Due Process

If you’re an author that’s discovered that your small/indie publisher has been stealing your royalties. You’ve asked your publisher for answers, but received only abuse and misdirection, even outright lies. What can you do?

Your first instinct might be to call the police and turn them in. And it’s a good one. But there are steps you should probably take first. That way, when you do make those calls, you’re prepared with the information they’re probably going to ask for.

“How much did they steal?” Is probably going to be the first thing they want to know if you’re reporting your publisher for stealing royalties.  That’s a good question. And you can answer it.

If your publisher was skimming your royalties, there’s a good chance that they did everything possible to keep you from finding out how much you really earned. Probably pretty effectively. And contacting Ingram, Createspace or Amazon wouldn’t help.  They would tell you to contact your publisher, Great lot of help that is, when your publisher is the problem in the first place.

But when you cut ties with that publisher, you gain back not only the rights to your work, but the right to find out about the history of your work. With your publisher out of the way, you now have direct access to Ingram, Createspace, Amazon, Smashwords and anywhere else your work was sold.

One thing those places will ask for is proof that you’re no longer with that publisher. It doesn’t have to be any formal release, as your publisher might have you believe.  Any declaration that you can prove will suffice. If you’ve got an email or text message where you told your publisher that it was over, that’ll do. Have it handy for when they ask for it.

Make a list of all the places where your book was sold and contact them one by one.
Amazon
Createspace
Ingram
Smashwords
Etc.

Tell them that you’re no longer with your publisher, and that you want to find out how many books you sold during the time that you were with them, and in the time since you left.

If they ask for proof that you’re not with that publisher anymore, provide it and repeat your request. You’ve left your publisher and you want to find out how many books you sold, while you were with them and since.

It’s important that you ask for both. How many they sold when you were with them, and how many have been sold since.

Then simply do the math. Take whatever figure they gave you for how many sales you made when you were with your publisher and compare them to how much you got paid. If you got paid at all.  If/when they don’t match up, you have a figure to give to the authorities.

If you discover that there have been sales of your title for which your publisher has been paid since the time you left (that you didn’t get paid for), that’s a whole new level. That’s not just theft. It’s also copyright violation as well as theft. Maybe even fraud, tax fraud, impersonation, identity theft. Maybe more than that.

Take whatever figures you’ve got and call your publisher’s local law enforcement. Call the police and file a report. Call the District Attorney. Call the attorney General. Talk to them about theft and provide the figures you got from those publishing and selling services. That gives them hard figures to work with.

One very important thing to remember is that different authorities handle specific issues. For example, the police, DA and AG will deal with the money you’re had stolen from you. That’s it. They don’t want to hear about the lies or abuse. They don’t want to hear it. All they handle is the strict business of numbers. If you can prove how much your publisher stole from you, that’s what they want to know.

When it comes to any potential acts of fraud, copyright infringement or piracy, that’s what you talk to the feds about.

Any personal injury that happened would be handled in a civil court. That would include lies, verbal abuse, damage to your reputation as a public figure resulting from lies (defamation), pain and suffering.

So be sure and organize your calls.

After you’ve talked to the police, DA and AG about theft, pick up the phone and talk to your publisher’s local office of the FBI and talk to them about copyright infringement and  the piracy of your work. If your publisher happens to be located in Texas, be sure and call the Texas Rangers as well, they handle everything from theft to fraud that takes place inside the Texas borders.

When that’s done, don’t forget to talk to the local IRS office in your publisher’s office and tell them about this income that your publisher has obtained illegally by stealing it from you. Whether your publisher has paid taxes on it or not, the IRS will be very interested.

Finally, consider talking to an attorney about filing a personal injury suit. If your former publisher insulted, abused or defamed you in any way, you can ask for damages as a result, as well as whatever money was stolen from you in the first place.

That’s a whole lot to process, but it’s just a matter of making a checklist and going through it. Ultimately, you’ll be clearing your good name and recovering what was stolen from you. You’ll be making sure that your publisher is held accountable for what he or she did to you. And you’ll be making sure the next author won’t have to go through the same thing.

You’ll be glad you did.

Cheat repeat

How many times have we heard Tabetha Jones say “I’ve made mistakes and I’ve learned from them as I grow, building my company,” or some such? She said it here more than once, and she’s said it many times before, to get the people she’s scamming to forgive her for the glitches that pop up. Including oopsies with her accounts that prevent them from getting paid. People, being kind and forgiving souls, are willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, while she laughs all the way to the bank. So which is she? A cold, calculating scam that’s steadily lying to author after author for as long as she can, putting their money in her pocket? Or a bumbling, kind-hearted business woman that’s just trying so hard to get it  right?

Let’s take a look at that.

Perhaps her favorite tactic is making up aliases to defend herself. She did it on Emily Suess’s blog back in 2012 when one of her former authors stepped forward to warn authors about getting scammed when Tabetha changed Mystic Press over to Phoenix Fire. I’m sorry to say that Emily subsequently took her blog down because she got sick of dealing with the unpleasantness. I can’t say I blame her. I get sick of having such an unstable scam artist invade my day in any way.

Tabetha did it on Cuss’s blog, too. Check out comments by KJohn on Cuss’s post titled Phoenix Fire Publishing – avoid it. Dear Cuss busted her on it.

Undaunted, Tabetha did it here, too, as recently as yesterday. Check out these posts titled Stripper Drama and The Stripper saga continues, from August of last year. First, she impersonates her favorite stripper, Draven (AKA Mr. Shadow – a name taken from his Gmail account, I believe). I guess she didn’t think anybody would actually ask him about it. They did. He confirmed that it was not he. Then she impersonated a whole SLEW of strippers to try to defend herself. When totally busted, she tried to blame the whole thing on some other Draven fan. A lame diversion attempt that didn’t work.

Are we seeing the pattern yet, folks?

Same thing with her lawyer. She’s been throwing those threats around for a long time. Check out dear Cuss’s blog from January of last year, titled “Months and nothing.” Tab posts under multiple ID’s on there, including at least two versions of her own, and encourages one of her employees to do the same, posing as a relative. Sound familiar? That’s another pattern she repeats: getting her supporters to make up fake names, to defend her with, too. Check out dear sweet Aunt Martha.

If only Emily S. hadn’t taken her blog down so that we could see those posts. That would show the pattern so clearly.

Good thing she put the blog back up, bless her. You can read the first post about Mystic Press becoming Phoenix Fire HERE. Be sure to read all the comments so that you can see all the names that show up to defend her.

And you can read Emily’s subsequent post HERE, where she proves that Tabetha Jones posted fake testimonials to back herself up on that first post. Those comments are interesting, too, including Tabetha’s threat, saying

Keep on lying about me and my company because the same will happen to you. You wan t to play dirty. You all want to play dirty, I have contacts and I can make sure you never publish again. No one will blick at your work. And this blog will be reported because you are bashing and slandering and lying about things you know nothing about. Calling my authors fake oh just wait. Your shit is about to get blown up because they wont take lightly to that. Again I have been civil about this and tried to be nice but now the botch comes out to play and none of you will like it.

Her typos, not mine.

That is the face of Tabetha Jones, a spiteful, hateful, vindictive person. Question her, demand hard answers about your work with her instead of swallowing her excuses whole. You’ll see it for yourself.

These are just a couple examples of how she repeats her behaviors, repeated over the course of two years now. Is she really that bumbling and inept? Or is it a pattern of behavior? You tell me.

Authors, models, editors and artists, do not be fooled by a fumbling, bumbling sob story. She hasn’t “made mistakes” that she’s “learned from” over time. It’s a pattern that she has no intention of correcting. As long as she can get you to buy her excuses, she’ll keep right on repeating the same actions that take money out of your pocket and put it in her own. Don’t let her.

Third party selling

Recently, former Mystic Press and Phoenix Fire authors have found copies of their books for sale on Amazon.com, ebay and other sources even though they’ve severed ties with Tabetha Jones. When confronted about it, Phoenix Fire Publishing owner Tabetha insists that third parties have access to the Ingram catalog, and that they’re the ones selling it. She’s not getting any money from those sales, she insists, so she therefore owes no money to the authors.

I just got off the phone with Ingram, and they assure me that nobody but the publisher can access my book through Ingram and sell it. Nobody. Period.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Here’s their customer support number:
615.793.5000
Enjoy.

Tabetha has also insisted that people should contact Amazon to ask THEM about their selling policies.

So I did that, too. What I found out is that if somebody has a copy of a book, they can list it. For example, if someone is given a copy of the book and they want to sell it, they can list it, making sure to put it in the proper condition category. New, like new, used, etc. So, of course, used books are allowed. That leaves a lot of leeway for sneaky, subversive sales to happen, and the author isn’t always aware of it.

There’s good news, though. If you’re an author that wants to eliminate the possibility of anybody besides yourself from selling your books, you can contact Amazon, and they will work with you to make sure you’re the only on that can sell your book. That way, no matter how slippery a former publisher is, you can make sure you’re the only one that can sell your book. No more “mysterious” third party sales that you don’t get paid for.
Here’s that number:
1 (888) 280-3321
When they answer, ask to be put through to seller support. They’ll take your information and let you know what you have to do to make sure you’re the only one that can sell your book. No former publishers, and no third party booksellers.

Have fun, kids.

The art of deception

Ahmed Shalaby is an graphic designer that contacted me through Facebook after reading my blog. He does book covers and photo manipulations. Unfortunately, he read the blog too late. He had already interacted with Tabetha jones in a work proposal. Ahmed was supposed to deliver 6 photo manipulations for $100 USD. Tabetha got the photos and posted them.
You might have seen these. Here are a few of them:

As usual for her, Tabetha promised him the moon, telling him how many people he’d meet and how much work he’d get.

Then, when it came time to pay for the photos, she wheeled an dealed, asking first if she could pay through Paypal,

and then gave some song and dance about sending through Western Union online, but forgot her info.


But Ahmed was game, even though Tabetha asked him to wait a few weeks.


This is a very familiar scenario. It’s the same way she tried to get out of paying Thea the money she’d promised, even after Thea kindly waited a number of weeks, maybe months for payment already.

Ahmed agreed. And waited.

On Oct 7th, Ahmed got in touch.
The first thing Tab did was point out that she was on the hook for a hefty surgery copay.

That’s the first red flag.

Tabetha pretended that she “misunderstood” the price, saying that she thought the photos were presented to her as an example of his work.

Out comes dodge number one, citing surgery for sympathy and the promise of more work.
Red flag number two:

Ahmed clarifies:


He got no answer.
This is about the time that he found this blog, and asked her abut it.

That went over like a lead balloon.
 

When pressed for payment, this was her reply:

She went on the offensive, saying that a man “of his background” couldn’t understand, calling him a jerk and accusing him of trying to get money out of her. Sooner or later, those true Tabetha colors shine through.

So, editors and artists, take heed. It’s not just authors that get swindled. There are editors from as far back as Mystic Press that never got paid, and that trend continues to this day.
It would be easy to excuse her faux pas as inexperience, but when the same pattern scans three years or more, it’s not hapless ineptitude, it’s a pattern.

Deal with Tabetha Jones and Phoenix Fire publishing at your peril.

Here’s Ahmed’s Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ahmed.shalaby.96

And his gallery on Deviantart:
http://ahmed-r-shalaby.deviantart.com/gallery/

He does really good work. I hope he gets jobs from a lot of honest new people in the near and immediate future. I know I’ll give him my work, for whatever that’s worth.

Silver Fang Publishing

In my quest to uncover questionable business practices of small publishers, I’ve come across Silver Fang Publishing. It’s a brand-spanking new publishing company, announced only today.

Actually, Silver Fang wasn’t that hard to find. Tabetha Jones announced it.
Silver Fang is the name of the new Phoenix Fire publishing company.

Now that it’s been undeniably and irrevocably PROVEN that Phoenix Fire publishing is a sham, Tabetha’s doing what she does best: She’s shifting it over to a new company.

Anybody surprised? Me neither. Only that it took this long.

When Mystic Press was reported to the TX state Attorney General, Mystic Press closed its doors and Phoenix Fire Publishing was “reborn from its ashes.” Tabetha will tell you she was going to do it anyway, because she inherited such a mess from Brandy and Wendy, but two years after taking over MP, the timing is a bit too coincidental, don’t you think?
Me too.

Well, to be technically accurate, Tabetha didn’t close anything. She just changed the name on the accounts from Mystic Press to Phoenix Fire. She said it herself. And I’m betting she’ll do exactly the same thing when she switches over from Phoenix Fire to Silver fang.

So now that there’s no crawling out from under the colossal failure she’s made of Phoenix Fire, Tabetha’s trying the same old tactic of switching names to a “new” company. And if the name Silver Fang publishing sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the name of the publishing company Sabrina wanted to start after splitting from Phoenix Fire.
Tabetha’s never-ending jealousy is showing of Sabrina is showing, again.

And best of all? Silver Fang claims to be an LLC too!

She just never learns, does she?

Here’s hoping her authors do.

Here’s a word to the wise for Phoenix Fire authors. When Tabetha “closed” Mystic Press, she didn’t pay a single one of those authors a penny she owed them. Not one, to this day. First, she claimed that Createspace had somehow frozen her paypal accounts, then said said that it was taking time to change the accounts over, buying as much time as she could with excuses. Then, when those ran out, she simply refused to pay, trash-talked the authors, calling them “Backstabbers and Liars” and waited them out until the statute of limitations ran out so they couldn’t come after her. That statute was flung around on this very blog just a few days ago by her associate.

Phoenix Fire authors, get ready for a battle. Not with me, but with your publisher. If Tabetha Jones stays true to form, she will not pay you. You’ll hear excuses and sob stories. She’ll explain why not paying you isn’t her fault and that she’s doing everything she can to fix it, and she’ll ask you to just PLEASE give her a little time. She might even tell you how tough things are for her and her sweet little girl financially and that she’s a victim of whatever reason her accounts are locked or frozen, and she’s barely holding on. She’ll play to your sympathy for her daughter. And then, when excuses run out, she’ll simply refuse to pay. She might ignore you or abuse you. Then, if she can, she’ll wait you out until the statute of limitations runs out on you, too.

What she WILL do is keep selling your books. Mystic Press authors found that their books were still listed for sale on Smashwords, Goodreads, Ebay, Amazon, etc, with Mystic Press still listed as the publisher, even though it was supposedly ‘closed.” Some of those authors STILL see their books for sale now and then.

If Tabetha tries to tell you that your contract “carries over” to the new company DON’T BELIEVE IT. That’s just not the way it works. When the company “closes” so does your contract. That’s a gift to you. That means that no matter what Tabetha says, you can TAKE YOUR WORK AND LEAVE. And don’t pay her a DIME to get out of your contract. There isn’t one. You can demand that she stop selling your work, including anything you’ve submitted for anthologies. And if she continues, you can report her to the BBB, and, most importantly, to the FBI for piracy, just like a few of her more recent authors are doing every time they see their title for sale now.

Merry Christmas, Phoenix Fire authors. You’ve just been handed your free walking papers. If you’re smart, you’ll use them FAST.

There is no Phoenix Fire LLC

Tabetha Jones insists that she can call up the website where it says that Phoenix Fire Publishingis an LLC “Quite easily” and chides us for being unable.

Here’s the link to the Texas Secretary of State searchable database of taxable entities, where it shows no Phoenix Fire publishing.

There are a few businesses that have the words Phoenix Fire in them, but unless Tabetha has started doing Security work, engineering or restoration, hers isn’t there.

Here’s the website for the Secretary of State in West Virginia’s searchable database for taxable legal entities, where there are ZERO results found with the words Phoenix Fire.

I don’t know what web site she’s looking at, but it’s neither one of the official ones that would actually prove that her company is legit. I guess we’ll have to keep on waiting for her to post that link.

To settle the matter once and for all, I called the Secretaries of State in both Texas and West Virginia. I asked several questions, the answers to which appear below:
1) How long after a business files does it take for an LLC to become official?
TX: After filing form 205 online, it takes 3-4 business days. Tax paperwork not included. If hard copy is snail mailed, maybe a week an a half.
Cost: $300.
WV: If it’s filed online, it’ll take 3 to four days, including tax stuff. If it’s mailed in, maybe a     week or week and a half, and that doesn’t include filing for tax stuff. That’s separate.
Cost: $100 to the Secretary of State’s office, and $30 for Taxes.

2) How long after that will an LLC appear in the taxable entity database?
TX:  It only takes a couple of days for the paperwork to be scanned and viewable.
WV: It’s immediate.

NOWHERE does it take months for any part of the process. Ever. For any reason.

3) Is it illegal for any company to advertise itself as being an LLC in your state without actually being one?
TX: She wasn’t sure about this one, but she doesn’t know of any businesses that do that. I mean, why would they?
WV: She wasn’t sure about this one. But she did say that if any business advertises themselves as an LLC without being one, they’re only hurting themselves, because if somebody sues them, they don’t have the protections of being an LLC. If anybody sues, it’s the owners that take the hit.
What I can tell you is that even if it doesn’t constitute a criminal offense (which is still in debate), any author, model, artist or consumer that’s been suckered in by a company falsely advertising itself as an LLC when it isn’t one can most definitely sue in civil court. And since the company isn’t the LLC it claims to be, it’s the owners that take the hit. If Tabetha’s name is on the paperwork, she takes the hit herself. If Jackie’s name is on the paperwork with or instead of Tabetha’s, well, then, it sucks to be her, doesn’t it?

4) And finally, has any company called Phoenix Fire Publishing filed to become an LLC in your state within the last 6 months?
TX: There are other businesses with the word ‘Phoenix Fire” in them, but no Phoenix Fire Publishing.
WV: Nope. There are NO BUSINESSES NAMED PHOENIX FIRE PUBLISHING in WV.

But don’t just take my word for it. Call the Secretaries of State yourself and ask them the same questions.
Texas: (512) 463-5555 There’s something of a wait time to talk to somebody, especially during peak business hours, and who you’ll get is luck of the draw. But they’ll answer any questions you’ve got.
West Virginia: (304) 558-6000 They’ll answer any questions you have.

Once and for all, PHOENIX FIRE PUBLISHING IS NOT AN LLC. Period.

Report Reminder

If you’ve been the victim of any crime perpetrated by Tabetha Jones and her bogus company, this is a reminder to file a complaint with the Texas Attorney General. Additional reports will strengthen reports against her they’re already investigating. You can file an online report or download the forms to fill out and mail in.
Report her to the FBI for piracy at the same time, HERE. Don’t let her slide for crimes she’s still committing to this day.

What can you file a complaint about? Piracy. That means you can report her for theft if she’s still selling your work even though you’re no longer associated with her or her company.

An example of that would be The Devil’s Pet Kitten, by Beth Wright, which is for sale on Amazon.com as of today, with Tabetha Jones displayed prominently in the listing and PF as the publisher, even though Beth parted ways with Tabetha a very long tie ago.

Or Through My Eyes by Cindy Franks White from 2013, also for sale on Amazon right now, with Phoenix Fire listed as the publisher.

Check those anthologies, too. Many (if not all) of the anthologies are listed for sale again, with publication dates from 2013 or earlier. The difference is that she’s removed all names except hers and/or alts. So if you contributed to an anthology through PF and are no longer associated with them, check those anthologies to make sure she’s not still putting your money in her pocket. Mostly, REPORT HER. The link to the Texas Attorney General, and to the FBI for piracy. You can call, report online, or write. Here’s how.

Don’t let other authors fall into her trap. Stop her.

The Plans…

Wink and nod to Ramsey:

From the Lake Fossil Press page on Facebook:

“Mary, like S.G. Cardin and Vicky were all introduced in Tabloid Purposes One. Of the three within this original roster — Mary will be billed as Mary Rose to keep the original integrity with this one. The Decade Treatment is going to have commentary on stories where the writers got published in bigger places as I reunited with members of the first book. Nickolaus Pacione here and I got the original RTF document to work with so that means thsi thing is going to get all the treatments that Tabloid Purposes IV got when I rebooted that. Mary was part of One, then re-joined on 3 and came with Cardin and Gary Starta on Tabloid: Book Five. Tabloid Purposes sequel for CreateSpace will have IV darkness with One’s original power. I guess Tabetha Jones couldn’t keep up with such a veteran roster — as all of us on Tabloid Purposes One are now veterans.”

Does this mean Ms Jones and Mr Pacione have parted company?

How will this affect the “plans” for her ‘company’ she’s been cooking up?
When you see what she’s been up to, you guys won’t know whether to laugh your ass off, roll your eyes, or throw up in the grass. Maybe all three.

Wait for it.

Midnight madness

Funny how Tabetha waits until the middle of the night to pull her shenanigans, when I’m not around to be the calm voice of reason.

Seems there was quite a tiff on my blog here late last night. Or early this morning, depending on how you want to look at it. First, she took a quick snipe at me about the links to those horrible pictures of hers, maybe to see if I was around. When I wasn’t, she lit in on Eric, who, I’m sorry to say, rose to the occasion. He held his own, though. So props to him for that.

I’m not going to get into the specifics of what was said because, really, it was just the two of them bickering over semantics, with Tabetha trying to be clever, and delighting in the fact that she got him to argue with her. Of interesting note is that Jacqueline chimed in to support Tabetha. After weeks, maybe months of telling everybody what a crook Tabetha is, and telling some tales out of school that Tabetha would probably rather she didn’t, buddying up to other former authors and trying her level best to wiggle her way into my confidence, she piped up in support of Tabetha.
Am I surprised? Not entirely. Tabetha’s been trying to get a mole inside my defenses for quite some time. I’m not quite stupid enough to trust somebody just because they turn on a dime and say “Oh, you’re right. Tabetha’s a thief. I hate her.” Sorry, but this old gal wasn’t born yesterday.
But here’s the real secret: I don’t have anything to hide. Except my phone number. Still didn’t get that, did ya Tabs? Why do you want it so badly, anyway? We can say whatever we want to right here. Judging by the number of times you drop by in a day, you certainly don’t have any problem finding the place.

No. The fact is that I say the same thing in private conversations as I do in public ones, because I’M NOT THE LIAR. So, sorry. She didn’t get any hot little tidbits that she can use against me. Just the truth. That doesn’t change no matter what sneaky little tricks she tries to play. And the truth is that she’s a scam, a fraud, and I can hardly wait for the day when it all catches up to her. And it will.

So Tabetha danced around the fire like a victorious little injun, thinking she put one over on us, and in a couple of cases, she did. Yet again, Tabetha used somebody else to do her dirty work, not caring who got caught in the crossfire, or who got hurt. That’s fine. She can celebrate, thinking she put one over on us. All it does is show how petty and small she really is. And by small, I mean insignificant.

I do have to say I’m severely disappointed in Jacqueline. She seemed like such a reasonable, likable person when we talked. But by doing Tabetha’s dirty work, she’s burning a few bridges that will never be mended. I hope she’s happy, betraying good people for the likes of Tabetha Jones. Because there’s no going back, and all she’s left with is a liar and a thief that used her to hurt people. I hope it was worth it.

I’m also disappointed to find out that she’s another mother that’s willing to expose herself and her child to a ranting psychopath with delusions of grandeur and a history of illiteracy, not to mention one of the worst reputations in publishing history. And the new guy they just signed on.

Eric, I was sorry to see you bantering back and forth with Tabetha, because in doing so, you gave her exactly what she wanted: your attention. And, by taking up so much space on my blog, mine. Poor insecure thing just can’t get through her day without it. How will she survive when they lock her up? My advice: If you really do have information that CPS should be aware of, don’t bicker with Tabetha about it. Just pick up the phone.

Tabetha can keep jumping around screeching “I’ll get you my pretty!” As if it’ll take the spotlight off of her own illegal crap. I’m sure Big Bertha will be amused by her lunatic ramblings in the deep dark nights in prison. Space isn’t the only place nobody hears you scream. And the nights in prison are long.
She’ll find out.

Homophobic

Tabetha recently announced that she’s all set to work with Nicklaus Pacione, an author/publisher whose infamous homophobic rants have gotten him black-listed from at least one publishing service and gotten him written up on even more blogs than her.

Tabetha has tried to publicly humiliate her ex by exposing him (with her typical vulgarity) for being bi. That blew up in her face because most folks don’t bat an eyelid about such things in this enlightened day and age, but it showed that she remains biased. That’s enforced by her renewed association with an adamant and professed homophobe.

If that’s the sort of association Tabetha wants to have in her life and in her “company” that’s her business. But how does it reflect upon her authors? Are they okay with being directly linked with a raging homophobe? Is that what they want linked to their work?

I know I wouldn’t.

Catch and release

I hear that Tabetha is still trying to tangle authors up in her ridiculous “release” procedure, negotiating with them about the terms of releasing their work since they’ve chosen to leave her. She’s hanging them up and refusing to give their work back until or unless they meet her demands and sign her paperwork.

I cannot stress it enough. Authors, you do not need to sign her release papers in order to get your work released. She doesn’t own your rights. She never did. You own your work, and if she refuses to give it back to you, it’s theft. DO NOT let her hang you up in any negotiations. Do not allow her to continue to exert any more power over you and your work. Demand it back under threat of legal action. And if she still refuses, follow through. Call her local police and the Texas Attorney General to report the theft. Turn her in to the feds. She does not have a legal leg to stand on when it comes to keeping your work, and she knows it.

What she does have is years of practice jerking people around. She’ll haggle about the release forms and refuse to give your work back until they’re signed. And she’ll kick up a dust storm of gossip, lies and bullshit between authors. She’ll tell lies about one to another, then tell another lie to cover that one up. She’ll tell one that another author is still under contract and doesn’t want to leave PF after all. She’ll tell another that one of the others is talking shit about her. She’ll tell yet another an entirely different story.
She’s trying to do several things:
1) Control you.
2) Hang onto your work.
3) Pit you against other authors so that you don’t come together to support each other. That way, she’s got a better chance of luring you back into the fold.
4) Isolate you so that you can’t compare notes with each other to add up to the truth about what a scam she really is.
5) Keep you from succeeding on your own. She doesn’t want you to do well. If you flop, she might be able to get you back.
6) Most importantly, she’s deflecting. The more attention she keeps on drama, the longer she keeps your work, and the longer she profits from it.

DEMAND YOUR WORK BACK. Allow no deflections, and permit no negotiations, It’s your work. Demand it back under threat of legal action. And if she still refuses, follow through.

Take away that wretched fraud’s power. Do not allow her to control you for another minute. Not with her paperwork, and not with her drama. Demand your work back. And then give her exactly as much attention as she deserves: NONE.

Ingram

Lately, authors have been finding their books for sale through retailers like Wordery and different Ebay stores like Buy, unbeatablesales and Grandeagle, to name a few.

When asked about how these books are getting into the hands of these retailers, Tabetha blames Ingram for it, saying that the retailers are getting the books from Ingram, not from her. She’s innocent, she claims, and isn’t receiving any money for them.

Right.

That money’s going SOMEWHERE, isn’t it? Whether those books are being obtained from Ingram or Amazon/Createspace, money’s changing hands. And one thing’s for sure: it’s not going to the authors. We could spend eternity chasing down each and every little shop, demanding that each stops selling former Phoenix Fire work, and we’d never catch up. Maybe she’s counting on that.

Let’s make it easy. Authors, contact both Ingram and Createspace and demand that your work (including anthologies) stop being made available. That way, no shops can obtain or sell your titles anymore, and Tabetha can’t put any more of your money in her pocket.  Cut the piracy off at the source. And don’t fool yourself. That’s exactly what it is: Piracy. If you’re not getting paid for the sales of your work, you’re a victim of piracy. That’s a Federal crime under section  17 U.S.C. § 506(a) and  18 U.S.C. § 2319 of the US code. Take a moment to read through those sections. You might find that it exactly describes what’s been going on. Having your work sold without your legal consent isn’t some little civil matter between you, Tabetha and Createspace. It’s a Federal offense.

And don’t worry about being bound by any contract, whether it’s for your own title or work contributed to an anthology. Tabetha will tell you that you’re contractually bound to allow your work to continue to be sold in anthologies, but it’s not true.
First, PF contracts aren’t legal. This has been confirmed by more than one business and contract lawyer. Not like Tabetha’s assertions that her nonexistent lawyer’s assertion that they are legal. It’s very simple. Her company isn’t legal and neither are her contracts. You are not bound by them.
Second, Let me ask you this: did you sign a contract for each anthology? Did you sign any contract that stipulates specifically that each contribution to each anthology can continue to be sold even after you leave the company? Did you sign a contract that says she can keep getting paid for your work without giving you a dime?
No?
Then guess what. You aren’t bound to allow her to keep ripping you off.

Stop letting a thief put your money in her pocket. Here are the contact details for both Ingram and Createspace. Get in touch and demand that your titles stop being made available for payment to Phoenix Fire publishing, Tabetha Jones or anybody else but you. Likewise, demand that your contributions to anthologies be removed under penalty of copyright infringement. Don’t let them or her just take your name off the title, either. Demand that your content be removed as well.

Ingram:
General Legal, Trademark & Patent Inquiries
legal@ingramcontent.com
office 615.213.5075

Createspace:
1 (888) 280-3321 (Consumer)

And, while you’re at it, report instances of piracy to the FBI. Don’t allow the Federal crime of piracy to be perpetrated.

It’s easy. It tells you how, step by step, on this page at FBI.gov.

Stop being a victim. Stop the crime.