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ParaDon Books Publishing / Amazon Book Clubs

Creative_Solitude

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The site is down at the moment but I'll try again later.

In the meantime, pop over here to feast your eyes on a photo of ParaDon's happy staff: http://www.paradonbooks.com/Internship.html

Yes, it's a stock image!

"Welcome to the future of publishing"

If ParaDon books is the future of publishing, then we're all in trouble.

And just how stupid do they think we all are using a stock image and passing it off as their staff???
 

Filigree

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Especially since image search can verify that in a few moments.

But I've learned over the last few years that authors who tend to fall for publishers like this tend not to be research-savvy. They barely know how to use search engines, apparently, much less Alexa, the Wayback Machine, or instructive strolls through state and federal government databases. And whenever they find something that disagrees with their fantasy of how publishing will happen for them, it must be the facts that are wrong.

You can help some people, but not all of them.
 

aliceshortcake

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Well, I was quite prepared to spend the equivalent of $2 to find out the name of ParaDon's CEO - but because I'm outside the USA the form provided wouldn't recognise my contact details! If anyone else would like to try, here's where to go:

https://app.mt.gov/cgi-bin/bes/besC...search=A195774&trans_id=besa1234617035310ff00

ParaDon ignored my request for this basic information.

There's more hilarity regarding ParaDon's "other services"...all 14 of them, although thanks to the person who accidentally re-used 8 and 9 the numbers only go up to 12. My favourites:

SERVICE #1
Get your Book-trailer
Are you an author or a publisher? Do you want us to create an attractive book trailer for your title? Do you like the High Definition videos you've seen so far on this landing page? If you do, then don't waste your money on the overprice video makers. This is the cheapest you'll find anywhere in the world. Lovely - nothing sells a book like a cheap book trailer! We will promote you, your book(s), and even add words and music to the movie trailer just how you want it. On top of that we will even post your finished book trailer to all video sharing websites to increase your title's exposure. Just sit back and wait for a handful of hits on YouTube.
$150
This service is provided free to all writers who choose to publish with us.

SERVICE #4
Promote your book to the world.
Do you want your book in front of 400,000+ viewers? Do you want your book cover to be advertise through Walmart, Walgreens, Albertson, Food4Less, Target, etc? Or maybe you just want us to schedule you a radio show interview, a blog-post interview, magazine interview, or a television appearance for you? I'm guessing that they're referring to vanity radio and TV, or the sort of shows that air at 3am. Whatever it is that you have in mind, our dedicated PR team have all sorts of packages designed to fit your budget.
$2,500
This service is provided free to all writers who choose to publish with us.

SERVICE #5
Submit your article to 1800+ article submission websites
Do you have an important article that you want the world to read about online? We will spin your article to 400 websites, and then submit the spun articles to additional 1200 article submission directories. This strategy can helped many websites rank as top 10 instantly after the 1-2 weeks! We will give you full list of directory URLs, and a report of the successfully submitted articles. I don't even understand this bit.
$50
This service is provided free to all writers who choose to publish with us.

SERVICE #12
We'll design your awesome book cover for cheap It'll go perfectly with the cheap book trailer.
We work with all writing genres using both our own images as well as images we commissioned from individual artists. All finished covers can be econverted to whatever size/format you want the file to be. Just give us a brief description of what you'd like and we'll create the stunning book cover for you.
$150
​This service is provided free to all writers who choose to publish with us.

All told, the author who chooses to publish with ParaDon can expect to get $2935 worth of services completely free! There are a couple of services you have to pay for, though, including one I'm sure you can get for free on several novelty photo sites:

SERVICE #8
We will put you on the cover of your favorite magazine.
Ever wonder what you would look like on the cover of Time Magazine, The Rolling Stone, or Vogue? You can now find out! Is there a magazine called "I Was Daft Enough to Fall for ParaDon's Barely Literate Spiel"? We will seamlessly photoshop a photo of your choice onto whatever magazine you choose, and even personalize the words on the cover. A fun gig I think you mean "gift" for yourself, a friend, or as a prank or gift.
$25
http://www.paradonbooks.com/Other-Services.html

Words fail me.
 
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JulieB

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"Spinning" is the process of taking an article and rewriting it. The "spun" article is then posted to as many content farms as possible. In theory, Google won't notice this and your article will show up lots and lots of times. It's important, right? So it must get a high rank!

Unfortunately, most "spinning" is done by software that replaces a few words with synonyms. Hilarity may ensue. Absolute Write could become "Uncontaminated Pen." And who checks that?

ETA: Uncontaminated Pen is the name of my next band.
 

aliceshortcake

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And yet again I have learned something new on AbsoluteWrite. Truly, ParaDon is a class act.

By the way, I contacted Stanford University to ask if Celina Marka and Korede Abayomi were graduates. No doubt you'll all be shocked to hear that there is no record of either of them attending or graduating from the university.

Korede Abayomi's Additional Information

Interests:
My third book is due for release by ParaDon Books Publishing.
Groups and Associations:
Stanford University Honor Society
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/korede-abayomi/20/159/504
 
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OhTheHorror

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The site is down at the moment but I'll try again later.

In the meantime, pop over here to feast your eyes on a photo of ParaDon's happy staff: http://www.paradonbooks.com/Internship.html

Yes, it's a stock image!

e791ab626e6785062374d45b25cc6e7f_L-1.jpg
 

Anne Lyle

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SERVICE #8
We will put you on the cover of your favorite magazine.
Ever wonder what you would look like on the cover of Time Magazine, The Rolling Stone, or Vogue? You can now find out! Is there a magazine called "I Was Daft Enough to Fall for ParaDon's Barely Literate Spiel"? We will seamlessly photoshop a photo of your choice onto whatever magazine you choose, and even personalize the words on the cover. A fun gig I think you mean "gift" for yourself, a friend, or as a prank or gift.
$25

All told, the author who chooses to publish with ParaDon can expect to get $2935 worth of services completely free! There are a couple of services you have to pay for, though, including one I'm sure you can get for free on several novelty photo sites:


Words fail me.

Damn - why doesn't my publisher offer this?

Ah - alas, this isn't included in the "author package" any more :(

http://www.paradonbooks.com/Other-Services.html
 
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Filigree

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Because if they did, many of their clients would leave them.

Seriously, who makes 'joke' magazine covers of themselves on internationally-known magazines? Other than 12-year-old girls at a slumber party, pasting themselves into photographs with Justin Bieber?

ParaDon has been around since 2011, and they're just now releasing a list of signed authors. They claim they are 'the future of publishing', and to have
'the most exciting website in the world,' and then they say this on Linked-In: 'We publish both fictions and non-fictions.'
 
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aliceshortcake

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Ah - alas, this isn't included in the "author package" any more :(

Interesting. They've deleted several odd services, including a computerized "memory game" for children, so they're obviously lurking here.

Come on, ParaDon - give us the names and qualifications of your CEO, editorial staff, cover designers etc. Tell us why you aren't releasing a list of your authors until 29th December when you've already released two novels by Korede Abayomi and are in the process of publishing Mr Abayomi's third novel. We've seen this sort of thing before from amateur publishers trying to conceal the fact that their work is self-published. Oh, and tell us which newspapers Richard Egland published and why we can find no trace of him or editor/columnist Celina Marka.

Enquiring minds want to know!

Edited to add: I've just come across what may be a "spun article", and it made my brain hurt.

Paradon Guides Publishing Have Authorized The Actual E-Book Privileges In Order To Shebang! And Also The Oracle
Posted on April 2, 2012 by morningseven
Brought up in the slums associated with Lagos, to be able to Ca, New-York, as well as other difficult edges on the planet, Creator KoredeAbayomi outshines just about all requirement simply by getting one of the most obvious writer of contemporary misinformation, very first along with his gritty road story, ‘Shebang!’ after which his / her sincere sad crisis; ‘The Oracle.’

His / her 3rd guide, ‘The Myspace Muggers’ is placed regarding discharge inside Next year, in the association this individual agreed upon withParaDon Guides Posting, a significant organization who’s saying being the subsequent Key Writer in the united states.ParaDon Publications Posting exposed inside the past due Next year, and possess documented authorized several noteworthy creators, such as the e-Book privileges in order to Shebang! and also the Oracle. They may be at present pushing an important introducing of the items could possibly be the following vintage misinformation from the modern day, ‘The Fb Robbers.’

Writer KoredeAbayomi is really a war-time leading man, as well as school informed. He offered like a bring about police officer in america Military prior to the notion of composing their initial book ‘Shebang!’ stumbled on thoughts. Their mom, Main FAMA, can be just about the most notarized creators regarding Photography equipment subject matter.

Discover more regarding Koredeand their best-selling e-book the following, http://artisreed.wetpaint.com/hub/Artis-Reed

In the information published by way of tweets, Writer KoredeAbayomi introduced he offers agreed upon their severely praise books in order to ParaDon Guides Posting, thus getting one of many company’s starting authors.
http://articledupe.xlphp.net/mornin...eges-in-order-to-shebang-and-also-the-oracle/

Clear as mud.
 
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swvaughn

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From now on, I'm going to end all of my sentences with "...in order to Shebang! and also The Oracle."

It's like saying "in accordance with the prophecy" after everything, only much crazier. :D
 

aliceshortcake

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swvaughn, the expression on your avatar's face is perfect for this thread.
 

swvaughn

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Yes, kitteh is shocked into utter bafflement by this thread. :)

Also, I want to be "the most obvious writer of contemporary misinformation."
 

aliceshortcake

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Oooh, what's this? Mr Abayomi isn't ParaDon's sole author after all! There's also Mr Artis Reed, author of - wait for it - The 419 Caper:

All of us know about the Nigerian scams, particularly the infamous 419 code. Well I have unearth a complete story exploiting the ripoffs, which e book could probably place lots of mischievous Nigerian scammers out of get the job done and save the U.S the annually 50 % a billion bucks needed around the 419 investigations. What is this e-book? The 419 Caper, composed by Artis Reed. Though the story is fictional, the premise to this tale is promising to generally be the toughest hardboiled fiction of its form.
This book exploit the 419 code to some amount under no circumstances exploited previously, and explains why the Nigerian 419 code is now considerably much better the Sicilian mafia codes.
The author to this ebook is not any stranger into the guidelines himself, and he is a Nigerian mastermind who has perfected his creating ability and grammatically expose all kinds from the scams to their complete extent.
Though this book is an FBI vs a Nigerian Kingpin story, the tempo as well as the gradual plots in the novel thoroughly expose the core formations of your Nigeria frauds in contrast to in no way in advance of, and in an extremely graphical strategy for producing.

Right here could be the premise towards the 419 Caper:

San Francisco Police undercover detective officer James White is a committed lawman gentleman of twelve a long time. He is the most effective undercover detective San Francisco has ever had, but when supplied the chance to take out essentially the most infamous kingpin on this planet and make himself instant thousands and thousands, James wouldnt wait. With Taye (the kingpin) now useless, all incriminating proof prospects to James as being the killer. The only challenge is, how can any one demonstrate his guilt, and whos good good enough to reveal his deep familiarity with the Nigerian criminal enterprise (the 419 hoaxes) that experienced by now ripped america of The us of billions of pounds?
Anybody can go through a cost-free preview of this e-book right here, http://tinyurl.com/953whup
This e book can be obtained for down load on Kindle and Nook keep.

paradonbooks
http://www.theproarticles.net/419-caper-artis-reed/

I'll get my credit card.
 
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LeslieB

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*whimpers*

My poor eyes. And brain. I think I broke them trying to decipher the gibberish in those two... articles? Word expectorations? They look like something that was run through several different languages in Babelfish then back to English.
 

JulieB

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Google that title and click through some of the articles. I don't think they're doing their authors any favors with the whole "article spinning" thing.
 

aliceshortcake

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I've been wondering if ParaDon's coyness regarding their exact location, other than somewhere on an industrial estate in Great Falls, Montana, is due to the fact the company has no physical existence and its P.O. Box number is nothing more than a mail drop. Yesterday I contacted the Great Falls official website (http://www.greatfallsmt.net) and asked if there really is such a business in the city. After all, ParaDon claims to have three locations and 75 employees - surely a local business of this size must be licenced or registered? Here's the reply I received this morning from Carol Hollern of the Planning and Community Development Department:

I have researched the City of Great Falls data base and do NOT find a business by the name of ParaDon Books Publishing ever holding a City of Great Falls License.

I also e-mailed Korede Abayomi, who denied being the ower of ParaDon and added for good measure that

Your research is none of my concern.

So it must be pure coincidence that ParaDon's website is designed by www.webdvloper.com, a company of which Mr Abayomi is a part-owner and whose website features some familiar verbal tics:

We work on a first come first serve bases
http://www.webdvloper.com/
 
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aliceshortcake

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FAO the person who removed the words "website designed by www.webdvloper.com" from the bottom of every page of ParaDon's website: you missed something! And I've got a screencap of it!
 
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