Creative Inspirations Publishing

lookingforanswers · Apr 7, 2015

Unsure what to do from here (moved to BR&BC)

Hi everyone,
Hello from England.
I am hoping that someone out there has more information on this than I do.
Last December I was offered a publishing contract by a company called KTF press an American company. Two of the CEO's then were Tonja Bliss and Kisha Rivera.
I signed the agreement on February 13 2015 and emailed it back to Tonja Bliss. On the 7th of March I received a message saying.

Big news!!
KTF Press is joining forces with Creative Inspirations Publishing. This will take effect immediately. Going forward all business dealings will be taken care of by HD Campbell and his staff at Creative Inspirations. If you have any questions going forward, please reach out to HD Campbell.
All current KTF Press contracts will be honored, which means nothing will change for you. All books currently in the works for publishing will continue without a hitch and all submissions will be absorbed by Creative Inspirations.

The issue is it has been a month now since this so called joined force took place and I have not heard from HD Campbell as how we are going to move forward, the time line for my book to be published etc. I emailed him and no reply. I tried looking them up on line. They have no website and they only have a FB page which gives no current info etc.
I emailed Tonja Bliss seen that she was the one whom I had been in business with as owner and CEO of KTF Press. She coudl not give me any information. She gave me only two email addresses and said that those are her only way of contacting HD Campbell and Creative Inspirations Publishing.

I am finding the whole thing suspicious?
Does anyone know anything about KTF press when It was in business?
Does anyone know about anything about Tonja bliss, Kisha Rivera, and HD Campbell as a CEO of a publishing company?
How can I get advice seen I am living in England and they are all In USA?
Anyone could be out there using my work claiming its their own work.
Thanks for reading.

Maryn · Apr 7, 2015

I know nothing about the individuals or the publisher, but a little poking around shows me Tonja Bliss is entirely self-published. Her website promoting her work is www.tlbliss.com, where she sells her books and offer cover art, format conversion, and other services to writers seeking to self-publish. She has a kickstarter going at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1318975190/ktf-press-2014/creator_bio, where she links to that page and to kftpress.com, where the links to HDCampbell and to CreativeInspirations Press are both just email links.

This is not boding well. I suggest you get in touch with an attorney at once to find out if your contract is legally binding. If it is not, notify them that you are cancelling.

Hard lesson time: You need to do this research before you attempt to market your work next time, okay? Depending on what your lawyer says, you may have dodged a bullet.

Maryn, fingers crossed

Edit to add: Kisha Rivera isn't panning out well, either. She and Bliss co-authored a book "Rebranded" (with 3 reviews at GoodReads, two of them five-start ratings from the authors) published by KTF Press. Rivera's other book was published by the legendary Tate Publishing Company--they've got a large thread here at AW.

I think it's a safe assumption that KTF Press is Kisha, Tonja, and someone else (the F) pretending to be publishers while they have not a clue.

AngelsAvengeMe · Apr 7, 2015

Here's my experience with them for anyone who cares:

So, to get this straight out of the way, I have not personally used this publisher. But, I felt I should share my experience with one of the authors who publishes with them. As well as how shady I feel this publishing company is.

This is what it says in their about section on their Facebook:
Creative Inspirations Publishing is a full service, multi-genre publisher. Our mission is to inspire minds! Tammy Jernigan and HD
Campbell are our CEO's
This 'about' is just lazy. They give no credentials or even explain why they'd be the best choice for your book. And what does 'full service' mean? How is that mission acceptable? This just screams that they don't know what they're doing already.

Here's some other things to back up my opinion:

-The link on their Facebook to their website is broken and it (supposedly) links straight to the page we're already on.

-The person (or people) who update their page have spelling mistakes and use chat speak. How is that professional?

-They put up low-quality pictures of some of their authors' progress on Amazon, but give no context. What genre are they doing well in?

-They've uploaded low-quality, unprofessional photos of, I'm assuming, themselves. Their page display picture is one of these photos. They also have no banner.

-They've just started (at least this FB page) late last year. And they don't update consistently.

-They don't have any sort of list of authors that they publish. Also, it looks like they don't even advertise all the authors they do publish.

Now, in regards to the author: I completely understand that an author's actions do not speak for the publishing company they use, however, when they attack someone for having a perfectly valid opinion and then try to put them on 'blast', makes me see her and her book(s) as not worth the time. Which, in return, makes the publishing company lose potential business. She also tagged a friend in the comment section to come add her 'opinion' and this friend supposedly works at a publishing company called 'Black Beauty Presents'. I won't get into that publishing company on this post, but they've clearly made both their publishing companies look bad.

lookingforanswers · Apr 7, 2015

Creative Inspirations publishing.

AngelsAvengeMe said:
Here's my experience with them for anyone who cares:

So, to get this straight out of the way, I have not personally used this publisher. But, I felt I should share my experience with one of the authors who publishes with them. As well as how shady I feel this publishing company is.

Thanks for your reply. It shares so many things which have caused me to be suspicious of them. I am glad I am more clued up now. I now just need to find out if my contract is legally binding with them. I just cant wait to get this behind me.
Thank you.

lookingforanswers · Apr 7, 2015

Maryn said:
I know nothing about the individuals or the publisher, but a little poking around shows me Tonja Bliss is entirely self-published.

Thank you for this. I have indeed learnt my lesson. To be honest though KTF website did look professional and believable and that really convinced me. Now I know research, research is the key.
Do you think I have to find an attorney from USA or one from UK would do?
Thank you.

aleighrose · Apr 7, 2015

Link: http://ktfpress.com/
Am I the only one who sees almost nothing on their site?

BenPanced · Apr 8, 2015

No, you aren't alone. In fact, if you follow that link and click on Creative Inspirations' link, it doesn't take you to a new website. It's only a email link.

I got nothing.

lookingforanswers · Apr 8, 2015

Since the so called merge KTf press website is down.

Maryn · Apr 8, 2015

I just now spoke to my husband, who's a lawyer--but wanted to make it abundantly clear that he's not giving legal advice, just making some suggestions.

First, it's entirely legal, Mr. Maryn says, for a business to sell or otherwise transfer its contracts to another business. So the fact that they did that doesn't get you off the hook.

Get out your copy of the contract. With luck, it will be unprofessional. Read through it. (Out loud helps if the legalese and long sentences get you tangled.) Does it mention what country's laws govern it? Does it give you a way to cancel? What are you obligated to do or deliver to meet its terms? What are they obligated to do or deliver? It's possible they may be in breach of the contract, which will make it easier for you to withdraw your manuscript.

This is me talking, not Mr. Maryn. I would think step one might be to contact the new publisher with a return receipt, ideally in writing rather than email, asking that your manuscript be withdrawn from their consideration. See what they say.

Mr. Maryn suggests that a letter from a UK lawyer showing breach of contract on their part may make a non-pro publisher give up rather than hire their own attorney. But if it goes to litigation, you will want a US attorney specializing in contract law and/or publishing to represent your interests.

Again, not legal advice, just some off-the-cuff information you may be able to use when you contact an attorney.

Maryn, hoping you can find addresses for Creative's people

lookingforanswers · Apr 8, 2015

Maryn said:
I just now spoke to my husband, who's a lawyer--but wanted to make it abundantly clear that he's not giving legal advice, just making some suggestions.

First, it's entirely legal, Mr. Maryn says, for a business to sell or otherwise transfer its contracts to another business. So the fact that they did that doesn't get you off the hook.

Get out your copy of the contract. With luck, it will be unprofessional. Read through it. (Out loud helps if the legalese and long sentences get you tangled.) Does it mention what country's laws govern it? Does it give you a way to cancel? What are you obligated to do or deliver to meet its terms? What are they obligated to do or deliver? It's possible they may be in breach of the contract, which will make it easier for you to withdraw your manuscript.

Thanks alot for this. I really appreciate this.
I did look at the contract I signed. It did say if KTF were to go out of business or go bankrupt then all rights reverts back to me. So I emailed Tonja and asked "did you go out of business or not?Please let me so I can take my work elsewhere." She emailed back to "KTF is no longer in business so you are free to take your work elsewhere."
If that is the case then I wonder why she said in her email "all manuscripts to be published will still be honoured."
I will still email Creative again. They have not reply my email and I cant find.
Thank you.

GenGriffin · Apr 8, 2015

lookingforanswers said:
Thanks alot for this. I really appreciate this.
I did look at the contract I signed. It did say if KTF were to go out of business or go bankrupt then all rights reverts back to me. So I emailed Tonja and asked "did you go out of business or not?Please let me so I can take my work elsewhere." She emailed back to "KTF is no longer in business so you are free to take your work elsewhere."
If that is the case then I wonder why she said in her email "all manuscripts to be published will still be honoured."
I will still email Creative again. They have not reply my email and I cant find.
Thank you.

Little (non-legal) advice. Ask Tonja to send you an official rights reversion in the mail (if necessary, mail her the form and include a self addressed stamped envelope). Print off the email and keep it in your records.

After checking into these sites, I definitely wouldn't pursue publishing with this other company. Just email them again to make it clear that you have your rights back and your book should not be published through them...the website/facebook pages/ amazon listings for these people/presses are extremely uninspiring.

Also, not sure if you've read this post - but this is something to read before going the small press route: http://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/small/

lookingforanswers · Apr 13, 2015

Thank you very much to all for their non legal advice. I have managed to get a reversion of rights from Tonja Bliss. Now I am able to take my work elsewhere. I think however I am going to go the Amazon Kindle DP route and publish my work as so far my experience with publishers are not impressive.
Thank you.

Maryn · Apr 13, 2015

Well, certainly not with those publishers. Be aware, of course, that there are many small presses that are perfectly legitimate and behave with professionalism. The fact that this didn't pan out as hoped is not necessarily indicative of self-publishing being the best choice for this work.

Is it something which will especially appeal to black buyers? Surely there are publishers and/or imprints to check out.

Maryn, always with the homework

lookingforanswers · Apr 13, 2015

[QUOTE
Is it something which will especially appeal to black buyers? Surely there are publishers and/or imprints to check out.

Maryn, always with the homework[/QUOTE]

Not at all. My work is aimed at all ethnicity. It was never my intention and still not to go after any particular ethnicity of publisher.
I am just so fed up and unsure now so I don't know who to approach.
Thank you.

Maryn · Apr 13, 2015

I see. I wondered, since Creative Inspirations definitely leans toward PoC and KTF kinda-sorta did.

In that case, there are more doors open to you than I thought there might be. Assuming you're in good health, there's no deadline, right? Take whatever time you need to research.

One easy first step is to go to a bookstore or six (not all different locations of the same chain) and figure out where your book would be shelved if it were for sale. What books are its most direct competition? Who wrote them? Who published them? Jot down or subtly photograph at least a dozen, ideally many more. Back home, start the work. Does the publisher accept manuscripts from authors, or deal only with agents? Who represents the authors whose books you saw? What do those agents' websites say about what they're seeking and how to contact them? Do the agents, publishers, and authors have blogs, Facebook accounts, Twitter feeds, where you might learn more? What are people saying about them in Bewares here at AW? How about at Preditors and Editors?

It's not a sprint but a long-distance race. Endurance and perseverance matter a lot.

Maryn, who doesn't look athletic but can last a good long time

CaoPaux · Mar 22, 2016

Adding link: http://creative-inspirationspublishing.com/

CaoPaux · Apr 7, 2018

Site's gone. Relatively recent FB activity, but does not include the two books pubbed last month. Anyone have recent contact?

RLG14 · Jun 25, 2018

They are still around but under the radar. Having issues myself with them.

Creative Inspirations Publishing

lookingforanswers

Maryn

Baaa!

AngelsAvengeMe

lookingforanswers

lookingforanswers

aleighrose

BenPanced

THE BLUEBERRY QUEEN OF HADES (he/him)

lookingforanswers

Maryn

Baaa!

lookingforanswers

GenGriffin

Brutally Honest; No Filter

lookingforanswers

Maryn

Baaa!

lookingforanswers

Maryn

Baaa!

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless

RLG14