I recall when I was a child, watching these political campaigns and thinking to myself, "What difference will this make?" I had high hopes when I was a child. They teach you at a very young age that you have the ability to be WHATEVER you want in life. That anyone can be a millionaire, a rock star or a movie god/goddess but the reality is it's all one big lottery draw- and I have yet to have the winning numbers.
What does the government do? They are a system of the three D's. They dilute, digress and divert. An issue occurs and they digress the situation by saying, "That did not happen... actually what happened was.." When this doesn't work they divert your attention. As a final straw they will dilute the situation by saying, "Okay yes this happened but it wasn't that bad." This will be the most important thing I will ever learn about our system.
Who funds the campaigns of these candidates? The 1% of society. What do they do? They agree to fund the campaign of these candidates if they do something for them like, lower taxes for the wealthy. What's wrong with this picture?
Congress is suppose to be for the people. Helping those of us who are unemployed, under paid, over taxed, depressed, medically ill etc but they have the lowest rate of approval in the history of the US government. They are not on the "peoples" side... they are on the "money" side. When did greed motivate our government? When did this become okay?
We work jobs we hate. We dread going into to these work places to earn a wage to buy sh*t we don't need to feel better about ourselves. We are taught that this is acceptable- ADAPT. Adapt to the fact that our world creates greed. What is wrong with this picture? I care more about my happiness... about my well being than I do about any amount of money. At this point... the only way I can truly be happy is doing the crap I want which doesn't pay enough to pay my bills.
What can we do about this? Jaque fresco created a resource based economy before the 1970's. You can see his designs at www.thevenusproject.com The point is... there has been a solution to our vindictive cycle for over 40 yrs now but nothing has occurred from it because this resource based economy would provide everyone's needs for FREE! Imagine that!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Thrive: What will it take?
While going to www.thevenusproject.com to read on current news about furthering the idea of a resource based economy, I accidentally typed www.venusproject.com. Either way I came across the video Thrive: what will it take. And I watched it. The entire video/movie and I was brought to tears.
The video talks about a torus energy that exists in our systems naturally. It also talks about how many inventors have designed and invented renewable energy although if they weren't killed, they were threatened to not produce or sell their designs. Why?
Of course this is due to no one making a profit. No one would make a profit from solar energy, windmill energy etc. They also go into explain the errors in our federal reserve which pissed me off. It explains that when you deposit 1,000 dollars into a bank they hold 10% of that and then loan out the 900.00 gaining interest on this loan. The process repeats itself.
There is something truly wrong with our system and we need to wake up. Its our corrupt, greedy system that has encouraged companies such as Publish America to scam the population to make a large profit. We have been raised to believe the more money you make the happier your life will be- but I can contest that I have never been happier than when I have physically completed or accomplished something. No amount of money, or materialistic gain ever made me feel so accomplished. They say gambling and cocaine triggers the same area of your brain, what does that say about money if cocaine isn't good for you?
To watch the full video for FREE visit www.venusproject.com or you can search for it on youtube under "Thrive: what will it take". I highly recommend that you watch this video if you can. I hope one day we can do the things we love because we love to do it... not because it makes the most money.
The video talks about a torus energy that exists in our systems naturally. It also talks about how many inventors have designed and invented renewable energy although if they weren't killed, they were threatened to not produce or sell their designs. Why?
Of course this is due to no one making a profit. No one would make a profit from solar energy, windmill energy etc. They also go into explain the errors in our federal reserve which pissed me off. It explains that when you deposit 1,000 dollars into a bank they hold 10% of that and then loan out the 900.00 gaining interest on this loan. The process repeats itself.
There is something truly wrong with our system and we need to wake up. Its our corrupt, greedy system that has encouraged companies such as Publish America to scam the population to make a large profit. We have been raised to believe the more money you make the happier your life will be- but I can contest that I have never been happier than when I have physically completed or accomplished something. No amount of money, or materialistic gain ever made me feel so accomplished. They say gambling and cocaine triggers the same area of your brain, what does that say about money if cocaine isn't good for you?
To watch the full video for FREE visit www.venusproject.com or you can search for it on youtube under "Thrive: what will it take". I highly recommend that you watch this video if you can. I hope one day we can do the things we love because we love to do it... not because it makes the most money.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Publish America Class Action lawsuit-
I have been trying to spread the word that there is a class action lawsuit against PA. I received an email yesterday from the lawyer where I asked when we will know if the courts approve the class action lawsuit and he said, "It takes up to a year before we will know anything." This is really disappointing.
For those who don't really know what Publish America is, I will re-iterate what PA is. If you google PA scams, so many awful stories of people's writing dreams being smashed to pieces will pop up. Many of these authors poured thousands of dollars into their book trying to promote them and get the people to just read them.
I never gave PA any money and quite frankly I might have although I don't have money to buy my book in bulk so I never did. Most of the emails PA sent me regarding a bulk buy of my book required a min. purchase of 20 books. My book on their website is for 30 bucks. I am so mad at myself for going through PA and it's been years since I've realized this. You'd think I'd be over it by now but I'm not.
PA promises to promote, edit, sell and give you 8% in royalties from all the sales but this never happens. I have yet to read a story by a PA author who was paid and that's what PA prides their self on (We treat our authors the old fashioned way- we pay them). I use to go on their website daily and leave comments on their forum about how unhappy I was but regardless if they read it or not, they never post/publish them.
There are still many, many people falling into their traps and had I googled "Publish America Scam" I would have never signed with them. This of course is a new rule of thumb I follow. If I am interested in a company I will google " Blank scam" and if there are bad reviews I stay away.
Pa needs to be shut down. I plan to follow this lawsuit until it finishes and if the lawyers need ANYTHING from me, I will be waiting for them to ask. I am so over greedy corporate America that I just want to move to the mountains and live off the land. It is not easy to write a book of any kind. Try it someday and you'll see it takes months/years to finish a book and then another couple months/years to edit the novel/book.
Publish America should be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of us naive authors. I hope PA pays for every bad thing they have put upon all of their "Authors". Now, I take my first book I have ever written as a complete joke. I don't even mention it to people, instead I skip right to my second book.
For those who don't really know what Publish America is, I will re-iterate what PA is. If you google PA scams, so many awful stories of people's writing dreams being smashed to pieces will pop up. Many of these authors poured thousands of dollars into their book trying to promote them and get the people to just read them.
I never gave PA any money and quite frankly I might have although I don't have money to buy my book in bulk so I never did. Most of the emails PA sent me regarding a bulk buy of my book required a min. purchase of 20 books. My book on their website is for 30 bucks. I am so mad at myself for going through PA and it's been years since I've realized this. You'd think I'd be over it by now but I'm not.
PA promises to promote, edit, sell and give you 8% in royalties from all the sales but this never happens. I have yet to read a story by a PA author who was paid and that's what PA prides their self on (We treat our authors the old fashioned way- we pay them). I use to go on their website daily and leave comments on their forum about how unhappy I was but regardless if they read it or not, they never post/publish them.
There are still many, many people falling into their traps and had I googled "Publish America Scam" I would have never signed with them. This of course is a new rule of thumb I follow. If I am interested in a company I will google " Blank scam" and if there are bad reviews I stay away.
Pa needs to be shut down. I plan to follow this lawsuit until it finishes and if the lawyers need ANYTHING from me, I will be waiting for them to ask. I am so over greedy corporate America that I just want to move to the mountains and live off the land. It is not easy to write a book of any kind. Try it someday and you'll see it takes months/years to finish a book and then another couple months/years to edit the novel/book.
Publish America should be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of us naive authors. I hope PA pays for every bad thing they have put upon all of their "Authors". Now, I take my first book I have ever written as a complete joke. I don't even mention it to people, instead I skip right to my second book.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Publish America Class action Lawsuit
So for those who haven't heard yet or perhaps have sort of heard about it, PA is being sued. I am one of these unhappy authors tainted by PA and as a result may never go through another publisher EVER again. Anyways, I have already told you all my story in a previous post, I do not want this one to be a repeat.
PA "prides" (if that's what you want to call it) themselves on the way they treat their authors by saying "We treat our authors the old fashioned way- we pay them". They give new authors a once in a lifetime opportunity to publish their work at "no charge" to them, or that's what they say.
Once hooked into the company, they do no editing (I am not kidding- check out my book if you don't believe me), no promoting (they literally target the author and family members ONLY) and they DO NOT PAY YOU (in four years I have received nothing from PA not even the 2 free copies they promise you.
On July 8th, a class action lawsuit was filed against PA in regards to three authors who have asked that it becomes a class action lawsuit. The grounds they are suing PA on are "false advertisement" as they clearly DO NOT pay their authors or edit anything. Not to mention the J.K Rowling scam where they claimed they would show her your book for a flat fee (don't worry, I didn't fall for it).
Over the years, I have received thousands of emails stating Sandra Bullock likes my book, Oprah Winfrey wants to make my book the "book of the month", even Steven Spielberg wants to make a movie out of my book. I was so upset about the errors in my book, I refused to buy even one copy. Not to mention the price of my book was nearly 30 dollars, Stephen King books aren't even that expensive.
I plan to follow this lawsuit as best as I can. I hope PA gets what they deserve, a lot of hassle and no satisfaction; exactly what every Author whoever signed with PA got. Please do not sign with PA. If you have a book you want to publish use createspace.com or amazonkindle. Do not give PA any of your money.
PA "prides" (if that's what you want to call it) themselves on the way they treat their authors by saying "We treat our authors the old fashioned way- we pay them". They give new authors a once in a lifetime opportunity to publish their work at "no charge" to them, or that's what they say.
Once hooked into the company, they do no editing (I am not kidding- check out my book if you don't believe me), no promoting (they literally target the author and family members ONLY) and they DO NOT PAY YOU (in four years I have received nothing from PA not even the 2 free copies they promise you.
On July 8th, a class action lawsuit was filed against PA in regards to three authors who have asked that it becomes a class action lawsuit. The grounds they are suing PA on are "false advertisement" as they clearly DO NOT pay their authors or edit anything. Not to mention the J.K Rowling scam where they claimed they would show her your book for a flat fee (don't worry, I didn't fall for it).
Over the years, I have received thousands of emails stating Sandra Bullock likes my book, Oprah Winfrey wants to make my book the "book of the month", even Steven Spielberg wants to make a movie out of my book. I was so upset about the errors in my book, I refused to buy even one copy. Not to mention the price of my book was nearly 30 dollars, Stephen King books aren't even that expensive.
I plan to follow this lawsuit as best as I can. I hope PA gets what they deserve, a lot of hassle and no satisfaction; exactly what every Author whoever signed with PA got. Please do not sign with PA. If you have a book you want to publish use createspace.com or amazonkindle. Do not give PA any of your money.
Publish America SCAM (my story)
In 2008, I finished my first book "Scarred Impressions". I was so excited I had finally finished it that I wanted my husband to read it but 400+ pages was not his thing. So, I asked family members, friends- really who ever I could to read my book but everyone said they would when it was published.
So, I sent my manuscript off to three publishers and one of them was PA (publish america). Within a few days I received a letter congratulating me that indeed, they wanted to publish my work. I was thrilled. Honestly, I thought that I had just hit the jackpot. I figured, since my book was about my real life and how messed up being raised by a drug addict was (also at the time nothing had really been released like this) I was going to be a millionaire. So I signed the contract.
They promised to edit, promote, sell and give me 2 free copies. Like I said, I was thrilled. Within the first few months, I didn't hear anything. I waited, and waited and nothing. I figured, they were reading it over and working out the details and then one day, I got an email asking me if I was ready to send my manuscript. In my head I said, "What the hell? I sent it three months ago?" So I sent it again. I waited another few months and received another email asking me to read over my book to make sure it was how I wanted everyone to read it.
This is where I started questioning if I was doing the right thing or not. I mean I was really growing skeptical at this point but I read it anyways even though they only gave me 24hrs to read the book and make sure there were no errors. The first sentence had four errors in it. I was confused because, I was told they would edit it. They were stupid errors like "my" instead of "me". Not to mention not one names was changed like I did when I re-sent them the book.
So I emailed the woman back and asked if this was the book I had emailed to her months ago and she said yes. I told her I was going to need more time to review it and fix the errors and she said fine. I spent 2 days reading this novel over and over and over again. I made well over 1,000 grammatical, spelling and punctuation corrections. I was wiped out when I was finished but I sent it back to them.
The next day I got an email saying it was too late for them to accept a new manuscript and if I wanted to make any changes they need to be no more than 500 and in a specific format that stated which line, what page and what paragraph the error was on, then what the error was and finally what it should be. So I spent that afternoon deciding which errors had to be changed and of course the names were first.
I sent the email back to them with the formatted changes and no I was not happy I was pissed but I figured they were going to edit and format the book for me so I cooled off soon after. A week later I checked my email and once again, there was another PA email. It stated with the formatted list of corrections I needed to pay 100 dollars in order to proceed with the changes. Now I was really angry.
At this point I argued with her for a week letting her know that the whole reason I went to a publisher was for them to edit the book and she stated they were editing it. I brushed it off and ignored her emails for a while until I received one that stated I needed to approve the book for it to go further into the cover department. I just approved it.
The next day I get another email stating my cover was ready for approval. I took one look at it and responded, "Actually I was hoping I can use my own picture". I received a response back stating I could for 200 dollars. I said, "Oh forget it." and approved the cover. I was so irritated with this company but I figured the cover didn't look that bad and they were editing my 400+ page book.
Months go by again and I hear nothing. Finally towards the end of the year I receive an email saying my book was available to buy and my two free copies were in the mail. I was so excited, my husband and I celebrated. I honestly thought this was it, this is my big break. I was so happy I was glowing.
Months go by again I get no books, emails or anything from PA. I have no patience for this company so I email, "I still haven't gotten my books." They respond, "We haven't shipped them out yet but we're working on it." I said, "What about this email I got months ago stating they were shipped out?" They said, "That was an error on our part and we will be shipping them within the week."
Months go by again and I hear nothing. My sister has now received her copy of my book. She lets me look at it and it's filled with errors. Every other word was an error and I was heart broken. I ran home, emailed the them and demanded an explanations plus the errors fixed. They wanted me to go through their website and fill out some form asking for the errors to be fixed. I did it and heard nothing.
My sister finished reading the book and I had still heard nothing. She was understanding regarding the errors but how marketable was it going to be with all those errors in it? I mean seriously, no one is going to want to read a book they can't read. There were more errors in it then when I sent it to them. My guess is, they hit auto correct and didn't even read it. Shame on PA.
I received another email from them a few months later stating for 399.99 they can fix the errors I had requested. Keep in mind the form they asked me to fill out had to have the same formatting as before (line, page, paragraph, error and what to change it to). I was done with them and asked to be let out of my contract and they said no. I explained to them I still had not received my "2" free author copies and they said, "Well, we sent them... I don't know what to tell you." Oh I was so angry.
I continued to hassle them about the 2 free books but if I did get a response it was some promotional email asking me to purchase my book in large bulk. I went to the local book store to see if my horrible error filled book was available and sure enough it wasn't. How disappointing and yet at the same time I was relieved no one other then family had seen the book . I sent a new email every few months asking for these 2 free copies and never got a response. Finally, I responded using one of the promotion emails sent to me.
I FINALLY received a response in 2011 asking me why I never told them I didn't receive my 2 copies. I told them I had sent it back in 2009 and they stated, "We have no record of that." I forwarded all the emails I had and they were not happy. I finally asked to be let out of my contract as they clearly breached their side of the contract but they were belligerent in responding, "Do not bother us with this nonsense. Ask your lawyer, he will tell you that you have no legal right here. Your contract remains in FULL effect."
Needless to say, I still have yet to receive a dime of royalty payment from PA or these phantom 2 free author copies. I have only received 2 statements both stating zero sold which I know is false as family, friends and co-workers all bought a copy although I asked them not to. Do not sign with PA. I am so HAPPY that they have finally filed a class action lawsuit against them. I hope PA gets exactly what they deserve (years and years of backed up Karma).
So, I sent my manuscript off to three publishers and one of them was PA (publish america). Within a few days I received a letter congratulating me that indeed, they wanted to publish my work. I was thrilled. Honestly, I thought that I had just hit the jackpot. I figured, since my book was about my real life and how messed up being raised by a drug addict was (also at the time nothing had really been released like this) I was going to be a millionaire. So I signed the contract.
They promised to edit, promote, sell and give me 2 free copies. Like I said, I was thrilled. Within the first few months, I didn't hear anything. I waited, and waited and nothing. I figured, they were reading it over and working out the details and then one day, I got an email asking me if I was ready to send my manuscript. In my head I said, "What the hell? I sent it three months ago?" So I sent it again. I waited another few months and received another email asking me to read over my book to make sure it was how I wanted everyone to read it.
This is where I started questioning if I was doing the right thing or not. I mean I was really growing skeptical at this point but I read it anyways even though they only gave me 24hrs to read the book and make sure there were no errors. The first sentence had four errors in it. I was confused because, I was told they would edit it. They were stupid errors like "my" instead of "me". Not to mention not one names was changed like I did when I re-sent them the book.
So I emailed the woman back and asked if this was the book I had emailed to her months ago and she said yes. I told her I was going to need more time to review it and fix the errors and she said fine. I spent 2 days reading this novel over and over and over again. I made well over 1,000 grammatical, spelling and punctuation corrections. I was wiped out when I was finished but I sent it back to them.
The next day I got an email saying it was too late for them to accept a new manuscript and if I wanted to make any changes they need to be no more than 500 and in a specific format that stated which line, what page and what paragraph the error was on, then what the error was and finally what it should be. So I spent that afternoon deciding which errors had to be changed and of course the names were first.
I sent the email back to them with the formatted changes and no I was not happy I was pissed but I figured they were going to edit and format the book for me so I cooled off soon after. A week later I checked my email and once again, there was another PA email. It stated with the formatted list of corrections I needed to pay 100 dollars in order to proceed with the changes. Now I was really angry.
At this point I argued with her for a week letting her know that the whole reason I went to a publisher was for them to edit the book and she stated they were editing it. I brushed it off and ignored her emails for a while until I received one that stated I needed to approve the book for it to go further into the cover department. I just approved it.
The next day I get another email stating my cover was ready for approval. I took one look at it and responded, "Actually I was hoping I can use my own picture". I received a response back stating I could for 200 dollars. I said, "Oh forget it." and approved the cover. I was so irritated with this company but I figured the cover didn't look that bad and they were editing my 400+ page book.
Months go by again and I hear nothing. Finally towards the end of the year I receive an email saying my book was available to buy and my two free copies were in the mail. I was so excited, my husband and I celebrated. I honestly thought this was it, this is my big break. I was so happy I was glowing.
Months go by again I get no books, emails or anything from PA. I have no patience for this company so I email, "I still haven't gotten my books." They respond, "We haven't shipped them out yet but we're working on it." I said, "What about this email I got months ago stating they were shipped out?" They said, "That was an error on our part and we will be shipping them within the week."
Months go by again and I hear nothing. My sister has now received her copy of my book. She lets me look at it and it's filled with errors. Every other word was an error and I was heart broken. I ran home, emailed the them and demanded an explanations plus the errors fixed. They wanted me to go through their website and fill out some form asking for the errors to be fixed. I did it and heard nothing.
My sister finished reading the book and I had still heard nothing. She was understanding regarding the errors but how marketable was it going to be with all those errors in it? I mean seriously, no one is going to want to read a book they can't read. There were more errors in it then when I sent it to them. My guess is, they hit auto correct and didn't even read it. Shame on PA.
I received another email from them a few months later stating for 399.99 they can fix the errors I had requested. Keep in mind the form they asked me to fill out had to have the same formatting as before (line, page, paragraph, error and what to change it to). I was done with them and asked to be let out of my contract and they said no. I explained to them I still had not received my "2" free author copies and they said, "Well, we sent them... I don't know what to tell you." Oh I was so angry.
I continued to hassle them about the 2 free books but if I did get a response it was some promotional email asking me to purchase my book in large bulk. I went to the local book store to see if my horrible error filled book was available and sure enough it wasn't. How disappointing and yet at the same time I was relieved no one other then family had seen the book . I sent a new email every few months asking for these 2 free copies and never got a response. Finally, I responded using one of the promotion emails sent to me.
I FINALLY received a response in 2011 asking me why I never told them I didn't receive my 2 copies. I told them I had sent it back in 2009 and they stated, "We have no record of that." I forwarded all the emails I had and they were not happy. I finally asked to be let out of my contract as they clearly breached their side of the contract but they were belligerent in responding, "Do not bother us with this nonsense. Ask your lawyer, he will tell you that you have no legal right here. Your contract remains in FULL effect."
Needless to say, I still have yet to receive a dime of royalty payment from PA or these phantom 2 free author copies. I have only received 2 statements both stating zero sold which I know is false as family, friends and co-workers all bought a copy although I asked them not to. Do not sign with PA. I am so HAPPY that they have finally filed a class action lawsuit against them. I hope PA gets exactly what they deserve (years and years of backed up Karma).
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