ParaDon Books Publishing / Amazon Book Clubs

Spam doesn't work. Spam has the reverse effect. Does this idiot even *read* up to date marketing blogs? I do. Raw SEO is downplayed now in favor of value-added conversations and hitching your product to consumers' self identity.

Forwarding ParaD0n's info to Google for violations of their Gmail license. Tonight, because stupid phone is stupid.

Added: Oh, wait, I get it. He's targeting other idiots who don't understand modern marketing and won't research. Filigree's Rule, duh.

How many members of IWS have ever bought a book they hadn't previously heard of, by an author they hadn't previously heard of, as the result of getting a spam email? I'm willing to bet...none. Yet they're being encouraged to think that spam will sell their books. Mind you, Abayomi is still offering a 'service' whereby books are advertised on the back of grocery receipts, another brilliant idea that could have come straight from PA.

I'd love to know if Abayomi is taking his own advice regarding book-selling strategies, and if so how many copies of his three novels he's sold.

I am a new independent author who had my first book independently published in March 2015. I therefore have been looking at all means of publicity, and was attracted to the site -http://indiewritersupport.com - where I paid $250.00 online (through paypal) in late march 2015 to join the Bestsellers Programme advertised. Despite repeatedly chasing, and receiving all sorts of apologies and reassurance from 'Judd Miller' (who I am now told is not a real person but simply an alias for someone else who cons s gullible authors - Korede Abayomi), none of the advertised services have been provided. I have therefore repeatedly demanded back my money, but have faced silence. Online other authors have warned me this whole site is a scam, the most recent address given by Abayomi when he registered his websites is:

[Redacted by board owner, because we don't dox here]

Assuming that this IS his real address, I was advised to get in touch with the police at Great Falls and tell them my story. I did , but have heard nothing at all back! So then the Montana Consumer Protection people have suggested that anyone who has actually lost money to Miller/ Abayomi should get in touch with the Federal Trade Commission, so I have! https://www.ftc.gov/


Anyone else had issues, if so let them know! I note he keeps taking down the posts I put on http://indiewritersupport.com about his fraud. I am a new independent author who had my first book independently published in March 2015. I therefore have been looking at all means of publicity, and was attracted to the site -http://indiewritersupport.com - where I paid $250.00 online (through paypal) in late march 2015 to join the Bestsellers Programme advertised. Despite repeatedly chasing, and receiving all sorts of apologies and reassurance from 'Judd Miller' (who I am now told is not a real person but simply an alias for someone else who cons s gullible authors - Korede Abayomi), none of the advertised services have been provided. I have therefore repeatedly demanded back my money, but have faced silence. Online other authors have warned me this whole site is a scam, the most recent address given by Abayomi when he registered his websites is:

[Redacted by board owner, because we don't dox here]

Assuming that this IS his real address, I was advised to get in touch with the police at Great Falls and tell them my story. I did , but have heard nothing at all back! So then the Montana Consumer Protection people have suggested that anyone who has actually lost money to Miller/ Abayomi should get in touch with the Federal Trade Commission, so I have! https://www.ftc.gov/


Anyone else had issues, if so let them know! I note he keeps taking down the posts I put on http://indiewritersupport.com about his fraud.

Welcome, Cory! It's good to know that one of Abayomi's victims has come forward and got in touch with the relevant authorities. You're not the only member of IWS to have posted on its site about being cheated out of money - I suspect that quite a few messages of this type are deleted almost as soon as they appear.

Some new developments in the ParaDon saga: I reported the outrageously bogus claims made in the most recent press release to the BBB. They forwarded my complaint to Abayomi but so far there's been no response. Curiously, when Cory reported being conned out of $250 by IWS (I'm posting this with his permission) the BBB were unable to contact 'Judd Miller':

We regret to inform you that mail sent to the business was returned as undeliverable or they are no longer in business.

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Abayomi continues to delete Cory's messages from the IWS forum. If the claim that IWS has 3,161 members is true one has to wonder how much money has changed hands, and how many of these people have given their manuscripts or the rights of their self-pubbed books to ParaDon.

On 23rd September Abayomi's alter-ego Bolade Omo Niaja* wrote on Facebook:

Some people will hate when you're doing good, and happy when you're doing bad.

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You will never see me sweat so keep hating...

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Could this be a reference to the efforts made to expose Abayomi's lies? I certainly hope so, because the Great Falls police are now involved and yesterday Niaja's Facebook disappeared into thin air.

*'Bolade' is a Nigerian girls' name, 'omo' means 'baby' or 'child', and 'Niaja' is a misspelling of 'Naija'- Nigeria.

How did I manage to miss this? Abayomi touts the benefits of 'Elite Membership' of Indie Writers Support, which can be yours for the low, low price of $250:

Independent Writers Support has collaborated with many authors, and we (the staff) do so on the regular. We have raised a few authors to the New York Times best sellers list, and helped hundreds more achieve their publishing dreams, whether through book-cover creations, eBook conversions, sales & reviews, social media postings, book-signing arrangements, or book-store marketing.

http://www.payit2.com/collect-page/21470

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The NYT bestseller lists? Really? Really?

Really really. He couldn't possibly be lying about *that*, could he?

Look, I've probably said this about seven or eight awful publishers, and I might get in trouble for saying it here:

By now the information is out there and easily found online for English speakers. Can't save fools from themselves.

aliceshortcake said:

. . . Wow! As if that wasn't impressive enough, Paradon is also a member of the Mystery Writers of America and several other august literary bodies.

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Hmm, I wonder if the Mystery Writers of American and those other august bodies have ever heard of ParaDon? And if they haven't, maybe they should *evil grin*

-------

Still clutching my self-published books in my tight, clammy grip

aliceshortcake said:

Another barely literate email from self-styled Stanford graduate Celina Marka:


... Every ParaDon Books authors would instantly receive their very own customized email address (example,[email protected]); their own toll-line (example, 888-853- x10); their own bank card; 500 business cards; full services of Indie Writers Support; and websites like these, ww.bit.ly/1QFEtJT, www.bit.ly/1NRUBBa, www.bit.ly/1H1ZERC etc..

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Whoa, whoa, whoa! Each author gets their own bank card? So, the authors would have to turn over banking data to this company, because I don't know any other way that a "bank card" would work?

This is getting beyond creepy weird into straight out creepy.

Richard, I've already been in touch with MWA and the others but it doesn't seem to have done any good. Abayomi has also failed to respond to the Better Business Bureau about the nonsensical claims he made in ParaDon's most recent press releases.

Crikey - I'd overlooked the bank card thing! I'll bring this to the attention of the Great Falls police detective who is currently looking into Abayomi's activities.

ETA: Hah! Last month I took the liberty of leaving a one-star review on ParaDon's Yellow Pages entry. Guess who's added a five-star review? Bolade N., otherwise known as Bolade Omo 'deleted his Facebook' Niaja, aka Korede Abayomi!

*****by Bolade N. on 10/28/2015
Great publishing company. Highly recommended. The best publisher of ebooks. ParaDon Books is in Great Falls Montana. A start up company started by a group of programmers and developers.
http://m.yp.com/great-falls-mt/mip/paradon-books-publishing-469851099#review-section

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Another absurd press release from Korede Abayomi/Celina Marka:

ParaDon Books is looking for good writers.

Apart from signing with Vearsa - to distribute our digital books to eBook channels, Libraries, eReaders, SmartPhones, Tablets, PC or Mac - ParaDon Books Publishing have also decided to partner with BookBub.com, to announce our new and discounted eBooks to their millions of subscribers, via emails and web posting.

What this guarantee our authors is the backing and co-operation of the top distributing giants in the e-publishing business, that would back and distribute their eBooks worldwide.

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This doesn't solve the problem that even if ParaDon gets round to publishing anything not written by Korede Abayomi, there is no evidence that the company is capable of providing professional-standard editing and cover design. Nobody wants to pay for the privilege of reading slush.

A full, signed agreement must be committed between us and an author in order for us to publish their manuscripts.

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Committed?

We have also secured over three hundred independent bookstores all around the United States, that would shelf our books once they are in print in the summer of next year, 2016.

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I'm willing to bet that the only independent bookstores willing to 'shelf' ParaDon books will be the ones within easy travelling distance of ParaDon authors who successfully beg the manager to take a few copies - which they bought themselves - on consignment. And bear in mind that ParaDon's advances are based on the number of e-books and audiobooks sold, which raises the possibility that few or no books will actually be printed. So how will ParaDon make money? My best guess is by getting authors to pay for marketing gimmicks.

Our official active website is due to launch in the middle of December, and would be openly acceptable to individual accounts, including affilates, authors, and the generals; so that our authors could check their earnings, our book-sellers could check their commissions, and our readers could keep track of their shopping carts.

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*scratches head*

We offer our authors a payment rate of 50% royalty or less, non-binding, until signed.

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*is totally confused*

For those writers that have already submitted to us and have not heard back, you would receive a full decision from us via email by November 10th. If you are now just submitting your proposal to us, please allow up to two-weeks to hear back from us.
https://snt149.mail.live.com/m/mess...ff-d89d675f13fb&nmts=2015-10-12T11:33:04.677Z

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Oh, I very much doubt that anyone will be turned down. And if ParaDon seriously expects to have some books to sell on their spiffy new website they have just over four weeks to edit and design covers for them...

I'm thinking this "guy" is also an incarnation of Abayomi https://www.facebook.com/artis.reed
He seems just too excited about IWS, "ReadersBooks" and ParaDon to be just a naive indie Author.

Alice, attempting to make sense out of that press release and the random stringing together of english words into so called sentences makes my head hurt.

Oh, Artis Reed and our very own Lad From Lagos are undoubtedly one and the same person:

Korede Abayomi (also Artis Reed)

Korede Abayomi (also known as Author Artis Reed) is a master storyteller who was first discovered in the 1990s during his teenage years. Since then, he'd penned two lengthy books (Shebang! and The Oracle) and is now working as a full-time net-worker of many writing and reading communities, including Amazon Book Clubs (www.facebook.com/groups/AmazonBookClubs), indiewritersupport.com, readersbooks.info, and many others. Korede was born in Lagos, raised in California, and now lives in New York City.
https://payhip.com/korede

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By the way, that photo supposedly shows Abayomi/Reed signing copies of his book at a Great Falls bookstore. It looks more like he's just sitting at a table in a public library to me.

There's an interesting link to Fiverr on Reed/Abayomi's Facebook:

https://uk.fiverr.com/paradon/accordingly-promote-your-book-to-the-100-top-amazon-reviewers-of-the-genre

His most recent gig was over a year ago after a slew of 'cancelled order, seller failed to deliver on time' reviews.

I really love this phrasing:

"a master storyteller who was first discovered in the 1990s during his teenage years."

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It makes him sound like a new element (Fraudonium) or a hitherto unknown disease (Badplannitis).

Indie Writers Support has vanished!

http://indiewritersupport.com/

I wonder if this could be the beginning of the end?

*rubs hands gleefully*

ETA: I asked BookBub if they had any association with ParaDon. Their reply:

I can confirm that we have never worked with ParaDon Publishing.

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No surprises there, then...

Edited yet again to add that IWS is back. Abayomi must have paid his hosting fees.

I'm hoping that there'll be some really exciting news in the very near future.

Now that sounds like you "know" something and aren't ready to divulge just yet? Can't stand the suspense

Put it this way - a Google search indicates that a long-overdue development may have taken place...

Oh Alice, you tease! *brings in the popcorn*

What the heck - this isn't top secret information so I'll spill the beans.

Every Friday the city of Great Falls updates the list of people who have outstanding warrants in Municipal Court. Lo and behold, on 2nd November a warrant was issued against Korede Kayode Abayomi.

http://m.greatfallsmt.net/
Click on Warrants List to see the PDF file.

I'll keep you posted!

And what's happening with IWS? After a brief reappearance it's vanished again.

CoryYStandby said:

I am a new independent author who had my first book independently published in March 2015. I therefore have been looking at all means of publicity, and was attracted to the site -http://indiewritersupport.com - where I paid $250.00 online (through paypal) in late march 2015 to join the Bestsellers Programme advertised. Despite repeatedly chasing, and receiving all sorts of apologies and reassurance from 'Judd Miller' (who I am now told is not a real person but simply an alias for someone else who cons s gullible authors - Korede Abayomi), none of the advertised services have been provided. I have therefore repeatedly demanded back my money, but have faced silence.

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Paypal has a very robust customer support system where you can put in a claim for refund on payments up to (I think) six months old. I see you're over that limit now but it might well be worth contacting them and putting forward your case. They work hard to protect their customers.

Blimey. And given his surname, he's first on the list.

I think ParaDon may have to forget about their ambition to publish 200 eBooks by the end of the month.

Wow! Definitely an interesting development! (thank you for caving in and sharing
I checked too and yep, IWS is down, complete with banner that asks the usual "is this domaine yours, find out how to reactivate your account".
I feel bad though for those writers that thought this was a legit "community" set up so they could self support each others/their own indie publishing dreams. They get taken and taken and taken and now, taken again. Disillusioning for those in the group but had never paid for a full membership but for those that have paid... sad