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ParaDon Books Publishing / Amazon Book Clubs

Richard White

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Strange how someone would go back through and remove credit for their own work.

Almost like they're ashamed they did it . . . ?

(Dips his toes into this thread and wonders if more sharks will appear wanting a piece of my self-publishing empire.) ;) :e2poke:
 

aliceshortcake

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Oh, dear God...ParaDon has book clubs (yes, more than one book club). And they're called...

The Amazon Book Clubs.

http://www.amazonbookclubs.com/

Not only are Amazon's name and logo all over the site, but a video - also posted on YouTube - claims that "This website is created to globalize and unite all book lovers known to Amazon.com..." No prizes for guessing that both the website and the video were created by www.webdvloper.com.

There's even a guest book with four entries, two from potential lambs to the slaughter and two from people who know exactly what's going on:


Mr S. Cam Saturday, 12/15/12, 1:43 PM

Are you by any chance from Lagos?

From: England


Ann Mous Thursday, 12/13/12, 6:43 PM

Please be aware that "Amazonbookclubs" is an unauthorized use of the "Amazon" name. This company has been reported to Amazon for their blatant misrepresentation. You should be ashamed of yourself for taking advantage of the uninformed.

From: USA
http://www.amazonbookclubs.com/~sit...f6d&EM=false&CUSTOMVALUE=false&H_H=1759281075

Didn't these idiots learn their lesson from the ParaDon guest book fiasco?

And if you're reading this, Phantom Deleter, you're too late - I've been very busy with the Snipping Tool.
 
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Richard White

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Wow, after reading those press releases, it feels like Babblefish just melted down and threw something out there.

Any resemblance to English is superficial at best.
 

Gillhoughly

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Has anyone contacted the "lambs" so they can make a more informed decision about this bunch?

Or might they be more sock puppets?

Or might ParaDon ALSO be using their names without permission? I'd not be too very surprised!
 
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aliceshortcake

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Has anyone contacted the "lambs" so they can make a more informed decision about this bunch?

Or might they be more sock puppets?

They aren't sock puppets, and much to my surprise one of them turned out to be a well-published professional writer (assuming that it really is James Thompson, author of the Inspector Vaara series, who wants to see his books featured in the Amazon Book Club). I've e-mailed a warning to both of them.

I've also reported the Amazon Book Clubs to both Amazon and YouTube, and apparently I'm not the first person to do so!
 
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aliceshortcake

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Hold on to your hats. Mr Thompson was taken in and is bringing the matter to Amazon's attention. As he says of ABC's behaviour:

All I can say is WOW! That takes brass balls and a desire for self-destruction.

The Guest Book has now vanished, by the way.

And if you've been racking your brains wondering where you've seen the Amazon Books Club logo before, it's a free download called "3rd Feather": http://all-free-download.com/free-v..._classic_design_illustrator_vector_43043.html

Classy!
 
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Gillhoughly

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Dear Paradon Books,


Nelson+Muntz+-+haha.jpeg

Your next publication needs to be titled "How to Annoy Writers and Make Enemies on the Internet" as that appears to be the only thing you're actually good at doing.

Sincerely,

A writer laughing too hard to sign her name
 

aliceshortcake

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Yep, we've just seen a huge Nelson Muntz moment!

From what I can gather from ABC's mess of a site, some writers may have paid $10 a day for the honour of having their books shown in the "Must Read Books" rolling display.

It really is incredible that the masterminds behind ABC thought they'd get away with it. This is what you see if you press one of the "Pay with Amazon" buttons:

ABCpayments_zps9aac92ac.jpg


Brass balls indeed.

An e-mail from one of the Guest Book posters:

Thank you for letting me know. This explains some strange emails I've gotten recently. Apparently they took my guest book post and cloned it to every other site they run. No telling what my name is on by now.

At least ABC insists on good manners:

This website is administered periodically, and users can be ban without warning. So please be courteous with your posting.
http://amazonbookclubs.freeforums.net/

Well, that's all right then. Just as long as we keep it courteous.
 
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aliceshortcake

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I see IntelligentWriter briefly graced us with his spam-bearing presence. What we actually asked for, IntelligentWriter, was some solid information about ParaDon's "industry professionals".

Where exactly are ParaDon's premises in Great Falls, Montana?

Oddly enough, Korede Abayomi and webdvloper also have connections with Great Falls:

koredewebdvloper_zps8b862464.jpg

https://www.odesk.com/o/profiles/users/I-am-an-IT-Specialist_~01140b17c1251608e5/

Fifteen hours a day? How on earth do you find time to post on this thread?
 
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aliceshortcake

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You won't believe this.

I've just had an e-mail from author James Thompson:

I did some investigating and thought you would like to know the results. I called Amazon and they looked into the situation. Believe it or not—as I felt certain this was fraud, and the reason I made the call was so that Amazon would unleash the superpowers of their legal department—Amazon Books Club is indeed an affiliate of Amazon.com, acting as their representative, and in no way shape or form has committed fraud. Whodda thunk?!

I wonder how many people took one look at ABC's ugly, amateurish website full of spelling and grammatical errors and assumed it was fake? More to the point, I wonder if Amazon will still want ABC as an affiliate when they find out the link with ParaDon - and the fact that last year IntelligentWriter, who leaped to the company's defence, used the same IP address as the ParaDon representative who in a private message to MacAllister threatened this website with a "cyber-attack"?
 
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Deleted member 42

I absolutely believe they are an affiliate of Amazon, or as Amazon puts it, an "Amazon Associate."

So am I. So are many hundreds of thousands of Websites and their owners.

But I suspect the person on the phone or who answered the email was not fully cognizant of the TM implications, or that the way the site uses Amazon's logo is in violation of the Amazon TOS.

There's no way Amazon would sanction a site that is that amateur and that lacks TOS and privacy and cookie statements, and is somewhat shy of being in acceptable English.
 

writeontime

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Wow. I'm at a loss for words. I've been following this thread and didn't think it could any worse.

They have a very thick skin indeed.
 

Richard White

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My buddy IntelligentWriter showed up and I missed him? Wot a shame, wot a shame.

Yeah, still not seeing anything about ParaDon that's changed my initial impression of this company.
 

victoriastrauss

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Are they trying to set up a pyramid scheme? My bolding:
Amazon Book Clubs Affiliate Program

Amazon Book Clubs seeks to add Digital Media Specialists to our Marketing and Public Relations Team to coordinate social media presence online, with video and mobile marketing. This position will help develop, design, and implement public relations marketing and sales strategies that will influence public opinion and promote our Companies' image. Thereby increasing your profit - via the promo code your customers used to purchase from us....

This is a virtual job, and payments will be based on successful leads (your promo code commissions).
This also worries me (on the front page):
Download 1000+ resell right PDF eBooks and bonus freewares for only $2.99.
You can only find this spectacular deal here at Amazon Book Clubs. As soon as the payment process is completed you will be directed to the download link where you can download these great products (compressed in a zip file) to your device. Click the 'Download 1000+ eBooks/softwares' button at the top to get your copies.
- Victoria
 

Gillhoughly

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This twinkie needs a job.

Considering his sleazy, parasitic predilections, bald-faced lying, and empty bravado I would suggest politics.

Preferably in Mongolia, but I'm sure they already have enough problems.
 

aliceshortcake

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I've passed on this new info to Amazon.com.

ABC also make no secret of the fact that they are hardcore spammers (my bolding):

Since our official opening on October 27, 2012 we have emailed over one million club members known to us, asking them to register their associated club with us.
http://www.amazonbookclubs.com/

I'm convinced that lots of not-too-internet-savvy people will come across ABC's website and assume that not only does the company represent Amazon.com, it is Amazon.com.
 

aliceshortcake

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Aspiring writers, don't send your manuscripts to ParaDon Books Publishing, P.O.Box 6347, Great Falls, Montana 59406...

...because there's nothing there. I've just had this fascinating reply from the Montana Office of Consumer Protection:

Although my resources are very limited, I was able to obtain some general information from the post office in Great Falls. The PO box listed for ParaDon is currently closed, as of last month. Whoever opened the box provided a physical address, which appears to be a hotel. My suspicion is that the mail may have been forwarded to a different address and the person who physically went in to set up the box was only in Great Falls long enough to open it. Also, I called the number listed for the business and received a message stating the Ring Central number is not yet in service. The phone number is being generated through the internet (Voice over Internet Protocol- aka. VoIP). The calls could be coming and going from anywhere in the world, which is a typical tactic of scammers. My impression is that the business has probably changed their information and could pop up with an address in another location at some point. This commonly happens when the scammers realize that people are becoming suspicious or they are being confronted by people who know it’s a scam.

At this time, I recommend you contact the Federal Trade Commission, if you have not done so already. They can be reached at 877-382-4357 or via their website at www.ftc.gov

Hope this information has been helpful.

Yes, it certainly has! And what a relief to discover that ParaDon has finally closed their PO Box, which we all know was originally set up in the hope of receiving those $25 "reading fees".

Just to recap: although Korede Abayomi claims to be merely a writer published by ParaDon, not the owner of the company, he gave his location as Great Falls in the screencap used in #362 - which is basically an ad for www.webdvloper.com, the company of which he is a part-owner (he also "liked" a post on Great Falls College's website). Webdvloper designed the websites of both ParaDon and the Amazon Book Clubs.

Amazon.com, do you really want to be associated in any way with this outfit?
 
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Filigree

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Revolving P.O. boxes.
Disguised phone service.
Grandiose promises.
Little apparent knowledge of actual publishing.
Misrepresentation of authors and legitimate companies.
Nearly illiterate written English.
Just enough familiarity with market-oriented SEO and web design to appear professional to less-experienced potential clients.

This looks more and more like some kind of scam. It seems to mimic the classic Nigerian 419 advance fraud schemes. Instead of a lotto prize or an inheritance, the lure is now publishing.

Does anyone have any information on whether Korede Abayomi's US military service is genuine or not?