It's not as though they(*) don't have a nice website that lets you look that stuff up. From here:

4 Prohibited Uses; License Grant; Representations and Warranties. Customer shall not, and shall not authorize any party to: (a) generate automated, fraudulent or otherwise invalid impressions, inquiries, conversions, clicks or other actions; (b) use any automated means or form of scraping or data extraction to access, query or otherwise collect Google advertising related information from any Program website or property except as expressly permitted by Google; or (c) advertise anything illegal or engage in any illegal or fraudulent business practice. Customer represents and warrants that it holds and hereby grants Google and Partners all rights (including without limitation any copyright, trademark, patent, publicity or other rights) in Creative, Services and Targets needed for Google and Partner to operate Programs (including without limitation any rights needed to host, cache, route, transmit, store, copy, modify, distribute, perform, display, reformat, excerpt, analyze, and create algorithms from and derivative works of Creative or Targets) in connection with this Agreement ("Use"). Customer represents and warrants that (y) all Customer information is complete, correct and current; and (z) any Use hereunder and Customer's Creative, Targets, and Customer's Services will not violate or encourage violation of any applicable laws, regulations, code of conduct, or third party rights (including without limitation intellectual property rights). Violation of the foregoing may result in immediate termination of this Agreement or customer's account without notice and may subject Customer to legal penalties and consequences.

The relevant bit would seem to be "engage in any illegal or fraudulent business practice". If you've seen an adwords ad by this scammer, make a complaint on the adwords feedback form. Be sure to have the ad's link target (right-click on the ad's title and select "Copy Link Location" or "Copy shortcut" as appropriate to your browser) on hand.

(*) Okay, we, but as: 1) I'm not involved with ads policy enforcement at all, and 2) I'm not willing to be the contact to file the report myself, we'll pretend for a moment that I'm employed elsewhere.

Which brings up another thought: What kind of publisher, and what kind of agent, relies on Google advertising? Or advertises for authors at all?

Does he really expect an average income of > $5 per post of that information?

Seriously?

Mac

What surprises me about the latter is that I've never heard of him being sued over it. Is Florida law unhelpful on such issues? There's an old con where somebody sets up companies, trades through each for a while until the company debt hits the limits and he's extracted all the cash he can, and then abandons them to bankruptcy. Over the years, the UK has introduced laws which make that harder, and a bank can require personal guarantees which can sidestep the limited liability protections (Not always a good thing).

I can't really see how he can keep pulling off such a scam, and it would be quite blatant, but I'd be very interested in just how the change from the AEG name to Strategic Book Group is being done. Is it a change of corporate name, or a change from one corporation to another?

Corporate law in the USA, and especially Florida, is something I know nothing about. But why the change he is doing? It's apparently the same public-facing names, so how does this hide him from the people who already know his tricks?

I do get the feel of something deeper going on.

Yeah, I went to do that a day or so ago and noticed that someone else had got in ahead of me...

I expect that the Florida Attorney General's Economic Crimes Division, which is currently investigating Fletcher, knows quite a bit about corporate law in their state.

And Fletcher doesn't care about about people who are wise to his tricks. He's looking for people who aren't wise to his tricks.

Fletcher casts a wide net. And the first stages are entirely automated and essentially cost him nothing. He's like the stage hypnotist who first does a quick, general test for suggestibility on the whole audience, notes who responds the way he likes, then calls on them to come on stage (where they donate their pants for the amusement of the crowd assembled).

Anyone who writes to any of the public faces, I am convinced, falls into a web of auto-responders and form letters. The only time humans get involved is after the first check for $90 for the critique arrives, and then he knows he's got a fish on the line. (Even then, afterward, it's mostly automated. See, for example, the "Circle back to me in about a month if you have not heard from me before then" letters.)

We've heard reports from more than one of his freelancers that their pay is slow, or missing, or (in one case) the check bounced. So those $5 bonuses may well cost him nothing.

And for the people he "publishes," the fees apparently start at a thousand bucks and go up from there. ($295 for two five star reviews on your book at Amazon, for example.)

You might think that no one would pay that, but a new writer with stars in his eyes, told that this is how Marketing Works in the Internet Age ... check out how many Eloquent and Strategic books have two five-star reviews posted in quick succession by people who have never written any other reviews for any books except that one.

I had never heard a clear explanation of why that might be, until very recently someone mentioned that many of the old traveling circuses and carnivals used to winter in Boca Raton or nearby areas of Florida, and that the traditional carnie mentality of pride in a good con game and contempt for marks and outsiders - or at least a tolerance for cons and scams as a means of living - had gotten deeply ingrained in the local culture over several generations. True? I can't tell, as I've never been there, but it sounded vaguely plausible.

Henry and Liam are the best of friends and they do everything together. They can run and play all day long. But when Henry the puppy gets tired and tries to take a nap, three-year-old Liam keeps waking him, wanting him to play some more. Will Henry get any rest?

Get your children involved with this beautifully illustrated book. Your child will love to match up words and pictures, and find Liam, who keeps hiding in his bedroom. Perfect for the young reader!

About the Author

J.S. Huntlands is the author of Nick Twisted Minds and is currently working on more books in this series, as well as 23 more books in the Me and My Best Friend series. Huntlands is a full-time writer, as well as a mom to a wonderful four-year-old boy. This book is dedicated to her son in hopes that he never forgets his best friend.

Truly they are not only more stupid than we imagined, they are more stupid than we _can_ imagine.

Cadbury.

Stupid? Naive, perhaps. Yes, it is spam, but I'm inclined to be charitable in this case. If the details in the first Google hit for the author's name are true, it just shows the kind of scum Robert Fletcher is - one who has no scruples about preying on people like her. But we knew that already.

As Bouncing Bobby says, "Frankly, our book marketing division is better than anyone’s."

But as Florida's Attorney General says (in his lawsuit against Fletcher and Fletcher's companies):

"Since none of the books printed were actually advertised, other than what the author could do
alone, the reality was that the whole publishing business was designed to earn money for FLETCHER’s businesses from the aspiring authors’ payments, with little, or no money ever anticipated to be earned by the author from the publishing of the author’s work."

And she's required to buy five copies of her book per week at full retail. That's $69.75 (probably plus postage). That's just got to hurt.

Makes me really sad, actually.

She's trying hard....

What she needs to do now is get in touch with the Florida Attorney General and hope that she can get restitution.

Also, her original web page is gone. I'm told that Bobby insists that his authors have their web-pages with him. In the Google caches of her now-defunct web-page (www.jshuntlands.co.uk) we read:

Please submit your questions via the contact us page so we can post your questions and answers.

Q1. How long did it take to write 'Nick Twisted Minds'?

A1. Approximatly 7 months

Q2. Do you have children?

A2. Yes I have one son

Q3. How old are you?

A3. I was born in December 1978

Q4. How old is your son?

A4. He is now 4years old

Q5. Are you married?

A5. No

Q6. Have you finished book two?

A6. It should be finished early next year

Q7. Are you going to write other books?

A7. Yes. Nick, Dead or Alive and Through the eyes of a child. See my 'News' page

Q8. Have you met JK Rowling?

A8. Not yet, but I would love to

Q9. Are you in a relationship?

A9. Yes

Q10. When is Nick, Dead or Alive coming out?

A10. At the end of 2009

Q11. Did you spend lots of money this christmas?

A11. Dont we all

Q12. Is Nick Twisted Minds fact or fiction?

A12. Nick Twisted Minds is based on fact with added fiction. All characters names have been changed to protect their innocence

Q13. Is it true Nick Twisted Minds is being made into a film?

A13. It is with an agent in USA to see if it could be made into a film

Q14. When are your childrens books coming out?

A14. I am hoping for the end of this year. It is still under negotiation

We can guess who the "agent in USA" is. Bouncing Bobby has a "Book to Film division" as part of his flim-flam.

This lady will wind up spending well in excess of $4,000 and have nothing to show in return. (Except a basement full of unsold and unsaleable books, that is.)

Your people want to make a statue in your honor. What will it be made out of and what victory will it commemorate?

It would be made out of stone so it lasts. I would hope it would be in rememberance of all of the books I have wrote.

Can't say I'm impressed by her wroting skills.

Don't make me go through your (view all by) in search of typos.

The exact link is here. Can't say she isn't trying. And she's not alone over at PW. Also today, we have a similar comment spam from Brenda Estacio, author of Gateway to Dreamworld (Eloquent Books, July 28, 2009).

These folks are trying so very hard. Too bad that the advice Fletcher sold them is worthless.

Watch for increasing desperation, followed by despair.

J.S. dropped out of school at 16. She's a single mom. And this is the sort of person that Fletcher is cheating to pay for his house, and his car, and his yacht.

Maybe she and Brenda wrote dandy books. Maybe they didn't. I don't know and neither does anyone else. I can't imagine that this experience they're having will go on their list of Golden Memories.

There are indeed a lot of publishers. But crossing bad ones off your list is pretty easy: Do they have books actually on the shelves in your local bookstore that you've seen with your own eyes?

If not, they aren't the right publisher for you.

After now reading pages and pages regarding the wonderful Mr F. Has anybody heard of an illustrator KJ based in India. AEG uses them frequently and offers discounted rates for the author to use KJ direct.

If you have any information, I'm sure the Florida Attorney General would like to know.