How do you write when wake up every day and have to literally drag yourself out of bed, because sleep is just so much easier and you don’t have to think about all the lousy things?
Except you can’t sleep all the time, because you’ve got kids and family and you still have to produce work somehow. Still, losing an agent even at the best of times losing an agent sucks eggs and this wasn’t the best of times so it was just one more punch that set me reeling again. She didn’t know the things going on, but in the end, I wasn’t doing what I used to and that was the bottom line. My writing had to take a backseat because in order to even try to catch up on bills, I was doing more freelance work and for a time, I just had no interest in writing for me.
But…time goes on, doesn’t it? Even though time doesn’t heal all wounds, it makes it easier to remember other things. Like a goofy grin, or the way somebody used to laugh.
I had to get a new laptop because mine was evil and hated me. While transferring things over, I kept finding more and more pictures of D and I realized I could look at that goofy smile, even if I did tear up. Every memory of him doesn’t bring a stab of pain…and I know that’s how he’d want it. The sick, hurting guy he was didn’t change who he was inside
I’m still doing more freelance writing than my own, but I’ve been looking at a couple of smaller presses and pondering some ideas… (Yes, Kit is still high on my list. I’m a bit scared, because people are waiting and I don’t want to disappoint anybody, but fear’s never stopped me yet.)
And the other day, I was looking at an empty bottle of elderflower liqueor. It’s really pretty and I’ve always thought it would be fun to try and do either that glass-melting kind of crafty thing or bottle-etching crafts. And…okay, I lied, a little, because there is one time fear stops me. I’m horrendously clumsy and I can just see me blowing up a bottle or try to cut it and shattering it and slivering my fingers to shreds.
But, I’m thinking about crafty stuff, which I haven’t done in well over two years. I was even wishing I had the money to go out and buy stuff to work on the garden.
There’s light at the end of the tunnel and after two years in what feels like almost complete darkness, I so damn ready for some sun.
The post Seeing Daylight appeared first on Shiloh Walker.
March 19, 2019
Hot Takes: A Summary, And…
Hi. If you’re here looking for info about the Kindle scammers, etc, I’m going to give a short run-down. FYI, if you asked me a Q on Facebook or Twitter or email and got directed here, it’s because I’ve already addressed the Q, or because the answers lie in everybody figuring things out for themselves. I can’t keep answering the same Qs or explaining it.
But first, if you’re here and you’ve never read any of my books…
Maybe try one. Doing all of these takes a lot of time and I’m not made of money. Doing this post to answer all the Qs I’m getting lately via messenger & DM takes time… and I’m not made of made of money. I’ve got kids and bills and when I’m working on these, I’m not working on books and I can’t keep working on these because my son’s room & board is due and if it doesn’t get paid, he can’t go to prom, so maybe consider supporting the author writing these if you’re finding them useful.
Headed For TroubleIf you’re into romance or urban fantasy, I’ve almost certainly got something, whether it’s my FBI Psychics, Secrets & Shadows or the Ash Trilogy for romantic suspense lovers or the McKay trilogy or the Barnes Brothers series for those who love contemporary series about family/siblings. I’ve got paranormal/UF romance in my bastardized fairy tale series, Grimm’s Circle (opens at my J.C. Daniels site), my urban fantasy series, The Colbana Files (also opens at J.C.’s site) and then my Hunters series. And those are just my series books. And save for my Secrets & Shadows, the McKays, the Ash Trilogy & the Colbana books, just about all my books stand just fine on their own. I’ve got also got a huge list of standalone titles.
Blind DestinyIf you’re looking for a place to start? You can always try the book that re-issued this week, Blind Destiny, one of my Grimm tales, or maybe Cocksure, which was my smart-mouthed response to #cockygate.
Seriously, if you’re getting useful information out of this blog, consider supporting the author, yours truly, because I can’t keep providing useful info that’s taking away time from freelance projects if there’s no support coming in.
On Hot Takes & Copyright Fakes
People have been asking me how & where? How I found a list of scammers and where I came across it. It’s not a list. A reader on twitter, Nikki, has been trying, without much success, to tell a lot of authors that this shit has been going on and she’s been being ignored. More than that, she’s actually been being hassled & stalked in a non-related matter.
I found the how & where because I was paying attention when somebody pointed out that a queer WOC blogger was being harassed and mocked for speaking AAVE by a couple of newbie authors who really don’t know jackshit about writing. (FYI, I’m normally a little more diplomatic than this, but they’ve gotten on my last nerve and the gloves are off). Because I was paying attention, I saw the tweets Nikki posted about scammers.
The posts included these screenshots.
#bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg-container-0.bwg-standard-thumbnails { width: 1254px; justify-content: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00); padding-left: 4px; padding-top: 4px; max-width: 100%; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg-container-0.bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-item { justify-content: flex-start; max-width: 250px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg-container-0.bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-item > a { margin-right: 4px; margin-bottom: 4px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg-container-0.bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-item0 { padding: 0px; background-color: #000000; border: 0px none #CCCCCC; opacity: 1.00; filter: Alpha(opacity=100); border-radius: 0; box-shadow: ; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg-container-0.bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-item1 img { max-height: none; max-width: none; padding: 0 !important; } @media only screen and (min-width: 480px) { #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg-container-0.bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-item1 img { -webkit-transition: all .3s; transition: all .3s; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg-container-0.bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-item1 img:hover { -ms-transform: scale(1.08); -webkit-transform: scale(1.08); transform: scale(1.08); } .bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-zoom-effect .bwg-zoom-effect-overlay { background-color:rgba(0,0,0, 0.3); } .bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-zoom-effect:hover img { -ms-transform: scale(1.08); -webkit-transform: scale(1.08); transform: scale(1.08); } } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg-container-0.bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-item1 { padding-top: 56%; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg-container-0.bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-title1 { position: absolute; top: 0; z-index: 100; width: 100%; height: 100%; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-content: center; flex-direction: column; filter: Alpha(opacity=0); opacity: 0; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg-container-0.bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-title2, #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg-container-0.bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-ecommerce2 { color: #FFFFFF; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px; text-shadow: ; max-height: 100%; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg-container-0.bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-play-icon2 { font-size: 32px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg-container-0.bwg-standard-thumbnails .bwg-ecommerce2 { font-size: 19.2px; color: #323A45; }
isabella-has-a-selling-spree 
book-scammers-samples-2 
example-2 
example-3 
example-6 
example-7 
example-8 /*pagination styles*/ #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .tablenav-pages_0 { text-align: center; font-size: 12px; font-family: Ubuntu; font-weight: bold; color: #666666; margin: 6px 0 4px; display: block; height: 30px; line-height: 30px; } @media only screen and (max-width : 320px) { #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .displaying-num_0 { display: none; } } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .displaying-num_0 { font-size: 12px; font-family: Ubuntu; font-weight: bold; color: #666666; margin-right: 10px; vertical-align: middle; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .paging-input_0 { font-size: 12px; font-family: Ubuntu; font-weight: bold; color: #666666; vertical-align: middle; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .tablenav-pages_0 a.disabled, #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .tablenav-pages_0 a.disabled:hover, #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .tablenav-pages_0 a.disabled:focus { cursor: default; color: rgba(102, 102, 102, 0.5); } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .tablenav-pages_0 a { cursor: pointer; font-size: 12px; font-family: Ubuntu; font-weight: bold; color: #666666; text-decoration: none; padding: 3px 6px; margin: 0; border-radius: 0; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; border-color: #E3E3E3; background-color: #FFFFFF; opacity: 1.00; filter: Alpha(opacity=100); box-shadow: 0; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;-webkit-transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 #spider_popup_overlay_0 { background-color: #EEEEEE; opacity: 0.60; filter: Alpha(opacity=60); } How did I find other scammers?
That’s the other question I’m getting asked.
I did the work. I looked at the emails Nikki had screenshotted. She did a lot of legwork here and I took the information she provided and did my own work. That’s what you’ll have to do. Grab a name from that screenshot of email sign-ups. Download a sample of their latest book from Kindle. It’s easier to do a web search with the app on your phone than with the desktop app. You just do a search for that text.
They match word for word.
Go here, here or here more details on that. These are nothing but walk-throughs and screenshots of how I find a scammer, from picking out a name, to finding the book. It’s not hard, just tedious as hell.
The original rights owner, Scammer A will sell the book for maybe six months. The sales start to lag so A pulls the books and turns around, sells then to Scammer B, who then dust them off, puts a new cover, title & author name on it, changing nothing inside (except the copyright date which is BS, because that copyright date remains unchanged).
Scammer B will sell the book for maybe six months. The sales start to lag so B pulls the books and turns around, sells then to Scammer C, who then dust them off, puts a new cover, title & author name on it, changing nothing inside (except the copyright date which is BS, because that copyright date remains unchanged).
Scammer C will sell the book for maybe six months. The sales start to lag so C pulls the books and turns around, sells then to Scammer D, who then dust them off, puts a new cover, title & author name on it, changing nothing inside (except the copyright date which is BS, because that copyright date remains unchanged).
I’ve tracked a book that was published and republished four times in under thirty months. There isn’t any infringement going on, because the rights owner does sell the rights to the book, but there is an outright intent to deceive, which is where notifying the FTC and complaining to Amazon comes in, which I talk about here.
There’s no trick to this, no science. The books match word for word, even down to the names in many cases although some of the scammers do change the hero & heroine names.
I’ve listed several authors who do this, but only a book from each of them. They all write in series. If you find those authors and grab another book? You’ll find another regurgitated book. It’s easy practice.
Okay. I think that covers it.
The post Hot Takes: A Summary, And… appeared first on Shiloh Walker.
March 14, 2019
For those who love twists on fairy tales…
due out Monday…
Mirror, mirror on the wall…who’s the baddest of them all?
Myrsina knows the stories. As one of the oldest of the Grimm, she had a hand in writing most of them, but only she knows the dark origin of the Seven Bloody Sisters. It springs from the place of her birth—and her death. A place of pain and misery to which she plans to never return. Unless forced.
When Luc appears on her doorstep, her heart twists with suppressed longing for the man who can never be hers. The only man who can make her do the impossible—go home.
Luc may be blind, but through their unique, bittersweet connection, even he can see that the task laid before them is ripping Sina’s soul apart. This time, it isn’t as simple as fighting a demon that has escaped from the netherplains.
Sina must go back in time—to that cursed ground—and right a wrong that she unknowingly brought about. To write a new ending to a story that may give them both a chance at happily ever after. Assuming they survive.
This title has been previously published. No new material has been added.
The wave of red he felt in his mind stunned him for a
second.
It was anger.
Luc knew anger.
Had lived with it with Perci for years, although it hadn’t
ever been directed at him.
But he was no stranger to it.
Feeling it come from Sina was something of a shock, because
to his knowledge, he hadn’t ever done anything that might anger her that
much—had he?
The wave shuddered…and like one crashing against the sand,
it broke. Over in the distance, he could feel another wave gathering, rising,
rushing to the shore, but under it, he felt something else.
Under his hand, her skin felt smooth. It was odd that he
noticed it then. As his mind was trying to understand that puzzle of her, he
couldn’t help but notice how insanely soft, how impossibly smooth her skin was.
And she smelled incredible.
“Let me go, Luc.” Her voice was husky, rough. She jerked
against his hold and reflexively, he jerked back.
She tumbled against his chest and he lifted a hand, rested it on her hip.
He’d lost his mind.
It was the only thing that made sense.
Nobody in his right mind would touch Sina if she didn’t want to be touched—
There—
The puzzle pieces clicked into place and all of a sudden, he
saw it.
Saw what he hadn’t seen and understood what it was under the
wave of anger. Anger…yes. Mostly at herself. Frustration…
Hunger—
His brain clicked off.
“Damn it, are you not hearing me?” Sina demanded, her voice
rising. “Let me go.”
He opened his mouth. The words came out of their volition, he’d
swear it. Because he wasn’t so crazy he’d challenge her like that…was he? “And
if I don’t?”
He felt her tense against him.
It had been centuries since he’d lost his sight.
He couldn’t remember missing it more than he did at that
moment.
“Luc…”
He fisted his hand in the material of the shirt she wore—it
was cotton, he thought, soft and warm from being against her skin. Maybe he’d
like to peel it away from her. And—
Her mouth covered his.
Her hands pushed into his hair and she jerked him close.
That raw, blind hunger he’d sensed inside her exploded…and
he thought it just might consume them both.
In that moment…he didn’t fucking care.
Amazon | BN | iBooks | Kobo | Smashwords
Check out the Grimm’s Circle series here.
Candy Houses, Book 1, and the rest of the Grimm are available on all platforms AND KU.
Candy Houses is only 0.99!
Amazon | BN | iBooks | Kobo | Smashwords
**curious about the ‘Snow White’ inspiration behind Sina? Check out the Myrtle. It’s one of a number of ‘Snow White’ tales.
The post For those who love twists on fairy tales… appeared first on Shiloh Walker.
March 13, 2019
A Look Book of Hot Takes
For all your scam-reporting needs.
Okay, not all. But it’s a start.
I’ve had people emailing and asking where to start if they were to report or even how to start looking for these issues themselves.
Well, these screenshots, saved from twitter, are where I started. Right click, hit save. I don’t have larger pics, but I included names where the images aren’t very big. Just click on the i in the galley and pause the slideshow.
#bwg_container1_0 { /*visibility: hidden;*/ } #bwg_container1_0 * { -moz-user-select: none; -khtml-user-select: none; -webkit-user-select: none; -ms-user-select: none; user-select: none; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_image_wrap_0 { background-color: #F2F2F2; width: 800px; height: 500px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_image_0 { max-width: 800px; max-height: 500px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_embed_0 { width: 800px; height: 500px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 #bwg_slideshow_play_pause_0 { background: transparent url("https://www.shilohwalker.com/website/...") repeat scroll 0 0; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 #bwg_slideshow_play_pause-ico_0 { color: #D6D6D6; font-size: 35px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 #bwg_slideshow_play_pause-ico_0:hover { color: #BABABA; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 #spider_slideshow_left_0, #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 #spider_slideshow_right_0 { background: transparent url("https://www.shilohwalker.com/website/...") repeat scroll 0 0; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 #spider_slideshow_left-ico_0, #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 #spider_slideshow_right-ico_0 { background-color: #FFFFFF; border-radius: 20px; border: 0px none #FFFFFF; box-shadow: ; color: #D6D6D6; height: 37px; font-size: 12px; width: 37px; opacity: 1.00; filter: Alpha(opacity=100); } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 #spider_slideshow_left-ico_0:hover, #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 #spider_slideshow_right-ico_0:hover { color: #BABABA; } #spider_slideshow_left-ico_0{ left: -9999px; } #spider_slideshow_right-ico_0{ left: -9999px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_image_container_0 { bottom: 0px; width: 800px; height: 500px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_filmstrip_container_0 { display: table; height: 0px; width: 800px; bottom: 0; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_filmstrip_0 { left: 20px; width: 760px; /*z-index: 10106;*/ } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_filmstrip_thumbnails_0 { height: 0px; left: 0px; width: 76px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_filmstrip_thumbnail_0 { border: 0px none #000000; border-radius: 0; height: 0px; margin: 0px 2px 0 0 ; width: 0px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_thumb_active_0 { border: 0px solid #FFFFFF; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_thumb_deactive_0 { opacity: 1.00; filter: Alpha(opacity=100); } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_filmstrip_left_0 { background-color: #F2F2F2; display: table-cell; width: 20px; left: 0; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_filmstrip_right_0 { background-color: #F2F2F2; right: 0; width: 20px; display: table-cell; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_filmstrip_left_0 i, #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_filmstrip_right_0 i { color: #BABABA; font-size: 20px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_watermark_spun_0 { text-align: left; vertical-align: bottom; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_title_spun_0 { text-align: right; vertical-align: top; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_description_spun_0 { text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_watermark_image_0 { max-height: 90px; max-width: 90px; opacity: 0.30; filter: Alpha(opacity=30); } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_watermark_text_0, #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_watermark_text_0:hover { text-decoration: none; margin: 4px; position: relative; z-index: 15; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_title_text_0 { font-size: 16px; font-family: Ubuntu; color: #FFFFFF !important; opacity: 0.70; filter: Alpha(opacity=70); border-radius: 5px; background-color: #000000; padding: 0 0 0 0; margin: 5px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_description_text_0 { font-size: 14px; font-family: Ubuntu; color: #FFFFFF !important; opacity: 0.70; filter: Alpha(opacity=70); border-radius: 0; background-color: #000000; padding: 5px 10px 5px 10px; bottom:16px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_description_text_0 * { text-decoration: none; color: #FFFFFF !important; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_dots_0 { width: 12px; height: 12px; border-radius: 5px; background: #F2D22E; margin: 3px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_dots_container_0 { width: 800px; bottom: 0; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_dots_thumbnails_0 { height: 18px; width: 684px; } #bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 .bwg_slideshow_dots_active_0 { background: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #000000; }
#bwg_container1_0 #bwg_container2_0 #spider_popup_overlay_0 { background-color: #EEEEEE; opacity: 0.60; filter: Alpha(opacity=60); } What to do with this info? Up to you.
I recommend sharing on sites like Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook and Amazon and let other readers know these authors are scamming you. Awareness helps. Talking about it helps. Reporting it helps even more.
Email Amazon & file complaints to the FTC.
But the best thing to do, if you understand how this can and does affect you? Use your voice. You can’t expect other people to handle the fight for you alone. Nora Roberts said her blog a few weeks ago in the comments:
I’m sorry, I can’t be your voice for the long-term. I don’t work in your world, and from what I see your world needs to fight for itself.
Nora, Fall Into The Story
Authors in indie publishing and small press authors, especially those in romance, you’re affected because this is your world. Our world. But it’s not just small and indie published folks under the gun, as I’ve mentioned. Urban fantasy is another genre that’s popular on freelance platforms with ‘‘we’re looking to expand our stable…are you able to write in the uf/sci fi genres…’ and I’m seeing more ‘requests’ for cozies, lesbian fiction, young adult, etc.
Scammers hit like a plague and they’ll keep at it until they’re pushed out. And since the Kindle Unlimited Select platform lets those authors buy ads on Amazon where others can’t, they’re getting primo ad space right next to legit books.
Absolutely there are great authors on KU, and on Kindle Select, but they’re getting drowned out by the scam artists and the click farms, ads, releasing regurgitated books one right after the other, all of that manipulates that system and when our books come out, they’re drowning in a sea of muck. The big hitters shine through but it’s harder and harder for people in the midlist to even make a showing.
And that’s not sour apples because scam artists didn’t do jack to earn any so-called success, they didn’t hit it big with word of mouth. They bought rehashed books, used clickfarms, paid for ads, all to manipulate a system. It’s a scam for them and the thing that draws writers to writing doesn’t matter jack. It’s nothing more than a way to make money.
If that idea bothers you…you’ve got a voice. Use it. Read the letter I sent to Amazon. Write one yourself. Write your writing orgs and ask them to take action. Blog about it. Tweet it about.
If you’re a reader, you’ve got a stake in it, too, because you are being manipulated. The copyright date is when a book is first published and these scammers put new ones in when they reissue and repackage and spit these books out like new. That’s deceptive and where the FTC comes in. File a complaint with them. There are names listed in the gallery. Look up their books on Amazon or Goodreads and see if you can find others. Make other readers away and talk about it. The more people who know, the more readers that are talking about it, the sooner Amazon will talk notice because you guys are the ones funding the Kindle platform etc.
The post A Look Book of Hot Takes appeared first on Shiloh Walker.
March 10, 2019
Hot Takes: Taking the Fight to the Scammers… via the @FTC
Have you been reading my blog & following the #HotTakes about #KindleUnlimited‘s scamming problem?
A lot of people are wondering what to do and how to fight it. I know a lot of people want to fight it, but are afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation from the scammers themselves. Guess what…I’ve got a form for that. The FTC Online Complaint Form
This handy form is also useful for readers who want to do something about the regurgitated works proliferating on Kindle Unlimited, and for authors in general who want to take action.
What you should need is:
OTHER
››BOOKS AND MAGAZINES
››››OTHER/Not Applicable
››››››SKIP THE NEXT AREA
From here, you’ll have to start giving
details, etc.
I had a chat with somebody at the FTC and these
were the steps I was advised to take.
I think we should try this. A LOT OF US.
And by all means, yes…readers, too, because you are being cheated, too.
How, you say? See this comment from my blog. Cassandra’s insight led me to dig into this.
I’m not a lawyer, but…
It seems to me that slapping a new title and new author name on a previously published book and then advertising it as a new, original work without any disclaimers whatsoever runs afoul of FTC regulations on consumer fraud and deception and also violates truth in advertising laws.
Might be interesting to take some of the research done on repackaged books, plus any ads or newsletters advertising them as new works, and see what the FTC thinks.
Anyone have a contact at the FTC?
Cassandra S.
Readers are being misled, intentionally. These books are being produced and packaged as new. See the various Hot Takes for more examples, although people need to start looking at more titles from these authors, and the lists from other authors mentioned by readers who uncovered this scam.
Read about my trip down the rabbit hole detailing a book that was pubbed FOUR TIMES in under 30 MONTHS.) There’s never disclosure.
You can also try reporting these to @Amazonhelp @amazon for
lack of quality/etc as there is no disclosure. There have been reports made to
Amazon but no action thus far.
This makes it valid as a complaint to the FTC even more valid, in my understanding by the FTC act itself, specifically:
The Federal
Trade Commission Act is the primary statute of the Commission. Under this
Act, as amended, the Commission is empowered among other things, to:
(a) prevent unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce;
(b) seek monetary redress and other relief for conduct injurious to consumers;
(c) prescribe rules defining with specificity acts or practices that are unfair or deceptive, and establishing requirements designed to prevent such acts or practices;
What else *IS* it for scammers to repackage
and resell as new the same book over and over but a scam?
Scams are something the @FTC monitors, so… absolutely, we
should report this… there’s the READER aspect.
But there is another aspect. The @FTC also protects *commerce*.
That’s business, right? And writers participate in the business that is @Amazonwhether it’s through traditionally published ebooks, self-published ebooks, or small press ebooks. Kindle and the platform exists because writers supply a product readers want.
#Scammers are interfering & negatively affecting matters via unfair & deceptive practices when they use click-farms, when they pay for reviews and when they REPACKAGE & SELL USED UP MANUSCRIPTS AS NEW
@FTC has regulations AGAINST just that.
FTC Act is the primary statute of the Commission.
Under
this, as amended, the Commission is empowered, among other things, to (a)
prevent unfair methods of competition & unfair or deceptive acts or
practices in or affecting commerce;
Steps are above, writers. We owe it to ourselves and fellow writers to do something about it. It’s a fricking insult to storycraft for hacks to come in and repackage a dried-up story, publish it as new & claim to be an ‘author’ while drowning out talented voices with fresh *original* stories.
If you need examples, again… visit the various Hot Takes listed on the blog. I’ve got examples on Hot Takes & Copyright Fakes or A Trip Down a Rabbit Hole You’re welcome to use them in your complaints and if you take about twenty minutes, you can spot more on Amazon, easy. One or two complaints isn’t going to do this.
This is not just a ‘romance’ genre problem either. It’s more obvious in our genre, but if it hasn’t hit your radar yet… it’s coming. And it’s not just for those who self-publish, or those who use #KindleUnlimited.
Especially since some scammers love to
mis-classify their books… slapping their books in ‘heist’ or ‘thriller’ or
‘military’… when it’s just straight out romance
Get to work! These scammers are affecting us
ALL because the higher up THEY go in the ebook listings, the less
discoverability *legit* books have.
Big name sellers still shine through but this has affected writers as a whole
and it’s making it ever harder for midlist, newer authors and those who choose
small & indie publishing.
We need to fight it as a whole because it’s
having a detrimental affect across all genres and if Amazon doesn’t take
action, it will get worse.
The post Hot Takes: Taking the Fight to the Scammers… via the @FTC appeared first on Shiloh Walker.
