Alleviate Publications / Alleviate Awards

[Foinah]

On the plus side, she's made me and a load of other lawyers snort tea out of our noses through laughter.

MM​

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And also this smoking monkey who has read your replies with great amusement! MM, you are my new hero.

That is all.
​

 

[Fallen]

Speechless. Just... speechless.

I have every respect for any publishing company that comes here and debates the points raised by people like MM. But going behind the scenes...?

Bad taste. Very bad taste. Thank you for posting the emails, MacA.

 

[Unimportant]

To think that a company as obviously renowned as Alleviate Publications/Awards (with their legal team and all that) would get their panties in a bunch about postings on an internet forum like Absolute Write .....

No, no, AW isn't an internet forum, it's a competitor. Their website says so, so it must be true.

 

[Bicyclefish]

Someone else on another board has noted the same thing -- website registered to Draya, then erased, and an earlier lack of info about the publisher available.

I suspect Emma McCarthy sent a notice to that site as well. Previously, the poster wrote (emphasis mine):

Sounds like a massive scam to me. This line of the submissions agreement is ringing bells, because the retained ownership clause in the second line is not worded in way I've ever seen on a license agreement before. Typically these kinds of notices are much more specific.

The poster was stating an opinion, which isn't, correct me if I'm wrong, libel... slander... whatever Alleviate wants to call it. Libder! The bold section is now missing.

Last edited by Dav; Today at 15:00. Reason: legal

 

[Stacia Kane]

I suspect Emma McCarthy sent a notice to that site as well. Previously, the poster wrote (emphasis mine):

The poster was stating an opinion, which isn't, correct me if I'm wrong, libel... slander... whatever Alleviate wants to call it.

You're not wrong. I certainly hope the posters on that board aren't allowing themselves to be scared by all this ridiculous, uninformed and incorrect legal gobbledygook. Opinions--clearly stated as opinions, which the original comment was--are not libel. And as our dear MM pointed out, the burden of proof is on the claimant/plaintiff.


If they're trying to show how professional they truly are...I don't believe they're succeeding. Or, to put it another way, they're succeeding wonderfully in showing their level of professionalism. This is almost as good as the micropress owner who impersonated a lawyer to call Dear Author's Jane on the phone and threaten her with a slander/libel suit, obviously unaware that Jane is herself an attorney.

*shakes head*

 

[Unimportant]

Giggle fodder for the day: Alleviate have now posted their definition of "competitor."

competitors (i.e. those who claim to be neutral writing websites but have their own competitions or vendettas)

Moreover, AW has been chastised, albeit a bit ungrammatically, for failing to use their crystal ball and to discuss the failings of the Alleviate Awards before Alleviate Awards came into existence:

As these posts only began once the Alleviate Awards were launched, we believe these websites feel threatened because the Alleviate Awards are ran by an actual publisher (not a website posting blogs)

You just can't make this stuff up!

Editing to add: Those quotes are from the alleviateawards.com website. The alleviatepublications.com website is now a 404 error.

 

[DreamWeaver]

we believe these websites feel threatened because the Alleviate Awards are ran by an actual publisher

Wow. You don't *need* to make it up.

CORRECTION: Oops, now you have to make it up--the alleviateawards.com website appears to be gone, too.

CORRECTION TO THE CORRECTION: Here they are: https://sites.google.com/site/alleviatebooks/

 

[Unimportant]

Just curious, since this isn't something I have experience with -- is it common, when updating one's own myname.com website, to use sites.google.com/site/myname as a temporary website? Because, coincidentally, at the same time that the Alleviate Publications and Awards websites are 404s and have been replaced with the sites.google.com websites (and "currently being updated" notifications), so is Draya Mooney's website. Yanno, the Draya Mooney who is one of Alleviate's authors but is most certainly not the owner of the press (even though the press's website was registered to her until last week...).

 

[aliceshortcake]

This is hilarious. MORE, MORE!

 

[jaksen]

They has got grammar errors on there pages, so how can I take them seriouly?

 

[Calla Lily]

No, no, it gets better. Alleviate--a business--is now dropping broad hints that they're the "victims" of...



Wait for it...




Cyber Bullying.




No, no, really. Here's the relevant portion of their error-riddled "Important Notice":

...cyber bullying is a major concern. Though Alleviate Publications is a company that can handle these sorts of situations, those personally affected by cyber bullying may find it difficult. All net profits from the anthology will go to charity, but Alleviate Publications pledges that a percentage of those profits will go to programs committed to the prevention of cyber bullying, especially against children and young adults.

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Oh, my, this is quite possibly the nadir of "unprofessional". Oh, my.

 

[Stacia Kane]

Let's see, cyberbullying. Which of these sounds more like cyerbullying:

1. Seeing a website and analyzing it/commenting about it on your own website without initiating or making any direct contact with the first site, or

2. Seeing someone else's comments on their website and sending repeated lengthy emails to them full of baseless legal threats, then going back to your own site and making potentially defamatory comments informing the world that the first site has no integrity and are just a bunch of jerks attacking you because they see you as "competition," and that you're "taking action," and going on about this long after the original site has laughed at you and moved on.

Hmm...it's a difficult one, I know...

 

[Diana_Rajchel]

Let's see, cyberbullying. Which of these sounds more like cyerbullying:

1. Seeing a website and analyzing it/commenting about it on your own website without initiating or making any direct contact with the first site, or

2. Seeing someone else's comments on their website and sending repeated lengthy emails to them full of baseless legal threats, then going back to your own site and making potentially defamatory comments informing the world that the first site has no integrity and are just a bunch of jerks attacking you because they see you as "competition," and that you're "taking action," and going on about this long after the original site has laughed at you and moved on.

Hmm...it's a difficult one, I know...

Have you noticed a new trend for people who perpetrate the bullying to almost invariably call themselves out as victims of bullying? This doesn't negate the obvious scenarios where that isn't the case, but since this is pretty obviously a "wah, they won't cave to my threats, they're bullies!" scenario, it seemed worth mentioning.

 

[Terie]

Have you noticed a new trend for people who perpetrate the bullying to almost invariably call themselves out as victims of bullying? This doesn't negate the obvious scenarios where that isn't the case, but since this is pretty obviously a "wah, they won't cave to my threats, they're bullies!" scenario, it seemed worth mentioning.

Not so sure I'd call this a 'new trend'; from my observation, it's classic (and very old) bully behaviour.

 

[Unimportant]

I reckon one of our resident legal experts could tell us whether this claim:

the Alleviate Awards function on a non-profit basis (all net profits of the anthology go to charity)

puts any legal requirement on Draya Mooney the unidentified owner of Alleviate to have a charter of establishment and board members, or a registered tax status, or public accountability of finances, etc -- depending on whether Alleviate is a US-based or Ireland-based group, of course, which still seems to be a bit of a wobbly question.

 

[brianm]

Needs a bit of an edit to correct the terminology.

...cyber bullying is toady bugs are a major concern. Though Alleviate Publications is a company that can handle these sorts of situations insects, those personally affected by cyber bullying toady bugs may find it difficult.

There. That's better.

 

[Rolkus]

At this point, very happy AW is so popular, to warn potential writers about these shenanigans.

 

[priceless1]

Good grief. If someone's skin is that thin, they're definitely in the wrong business.

 

[Unimportant]

Alleviate have, it appears, responded to the question of whether they meet the criteria for "non profit" and "for charity" by adding this (the bold pink font is their choice, not mine) to their "important notice":

As long as those who have actually entered the competition are happy then so are we.

I wonder what would happen if I entered the competition and then loudly proclaimed I wasn't happy?

 

[Old Hack]

I do hope you will, Unimportant. And report back, won't you?

 

[Medievalist]

I think we're seeing something that has historical precedent.

• When the movable type press became an affordable object that one could purchase c. mid sixteenth century in England and Holland.

• When Apple released the first Mac Plus and LaserWriter, with pre-installed multiple fonts/typefaces.

Because the technology has advanced to a point where an average person can create a publishing company/publish a book, there's an assumption that it's a reasonable thing for the average person to do.

It really isn't.

 

[Unimportant]

Alleviate Awards has updated their site to note that the competitions are now closed, that each person whose work is used will get a free contributer's copy, and that they're guaranteeing a print run in the five figures:

Alleviate Publications also guarantee the distribution of at least 10,000 copies of the anthology. This means at least 10,000 copies of the anthology will be given to relevant organizations worldwide i.e. interested libraries, art foundations, etc.

This is an anthology that, judging on their early acceptances, will be about half art/half prose, and will have to be printed in full colour. Either they made a typo by about three orders of magnitude, or they've got an awful lot of money to throw around.

Also, AW has been downgraded to a small forum. Their complaint used to read "Some competitors have posted untruths about Alleviate Publications on their forums" but now says "We’ve noticed a few small forums have posted untruths about Alleviate Publications."

Let us all hang our (small) heads in shame -- jellouse toady bugs that we are.

 

[Old Hack]

The part that you quoted says nothing about a print run, Unimportant--it just mentions 10,000 copies. Those copies could be electronic ones, unless it says otherwise elsewhere.

 

[thorjansen]

The terms of their contest and anthology are just amazing. Who writes this stuff, anyway?

Just a small aside I noticed from reading their page. About their contest, they say:

"Four regions will be included in the worldwide anthology: America, Canada, Ireland, and the UK."

I guess you can define regions any way you want, but last time I checked, Canada was in America (North, to be precise), and Ireland (at least Northern) was in the UK.

 

[Momento Mori]

Old Hack:
The part that you quoted says nothing about a print run, Unimportant--it just mentions 10,000 copies. Those copies could be electronic ones, unless it says otherwise elsewhere.

Agreed. Alleviate have taken their terms of entry down now but there was nothing in there about the book being available in both print and electronic format. I think that there is an intention of having some kind of print run because the site currently talks about the book being available to order in bookstores.

Alleviate Website:
The anthology will be available in bookstores worldwide, but Alleviate Publications also guarantee the distribution of at least 10,000 copies of the anthology.

I would suggest that it's more likely this will be on a POD basis but you never know - these muppets might actually be planning to do an up-front 10k print-run and the fact that people were willing to pay £12 for the chance to be in the anthology may well cover the cost of one (depending on how many applicants they accept). I just hope their garage is big enough for all the boxes.

What I remain skeptical about is whether there will actually be any profits to distribute to charity afterwards. Although they talk about planning to distribute to libraries etc, they're not talking about selling them and it's selling them that earns the profits to give to cyber-bullying charities (among others).

MM