Wednesday 29 May 2013

TO THE AUTHORS & PUBLISHERS OF THE WORLD



TO THE AUTHORS & PUBLISHERS OF THE WORLD

I am very sure that no one among you has seen any book ever before having this bunch of few pages addressing to you both with a narration absolutely unconnected to the content of the book itself. I remained very late in realizing the innumerable immoralities & evil that polluting the entire publishing field of the world, & suffered a lot in gating my book published being a newbie of this field, & that is why, by highlighting all this smudginess at the opening of this book I would like to make the reader understand how hard & challenging it is to be a successful published Author & to carry out a business as an established Publisher.

Moreover, considering it as my moral duty, to save, safeguard & warn  the new comer & to keep them away of any such sufferings by being victim of widely pervaded roguish of this field, I have started a big movement against Mr. Adam Selviani of Raider Publishing International of New York, a taint of the publishing field of the world & especially of America who is in practice to cheat upcoming authors using sugarcoated promises, false representation, extremely cunning full mastery of methods & skills in making moves just only to make money, a tactful shiftiness & rascality to misdirect the others.

Please join my hands & do the needful at your optimum level for this good cause to take all possible initiative against this inhuman criminal offence, to avail me justice, to prevent him & his company to carry on such kind of evil business & to provide due punishment to him that is able enough to set an example for the entire authors & publishers of the world.

Explaining the fact of my case, first of all, I must write that I am not at all an Author & never ever ponder over even in my dream to be recognized as an Author. I was in habit of chewing & smoking tobacco for many years, & that is why, my mouth was operated for six times for the treatment of cancer & such other related diseases. As a result of all these, since 18th December 2011, I became a prisoner inside four walls of my own home because I cannot open my mouth properly & my body endured till date only on liquidized food.

I am neither a writer nor having any such experience for writing even a single page on a particular subject but as a surprising fact, during January to September 2012, I am inspired to write pages & pages. I am highly pleased to inform you that I wrote over six hundred pages on different subjects. Some of my friends had strongly confirmed that my writing under the title of “The Ultimate of Life’ is the best ever they read before & told me that it can be able to bring a revolutionary change for the happy living of the entire mankind if published as a book.

However, no leeway have been kept left by almost all persons came to my contact in afflicting, exploiting, grieving, torturing & hurting me, since I was a kid to till date, I do not know why, but I am always highly desirous to serve the human community  over the globe at my best, and that is why, though I am completely inexperienced of the book publishing field, I was determined in publishing my debut manuscript on international level so as to serve the mankind by spreading its content to as many as possible people of the world, & than also, I was not at all in search of a publisher that offers me a highest return for my writings either by way of book’s royalties or in any other way with a promise to pursue promotional opportunities for me but I had strongly decided that I will donate 60% of whatever the income will be earned from this book to the United Nations for their various programs of sustainable human development activities to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals  especially for the empowerment of youth & women.

In the first week of the September 2012, I had started searching for a publisher on the net & sent many mails to the leading publishers of the world including UN Publications & was waiting for a favorable reply from any of those to whom I submitted few pages of my manuscript to review. It was really very unfortunate that I found a website http://www.raiderpublishing.com on the top of Google search while searching top ten publishers of the world, from where, Mr. Adam salviani had responded me on 16th October 2012 as under:
“I have the pleasure of informing you that we have looked over your submission and we have decided to accept your work for publication. We have attached our Acceptance Packet to this email, which includes all of our contracts and relevant information.”

I was completely new in the publication field so it sounds me good & as per their Acceptance Packet I selected a Silver packet after some exchange of mails. Finally, I signed a contract sent by them through mail & sent Indian Rs.:95,000/- towards the publication fees on 16th of January, 2013 via wire transfer in to the bank account of Mr. Adam's company along with duly signed contract, duly answered questionnaires, the manuscripts of my debut book in a fully completed manner both in 8.5 x 5.5 book format & in MSWord document format duly completed with proof reading & well designed both cover pages. But that man had made me fool & stopped responding to me from the moment he received the money.

The one who previously uses to reply me frequently & was quick enough to ask for the money directly by phone on my landline & mobile had winded up all his side immediately after the money was received by him as per this last mail I received on 17th January 2013 as under:
Dear Mahesh,
I have the pleasure of informing you that we have received your publication fee as of this afternoon, on our side of the world. Thank you again for joining us as one of our authors.
Please feel free to contact Elizabeth (rbaird@raiderpublishing.com) with any questions, comments or concerns that you might have from this point forward. She has instructions to answer your questions in a timely fashion and you will be working with her throughout the length of the publication process.
It's a great honor for us to be working with you on this project and we'll be in touch frequently as things progress. Take care and you'll be hearing from us again, shortly.
Best Wishes,
Adam Salviani - Raider Publishing International

I had than contacted her with all my concerns & queries but an auto reply message came to me that “thank you someone will answer soon” & as a matter of fact till date I had never received any response from her desk. When constantly three of my mails remained unanswered I was afraid of something wrong & contacted directly to him twice but got no response from him too. As such, I searched more about him & his company on the Net & came to know his more scams at:
http://www.scambook.com/company/view/16635/Raider-Publishing-International
An Indian had also filed a complaint in consumer court at:
http://www.consumer-court.in/complaints/raider-publishing-international-fort-cochin-kerala-c1205.html
You can find the actual facts of the company & Mr. Adam at:
http://www.publishedauthors.net/adamsalviani/ar.html

By all these above, I feel as if I am ripped off my hard-earned money and of course the global rights of my precious manuscripts in addition to the mental torture, agony and the irreparable damages caused to my writing career & my present economical condition.

I came to know by an elderly advice of my reliable lawyer that though the legibility of such online contract is controversial & having no legal value, being in India, I can do nothing against this thick skinned treacherous practicing badly only for the money & than also, I have to wait until second week of March, 2013 because as per clause No. 16 of the contract signed by us, “the publisher will send the final proof back to the author by the beginning of March 2013”. Actually, the proof reading of the book (non-stylistic editing), creating a cover for the book & to email me both the edited manuscript and the cover for my approval is hardly a work of less than a week as everything was sent by me in a fully completed manner & his side has just to go through it to send it back to me. It means once the money is received he is not the one to bother for his prestige & reputation even though was having a chance to be continued with me without violating any terms of the contract.

Moreover, in the same clause the publisher was agreed that “the said book would be available in the market by the middle of April, 2013” but as there was no response from his side even after ten more days from the deadline of the beginning of March 2013 to send the final proof back to me, it was absolutely clear that I am made fool by him & he is not at all serious or concerned with the publishing of my book. On the contrary, it is proved as an extremely tragic & unbelievable fact that since beginning, he was entirely on his way in making money by trapping a new comer.

Secondly, on 15th January 2013, I had demanded hard copies of our signed Contract, Invoice, Acceptance packet & the Receipt of the money transferred to him in original by post in a way that it reach to me latest by the end of February 2013 as we have planned a special gathering for the members of my organization to promote my book in the first week of March 2013, wherein, as per our planning we would like to invite all representatives of print media of our state. According to one of our senior member, a nature lover, an experienced Press Reporter & Columnist in a leading Gujarati news paper who had voluntarily taken up all responsibilities to bring grand success for the proposed gathering on his shoulders, the press people do not consider any printout received by us as a mail attachment.

In this connection, as the money transferred by me was not credited to his A/c till that time, just only to keep me continue, he had promised me that “I will get back to you as soon as the payment is received on our side and I'll also send you the paperwork you're requesting. I shall also provide my own views on your book as we go over the title. I'll respond to you in a more comprehensive way, on how we will be moving forward, one we receive your payment”.  But the fact is, till date he neither conveyed sorry for not fulfilling his promises nor inquired about it though it is a part of his duty.

It means, he is not at all interested in any such promotional activity for the said book even though it brings a good business to him & not only that he is not at all concerned with my sufferings as we remain failed in our planning due to his unforgivable misconduct, carelessness, deceitfulness & craftiness! He had ruined & spoiled all our planning by not responding any of my mails & especially due to he had not fulfill his own promises given to me though he was well aware & well informed well in advance.

At last on March 20, 2013 I wrote him that “you are liable for all compensation” as since the moment my money transferred to your A/c you have stopped responding. It means it is proved that I am made fool & victimized by you & my money sent to you in the name of so called publication fee is nothing but your fraudulent embezzlement. It is an international cyber crime & for your said criminal offense you are liable for all compensation for the loss suffered by me financially, physically & mentally & for the loss of reputation of my own self & my organization. I will do my best to provide you a due punishment. You cannot continue such cheating on the net is for your kind information. But it was the most pitiable aspect of my case that he simply replied me that Thank you for bringing this to our attention”.

As such on 21st, in replying to his mail I demanded refund for my money with interest & transfer charges at the earliest but on the contrary, very evasively, he replied me that “Your book is nearly ready, but the fact that you have admitted to slandering us and violated the contract yourself in more than one way is cause for concern. We would still like to publish your book and we should be able to shortly. That being said, we need you to correspond with us in a civil and respectful way as you agreed to. If you can do so we can move forward as quickly as possible.
Please think about this and get back to us on Monday. We can go from there”.

It means he is a callous person of very thick skin having no hesitation in writing a complete false thing & having an evil intention to evasively avoid & linger my concern & to hide all his black side to continue me with him as long as possible because how the one can write “your book in nearly ready” who is fully unaware of everything just before one day & wrote that Thank you for bringing this to our attention”?

Since 18th March, 2013, I had started contacting various USA & especially New York based authorities & agencies to file a complaint against him after being none responded continuously for two & half months means ten more days after the period agreed by him in our signed contract. Then also I had demanded only the actual amount I sent to him with interest & charges paid by me in a respectful manner fully appropriate with the clause seventeen of the contract but he had shown his fully-fledged fighting frown & scowls to threat & bluffs me for the damage to his company. We all are well aware that those who fears for their prestige & reputation never behave in such way.

In spite feeling ashamed, he crossed over all heights of humanity, & as a complete change of phrase, he warned me by his very next Email on the same day that “While we understand why you’re upset, slandering us online not only has caused significant financial damage to our company, compromised your position legally but has also violated clause seventeen of the contract itself. If any of the points in the contract are up for debate or discussion, then we are to discuss these matters as per clause fifteen of your contract”.

People of my kind are always God fearing & by agreeing with clause seventeen of the contract generally people of the world of the both sides admit & accept that they both have great civic sense & respect for each other & that is why in the time of unavoidable circumstances & natural calamities instead having a rigid & inhuman approach they will correspond with each other with a healthy sympathetic approach. But it never allows him to keep his side fully away constantly for two & half months from the very next moment after receiving my money. It does not prevent me in asking a receipt & not at all allow him to cop out his promises & to represent his side in careless & evasive manner.

There was a time when publishers (magazine and book) used to work very hard at promoting writers. A minority still does, but most do not. This is not an indictment against publishers, but the fact remains that selling a book is just the first step in getting it read. The publishers whose books are typically seen in a book store or supermarket rack are published by trade publishers. Traditional is not an actual term used in the publishing industry. It's a term used by the scammers and vanity publishers because they're busy trying to fool new writers who do not know anything about the publishing industry into becoming their victims or customers.

It is rare to see a vanity or self-published book in a book store as such books rarely have any editorial quality control though with vanity publishing (also referred to as subsidy) one has to pay to be published!!! Some vanity publishers claim not to accept everything and a few actually live up to that. However, their services tend to be expensive which is why they accept just about anything. Besides, they know the real truth that 99.99% of their books will never see a book store shelf because most of them don't know how to distribute books to retailers.

Because of the Internet, vanity publishers have exploded in numbers. Where there used to be only three or four such companies in the entire US, there are now dozens, if not hundreds because they can now offer distribution through the Internet and it doesn't cost them a single thing while they can now claim to have your book available from coast to coast and even abroad.

This is going to be hard to hear for any new comer but the fact is they did not legally steal from any of them but as the upcoming authors are truly lacking necessary research they can be able to manipulate & hoodwink them by their inveigle & shrewdness irresistibly & fascinatingly with their enticing, tempting & sugar-coated  pictures & promises & compel them to make a serious mistake, though voluntarily but extremely artfully, cleverly & cunningly, to sign a very bad deal with an "old-style" vanity publisher who have absolutely no legal obligations other than to prepare a proof copy, to make copies of the book when and if someone comes to them asking to buy one, and to return the rights to them at the end of 3 years.

Their marketing claims are almost non-existent. They promise almost nothing. Even the royalty claims are ridiculous -- they're going to give you not a royalty of XYZ %, but 51% of the royalties -- whatever those royalties may be. No publisher with a speck of experience would ever say that, in that way. Actually, the publishing history of many of such founder proves that they're not trying to rip any one off, they're just too ignorant and nitwitted to know that how badly they're doing their job, and how idiotic they look to someone who does know the business. In short, in all such cases, there always going to have trouble getting a consumer fraud or consumer protection agency to take an interest.

Defining the other side of the publishing field, it is the only reality that with trade publishers, there is no cost to the author. Never! This is because trade publishers analyze the market meaning they get weekly reports from all retailers who sell books through the distributors who provide those books to the retailers. They then know what kinds of books are selling, so they tend to look for manuscripts that reflect the kind of content that the buying public is purchasing. Because the buying public is particular, the trade publishers do their best to put out a quality product which means finding books with not only the right content, but also distinct writing styles, good control of pace, and easy readability.

It means, it is very hard for any new comer to get their debut work be accepted for the publication by them. All major publishers, generally, dealing with publishing have a similar policy, are not able to consider unsolicited manuscript submissions that come to them randomly from anywhere. Many literary agencies, in turn, have guidelines for submitting manuscripts. Not all of the public wants to read a writer whose sentences ramble on for over five hundred words because not every writer is capable of doing that well as Hemmingway could. This is partly why it is so difficult to be accepted by a publisher. They're looking for subtle differences that most writers can't produce without lots of practice. In fact, most writers' first and even second manuscripts are often considered nothing more than practice or trunk stories because those end up stored in trunks under the bed. Only a few writers ever get their first manuscript published.

After accepting and editing a manuscript, trade publishers go beyond what the other publishers do. They send their books out through the distributors to be stocked at book stores and other retailers, but with a difference from what only a few vanity publishers ever attempt. Trade publishers also have actual sales people who visit the headquarters of the chains to promote what they've published. Only rarely will a publisher ever advertize on the TV or in the papers and when they do, it's generally to let the public know that a new book is out by an established author and this is frequently caused by lots of letters from the public asking the publisher when the next book will be released. This is because it is not cost effective to advertize that a book has been published when there is no demand established yet for that author.

A ginsu knife can be advertized even though no one heard of it before its original introduction because it could be demonstrated in the commercial in order to impress the buying public but keep it your mind that your book cannot. It doesn't slice. It doesn't dice. It can't cut through cans and still be sharp. Also, the individual reading it might not even read it in the way the author intended. Even if the reader does, that could limit it to a small segment who reads in the same manner. This is why trade publishers limit their main advertising efforts to industry publications that are read by retailers who do the actual book selling to the public. So, trade publishers are actually driven by the market. They don't regulate or shape the market.

I am now fully aware of the difference between vanity or subsidy publisher & trade publisher but at the same time, being a new comer, having no hesitation at all in accepting & committing the hard fact of my own experience that I was attracted by the under mentioned paragraphs written in the Acceptance package sent by Raider Publishing International that:

“As your publisher we are honored to be representing your work and presenting it to the world. Through our extensive printing and distribution system which reaches all around the world, our dedicated team of publishing professionals and our own Broadcasting Network and Literary Magazine… we will help you every step of the way through the publishing process! We have our own bookshops in USA & challenging group of distributors including UK, Europe & Australia. After receiving a signed contract & and an email containing the answers to the questions listed on the book information sheet we will start the process that we have laid out as the timeline as under. 

1. Receiving your signed contract and book information.
2. We will proof read your novel (non-stylistic editing).
3. We will create a cover for your book (based on your suggestions).
4. We will email you both the edited manuscript and the cover for your approval.
5. The book will be submitted to the printer and subsequently received by our distributors.
6. You will be the first to receive copies of your book (free of charge).
7. Your book will become available through the vast majority of major bookstores in the entire world.
8. We will pursue book signings and contact media outlets through press releases and preexisting industry arrangements.
9. Your book will be promoted through TV and radio advertisements (depending on package selected).
10. Promotions will continue through our Broadcasting Network, our Literary Magazine and through continued press releases”. 

Actually how tragic it was that during the exchange of mails with him once I wrote that “I am well-coming you considering your reply a step as the reflection of the universe to my action for the benefit of the entire mankind. I strongly feel that creating any doubt at this stage on you toward any misuse of my work in future is a similar act not believing in God. On the contrary, to love you by putting absolute trust & faith in you considering you as my God is the most appropriate step for a fresher like me. I deeply understand the value of your reply received by me & proudly considering it as my greatest achievement of my life towards my work”.

Instead would be remain busy promoting my book, since one month, I am endeavoring my best efforts in bagging & requesting help, guidance & support from as many as possible sources, persons & organizations of the world to avail due justice, my hard earned money to be returned, to prevent him in continuing any such cheating in the publishing field & to provide him due punishment for his great international crime. While at the other end this man is enjoying the money sent by me fully fearlessly, carelessly & without any hesitation by keeping me badly in all round painful circumstances.

However, the New York Police Department has extensive crime scene investigation & laboratory resources assisted with computer crime investigations & though they runs an anti crime computer network, essentially a large search engine & data warehouse operated by detectives to assist officers in the field with their investigations, a Domain Awareness System, a joint project of Microsoft and NYPD & other surveillance devices into an integrated system to ensure public safety, according to “Scambook”, a window into the world's most advanced consumer complaint database, the page created by them on Raider Publishing International on Nov 07, 2011 has accumulated 24 consumer complaints with on average users reported $7614.19 of damages excluding my complaint & the unresolved reported damage reaches over $ 182,740/-till January 3, 2013 but this figure is surely five times more as there are many unaware of Scambook over the globe!!!

I had submitted complaints against this man & his company to Honorable US President, Vice President & The Office of Public Engagement of The White House for more than three times but this man knows very well that the personnel engaged in continuing the system laid down to keep them as the top three powerful positions of the superpower country of the world never allow any of them to favor my small case of nearly less than one hundred thousand Indian Rupees.

I had tried my best to bring my case in the notice of some respected Democrat & Republican Senators & Representatives of the most powerful business province of U.S.A. that is obviously the New York, but this man is very sure of the platform I used that it never remain able to provide my details to any of them until they desirous to go through.

I had drawn attention of Honorable Mr. Andrew M. Cuomo the Governor of the city called as the most powerful economical center of the world, the New York, but this man is well acquainted that it is not my participation to build a stronger & better New York. I had requested support to the office of Honorable US Embassy in India & Indian High commission in New York but this man is well aware that it is not a matter to decide on granting of visa.

I lodged a complaint with Federal Bureau of Investigation at their Internet Crime Complaint Center but this man knows that they receives thousands of complaints each month and does not have the resources to respond to inquiries even regarding the status of complaints.  As a fruit of experience of his evil business this man had digested that limitation of very few characters to file a online complaint with New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) always create great trouble in preparing & forwarding a message to the appropriate agency for review and handling. He also aware of the fact though I lodged a complaint with econsumer.gov, an initiative of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) that submitting a complaint to this system will not necessarily trigger an obligation for any participating agency to investigate your complaint on my behalf.

I had requested help & guidance with the forum & organizations like Disqus, Open Congress Support, Preditors & Editors, publisher Desk & some groups of LinkedIn but the entire publishing field including all of them is always in practice to keep a safe distance with the both sides is also a painful aspect of all such cases that able enough to encourages such disgrace of this field to carry on their evil business. I had also uploaded a detailed request as blog at wordPress.com, Yahoo. Answer & Google help but all these are nothing more than only to receive an auto generated acknowledgement.

The reason why this man can venture his evil craftsmanship of so called publishing business extremely boomingly is the most surprising fact of that once the new coming Author realize the fact that he/she is made fool, they wouldn't spend the time, energy or emotional resources. They just move on because even if any agency does take an interest, it won't help the victimized person. He/she won't get their money back or their rights. The Author aren't going to be able to exert any leverage, on the contrary, he/she has to beg  to such stupid so as to get them to revert rights, with 90 days written notice that they want them back, as per the contract. One can't even embarrass him by exposing as a vanity press as he is quite obviously more than that, and he makes no effort to hide it.

He knows very well that all the above mentioned powerful personalities, positions, platforms, forums & agencies efforts their best all together than also he has only to refund some portion of the money misappropriated by him, & that is why, he still caring out his evil business & victimizes many new comers of the world though it is extremely serious matter disgracing the great country of USA, entire publishing fields & the authors of the world, the entire exchange of information on Internet and for the network of all search engines especially the Google, & off course, is a story of my first ever experience of the publishing field of the world.

Mahesh Bhatt