LISTEN: Apple | Spotify | iHeart | YouTube | More Episodes!

 

Michaele Aldophe had a heart-wrenching but also hopeful and faith-filled story to tell the world.

As a 14-year-old migrant from Haiti, Michaele (Mickka) was raised by her abusive father. She grew up, graduated from college, got married, and gave birth to a premature child who wasn’t expected to live. Through prayer and the grace of God, he did! A divorce then left her raising her child alone. Then, both of her brothers were killed.

Yet, one thing has kept Mickka strong through all of that – her faith in God.

Mickka wanted to share her story and her faith with the world, so she wrote her book, It Wasn’t for Nothing: A True Story of Faith.

She searched online for someone to publish her book, and found Ashbery Publishing / ashberry-publishing.com / ashberypublishing.com. They seemed so helpful, so professional, and so caring. Mickka didn’t know it at the time but the female “rep” was grooming her, calling all the time, and pretending to really care about Mickka (straight from the scammers’ playbook!).

They were going to edit her book, and create a cover for only $499 (a ridiculous and unbelievably low price, designed to draw her in, and upsell her later…for thousands).

Then they started talking about marketing. That was going to cost a little over $17,000. Mickka paid.

Then, they wanted $12K more!! Mickka balked and that’s when the nightmare began. They took control of HER website and HER social media accounts and she was not able to get them back. Yes, the scammer was (and still is) holding HER website and social media accounts hostage.

Brian and Angela team up once again with attorney James M. Walsh to listen to Mickka’s story, and hear firsthand about her experience with this online scam “publishing company” (and other websites we connected them to!).

Mickka is highly educated, extremely intelligent, and a successful entrepreneur. If these highly-trained scammers could fool her, they can fool anyone…

SCAMMERS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Ashbery Publishing / ashberry-publishing.com / ashberypublishing.com (CLICK HERE for the warning we already published about this scammer.)

McGilligan Publishing / mcgilliganpublishing.com (Exact same website as Ashbery Publishing, and even the same book covers!)

Ghostwriting Hub / ghostwritinghub.com (CLICK HERE for 1-star reviews on TrustPilot)

New York Publishers / NY Publishers / nypublishers.co (CLICK HERE for 1-star reviews on TrustPilot)

SEND US YOUR COMMENTS!! 

---

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• It Wasn’t for Nothing: A Powerful Story of Faith – by Michaele Aldophe (a.k.a. Mickaa)
• Mickaa’s website (the real one; not the one that the scammer took hostage)
• Get your book published by BookLocker, which is in its 27th year, and IS located in the U.S.!
• Do you think you might be getting scammed? CONTACT ANGELA RIGHT AWAY!
• Need AFFORDABLE legal advice? Contact James M. Walsh, Esq. 
• Why Some Authors Forget Their Common Sense in the Drive to Get Published – by James M. Walsh, Esq.
• DON’T MISS THIS ONE! Publishing Mojo Claims THEIR REPUTATION WAS HARMED, But Then Stops Responding After MORE Allegations Surface!!
• 11 Ways to Know If a “Publisher” or Other Service Provider is an Overseas Scammer (You’ll probably only need to check #1 to prove it!)
• How To EASILY Get Awesome and Honest Book Reviews That REALLY Carry Weight With Readers!
• Money Mule! Has Someone Online Asked You to Innocently Accept Money on Their Behalf? By Angela Hoy and James M. Walsh, Esq.
• I Was Scammed for $18K by Ashbery Publishing / AshberyPublishing.com / ashbery-publishing.com
• uptown_with_mickaa on Instagram
• Lawyer Representing 4,400 Clients is Going After Meta and Other Social Media Platforms on Behalf of Children and Their Families – by James M. Walsh, Esq. – 12 2025
• If you have been a victim after seeing an ad on Meta’s websites, you should immediately contact this law firm:

Adam M. Apton
LEVI & KORSINSKY LLP
388 Market Street, Suite 1300
San Francisco, CA 94111
Telephone: 415-373-1671
Email: aapton@zlk.com

Mark S. Reich
Courtney E. Maccarone
LEVI & KORSINSKY, LLP
33 Whitehall, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10004
Telephone: 212-363-7500
Email: mreich@zlk.com
Email: cmaccarone@zlk.com

HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!