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[Publicity] Publishing Push

Gillhoughly

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Three testimonials, one from a writer with sales rankings at the 1 million and 6 million mark. I'm underwhelmed.

The other writer has several books and states his weekly sales tripled. If he sells 2 books a week and bumps to 6, that's just not getting the job done.

They don't mention how much any of this marketing costs, which is not a confidence builder.

The opening page uses a lot of impressive marketing terms which is (to me) code for BS.

Backing away and not making eye contact. Getting books to reviewers is the publisher's job, and if you're an indie, there are no cost venues available to pimp your book.
 

Robert_Black

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I can share my experience of Publishing Push with you.

I was contacted via my Twitter account by Patrick Walsh of Publishing Push.

I clicked on how can we help? on their website and was contacted quite enthusiastically by Patrick. We had a nice frank discussion and he agreed to send me a quote for three books.

When I got the quote it included updating the cover designs but this was quite expensive and I asked him if I could just go with the marketing and promotion package as I was relatively happy with my cover designs. He said that was no problem.

He sent me a proposal package and I paid him around 330 pounds for three books. He then said his assistant would contact me to ask me questions for my media articles.

Once I opened a Gmail account he sent me a spread sheet with a long list of literary bloggers and reviewers, with their Twitter accounts.

That was around the middle of May.

Nothing happened.

I contacted him, and asked him for an update as to progress, and queried why his assistant had not contacted me.

He replied saying that his assistant had died suddenly, and that he and his staff were behind because of this.

I said I was sorry to hear that and that I would patiently wait for an update as to progress.

In the meantime I got a very good review for one of the books and sent it to him on the basis that he could use it. He said he would definitely utilize it.

More delays, nothing happened.

Finally I suggested that he give me a refund.

He declined this, saying that the reason my book sales had not increased at all was because the covers were not of a high enough standard, and asked whether I would like to pay the extra to get these done. I pointed out to him that one of the covers had been supplied by a reputable publisher.

Fortunately I have a legal background and lived quite close to where he is based.

I said I would probably need to sue him for my money back, or invited him to send to me evidence of any of his attendances.

He replied by saying that he would refund me half of my money immediately and then proposed to resend the press release out to his close database of reviewers and that I could view the report which was produced from this.

A review did appear from a blogger for one of the books but it was pretty unfavorable to my book but gave a very nice plug for Publishing Push which made me smile:

[CONTENT REMOVED IN RESPONSE TO DMCA TAKE-DOWN DEMAND]

I was quite happy she did not mention the cover design!

I have no idea whether he used the 4.5 review of the same book which I sent him.

Whether this is worth over 160 pounds, I am not sure, but to date my book sales have not increased at all since hiring Publishing Push.

In my view, it is possible that he can promote non-fiction but for non-mainstream fiction (which he was aware the three books were) I think people would need to hire him on a commission basis, as then he would have an incentive to actually increase sales.
 
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Publishing Push

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Publishing Professionals Focusing on Promotion

We are Publishing Push and have been working in the publishing industry for nearly 4 years. We wanted to create a profile here and engage with other publishing professionals and authors.

You can read more about us here and see many of the articles we have written: http://publishingpush.com/blog/

Looking forward to meeting many of you :D
 

regdog

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MacAllister

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I received this email, this morning:
--------ORIGINAL NOTE-----------
Subject:Subject: DMCA-CASE#70846 - Notice of Unauthorized Use
From: REDACTED
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2016 19:46:29 +0000
To: REDACTED

Dear Sir or Madam:

Publishing Push LTD swears under penalty of perjury that Publishing Push LTD has authorized DMCA.com to act as its non-exclusive agent for copyright infringement notification. DMCA.com's search of the protocol listed below has detected infringements of Publishing Push LTD copyright interests on a website hosted by you, as detailed in the below report.
DMCA.com has reasonable good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of in the below report is not authorized by Publishing Push LTD, its agents, or the law. The information provided herein is accurate to the best of our knowledge. Therefore, this letter is an official notification to effect removal of the detected infringement listed in the below report. The below documentation specifies the exact location of the infringement.
We hereby request that you immediately remove or block access to the infringing material, as specified in the copyright laws, and insure the user refrains from using or sharing with others unauthorized Publishing Push LTD materials in the future (see, 17 U.S.C. 512). Additionally, we request that the removed link state the following: This content has been removed due to infringement.
Further, we believe that the entire Internet community benefits when these matters are resolved cooperatively. We urge you to take immediate action to stop this infringing. We appreciate your efforts toward this common goal.
Please send us a prompt response indicating the actions you have taken to resolve this matter, making sure to reference the Notice ID number above in your response.
Nothing in this letter shall serve as a waiver of any rights or remedies of Publishing Push LTD with respect to the alleged infringement, all of which are expressly reserved. Should you need to contact me, I may be reached at the below address.
The information provided herein this notification is accurate and under penalty of perjury the Complaining Party, Publishing Push LTD is the owner or is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
Evidentiary Information:

Notice ID: DMCA-CASE#70846

Protocol: Web

Infringers IP Address: 184.168.82.237

Infringed Work: https://abookandtea.wordpress.com/2015/08/07/the-fake-celebrity-in-china-by-robert-black/

Infringing URL: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?305284-Publicity-Publishing-Push
Explanation:

Here is the infringing text that was taken without permission from the owner of ABookAndTea Blog.

"<REDACTED>"
Date Posted:04/22/2016 4:02:24 PM
Regards,

<name redacted>

DMCA.com - on behalf of Publishing Push LTD

I've removed the disputed content, of course -- but have real questions about whether and how Publishing Push has any legal standing to file take-down notices on behalf of an ostensibly independent review blog.

Note this phrase:
The information provided herein this notification is accurate and under penalty of perjury the Complaining Party, Publishing Push LTD is the owner or is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. <emphasis added>
 
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Richard White

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So, as an interested observer (and a trained analyst), I would derive the conclusion that this "independent" blog is probably supported by, if not owned by, Publishing Push to give them any standing for a DCMA request.

Secondly, it would seem quite interesting that the same said "independent" blog would even mention the promoter of the book, much less say good things about them if indeed they did disparage the book as noted in the original post. One would normally assume if the book fails to meet certain standards, an "independent" reviewer would also call the promoter into question for sending them said book and perhaps wonder if it was not indicative of the lack of judgement on the promoter - in other words, can this promoter tell good books from bad books or are they, in fact, just mailing stuff out blindly and pocketing the money from their clients?

So, when I analyze this situation, I'm inclined to believe this "independent" reviewer is not quite as independent as they appear on first blush and there's a high probability they are aligned with, if not actually run by, said promoting company.

YMMV
 

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So, as an interested observer (and a trained analyst), I would derive the conclusion that this "independent" blog is probably supported by, if not owned by, Publishing Push to give them any standing for a DCMA request.

Secondly, it would seem quite interesting that the same said "independent" blog would even mention the promoter of the book, much less say good things about them if indeed they did disparage the book as noted in the original post. One would normally assume if the book fails to meet certain standards, an "independent" reviewer would also call the promoter into question for sending them said book and perhaps wonder if it was not indicative of the lack of judgement on the promoter - in other words, can this promoter tell good books from bad books or are they, in fact, just mailing stuff out blindly and pocketing the money from their clients?

So, when I analyze this situation, I'm inclined to believe this "independent" reviewer is not quite as independent as they appear on first blush and there's a high probability they are aligned with, if not actually run by, said promoting company.

YMMV

I think this is jumping to conclusions.
 

Filigree

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As per Filigree's Rule, I'm jumping to the conclusion that I will ignore any publisher/agency/marketing service from the moment I see them threaten legal action of this sort. This reads more like a threat of a SLAPP suit than a legitimate DCMA request. Between the legal posturing and the potential conflict-of-interest/potential sockpuppetry, that's enough to make me walk away and not look back.

Others' mileage can and will vary.
 

James D. Macdonald

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The format of the book-blog that was quoted seems to have, as its standard first paragraph of each review, something on the order of:

Thank you to {Entity} for sending me a copy of {title of book} to read and review. {Entity} is a {brief description}.

I suspect the second sentence in each such paragraph was provided by the {Entity}. The only copyright claim that {Entity} could conceivably exert, IMO, would be to that {brief description}.

Further note: The blog has been running for years, and has reviewed books from a wide variety of sources.
 
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MacAllister

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So, for the record, we've contacted the blogger in question (who is also now a member of AW and seems to be a lovely, thoughtful, and courteous person) and she has indicated that Publishing Push is in NO WAY a copyright owner or representative of her blog, and does not have any legal standing to send DMCA take-downs on behalf of her, or anything posted on her blog.

In other words, Publishing Push has apparently committed perjury by filing a false and fraudulent DMCA take-down notice, should the blogger decide to pursue a complaint. We WILL be forwarding that information to the service that Publishing Push contracted to issue the DMCA take-down.

There are sometimes automatic damages associated with doing that sort of thing, by the way, should we decide to pursue a complaint against Publishing Push.

As to whether or not the blogger is writing to a template in her first paragraph, so what if she is? That's actually smart and efficient, in terms of all sorts of data-management practicalities.

But regardless of all that -- Publishing Push is quite definitely a company I personally wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.

If anyone needs to add anything new or relevant regarding this publisher, please PM either Caopaux, AW Admin or myself to unlock the thread, at that point.
 
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MacAllister

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Actually, because I'm pretty pissed off right now, and Publishing Push HAS a registered account on AW that they've already used to post in this thread, I'm going to re-open this thread and I'll be sitting right here, holding my breath, anxiously awaiting a response from Publishing Push regarding whether or not they have ANY legal standing to send me DMCA copyright take-down demands on behalf of a blogger who has said point blank they have NO SUCH standing.

So exactly what DO you have to say about this situation, Publishing Push?
 
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zanzjan

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(waves hello and welcome to our new-member blogger)
 

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The blogger in question seems to be someone who truly loves books, and reviews honestly and ethically. I would absolutely send her a book I thought she might be interested in reviewing, if she were currently reviewing. She's a thoughtful reviewer.

Publishing Push has clearly demonstrated that they're copyright trolls, frauds, and perfectly willing to hijack the copyrights of bloggers.

Publishing Push is apparently attempting to exploit the blogger, and the review for their own benefit.

This is a comprehensive introduction to responding to a bullshit DMCA Takedown like the one from Publishing Push.

For the record, you're better off directly contacting bloggers, or using GoodReads, or LibraryThing any any legit service like BookBub, than a Publishing Push. They're not really comme au fait with respect to book promotion.

I'm the DMCA officer for AW. I've been a DMCA officer for much larger and more recognizable institutions than our beloved community.

Publishing Push is so exceedingly clueless and unprofessional that they didn't contact us first.

They went to our ISP.

Publishing Push are malicious copyright trolls.

This is one of the most egregious, obvious, and fraudulent claims I've seen.

And I've been responding to DMCA takedowns since 2000.

I would cross the street to avoid Publishing Push.
 
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Filigree

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Wow. First off, hello to our new member, and my deepest apologies for including her site in my assessment of Publishing Push. I was wrong, I understand that, and I've been having fun reading her very balanced and thoughtful reviews.

Second: Publishing Push has earned its very own post in my 'Filigree's Rule' blog section, where I discuss ways to spot incompetent and/or predatory publishers, literary agents, editors, publicity specialists, and other publishing 'professionals'. Congratulations. Added: update at post #33 of Filigree's Rule Criteria.
 
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FluffBunny

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Sorry to be late to the party, but I'm curious about PP's statement, "We are Publishing Push and have been working in the publishing industry for nearly 4 years." According to Companies House, Publishing Push was incorporated June 17, 2014--that's less than two years ago, by my reckoning. True it is that the director has two other businesses listed, but neither appear to have anything to do with the publishing industry. One business, also founded in 2014 and dissolved in January of this year, merely states that the nature of the business is, "to be provided on next annual return". The other has, "other sports activities" listed as its primary thrust. Where's the other two years? All info from here - https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/09090034
 

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Publishing Push https://twitter.com/PublishingPush on Twitter has blocked MacAllister, and is retweeting a hate blog set up by trolls who find the concept of pen names difficult to understand.
 

Filigree

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No, they're doing PR circa 2009, in the vein of many other 'reputation management' companies: scour the internet for negative press, then threaten/cajole/obfuscate/concern troll it down into the search engine ranks. It's still being done that way today (often by political parties and PACs), but the SLAPP suit and DMCA aspect can and has backfired terribly in some companies' faces. The PP social media feed does have some cool things about modern PR...mostly from other sources. They may be good at their job, but the slip-up about the DMCA take-down removed them from my consideration.

As per Filigree's Rule, I will no longer expend energy caring about them, or their future clients.
 

FluffBunny

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The only officer listed for the company is Patrick Walsh, Director. He appears to have a page up on Reedsy, a website I'd not seen before. He states that he's "...had the privilege of working with many large publishing houses" as a consultant, but leaves them unnamed. He also fails to name the "established authors" he's worked with. He states that he's been "featured" by JaneFriedman.com (which appears to be another author PR outfit) and Digital Book World (which appears to be an online magazine aimed at PR for digital works). Site may be seen here - https://reedsy.com/patrick-walsh

ETA: LinkedIn profile for the company is here - https://www.linkedin.com/company/publishing-push
Company director had, at some time or other, a profile at LinkedIn, but has since either deleted it or made it private. Due to LI's norobots.txt habits, there's no cache in either Google or the Wayback Machine, just a tantalizing fragment on the Google search.

*resumes rabbity digging habits*
 
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Twick

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So where exactly would one report someone for perjury in a DMCA claim?