Have you ever wanted something so bad when you were a child? Then you get it. It’s like a dream come true.
That is how I felt December 2013. I published my first book “THE CROSSROADS” with Shadoe Publishing. It was soon after I had published that I started to see things that gave me pause. I addressed these concerns right away. The first being – my book “Heart of Fire” was published with the unedited version and the book jacket had the wrong name on it.
That was traumatic, and K’Anne Meinel joked about it. (saying I should laugh all the way to the bank). I did not find it funny as this is my name on the books, and the readers hard earned money spent on junk. She then went on to say, “It was an honest mistake and corrected it.”
Okay, I am all about giving someone second chances, as we are not all perfect.
I then continued to write, and publish another book under her, “HEART OF VENGEANCE” which as you can see from the above book, she put that title on the spine of Heart of Fire. This book had little issues, other than editing which I addressed, so I was happy. Happy meaning, the book was published, but i was not happy with the Publisher.
I had mistakenly become friends with her, we talked all the time. There were things she told me, things that made me feel sick inside, so much so, I could not stand talking to her, and I started to educate myself on how to self-publish. Of course there was a lot of research to do, but I was getting there. Yet, I was still not ready by the time I was ready to release my fourth book “OUT OF THE MIST” So, she published that one
Soon thereafter, I started to turn a blind eye to her (which means, I avoided talking to her on a personal level) Why? When she went to PTown, and saw people there that she had issues with, all I heard while she was there, and afterwards, was negative remarks about them. Also about ones who she befriended while she was there, (negative comments about their appearance) That is when it got worse. Once as she got back, she started to formulate ideas on how to get revenge against these people – which (Gasp) she shared it with me.
At this point, I was done, I couldn’t take the negativity and the behavior anymore. I was almost finished writing “THE FALLEN” I was learning everything I could at this point about self-publishing, and picking the brains of those who were successful in their venture.
I was still not there yet. My confidence was not there. So, what did I do? You got it. I gave her that book as well. Slaps head… I should have run after the issue with Heart of Fire.
The moment I gave it to her though, I advised it would be the last book she was getting from me.
Can we say vindictive behavior? Yes it got ugly – soon thereafter, I had to remove her as admin of my group because she was banning people who would not sign a book contract with her. LBRC (Lesbian Book Readers Club) My group was not going to be used for her vindictive behavior.
Oh I know you are all wondering what happened next. Well read on… That is when it got nasty. She posted hateful lies about me on Facebook, stalked my friends, friends that were not even her friends on Facebook. She was sending them messages trying to get them to side with her.
Soon after that, she bounced my royalty checks, then took a month to replace it.
Oh yes, you got it. It gets even better… She then took it to a whole new level, she made a false claim to her family court system in Wisconsin, stating I would show up at her front door and do something to her. Claiming she was afraid for her life….(Really?)
Of course I hired an attorney, who went to court for me, and it was thrown out, and the judge had a few choice words for her. I was on the phone during the hearing, from my home in Texas. I said two statements. In the beginning, “I do,” when being sworn in, and “Thank you” at the end. My attorney tore her apart on the stand.
As I said, I keep copies of everything. As you recalled from my above statement, she is still my publisher for 5 books, she has to promote me and ensure my books are successful. This is what she tells people who try to promote my books in her group(s)
So I guess I hurt her little (ice cold) heart so she stewed. There was little she could do at this point. That brings us to now… I am the creator of Lesbian Book Readers Club (LBRC) on Facebook. I support all Lesfic authors. I host a bi-weekly GRILLING session where the author answers questions and mingles with the readers. It’s a wonderful group. Two times a year, we have a massive book giveaway. The authors donate books, and the readers enter in a chance to win. At the end of these giveaways, I make a video, these videos are of the authors who contributed. K’Anne Meinel was one of these authors, and had supplied me with a clean copy of the book jackets. Now keep in mind, I have all this in writing. I keep everything.
If you would like to help me stop this woman. Please donate to the gofundme. All funds go to the legal process. Click on this link. GoFundMe
As I said above, she stewed, and as soon as I released My new book jacket for “THE AWAKENING”, and advertised my new publisher, K’Anne Meinel reported these videos to youtube as copyright infringement.
Of course, Youtube has no idea if she is correct or not, so they suspended my account. I have no access to anything, not even the videos of my dead mother. Gloves are off over this. I see a civil suit very soon.
Why am I blogging this? One, to expel it from my brain. Two, so others know who are looking for a publisher and need to know so they don’t get mixed up as I had.
I have been victimized by this, but no more. I am ready to stand up, say, no more, and fight fire with fire. The four pictures within this blog, are only a drop in the bucket to all that I have, but this would be a picture blog if I posted them all. If you are considering a publisher, please research, do not settle for just anyone publisher. Ask a lot of questions, you will know in your gut when you meet the right one. Don’t do what I did and jump into it blind.
Reviewed by Dee
Dawn Carter 