[Agent] Cheryl T. Pillsbury

OK, blog post up. It's a sad and interesting story. My personal belief is that Lanaia is telling the truth. She got screwed over by a psychopath.

- Victoria

Thanks Victoria. This truly is a sad story.

xhouseboy said:

What's a ducky day?

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For the record:

A "ducky day" has absolutely nothing to do with me.

victoriastrauss said:

OK, blog post up. It's a sad and interesting story. My personal belief is that Lanaia is telling the truth. She got screwed over by a psychopath.

- Victoria

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The Scottish press might be extremely interested in this story.

They weren't the last time, and what happened was a whole lot more weird.

- Victoria

You know, Uncle Jim, if you'd like some help in countering that curse from those of us who not only aren't Wiccan pagans, but know enough to know Wiccans don't refer to themselves as "Wicca" instead of the ( correct) "Wiccan"...just let us know.

Awful grammar and spelling from the "agent" in them there post quotes upthread. Never a good sign.

What a dreadful, weird story of desperation on all sides. Seems to me this Hill gent should be in the clink.

victoriastrauss said:

They weren't the last time, and what happened was a whole lot more weird.

- Victoria

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They did carry a piece in one of the popular dailies, and this time he's scammed someone with a severe disability, apparently scammed her to the tune of $400 a month, and then delivered a plagiarised manuscript.

Rightly or wrongly, something like this has more a more popular/sympathetic appeal, more of a human interest angle.

Split off from the Roval Publishing thread.

xhouseboy said:

... such is the nature of the tabloids over here.

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Do yoiu happen to have any contacts in the tabloid press?

For $50, I, too will hook you up with a vanity press.



Oh, wait. No I won't. I have morals.

Monkey said:

Oh, wait. No I won't. I have morals.

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But I don't So hand the money over already!!!


Seriously, though, this case is horrible. I can only imagine what this lady must be feeling. Having been scammed not once, but twice, and then having an internet-based gang of writers all demanding her blood... damn. No one deserves all that.

For $45 I'll give you C. Lee Nunn's address.

DamaNegra said:

Seriously, though, this case is horrible. I can only imagine what this lady must be feeling. Having been scammed not once, but twice, and then having an internet-based gang of writers all demanding her blood... damn. No one deserves all that.

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I don't have any sympathy for her. When it was first called to her attention she maintained that it was her writing and that she had witnesses that it was her writing. The ghostwriting part didn't come out until it was beyond obvious that the opening was plagiarized.

So, she was trying to scam people by passing off another's work as her own even if she did think she had the copyright to the work. She may have only been trying to scam the six friends or family that would have bought the book, but its still a scam.

Her physical circumstances may be unfortunate, but that doesn't buy any sympathy from me. Might sound harsh, but I think there are a lot of people out there that are deserving of it.

James D. Macdonald said:

Do yoiu happen to have any contacts in the tabloid press?

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I'll talk to someone today, see if it perks their interest.

Some pretty hefty prices from her publishing arm:


For Future Authors:
Illustrations:
Inside Illustrations: $200 Regular Covers start: $500
Wrap around Covers start: $800-$1000 2X2 suare Illustrations $25.00 chapter
Critique Price: $0.02 per word 100,000 or less / $2.00 per page 100,000 and more
A $50.00 one-time consulting fee to layout your project.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tri

OMG, where do I sign up? Where are people's heads when they read about a scam like this and actually go for it?

I. AM. AGOG.

Let me get this straight: Lanaia is a good sister/friend of Pillsbury, and has been for a number of years. They also share poetry publication together. Pillsbury is a self-proclaimed agent, who is a (four-times) vanity author (PA twice), and is currently Lania's agent. Was it Pillsbury who hooked up Hill to Lanaia?

So then Hill ghostwrites a fantasy book for Lanaia and charges $400 per month for a period of two years, or...it takes two years to pay the bill off, of which the real total to write the book can't actually be determined.

Uh, then was the reviewer (Jane) a pay-to-play book reviewer or publicist of some type? (There's nothing wrong with this IMO--it's a seperate entity). I believe it was Jane's friend who spotted the plagiarism, BTW.

Jesus H. on a pop sickle stick! It looks like Lanaia (Mary) ran out of orifices to get plugged. She got it by a vanity publishing house, her agent (Pillsbury), the ghostwriter Hill (Christopher), and was she destined to spend any money with a publicist or reviewer?

Conclusion: Reading all of Pillsbury's background, I would think that she was the first stinger in this operation and that she failed to warn her friend of impending financial doom. Reportedly, Lanaia could not afford health insurance, and certainly with her ills (spouse included), this would have been a priority. Is is possible that Pillsbury tag-teamed with Hill (from the very begining) to rip a new one in her so-called loving sister/friend, client, sucka, mark?

Sorry I'm off topic but I went gonzo numb reading about all of this late this morning. My WIP went to hell in a handbasket, slogging through all of this stuff.

PA authors: It is a very, very bad idea to hang out your agent or publisher shingle, thinking that you know the ropes as a result of a book or two with a vanity outfit. I don't even think Victoria or Yog would try it, knowing what kind of extra responsibilities and time it requires. And THEY know their shite. JUST DON'T DO IT.

Is there anybody out there that has used Christopher Hill to splash ink in their manuscript? Ghostwriting services, I mean? Perhaps Victoria has him on record as such. I wasn't aware that he dabbled in that area.

Judging from the figures involved in all of these connections, the cost could have been as low as $8,000 to over $12,000. Just out of morbid curiosity, I would like to know what the end numbers were for OF Alantis.

Gee, where was Lulu in all this? Better yet, where was starting at the top and working your way down with commercial publishers?

Again, sorry about the off-topic, but it's a damn web of deceit and lies that goes every which way but truth.

Tri

Tri, Jane's a reader who along with a friend started writing reviews of the romance books she'd been reading. Their blog at Dear Author also covers industry gossip and related material, and they've started doing interviews with authors. The blog's a good read and has built up a lot of traffic over the last year. One of the reasons they get a lot of attention is that it's an unvarnished reader opinion written by literate people who can explain clearly why they did or didn't like the book, and they're not afraid to say that they didn't like it. So they're now an attractive place for authors and publishers to send review copies to -- it will sting if they don't like it, but they write the sort of reviews that other readers will actually pay attention to. (Disclosure -- I read the blog regularly, and have sent a review copy of one of my own books to the manga/yaoi reviewer.)

It appears that Lanaia decided that she'd like some of that there good publicity, and contacted Jane offering a review copy and an interview. This may have been a mistake...

Ah, thanks, Jules. I didn't know but should have read the mission statement. I do like it over there, great discussions going on, and I can certainly hone my romance up a notch or two by listening in.

Yeah, it appears that Lanaia was linked all over the place, getting ready for the launch of this title. Strange that her book was fantasy and Jane's site is primarily romance.

Good to know anyway.

Tri

Tell me about it, Brian. That's why I've been mostly lurking and not commenting. Deadline today (Ack. Client just called in mid-post.) - better get back to work.