Monday, July 20, 2020

Blasted Wretches

On Pub-Leechers and their sickening ilk... 

(as seen on reputable service website 
-they're on our side, literati- 

PHILIPPINES-BASED PUBLISHING & MARKETING SCAMS 

TARGETING INDIE AUTHORS

- Access Media Group (aka Quill Space Media)
- Ace Media Creative Publication / Ace Media International / APM Media Production (aka Pearson Media Groups)
- ADBook Press (aka Coffee Press)
- Alpha Books Solutions
- Alpha Books United
- Amelia Publishing / Amelia Book Company (aka LitFire Publishing)
- AnalytIQ
- Ascribed LLC (defunct)
- Author Codex (aka Bookspine Press)
- Author Media Express (aka Book Art Press Solutions / Booktimes / Bookwhip / Carter Press / PRM Solutions / Window Press Club)
- Author Reputation Press
- Author University
- Author's Note 360
- AuthorAide
- AuthorCentrix (formerly BookBlastPro)
- AuthorLair
- Authors Press (aka Westwood Books Publishing)
- Beacon Books Agency
- Black Lacquer Press & Marketing
- BooConn Marketing
- Book Agency Plus (aka BookTrail Agency)
- Book Art Press Solutions (aka Author Media Express / Booktimes / Bookwhip / Carter Press / PRM Solutions / Window Press Club)
- Book Avenue Publishing (aka Nivra Press)
- Book Magnets
- Book Reads Publishing (defunct)
- Books Scribe
- Book Vine Press
- BookSpine Press (aka Author Codex)
- Booktimes (aka Author Media Express / Book Art Press / Bookwhip / Carter Press / PRM Solutions / Window Press Club)
- BookTrail Agency (aka Book Agency Plus)
- BookVenture Publishing
- BookWhip (aka Author Media Express / Book Art Press Solutions / Booktimes / Carter Press / PRM Solutions / Window Press Club)
- Box Office Media Creatives (aka Buzz Media Creatives)
- Bright Lights Distribution
- Buzz Media Creatives (aka Box Office Media Creatives)
- Capstone Media Services (defunct)
- Carter Press (aka Bookwhip / PRM Solutions)
- Chapters Media & Advertising (aka Techbooks Media)
- Coffee Press (aka ADBook Press)
- Conquer Press Publishing
- Creative Titles Media (aka TrueMedia Creatives)
- Crest Media Distribution
- DC Media Creative- Diamond Media Press
- Dream Books Distribution- EC Publishing
- Editor's Creative Media (aka Editor's Press and Media)
- Editor's Press and Media (aka Editor's Creative Media)
- Global Summit House
- Gold Touch Press
- Golden Ink Media Services
- Goldman Agency
- GoToPublish (aka Litfire Publishing)
- Green Sage Agency
- Happy Media Consulting
- Haynes Media Group
- IdeoPage Press Solutions (aka The Writer Central)
- Legaia Books
- Lettra Press
- LitFire Publishing (aka Amelia Publishing / Amelia Book Company / GoToPublish)
- Maple Leaf Publishing
- MatchStick Literary
- McNaughton Books / McNaughton Publishing (website is dead)
- The Mulberry Books
- Netsfilm & Media Press
- New Leaf Media
- New Reader Media
- Nivra Press (aka Book Avenue Publishing)
- Okir Publishing (defunct) (still doing business as ADbook Press / Coffee Press)
- Outstrip (defunct)
- PRM Solutions LLC (aka Author Media Express / Book Art Press Solutions / Booktimes / Bookwhip / Carter Press / PRM Solutions / Window Press Club)
- Pacific Books
- PageClapp Media
- PageTurner, Press and Media
- PaperChase Solution
- Paradigm Print
- Paramount Books Media
- Parchment Global Publishing
- Pearson Media Groups (aka Ace Media Creative Publication / Ace Media International)
- Press To Impress Publishing
- Pubkits.com
- Quill Space Media (aka Access Media Group
- Readers Magnet
- Royale House (defunct)
- Rushmore Press
- Sherlock Press (defunct)
- Silver Fox Media
- SPARK Literary and Marketing
- Stampa / Stampa Global (formerly Capstone Media Services)
- Stonewall Press (formerly Uirtus Solutions) (defunct)
- Stratton Press
- Techbooks Media (aka Chapters Media & Advertising
- Toplink Publishing
- True Media Creatives (aka Creative Titles Media)
- Universal Book Solutions
- URLink Print and Media
- VHawk Solutions
- Vivlio Hill / Vivlio Hill Publishing / Vivlio Solutions / Vivlio Marketing Solutions
- WestPoint Print and Media
- WorkBook Press
- Westwood Books Publishing (formerly Greenberry Publishing) (aka Authors Press)
- Window Press Club (aka Author Media Express / Author Media Express / Book Art Press Solutions / Book times / Bookwhip / Carter Press / PRM Solutions) - The Writer Central (aka IdeoPage Press Solutions)
- Writers Desks LLC
- The Writers Gallery
- YourOnlinePublicist
- Zeta Publishing
... 

And we all have got the feeling that this is but 
a partial list indeed - one that needs updating, like, 
on a very regular basis... eh 










... and that all of these scammers slither out of the Philippines 
is not all that surprising either (Nigeria specializes 
in different scams altogether...) 
Their elected pres is but an oaf, a pawn of the former 
dictator's remnants of a regime (son, daughter; 
cuckolded many-times-over wicked widow) 
whose name has become synonymous with scam
Corruption runs rampant in that part of the world 
-as it does in other, less spoken about, parts too- 
so why not this particularly pungent corner of the globe 
being the one chosen as earthly kingdom 
of that odious species - the publeecher


More power to you, honest Filipino vice-president 
(Leni Robredo) and Senator Pimentel 
who are among the few beacons of hope 
for this much-maligned nation. 
*Much courage to them.*




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Saturday, May 09, 2020

On Some DICS...

...for it is not as if you were 
given the Divine Right 
and Sole Anointing 
to do so 
ad nauseam 
until the End of Time now 
~ is it??? 


...but on another tangent now...


It would be downright criminal (...) to forego 
the chance to win a freebie - even when it is given away 
by a wretched site that leeches off criminale 
like there was no tomorrow; 
all the while showing not an ounce of shame 
nor restraint for that matter! 

And the last drop is when these petty criminals 
dare to bash the show that had tons of dash ~ 
as if their drivel was any better... HA. 
We'll take your free stuff, CrimeReads; 
we'll take all the tote bags and all the freebies 
that you have to give... but you will never have 
our subscriptions ~ nor our money!!!

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Saturday, February 29, 2020

Miserable Wretches

We have quotables - 
and we have unquotables; 
AND DON'T YOU DARE 
UNDERLINE IN RED 
EITHER ONE OF THOSE, 
BLOGGER! 
AUTO-CORRECT! 
ANYBODY!!! 
No - I am not in the MOOD...! 

On this date, 
so unique because we only have it 
every now and then... duh... 
let us give exceptional 
exposure (as in denounce, 
indeed) to the latter: 
the unquotable... 









... all proven 
WRONG. 

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Sunday, March 03, 2019

Test *This*...!!!

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000


Oh, rrrrrrrrrreally...

I'm sort of turning into a Literati Houdini here, now - 
not that I can pull a Best Seller out of my Hat yet 
(alas - I still can't... *sob*) 
however, just like Harry did, lo, some time ago, 
I take Lord Knows copious amounts of Time 
(still, not all that much - and not enough, for sure!) 
to ferret out and expose various suspicious schemes 
(not to call them scams, out right!) 
out there, in full view of one and all... 
Plenty of fish in the sea, eh? 
For now, folks - for now! 
(And that's... another sad story right there.) 
Harry exposed fake mediums - 
even though he firmly believed...! 
I'll carry on in the spirit of this crusade, here, 
lambasting and virtually tarring and feathering 
the most suspicious pub-leech-ers 
and preditors out there - everywhere! 



YOU GOING DOWN... BOOKERS! 

You've been warned! 

















Okay - that last one doesn't really count here... 


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Saturday, February 09, 2019

Midnight Struck!


WARNING! 

What follows may be a lure... a snare... A TRAP! 
The bait is the mirrored opportunity of potential gain 
flashing before your eyes like an ephemeral dream! 
The appeal may be prove to be impossible to resist. 
YOU HAVE BEEN DULY WARNED... 





^^^^^^

Verily, the only thing missing here 
is a curvaceous sales rep 
to seal the deal...!!! 
As routinely seen in almost 
any other advert... 
Somebody like this: 



Hmm... NOT a good example there; at all. 
Torrie Wilson, of WCW and WWE ''fame'' 
has never been known for her brains,  
lit wit or culture, I am afraid... 
But you get the idea!

May it not be just another New York Minute 
as far as ''NYCMidnight'' goes...







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Friday, November 30, 2018

On Stanley Himself...

Stan Lee has passed away and all of comicsdom is in mourning. 



The term ''comicsdom'' never made any sense whatsoever - of course; my using it does not mean I condone it! ''Comics'' implies comedy - yet there has never been a real focus on it; not anymore, not since the 1970s, perhaps...! Comics or comic-books were called as such because they were primarily funny animal, cartoony things - in their early days. They were the simplest form of amusement. The term has been replaced, anyway - it has become FANDOM; and it adheres more strictly to FILMS now, as comic-book creatives themselves have shifted focus, considerably, from their actual niche to viewing themselves as full-fledged Hollywood people...! Publishers DC and Marvel have since relocated their offices from New York to Tinseltown. Stan Lee himself was seeing himself, in his twilight years, as a Hollywood consultant and executive producer - that says it all, does it not?




Now that we got all that baggage out of the way - this: Bill Maher, radical TV personality that he is, never hesitates to call a spade by its name. He will fearlessly tackle any politician there is - Trump, most of all, these days... Why would anyone be surprised he would be bashing Stan Lee now? 

Hell... I'll bash Stan Lee now too! 

But not for the same reasons Maher did - oh, no! 

Some feel as though Bill is biting the hand that fed him - because he made one tiny cameo in one of the damnable Marvel movies. BIG EFFIN' DEAL. Just like Garry Shandling, for example, Bill Maher was asked to appear and basically be himself - just as he is in real life (isn't that his tribune's title, too: Real Life With Bill Maher? Whatever!) but within the context of the wildly unrealistic ''Marvel Cinematic Universe'' which has been made wildly successful by sheer out of control fandom support alone! Well... Boo-hoo now, that all the Marvel Zombies out there fail to realize that, those cameos are there just to help the impossible freaks that their favorite characters are become... borderline more relatable to the real world indeed. BORDERLINE - because it can never be achieved without massive doses of suspension of disbelief - and comic relief, too. Hence, maybe, the term ''comicsdom'' is justified, even in 2018 after all... Comedy it is! But that's another story!  

Bill bashes Stan's LEGACY - which may well be to drive Hollywood completely bankrupt if the world keeps revolving around the sun - long term! (Cameron and Foster think so, too...!) 

Me... I bash Stan Lee's PHILOSOPHY. Not the core message - but its deep, inherent, totally insufferable contradiction!

Both of us make total complete abstraction of the well-known fact that Stan was a glory hound - he got credit - and took it, also- when credit was due to his collaborators: Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Buscema to name but a few... It was ''Stan Lee Presents'' all those years - when, in fact, he would simply insert some witty repartee (and it was not even witty, sometimes!) onto pre-existing artwork, detailed panel-by-panel stories already all done, really - it only missed some dialogue. For that is, and it was so admitted by all involved in the process, the ''Marvel Way'' of creating comics...

Originally, this ciphering and usurping propelled Stan onto the main spot, on top of the hill - but it was not enough for Stan Lieber, initially, thought of himself as doing this ''just for a while'' until he could launch his ''real writing career''...

And, now that he has passed, people will latch on to the basic message his stories appeared to be telling: FIGHT EVIL... but that came with a warped view of just how it could be done and, ultimately, it led to the widespread desensitization that we can witness now, in all audiences, of all ages and creeds - practically...




PAUL OF TARSUS 
said it best: 

GOOD OVERCOMES EVIL 

BY BEING GOOD 

Stan "the man" Lee 
never seemed to even know that... 


and none of those super-heroes ever did, either. 


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Thursday, November 01, 2018

NAD TO THE BONE!

Today is, first and foremost, 
ALL-SAINTS DAY

but wouldn't you know that, 
in some preditor's war room, somewhere, 
somewhen, there came a day when 
they had the most brilliant idea... 
(It must have been a pub-leecher's idea - 
but we digress here...) 
And that idea was to make that 
holiest -on a human level- of days 
coincide with... 

A SPECIAL DAY IN HONOR 
OF THEIR PUBLISHED 
(or, quite simply, pet
AUTHORS! 

AND SO WAS BORN 
NATIONAL
AUTHORS' DAY!


 Yay...! 

Of course, every author who has ever... 
well, authored... has got the sacrosanct right 
to be read... at the very least! 
(And that is when they are either critiqued 
-mercilessly- 
or appraised, lauded, elevated, 
praised and even revered 
- becoming like unto gods of literature, for some. 
Now this latter bunch is often thought of as 
the sheepish readership - but let us not 
get into that sordid aspect right now. 
Suffice it to overstate: there are writers 
and there are readers - both need to be.  
It is like in many other artistic ventures, though: 
one man's (or woman's) treasure is another's 
garbage... or vice-versa! 
The exact same line 
-dialogue or descriptive narrative- 
can be dissected both ways, in a positive light 
or a less-than-tolerant manner; 
depending on a myriad things! 
And those things range from 
the critic's mood to the zeitgeist of the day 
(the spirit of the times - yes... sigh) 
to the pub-leecher's pocketbook... 
And yet... And yet... 
Anyone who commits to unveil 
but an iota of his or her innermost self 
in writ - for the world to peruse... 
at any time, in any place... 
be it in a tell-all, a blog, a blurb, 
or a time-honored piece of fiction... 
electronically or traditionally - 
deserves to be given a shot. 
He or she deserves to be considered, also, 
*an author*
YES! 
Whether that still goes for those that 
simply give free reign to their folly - 
"committing to paper" 
(e-books are coming) 
(coming on HARD!) 
every little crazy idea they've ever had 
(every HUGE maddening thought 
that has ever crossed their mind, TOO!) 
and passing that off as ART...? 
Whether that still goes for those 
swindlers and filibusters 
that plunder the classics of yesteryear 
as they do myths and lore 
for their premises, ideas and concepts 
that are then bastardized, sullied and 
run through the modern mud...?!? 
And whether that still goes for 
the frauds, the hacks, the skanks that 
permeate the upper echelons 
EVERYWHERE in this world...??? 

Well... What do you think? 


... rrrrright. 
"Magic"... huh? 
You mean like... Harry The Potter? 
Lestat (abandoned by Anne Rice - by God's Grace!) 
Or any number of delusional scribblings 
from this crazy Brit here: 


A master scrawler, rarely matched in sheer productivity - 
his rehashing (and retooling) of several myths and legends  
have captured many minions' imaginations... 
Poor sad souls - devoid of their own 
power to imagine - and see the unseen! 
So much so that they have got to rely 
on a scavenger of make-believe 
that further blurs the line between 
myth and actual fantastic legend... 
Vivement Le Brex-Lit...! 


The GaiMan's fellow Brit (a tragic Brit we ache for; her, not him!) 
actually exposed him decades before his birth! 
For if we truly are to judge his life, mind and SOUL 
from the blasphemous, heretic, outright satanic material he has produced 
over a number of years now, first in comic-bookies then in sad excuses 
for modern literature - there can be little doubt here.  


Tolstoy was another kind soul that tended to 
idealize and edify the collective contribution 
of all quills and fountain pens that ever were... 
What a wealth of wisdom
and kindness is expressively scattered
in the books of all peoples and times
- (L.N. Tolstoy)



Now, Alice -at least- is far more honest 
about the whole operation...! 


Charles... was brutally honest, too. 
Up to a point: 
he admits madness 
but then succumbs to the vanity of it all 
by pretending to hold some form of 
exclusivity... on the soul world. 


And Max... aw, Max... 
He showers himself and his craft 
with the greatest attributes of all: 
value, worthiness, nobility -  HOLINESS! 
All the while shunning but one thing -  
earthly, ephemeral glitz, in essence! 
Yet that is what he basks in the most!!! 
Lucado... is no Luminoso. 

We would rather turn to an Henry Miller, instead: 
at least, with him, it is strictly about 
the writing experience - 
everyday life, the struggle, 
the pain, frustration and sheer agony 
that comes with this vocation - and it all 
culminated with this right here: 
a borderline blasphemous wordsmith version 
of the ten commandments - with eleven of them! 
And we all routinely bypass the very first one...


About that eleventh one: 
it boggles the mind Henry restrained himself 
and did not add all those other activities 
he routinely indulged in, in excess: 
you know what we're thinking of here... 
His wife June. Booze. Anais Nin. More booze. 
Smokes. And even more booze! 
He had provisioned for it with number 7, 
of course - making this indeed ten, 
not eleven commandments at all! 
And all the more blasphemous! 



Very well then, Barbara: 
let us catch another glimpse 
-a mere infinitesimal glimpse- 
of what that humanity is up to, 
in writ and in real, these days...





There it is, folks: 
pretty much (but not pretty at all) 
the entire bodacious body of work 
of the self-proclaimed literati "K-FLEX" here; 
she who did not hesitate to call these titles 
"classic books" that "all should get" 
on this auspicious day, 
National Authors' Day! 
NAD... I say! 


Another author who followed the age-old wisdom 
that dictates that each author should stick to 
one simple thing: "write what he knows"...  
Crusoe Dachshund is, at least, a NY Times best-selling writer 
- unlike Tariq Nasheed there... 
CD's success could be attributed to a variety 
of factors, though - none having any true literary merit. 


Vanda Denton 
is an author, true-and-true; 
and here she exemplifies perfectly well 
what a solitary journey, through and through, 
(even after publication...) the writer's life 
can and surely is meant to be... 


Others - such as David Walliams, represented here 
by an assortment of his odd-looking characters - 
will benefit from exposure, support, 
extraordinary back-up coming from 
not only pub-leechers but their cronies also - 
the pub-peddlers and other swindlers 
(can be Coles, might be Barnes & Noble too; 
Chapters... Powell's of Portlandia... Strand... 
Libreria Acqua Alta di Venice... etc!)
and, emboldened by this unwavering support, 
 they will, quite simply... 
saturate the market. 

Great going, scribes - 
pretending to give encouragement 
after that to all the neophyte 
and fledgling wordsmiths 
that are coming out of the woodwork 
will only seem like... 
patronizing hypocrisy 
- perhaps condescending too! 


No one - absolutely NO ONE - will ever be as sincere 
kind and genuine as RAY: 
you are sorely missed, Mr. Bradbury! 
You truly cared for your readers, the world at large 
and the eventual few that would follow in your footsteps. 
Science-fiction writers tend to be like that: 
they write material that warns about impending doom, 
foretelling of humanity's many mistakes, 
trying to prevent them - after all, it's a public service. 
They didn't listen much to H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, 
but more and more are heeding the words of Ray Bradbury. 
*Everybody loves Ray*

We all hope so, Diane...




For the occasion (need we remind you: 
it's NATIONAL AUTHORS' DAY - duh!) 
Westminster Abbey shared, via their Twitter, 
this shot of the memorial 
they dedicated to Mary Ann; 
not Gilligan's Mary Ann but *the* Mary Ann 
EVANS  a.k.a. "George Eliot" 
she who took the name of a man 
in order to author what is considered 
by some, as the finest literature 
in the 19th Century... 
And she did so in a time when it was 
truly necessary to do so; 
unlike JKR and her "Robert Whatsisname" 
that were, basically, but a vanity project... 
again

Think that's mean? 
Think again! And again and again! 
THIS is mean: 


excerpt from Creative Mischief by Dave Trott 

Somebody on Twitter found nothing better 
than THAT (above) to share 
on this "Authors' Day"... hurray, eh? 
Meanwhile, noted pub-leechers 
seized the opportunity 
(much like "K-FLEX" earlier...) 
to blow their own horn 
and flaunt their stable 
of under-contract scribes...
One example: 
HAYMARKET BOOKS.


Wow - only 3 guys... and six women! 
Seventh is up for debate... 
But anyway! 
WOW! 
How is that for turning the table on the male-dominated 
age-old tendencies... HUH? 
The publishing house's name, however, 
still makes us think of THIS: 


Nice - but not quite prestigious, hmm? 


Condé Nast Traveler 
palliates to that, no worry: 
it suggested that every single 
bookworm, book lover 
and author groupie 
follow their passion to the extreme - 
no, not by stalking the author 
but rather by visiting 
several luxurious libraries 
all over the world...! 



I don't know, folks... 
None of those places will ever match 
the power of true imagination; 
luminous imagination! 
No book ever published, already there 
collecting dust in those shelves 
will ever satiate your thirst, in truth... 
It is not that I advise against reading 
or condone any anti-book rhetoric - no! 
The best way to sell you on this 
is by showing you an example of it: 
unbound but luminous imagination, 
the kind that does not pervert ideals or ideas. 
The type of thing that inspired 
this artwork, by Yerka: 
imagining a luminous place 
the ultimate public library...  



And yes, of course - 
even the worst of books 
will open up worlds of wonder 
for its readers... 
The only question left to ponder then 
is whether any of those worlds, 
portals, doorways, dimensions 
were truly worth exploring 
in the first place...? 



And what have you neglected 
in the real world 
while indulging away 
in the one some wordsmith 
you do not even know 
fabricated for his or her own 
profit... glory... vain aspirations?
Hmm?

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