I've been with Airleaf/Bookman now for over two years. In that time, they have published three of my children's books and are actively selling them through Amazon.com, Borders Books Stores, Borders.com, Barnes and Noble.com and a few assorted smaller book stores. Needless to say, I AM happy with them. They help me lot and don't "rip me off". (Oh, and by the way, no I'm jot some cutsey young blond bombshell.)
Best of luck to you. A good attitude goes a long way in dealing with people.

Annie,

Thanks for the comments. I'm sure Airleaf/Bookman has been good for some. In my case, I tried all the good attitude in the world before I took it to my lawyer. I have excellent relationships with other publishers and marketers and advertising brokers all over the country. All that aside, I can be nice all day but if I'm still stuck with a product of noticeably inferior quality, there is an issue there.

I appreciate you weighing in. I'm not here to give anyone a black eye. I just relay my experiences to help others avoid possible problems. I would still highly recommend steering clear of this company (Airleaf/Bookman). I am glad, however, to hear that they do have a happy customer.

I've had 3 books published by Airleaf/Bookman and have participated in their radio shows and TV shows.I 've also gone on a book tour set up by them to Texas. I've spent perhaps $10K, sold perhaps 1000 books and have gain immeasureable confidence and experience because my books are out there in the market place being read.
If all your whyners would stop for a moment and ask yourself one question: Why are you writting in the first place? And come up with an honest answer you might acknowledge that it's not a God given right that your book should be read and liked by everyone. Get over yourselves. Nobody's making you write.
Try producing your book yourself if you think it's easy. I did. It took two months of 8 hour a day dedication. And that was just to physically produce the book. My biggest expense was getting the cover printed. $1000 for 300 copies. The paper, ink ,copyright, and ISBN# cost me another $700. So each book cost me $5.60. I sold it for $13. Book stores take between 40-50% of the cover price.And then I gave many of them away to my friends.I was too exhausted to do any marketing let alone find the money for it after all that effort. As a result the books stayed in my basement for years until I found Airleaf/Bookman.
I next tried an agent. $500 later, I had nothing but demands for a further $500 and no publisher. I found some small printer who said they would pubish my book. they did, two years later! But they expected me to do all the publicity, and I had to buy the books from them for $10 each.
Bookman/Airleaf got my first book published and out online within 6 months for $600, and I had 50 books in my hand.
Even now after 3 years I'm not turning a profit. But go and ask an average published author from a big publishing house. They'd be lucky to make any money on the first edition. They may make 25% royalties on the paperback version if the're lucky, but by then the publisher has made a 1000% profit on the writer's work.
The publishing industry is not a charity case. The reality is that even for the big publishing houses only 2 or 3 books from the thousands they print every year make any real money.
Writing is not for the faint of heart nor whyners. Just read about Mark Twain's experiences or Edgar Allen Poe's.
If you were in any other country of the world you wouldn't even have the opportunity to have your book in print, unless your family own a press.
So my advise to all you whyners out there. Know why you're writting and admitt it just to see your name in lights. Time and other people will decide if it's worth it or not. Until then Writers write! Just do it and enjoy the experience. If you don't want a publisher's services don't take them. Know your limitations and understand what you can realistically expect from your own efforts.

I have been encouraged by Mr Ian Moore's comments. I am just trying my hands at self publishing. Good to know from him that it is really an uphill task. I have just asked AIRLEAF to help me in the publicity/marketing aspect. I will be patient with them and see how things develop.
I am yet to sell any significant number of copies, despite having invested quite a lot. I wont stop writing though. The problem is that once you have that of drive in your veins, you just cann´t stop writing.

I was attracted to Bookman/Airleaf Publishing because of its marketing packages and promise to shelve your books in a minimum of 15 bookstores. I phoned and spoke at length with Brien Jones, who quickly and easily addressed all of my issues and calmed all fears that might have slowed my decision making process. I submitted two print ready documents for simutaneous release, purchased marketing programs and materials at a cost of just over 7K. Having foolishly surrendered my debit card number via phone, without having received a printed contract, I found myself victim to unbelievable, blatant demonstrations of lies and deception, without a legal contract on which to fall back on. None of the extensive print or phone marketing ever occurred, the press releases I received were filled with grammatical errors that I had to clean up myself and attempts to speak with management about my concerns were ALWAYS met with an admin who'd been trained to screen calls, make excuses and let no one through. I had even been allowed to submit a list of bookstores as targets for marketing and shelf placement. Having been published previously with a POD company, I had a rapport with several of the listed bookstore owners and as long as they could order on consignment (as Brien indicated was the case) and return unsold product, my work would have been shelved. Well, not only did they not contact anyone, they required prepayment. When I asked for a list of the stores they contacted (knowing there were none) I was told it was against their company policy to disclose such. Needless to say, I phoned them all myself and was informed that no contact had been made aside from the bulk SPAM that they are known for. My books were released in September and late December (though the release date lists November) of 2005, and I have yet to receive either a royalty check or a response to email addressing royalty checks. And as for their web-site's claim of a twelve week turnaround after manuscript submission, I submitted in late May, provided one of the two book covers (front and back) press releases and submitted "print ready" documents, and my books were released in late September and late December. So, if you want to throw money away, be insulted and ignored, Airleaf is your company. If you're already dealing with them, bait them via email. They have admitted to some amazingly foolish things in print. The court case will be laughable.

CB

My name is Bonnie Kaye.

I am the organizer of a group of authors who are victims of a publishing scam through Airleaf Publishing (formerly Bookman Publishing) owned by Carl Lau. We are seeking other victims who have been robbed of their dreams through investments of money and time.

Here is some background about me. I am a professional relationship counselor in a niche market of straight/gay marriages which affects 4 million women in this country. Since 1984, I have worked with over 30,000 women who unknowingly married gay/bi men and over 2,000 gay men who need support to come out to their wives.

My website can be found at www.Gayhusbands.com. I constantly receive international publicity because of my expertise in this field. I serve as a consultant for the top television shows including Oprah, Montel, and Tyra Banks. You can see my website listed on their resource boards. I have also published 3 books other than the one with Airleaf Publishing about this topic—one through the traditional method and two others through POD.

In the summer of 2006, I researched a number of print-on-demand publishers because I had a new book I wanted to reach the public by September 2006. The book “Straight Wives: Shattered Lives” is a compilation of 27 stories from women in my international support group. Airleaf promised me that if I paid a hefty fee of $1,850.00, my book would be out on time. They were true to their word. I personally had no issue with that. In fact, I was on an Airleaf high because of the wonderful service provided to me.

My book came out the same week that former Governor James McGreevey’s book “The Confession” was released. I launched my own media campaign, and I was interviewed Paula Zahn on CNN and the national FOX news. Sales were booming. Airleaf kept telling me that I was their most successful author.

I was feeling so good about Airleaf at that point of time that I volunteered to talk to prospective authors who were on the fence. I now live with the guilt of convincing them to follow me down the road of doom.

Although I had a signed contract to receive quarterly statements and royalties, I only saw one check for $300.00 after six months. Nine months later, my attorney sent a letter threatening legal action with no response. Zippo. Nada. Nothing. Then I sent a letter to the owner, Carl Lau, that if I do not get satisfaction I will take my own action, and I am doing exactly that because there was no reply. It was only after I launched a criminal complaint with the Martinsville, Indiana police department that I received a second check which is still far from the money I am owed. I realized that there are many more like me who published with Airleaf and I started to seek them out.

I am gathering Airleaf authors together to join me in taking criminal action against a company founded on fraud. We now have 70 Airleaf authors with horror stories from people who have been defrauded from $99.00 to nearly $20,000.00 and who are joining me to fight back so we don’t have to be victims anymore.

I developed this website for two reasons:

(1) to warn unsuspecting, hard working authors not to throw your money away on promises that won’t come true. Airleaf makes some wonderful promises but they fail to keep them;

(2) to help other Airleaf authors who are looking for justice.

Please write to me at Bonkaye@aol.com for more information or to join this cause. It will not cost you ONE PENNY!

Here is just a sampling of our authors who have also been defrauded and robbed by Airleaf Publishing:

Author Frederick Martin-Del-Campo – Chronicles Of War And A Wanderer. Airleaf royally diddled me: I invested over $10,000.00 to have my one book turned into a best seller, and another taken to Hollywood and turned into a movie. They utterly made a fool of me, let alone the countless other authors they defrauded. The Airleaf agents gave me a runaround of answers when I tried to inquire about my investments and publication of books. Now, no one has deigned to reply. They have totally screwed me!"

Author Rudy A. Pizarro - The Truth and Power of the Holy Trinity. “I lost a over $10,000.00 I paid to Airleaf on services that did not materialize.”

Author Ken Pullen - Rescue Me. "I was solicited by a vice president at Airleaf who told me the wife of the president of Airleaf loved my book so much they had to contact, and make my book a national bestseller. I was told that the $8,000.00 I was to pay for promotion and marketing would encompass no less than 10 promotion actions - one of which was to take my book to Los Angeles for possible optioning into a feature film. All I ever received for my $8,000 National Bestseller fiasco was 2 supposed radio interviews - both taking place months before the book came out - and 50 copies of my book. That's it. I am convinced Airleaf stole $8,000 from me, just as they have stolen whatever amount paid from everyone and anyone else that sadly trusted them to do what they promised they would."

Author GC Karus - The Cammaratta Connection and son, Author Jason Hubal - For Meaning “Together we paid Airleaf $8,080.00 in March of 2006 for publishing and marketing our novels. Now it is September of 2007, and there are still no press releases, no book signings, no radio announcements, no accountability statements, and no royalties. The only real evidence that Airleaf was legitimate was the printing of The Cammaratta Connection. To date, For Meaning copies are still being held hostage. We are lost in a black tunnel in space wondering..... was that an asteroid (Airleaf) that blasted our dreams to smithereens? That's what Airleaf did... left us out there in space merely orbiting.”

Author Christel Fiore - Child of War. “I paid $3,300.00 plus 30 books to Airleaf to promote my WW2 autobiography Child of War. I was robbed along with everyone else. The main thing is not to let anyone else fall in to that trap and to stop these criminals from mutating in to another business by putting all of them in jail for grand theft and conspiracy to defraud.”

Author Lisa~Ann Carey - Retrospect "I am an Australian author who has invested $1,725.00 to publish my love story and to have it turned into a movie, I waited three years and I still haven't seen a book and a further six months and I still haven't heard back about the movie." Retrospect, a medical romance, is part one of a trilogy. You can view Lisa’s website at www.careysclassics.com

Author Cliff Crow - After The Diet's Over “I paid Airleaf $1,500.00 almost 1 1/2 years ago to promote his book. The money earned so far should be close to $2,800. Services were not rendered, and no money has been paid.”

Author David J. Brown - Don't Panic, an emergency care book. “I am also a victim of Airleaf Publishing's deceptive practices. I invested over $1,000.00 to have Airleaf print, publicize, and distribute copies of my book to 15 bookstores on a rotating schedule. I have received no money and have no confirmation that my books were ever placed in bookstores."

Author Lester Taube – Hanna Barlak. “I paid Bookman (now Airleaf) $1745.00 to publish HANNA BARLAK, and directed them to stop once I saw the inefficiency of their operation. HANNA was never printed. I have asked Lau a number of times to refund my money - but, not a word. Second, I paid Bookman (now Airleaf) over $5,000.00 to print and send out 1,000 copies of ATONEMENT FOR IWO - and to publicize the book. Zilch. I have just learned that Airleaf is storing 500 copies of that book, which implies that these were not sent out, even though I paid for the book, envelopes, postage and other inserts.”

Author Floriana Hall – Daddy Was A Bad Boy. “I invested more than $1,000.00 in 2006 for my book DADDY WAS A BAD BOY and have nothing to show for it. Not the pitch in Hollywood, nor the pitch for any event but one poorly written. They lied to me because they told me they sold ten books because of my ad in a magazine, and later told me they did not sell any books. I found out they did even not read my book.”

Author Thomas J. Barnes - Vietnam when the Tanks were Elephants, Anecdotes of a Vagabond, Coping with Lust and the Colonel "When I told my wife that I was sending $7999 to Airleaf Publishing for touting my book "Vietnam when the Tanks were Elephants," on a national scale, she cautioned me against doing so. She asked what guarantees I had of Airleaf's bonafides. Naively, I brushed her caution and her query aside, and withdrew funds from the paid-up additions to my National Service Life Insurance, a policy I had obtained because of my military tour of duty in Korea in 1952-3. The withdrawals diminished the sum she will receive on my death. I made further withdrawals on behalf of various Airleaf publicity schemes for two other of my books Anecdotes of a Vagabond, a professional memoir; and Coping with Lust and the Colonel, a novella surrounded by seven related short stories set in wartime Korea. My payments to Airleaf in 2006 totalled $13, 813. One is never too old to become a sucker.

Author Katie Letcher Lyle - ALL TIME IS NOW: Adventures with Jennie.

"I was promised promotion for a self-published book, meetings with Hollywood agents, radio ads, books placed in 10 (brick) stores, television appearences, on and on --a place in the Bowker book club, (which, it turns out, Airleaf had nothing to do with --an outright falsehood) -- all for only $3300. They sought me out, told me they loved my book, and were choosing only fifty to promote for the year -- I thought hard, fell for it, and -- as many others have experienced -- never got a thing for my money. They admitted they had not even read the book when I pressed them. An Airleaf representative gave me the name of one Mothers' Club about three hours from here -- but it was all about babies, and my book is about raising my handicapped daughter! All in all, outright scam.

I never sold one single book while in their "keeping." Not one, though they claimed a bogus telephone interview had been broadcast in eight midwestern cities. Impossible that not one book sold- I myself have sold the book to an institute dealing with handicapped children, who thinks it good enough to be passed out to all members -- and to the school for special people where my daughter resides, who think it's good enough to use as a marketing tool -- so it's a good and useful book. I've sold approximately 500 copies on my own. Not one single copy was ever sold through Airleaf or their efforts.

Author Ilene Shepard Smiddy - Daughter of Shiloh. "My book is a true story that happened in 1793 to my ancestors...I paid about $2500.00 to Airleaf to promote my book. $500.00 twice to take my book to Hollywood; $900.00 to attend a Media Event at the Opryland Hotel to be interviewed live by Radio Personalities. Now, I am positive these were never aired. $600.00 for Press Releases to go out to thousands of Book Stores. From all of this I never received a single cent. These people operated a Scam on a Grand Scale. I hope they are brought to justice."

Author Rocco Fumento - A Lesser Saint. I heard from Air Leaf three years after my book A Decent Girl Always Goes To Mass On Sunday was published offering to publicize my novel. By then A Lesser Saint was published and I informed Air Leaf of the fact and they offered to publicize A Lesser Saint instead. On July 27, 2006, I ordered one package of Airleaf services for $637.50. The package was supposed to include two radio interviews to be broadcast throughout the country. It didn't happen. Then I was made a better offer which would include TV appearancs and so much more. I was offered a discount because nothing had been done about that first package deal. For this service I paid $2100.00. To date, nothing has happened."

Author Roy E. Young---The Governor's Prisoner. www.thegovernorsprisoner.com. I paid Airleaf several hundred dollars, never received what was promised and never sold a book through them. I truly felt like a dope until learning about authors who have been screwed out of many thousands.

Author Sam Kay - Destiny of Man-The Book of Searcher "I first got hooked up with another publisher, AuthorHouse, who did exactly what they said they would do. They published my book and sent me some tips on how to get it noticed. When things didn't go exactly the way they said they would go, I go hooked up with Airleaf. I was sold on the Guaranteed Placement package. They also republished my book a second time. After a year, and close to $3,000 for "other services" including taking my book to Hollywood numerous times, I found that I wasn't getting any money from them for any books I had sold. They also didn't place my book in the guaranteed 10 bookstores as promised. I have spent a lot of time and money in getting this book published and feel as if I have been taken for a ride by Airleaf.

When I still had money and was able to pay for the services offered by Airleaf, I gave them money to take my book to Hollywood to pitch it to produces for a possible movie. This had always been a dream of mine so I was more then a little excited about this prospect. I waited for a couple of weeks after the trip and finally called to ask what happened. I was told there was some interest in my book and if they wanted to make it into a movie they would contact me. I never heard a thing."

Author Shamaka (Betty A. Flesher) The Cry of the Wolf, and Life for the Intelligence Impaired :We gave Bookman/Airleaf $3945.00 to promote our books, to promote us. We got nothing except our lives on hold, in turmoil, waiting for something to happen. It was a daily hassle to deal with them. They would not give us any answers, they would not return calls. They did NOTHING!! We did the work, we had the headaches, and we paid them!! The only thing they promoted was FRAUD!!
With turning them in, we hope they will not be able to swindle other
people out of their money, their dignity, their self-assurance, their power, and their ability to make judgements. Its like having the rug pulled out from under you, with the person doing the pulling, sitting there gloating, at what they have done, at what they have stolen. Its time for them to reap what they have sown. Its time for them to give back the lives to those they have stolen them from!! I have had no life for the past 2-1/2 years dealing with Airleaf. Its time for me to reclaim my life, my space in Creation."

STOP THE CRIMINAL FRAUD!!

JOIN OUR CAUSE CONTACT BONKAYE@AOL.COM