Sitting in for Angela today is author and attorney James M. Walsh. Thanks, James!! 🙂
Like many of you, my partner and I ventured into self-publishing full of excitement, lofty aspirations and rather large, rose-colored glasses. Our venture was crushed by PublishingMojo.com. One in vast sea of foreign print on demand reptiles, Publishing Mojo duped us big time. Out of the gate, we were welcomed with fanfare, but we were quick to learn that Publishing Mojo couldn’t perform on almost every deliverable. Our website remains under construction five months since our engagement (and now they want even more money than was originally quoted by them, and paid by us), only 1 of 16 retail platforms was achieved (amazon.com), and the “final” transcript was riddled with typos and grammatical errors that were previously and repeatedly corrected in the editorial process. Cringe.
We were rolled by a Southwest Asia publishing scam, snubbed by our “Senior Consultant”, Oliver Grant, and in bed with a fraud that changes its U.S. address every three to four weeks, like a deceptive chameleon. Legal service of process – impossible. Publishing Mojo is as elusive and ephemeral as the internet Cloud. We were relegated to cancelling a television promotion and book signing event because of Publishing Mojo’s errors and dilatory tactics.
I began a campaign to warn other aspiring authors. I encountered many individuals with similar experiences with Publishing Mojo. English is definitely their second language and, once your payment is secured, there are no refunds and performance slows to a crawl (and, for some services, to a complete stop). Publishing Mojo’s guarantees and assurances are worthless.
It took weeks to secure a negative review about PublishingMojo.com on Trustpilot. It appears that Publishing Mojo pays Trustpilot, so I wondered if that’s why my review wasn’t getting posted. I reached as high as the Chief Legal & Policy Officer, Carolyn Jameson, at Trustpilot before my negative review stuck. Of course, more negative reviews have followed, uncensored, about Publishing Mojo since then. Trustpilot’s greatest weakness is that glowing reviews can be easily fabricated. Ditto for Sitejabber and ProvenExpert reviews. The NBC, Forbes, and CBS implicit endorsements on the Publishing Mojo website are bunk. Completely fabricated nonsense.
Do we have a novel? Yes (finally!). Yet, it’s difficult to feel any sense of pride or accomplishment after placing our trust in a Trojan horse. The monetary loss is one thing, but the experience has left an indelible stain on our venture. It has created a chasm of vitriol between my partner and me. Our “Senior Consultant” at Publishing Mojo capitalized on that chasm, claiming our failed venture was my fault. No one wants to admit when they’ve been had. It is an all-too-common theme that resonates in the self-publishing sea of fraudsters.
Adding insult to injury, Draft2Digital “published” an e-book version of our novel on Barnes & Noble Booksellers without my approval. From where did they obtain our files? Fortunately, Barnes & Noble Booksellers takes Copyright infringement seriously. They responded quickly and professionally. (If you have the same problem, contact them via email at DMCANOTICE@bn.com).
Draft2Digital did agree to remove our book but they offered no explanation as to how they obtained our file, nor who gave them permission to publish an ebook edition of our book on BarnesandNoble.com.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice is a request from a copyright owner to an online service provider to remove material that infringe on their copyright. A copyright holder submits what is referred to as a takedown notice. The benefit to Barnes & Noble Booksellers and other online service providers is that they are protected from liability for copyright infringement when they cooperate with a copyright owner asserting infringement. 17 U.S.C. § 512 (1998).
Our book will soon be republished by AbuzzPress.com, which located in the United States, has an excellent reputation, and doesn’t charge authors any setup or design fees. They do require a three-year exclusive contract. Abuzz Press is owned by the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, Angela Hoy.
UPDATE: Draft2Digital contacted the author on 8/27/24, accusing Publishing Mojo of setting up accounts in their system, under authors’ names, without permission. They wrote:
“Every time we catch one of their websites and block them from accessing our own site, they create a new. We have no control over what they do, no affiliation or association with that group, and we actively work to warn authors that they are scammers.”
MAXIMUM IMPACT, a Novel, is finally available on Amazon.
Version 1.0.0
EXCERPT (from Chapter 46):
Detective Jason Garcia was holed up in The Bellevue Hotel, a historical landmark on Broad Street and a popular Center City destination. He had been there for several days. Bleary eyed and beyond intoxicated, he had just finished watching the evening news and the joint press conference. He was in a world of hurt. Disheveled, he had put in a full day at the famous XIX lounge, on the 19th floor. He ingested more than his share of innovative craft cocktails and a little too much blow. Along with a razor blade, a fractured line of white powder was on the suite’s desk, his lapel, and under his nose. He hadn’t shaved in a several days. He bore a striking resemblance to Tony Montana in Scarface when his kingdom collapsed.
Garcia was on the floor, slumped against a full-length mirror just outside an opulent bathroom that was equipped with an outdoor balcony and Jacuzzi. He unholstered his service weapon, a Glock Model 27, .40 Caliber, semi-automatic pistol that he carried in accordance with PPD Directive 10.6. He withdrew his PPD Badge and gazed at it for a tearful and somber moment. He was mentally bent and twisted beyond salvation. In one fell swoop, Garcia chambered a round and fired it into his mouth. His brain stem and the back of his skull exploded. Jason Garcia was no more. His carcass slumped forward like a discarded marionette revealing that a large section of the back of his head was gone. The mirror simultaneously shattered, but a large triangular section remained intact and affixed to the wall. It resembled a red Rorschach test – a tactile Rorschach test – as the splatter was accentuated by bone fragments and brain matter. The hallway was immediately filled with frantic guests who heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot that emanated from the Stanley Suite, Room 237.
Atop the freshly made bed was a $2,600.00 Prada duffle bag made of Re-nylon and premium Saffiano leather. Garcia acquired the bag at Fratelli Prada (Prada Brothers), a destination Italian purveyor of aristocratic and aesthetically pleasing leather goods. The designer luggage was stuffed with cash and five hundred grams of cocaine. Next to the duffel bag was a cache of weapons, including Zach’s, which could be traced back to the Philadelphia PD’s evidence locker.
The message light on the phone began to blink intermittently as a call from the front desk had gone unanswered. Detective Garcia was busy meeting his Maker…
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JAMES M. WALSH, ESQ., is a former Navy JAGC officer and a recipient of the American Bar Association’s coveted LAMP Award for excellence in military legal assistance practice. A rolling stone, J.M. has globetrotted most of his adult life. After the military, J.M. pursued commercial real estate development, leasing, and asset management. He resides in Catania, Sicily. He spent almost twenty years in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Luzerne, Erie & Lackawanna Counties. His handiwork as an editor and author is interspersed throughout this novel. Leo A. Murray fondly refers to J.M. as his collaborative, literary ‘Coach’ or ‘Lieutenant.’ Agnes claims that he has gypsy in his heart and rabbit in his feet.
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