Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency

victoriastrauss

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Lawsuit update:

Oh dear, oh dear. All that PR'ing, and it comes to naught. Frank Sorrentino has apologized (and identified Fletcher as a "con artist"), and according to news reports, Fletcher has been ordered to pay $5,000.

Per the legal documents (which I've been accessing through PACER), the court granted the preliminary injunction (though not before Fletcher filed a counter-suit alleging defamation by the plaintiffs), and all parties subsequently reached a settlement (though not before Sorrentino and Fletcher each identified the other as the main actor in the affair).

Probably safe to say there will now be no "six figure" book deal...

- Victoria
 

C. K. Casner

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I'm not laughing, I swear.

*chuckle*
 
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WriterMomto3

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Thank you, Mr. MacDonald, for posting that link. I think Regina summed it up very nicely for those of us who worked for Robert Fletcher when she said, "Truthfully, I should have quit before it ever got this far, but jobs are hard to come by and I'm one of these people [who] believes in giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. After all, they had paid me a few times, eventually they would get the point and start paying me on time, right? Wrong! That was my mistake, I kept believing there had to be some good in the company and the owner. After all we are all having tough times financially, or so I thought."

When I first went to work for Robert, I knew very little about the company and had been personally asked to work there. This is a mistake I'll not make again, going forward I thoroughly research any business and/or person I work for. I worked for about a year before information began to come to light about Robert's business practices. I hung in there, thinking that those people had to be wrong. I bought into Robert's lines about how they just didn't like them and that they were frustrated writers. (My apologies to all of you...I know better now.) I was also confident in the knowledge that I was giving these authors honest services, I was doing quality work for them. I didn't know much beyond my own department (Robert makes sure of this).

I stayed through a few times of nonpayment when my pay was often five and six weeks behind. I believed the emails that said the company was suffering because of the economy and that if I stuck with them, they were going places and I'd be in for greater things. I left in December 2009, when Robert's detractors began to make too much sense and the Florida DA's office made its move. I will say that I received all the back pay that was owed to me.

It just makes me sad now that he continues to take advantage of people who do not know any better. He preys on their hopes and dreams. As Regina said, many of them are either elderly or young. All are hopeful.

Please, please, do your research, everyone. Do not sign anything until you know everything you can know about the person on the other end of the contract.

Thank you to all of you who continue to stand up for all of us.
 

China.blue

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SBPRA (merged into SBPRA thread in Strategic subforum)

I remember reading about certain issues regarding SBPRA. Are these issues still relevant or have they been resolved ?
 

Unimportant

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Holy cow! I was browsing epic/historical fantasy e-books at Books on Board and came upon "The Hounds of Samaria". The cover looked okay, the first few sentences of the back cover copy looked okay, so I clicked on it to read more.

It's listed as being published by "Eloquent Books" but the cover copy includes a website by Strategic Publishing Group. And this would all be fine, except for the cover price: $794.21. Seven hundred and ninety four dollars. As you might guess, I most certainly will not be buying this book.

That, dear aspiring authors, is what will happen if you pay Strategic to publish your book.
 

JulieB

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As much as I'd like to slam Strategic on this one, I think it's an error. Here's the same book at Amazon: $10.95 for the paperback and $2.99 for the Kindle edition. I wonder if the price where you found it was supposed to be $9.99 and someone made a data entry error.
 

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I reckon you're right, Julie: other books at that vendor by that publisher are $7.94. No idea who made the mistake -- publisher or vendor. Just a fluke that I happened on this book with the price error, I guess.
 

James D. Macdonald

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And this would all be fine, except for the cover price: $794.21. Seven hundred and ninety four dollars. As you might guess, I most certainly will not be buying this book.

Yes, Eloquent Books is another name for Strategic (and all the other names under which Bobby does business).

But the price there ... reminds me of another bizarre book pricing story. Observe: http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=358
 

C. K. Casner

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When did the price of Eloquent books go down? I thought everything published by them were high like near or over the $20 mark.
 

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I must admit that I was very near to sign a contract with them, handing over the large part of my savings. I could thank my lucky star that my suspicions arose over discrepancies in their e-mail addresses, so I checked out.
 

LindaJeanne

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I must admit that I was very near to sign a contract with them, handing over the large part of my savings. I could thank my lucky star that my suspicions arose over discrepancies in their e-mail addresses, so I checked out.
Glad you dodged the bulled :). Welcome!
 

Lucas

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War with SBPRA? (merged into Strategic thread in subforum)

Two months ago, I was nearly making one stupid mistake. I requested to write a contract with the SBPRA, but I never signed it. I learned about their tricking ways before it.

I sent a mail to their leader, saying I cannot send the payment (I don't like to call them out as frauds in an e-mail).

Now I received a demand for a payment (they haven't done any editing work for me).

If I break a contract I haven't even signed and sent back to them, can I be sued?
 

Lucas

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I don't know about the law, but they A) haven't done any work, and B) haven't received any undersigned contract from me. I don't know if they have broke the law, since I'm not a citizen of the State of Florida.
 

IceCreamEmpress

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"I owe you nothing, as you have performed no service for me and I have signed no contract with you. Any further correspondence from you will be directed to the Economic Crimes office of the Florida Attorney General."
 

James D. Macdonald

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Fletcher is a citizen of the State of Florida, and that's where he bases his scams. He is being investigated by the state's Attorney General for fraudulent business practices. I'm sure the AG would love to hear from you.
 

epullins

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SBPRA?

I received an email from an literary ageny claiming that I had queried them and that they were accepting my work and wanted my full manuscript. I dont ever remember querying this company. I googled them and apparently they have changed their names numerous times over the course of several years. Do you guys know anything about these people.? Thanks
 

dsoul700

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Letter from an Agency

Has anyone here ever heard of an agency called STRATEGIC BOOK PUBLISHING & RIGHTS AGENCY?

I sent them a query letter months back and they recently replied me with acceptance, but I'd like to know how reliable they are.