Remember: Any company posting book covers they did not design (copyright infringement), or trademarks from well-known organizations that they’ve never worked with (trademark infringement), or posting fake employees, or posting anything false at all is using “deceit” (fraud!) to try to get your money.

Obtaining money under false pretenses via a debit card / credit card or wire transfer constitutes Wire Fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1343, et seq. A single count is punishable by up twenty years imprisonment.

---

At last count, Angela and I have identified over ninety (90) South Asia (primarily Pakistan) self-publishing predators that have deluged Facebook with spam messages in Groups, and with Facebook advertisements. These Predators are tantamount to a locust scourge of Biblical proportions. Many of these cretins are entities operating surreptitiously under multiple domain names.

NDA’s or Non-Disclosure Agreements are a type of contract that embodies a confidential relationship between two parties. One or both of the parties may wish for information not to be shared outside of the confidential relationship. A Non-Disclosure Agreement may be referred to as a confidentiality agreement (CA) or a proprietary information agreement (PIA). Two common examples are in the employer-employee relationship, and when one or both parties wish to safeguard proprietary data or information, processes, and trade secrets.

Here is an example of what TheGhostwriting.org considers “Confidential Information,” taken directly from the NDA they sent to Angela:

“Discussions regarding the business transaction and terms of service, including pricing, publication plans, and timelines.”

So, if Angela signed that (she would never do so because she’s not stupid!), she might think that she would be barred from telling anybody anything about the “transaction,” promises made by the company, how much she paid, and even if they didn’t get the project done on time (or didn’t get it done at all). In essence, an author who did not know any better might think he or she is not able to divulge anything about the relationship with the publisher, nor any of the activities of the publisher (including illegal ones), to anyone, including posting complaints on social media, websites, bbb.org, and others.

It is not very unusual at all for a company to use an NDA to try to control the online narrative about their misdeeds.

Don’t be fooled! First, never sign an NDA to get your book published. If you did, and you want to tell people that you’ve been scammed, there is almost zero likelihood that the scammer would attempt to engage you in a court of law.

There are a number of Federal statutes that protect an individual from speaking out, irrespective of the existence of an NDA, particularly when the matter is a violation of law.

As Angela found with TheGhostwriting.org, they attempted to employ / deploy an NDA to possibly intimidate and dissuade her from divulging any information about her “contractual” dealings with them. Absolutely void and unenforceable! Obviously, they were employing this as a legal tool to appear competent and legitimate. “We have the upper hand!”

No, you don’t.

You cannot use an NDA to hide criminal activity, nor to subvert a whistleblower. Courts have uniformly found this use to be void against public policy. Similarly, in the wake of the “Me-Too” movement, legislation was signed into law that prevents enforcement of an NDA that prohibits a victim of sexual harassment from speaking out.

You don’t necessarily want to litigate whether a contract is legal, or whether an NDA violates public policy. A simple end-run or circumvention move is to report the fraud anonymously. Here are two resources you can use for reporting:

• https://reportfraud.ftc.gov
• https://www.ic3.gov

Internet Predators cloak themselves in a self-perceived armament of deceit. At first blush, TheGhostwriting.org appears omnipotent. The “dot org” designation is unusual with publishing predators. It looks “professional and intimidating.” However, upon close examination, TheGhostwriting.org is a impotent, wannabe thug.

As Angela shared in her article today, TheGhostWriting.org’s website and Facebook page are fraudulent, violate Federal Copyright and Trademark law, and are constructed to deceive. Frankly, any “contract” with TheGhostWriting.org and almost all other predatory publishers would be found to be void ab initio (at the onset or from the inception) – completely unenforceable in a court of law! The game is to appear legitimate, secure your trust, and convince you to send them money.

Research is critical in selecting an honest publisher for your book. I’m not a xenophobe, but authors need to use an ESTABLISHED American company. You have virtually no legal recourse against the South Asia scourge.

This article provides specific steps to determine if you’re dealing with a Publishing Predator.

Apparently, Halloween is in full force as I also found Ghost Writing, LLC / https://ghostwritingllc.com.

According to the Better Business Bureau, they have an F rating and said, “Mail sent to the company has been returned as undeliverable.” That’s what happens when a company uses a fake address!

6545 Corporate Centre Blvd., Orlando, FL 32822-3253

That address is a corporate office building occupied by Attorneys’ Title Fund Services, LLC. Not a ghost to be found! I spoke with an employee of the Title company. There is no tenant by the name of Ghostwriting LLC. When I engaged the website robot, he had the name of Jay Garcia (Customer Support). Yet, I was conversing with a “Kevin R. Foster.”

I told him that I was in the lobby.

Response:  “We don’t take visitors without an appointment.”

I said that I was writing an article on their fraud.

Response:  “Then I guess that you wish to be banned from our site.”

The dialogue was abruptly terminated, but not before I got a screenshot of everything.

I hope that you are sitting down. Their writing packages ranged from $25,000.00 – $45,000.00 dollars!!!

Please keep coming back for more. Angela and I are on a mission to put ALL of these scammers out of business!

RELATED

• How to Tell if That So-Called “Publisher” is REALLY Located in the U.S.! By James M. Walsh, Esq.
• EXTREME AUTHOR ALERT – PART I: This International Scam is Fooling THOUSANDS of Authors Across the Globe!
• EXTREME AUTHOR ALERT – PART II: 19 Signs You’re About to Get Scammed By a Foreign “Book Publisher”
• EXTREME AUTHOR ALERT – PART III: How WritersWeekly Communicates Directly with Deceitful “Publishers” to Expose Their Appalling Practices
• EXTREME AUTHOR ALERT – PART IV: WARNINGS about TheGhostWriting.org, Book Publishing HQ, Author Book Creators, Author Books Publisher, and McMillan Book Publishers (the fake one, not the real one)

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.

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!