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[Agent] Cheryl T. Pillsbury

victoriastrauss

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Another reason questionable agents send clients to vanity publishers and POD self-pub services: it allows them to claim a legitimate sounding "track record," (at least, for people who don't research as well as they should).

- Victoria
 

brianm

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I noticed this morning that Cheryl Pillsbury has removed the apology from their website.

http://www.agpress.50megs.com/

This is how it read.

It has come to our attention about, 'Of Atlantis,' and, 'Dark Prince,' by David Gemmell have some idential wording. After seven long days and nights of investigating, we have discovered that Mr. Christopher Hill from the UK purposely did this to scam Ms. Lanaia Lee of her money, now her reputation. We have placed her book on hold with the publisher, I have personally bought the book, 'Dark Prince,' and one of our editors will do a page-to-page comparison to make sure they are no longer identical.**
We truly apologize for this situation, we didn't know about Mr. Gemmell and his work until last week when this came to light. We never meant to harm anyone or discredit his work. We will solve this issue before its published. We truly apologize to the public, but mostly to his family and his honor as an author.
 

AnneMarble

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I noticed this morning that Cheryl Pillsbury has removed the apology from their website.

http://www.agpress.50megs.com/
Well that was tacky of her. Does that mean she's no longer sorry? Trying to pretend it didn't happen? Wishing it would all disappear? :rolleyes:

And what's with an agent having a 50megs.com site anyway? That's probably on those "warning signs" lists. :)
 

Voyager

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She probably removed it when her ghost writer pointed out the shit spelling and grammar.
 

BarbJ

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Perhaps she's now trying to distance herself from Lanaia. The apology may have been an admission, but it was also good PR and a defense. Removing the link to Victoria's blog might be because Lanaia tried to use it to establish her innocence - which no longer exists due to subsequent actions.

If so, I suspect she's getting advice from somewhere. Cheryl has struck me as a trifle clueless. This is all so ... I've got to stick to the word flabbergasting. :tongue
 

Deirdre

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Removing the link to Victoria's blog might be because Lanaia tried to use it to establish her innocence - which no longer exists due to subsequent actions.

I apparently missed part of the Lanaia saga -- what happened here?

Last I heard, it was the agent who'd hooked up with what's-his-name (Hill?) and Hill tacked on the transmogrified first chapter.

Granted, that was a couple of days ago.
 

AnneMarble

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I apparently missed part of the Lanaia saga -- what happened here?
Here, we mostly just talked about it. :)

Last I heard, it was the agent who'd hooked up with what's-his-name (Hill?) and Hill tacked on the transmogrified first chapter.

Granted, that was a couple of days ago.
Nobody knows where Hill is now. I think Lanaia hooked up with Hill (who was her previous agent), paid him lots of money for ghostwriting (that's where he tacked on the plagiarized prologue), and then eventually got fed up with him and dumped him. Then Hill disappeared anyway. I guess she hooked up with Cheryl Pillsbury sometime after this, and CP hooked her up with a vanity press. Later, Lanaia posted the prologue on her web site. Then Pillsbury defended her on various blogs, etc. Now Lanaia is publishing poetry (?) with another publisher, Brazillian I think. (Anne's Law: The only Brazillian most authors should get is a wax.) But I'm not sure if CP was involved in that.

Puff puff gasp gasp wheeze wheeze
 

GeoffNelder

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Christopher Hill didn't disappear and several of us know exactly where he lives now. It is amazing how folk say their opinions as if they are facts, although if I were CH I wouldn't use my real name when doing such outrageous things and I would disappear!

Geoff
 

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I apparently missed part of the Lanaia saga -- what happened here?

Last I heard, it was the agent who'd hooked up with what's-his-name (Hill?) and Hill tacked on the transmogrified first chapter.

Granted, that was a couple of days ago.

Missed a couple days in the Lanaia soap opera? You're way behind. LL had stated somewhere - I can't remember where; there's been too many - that Victoria's statement that LL was scammed meant LL was innocent of all accusations. If you read Victoria's blog, her last post in the comment section gives up on LL - understandably - partly because of this.

I've read that it was more than the first chapter, and that the difference between plagarized and non-plagarized portions are blatant due to LL's writing skills, or lack thereof. Everyone has agreed that Hill is scum - how could anyone disagree? - but LL has evolved as being a bit of a jerk herself. But don't mention it; she claims anyone who does might kill her.

She's also going to sue those who pointed out the original plagarism. I'm still trying to figure that one out. The fact is, she kept the plagarized intro, after claiming then denying she wrote it, posted for awhile, then posted another that was an obvious rewording of the same. One way or another, she has made herself liable to a charge of plagarism - which may be why the agent is ducking out since it's been mentioned a time or two.

The extent of the agent's involvement is as yet unclear. She was proclaiming LL's innocence and had posted an apology, which, as mentioned, has now been removed.

To be continued.... :tongue
 

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The extent of the agent's involvement is as yet unclear. She was proclaiming LL's innocence and had posted an apology, which, as mentioned, has now been removed.

Okay. Wow, that's a total reversal from what things looked like last time I looked at it.

If there's a judge involved, I want to see Judge Hatchett on this one.
 

brianm

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You would think she'd get her "staff" to edit this...

AG Press is a print on demand service for Authors who are having a hard time getting books printed. We will print, staple or comb bind your written work for you. You will market the finished product and control your own profits, AG Press has a staff to help with proof-reading, editing, illustrating, even add poetry to your work or you may use your own staff.

A transcription service is available for writer's who are unable to type or send the material in the format that we ask for. A separate fee will be charged for this service and will be verified prior to any work being started.
 

san_remo_ave

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I noticed this morning that Cheryl Pillsbury has removed the apology from their website.

http://www.agpress.50megs.com/

This is how it read.

How very strange. As of now, it reads a bit differently:

An issue was brought to our attention on, 'Of Atlantis,' resembling David Gemmell's book, 'Dark Prince.' We apologize because she and I never heard of this person. After searching, we discovered it was Mr. Christopher HIll a former agent of hers took his revenge on Lanaia and did this horrible deed. I have an employee member at this moment, comparing both books to make sure they no longer match. 'Of Atlantis,' is on hold from production until its resolved.

We apologize to his fan, friends, and family for this, we never meant any disrepect or dishonor.

Apparently Mr. Hill was taking 'his revenge' on Lanai (revenge? hm, the plot thickens) and Mr. Gemmell only had one 'fan' but many friends and family.

:rolleyes:
 

herdon

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If she shops for lawyers as good as she puts words together, then all the people involved will soon be hearing from her dental hygienist!
 

AnneMarble

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Christopher Hill didn't disappear and several of us know exactly where he lives now. It is amazing how folk say their opinions as if they are facts, although if I were CH I wouldn't use my real name when doing such outrageous things and I would disappear!
My bad. :eek: I need a scorecard to keep track of these guys.

The publisher is Portuguese.

But they speak Portuguese in Brazil...
Doh! They don't even start with the same letter. They're not even on the same continent.
:e2smack:

If she shops for lawyers as good as she puts words together, then all the people involved will soon be hearing from her dental hygienist!
:roll:
 

Deirdre

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If she shops for lawyers as good as she puts words together, then all the people involved will soon be hearing from her dental hygienist!

That's funny, but I think it far more likely she doesn't get her teeth cleaned.
 

brianm

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An issue was brought to our attention on, 'Of Atlantis,' resembling David Gemmell's book, 'Dark Prince.'

That's a stretch... it didn't resemble, it was word for word plagiarism.

We apologize because she and I never heard of this person.

In other words, you don't know authors in the genre your client writes in? Or publishers who might be interested in this genre? Or which day the trash is picked up?

After searching, we discovered it was Mr. Christopher HIll a former agent of hers took his revenge on Lanaia and did this horrible deed.

Here's a tip and I won't even charge you your going rate of $50.00 for it. Since you claim to have editors on staff, please have one of them write for you because your skills are sorely lacking.

Let me see if I have this right, you're saying your client had no idea she didn't write the first chapter that she posted in her name on seven Internet sites? How is that possible? The moment it was shown to her that it was Gemmell's work, she must have realized she didn't write it? What kind of research did you need to do to figure that out? Did she hire more than one person to write this book for her? Is that what you mean?

Since you now realize it to be a "horrible deed," don't you think it's high time your client removed the plagiarized chapters from the remaining sites? Or are they up there for some other unknown reason? Like, Mr. Hill posted them on those sites? A ghost placed them there? You forgot about them because you were too busy trying to remember which day the garbage goes out?

I have an employee member at this moment, comparing both books to make sure they no longer match. 'Of Atlantis,' is on hold from production until its resolved.

Is an employee member different from a regular paid employee? Is it someone who is a card carrying member of your fan club? Just curious.

We apologize to his fan, friends, and family for this, we never meant any disrepect or dishonor.

I bet he has more than one fan, huh?

And if you really meant this, you would have demanded that your client remove the chapters from the three websites. But hey, I know... she didn't do anything wrong.
 
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jamiehall

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Christopher Hill didn't disappear and several of us know exactly where he lives now. It is amazing how folk say their opinions as if they are facts, although if I were CH I wouldn't use my real name when doing such outrageous things and I would disappear!

Geoff

Really? Last I heard, law enforcement was looking for Christopher Hill and unable to locate him. When did he show up again?
 

brianm

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More wisdom from Cheryl Pillsbury, agent extraordinaire.

http://www.alongstoryshort.net/LanaiaLee.html

One thing I've learned over the years, some publishers are great and some suck. Roval you do pay for a package, but no hidden fees, they give you the personal touch and they will market your book, also make it a returneable book for stores.

She charges to get you a contract ($50.00) with her favorite pay-to-play vanity publisher and sees nothing wrong with this because there are no hidden fees, they market the book (for additional monies, of course) and the book will be “returneable.”

Here’s what UJ says about Roval’s marketing.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80224

Roval Publishing is, based on my reading of their Marketing Guide (a free download at Lulu.com) an utter waste of time and money.

They have one book published so far, and they've printed it via Lulu. What the foo the author needed them for, I don't know. He could have saved himself some time, money, and mockery by going to Lulu directly.

Back to their marketing guide: They sell bunches of services.

These include business cards at $79 for 150, bookmarks at $79 for 100, and postcards at $199 for 100.

They'll send spam e-mail at $995 plus $495/month for a half-a-million addresses.

Wait, there's more! If you manage to sell 3,000 copies of your Roval book (and, at the same time, the Devil goes ice-skating and you have to carry an umbrella because of the flying pigs) they'll become your agent! That's right, they'll make sure a legitimate publisher picks up your book and they'll do it for free!

These guys are, in my opinion, somewhere between clueless and scum. Stay very far away.
 

Cheryl Pillsbury

Hello, this Cheryl Pillsbury;
Yes I used Published America and regret it, I didn't know about there reputation until later
Outskirts is a self-publishing company
Roval is also a self-publishing company, one of the best because they don't charge extra fees for each item and they work with you directly.
I'm not an agent, per say, my company is small, we guide others through the process and not make the mistakes I made. We give you a list of our members who are free to work with you for you, give you access to a publishers list, a one time fee to set this up and that's it. The members are paid for their work.
We have legal proof of what Mr. Hill did and if we could find him, he would be extremely scared.
I never cursed anyone, I'm not qualified to do that, but my guide and high priestess can if I ask her.
The book, 'Of Atlantis' is on hold until my employee is finished comparing both books to make sure they are no longer identical.
Yes we have apologized, many times over but it doesn't seem to be enough.
I know we're innocent in this, I'm sorry it happened and I'm sorry everyone is having a field day with words and when this cleared up, crow will be served with butter.
There is not much more we can do but to wait, burnings went out centuries ago.
 

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'when this cleared up, crow will be served with butter'

WTF does that mean?

This whole thing is snowballing out of control.

Curses?! FFS !!!!