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Post by writeway on Jan 27, 2019 3:00:39 GMT
In case you guys missed it, Christina posted on Kboards and looks like things have been resolved and she finally got justice. I'm happy for her but I see no evidence that RH has suffered at all. She is STILL putting out box sets that are making the USA Today lists, still getting thousands of money from authors for her "services" and still conning people. So where is the true justice? Sure, her account was yanked off Amazon and she has to take back everything she said about Christina and pay her but that's it? Meanwhile, RH will continue to make tons of money off authors (who at this point, I don't feel sorry for since they should know what she's done) but still, if she can continue to run business as usual, what was the point of the blowup on the net, exposing her? I'm not talking about Christina, I'm talking about when the world realized what she was doing. She must be the luckiest person in the world because any other person would've been ruined and crawled away in shame. RH is blatantly out there as if she's done nothing wrong, STILL running several businesses and her being banned off KDP hasn't stopped her plans at all. She just did a box set that made the USA Today list last week! Sigh. It's infuriating this woman just going on when she's inflicted so much pain. That money she'll have to pay Christina, she probably makes that much in a week with these sets and "services" so where is the pain? Doesn't look like her rep has suffered much either since authors still support her. As I said, very happy Christina fought back and won but think of all the authors she has done this to, will continue to do this to and meanwhile her award is making the USA Today list repeatedly and getting goo-globs of money from authors? Wow. If good guys don't finish last it sure seems like it.  |
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Jan 27, 2019 4:35:32 GMT
It all depends on where you place the finish line. In my opinion, Christina finished first, even though her race was really hard, way harder than it needed to be, she persevered, she stuck to her guns, the community rose up to support and help her, and in the end, she got what she wanted. Did Christina winning cause RH to lose? Probably not. There is no such thing as justice in this world. Even if someone who hurts you ends up being punished appropriately you were still hurt and nothing can be done to unhurt you or anyone else. But the word about RH and her business practices are out there for the world, and all we can do now is do our best to steer newbies toward the info, and let those who ignore it live with the consequences. IMHO, in this case, Christina's victory is as good as it gets.
Here's the link to the official settlement pdf (https://www.docdroid.net/QpwzGyg/stipulation-to-settle-2.pdf). Christina is writing up a long doc with all the info she's not allowed to share on Kboards. I'm looking forward to it.
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Post by writeway on Jan 27, 2019 20:19:07 GMT
It just seems like RH is bulletproof because most people would be finished if she did the stuff she's done to people. But maybe it's because so many folks are so desperate to get "letters" that they don't care. They would rather hold their nose and work with her than to do the right thing. It's one thing to work with her and you don't know who she is but when you know, I don't get it. There is an author I talk to who I distanced myself from (though she might not realize it) because of her association with RH. What happened is we discovered her the same time. Since this author didn't visit Kboards like I did, she wasn't aware of her like I was. It wasn't until that Kboards thread where RH was trying to defend herself broke out that the stuff started coming out about her being shady. When I found out she wasn't legit, I wanted nothing to do with her yet the other author who I considered a friend continued to work with her. The thing is, once Christina's case happened, she STILL was working with RH and then finally acted like she wasn't. So, I found out she was in the box set that just made the USA Today list and I was sickened. She said she'd never work with RH again and all this and yet she did. She's "made" the USA Today list twice and I guess that's enough to sell her soul. She knows where I stand but I was so disappointed that she seems to care about meaningless letterss and just ignores the stuff this woman has done to people.
But, it's the ones sticking by RH that will lose big in the end. She might not ever "lose" but they will and if my "friend" comes to me telling me her account is closed one day, oh well. I don't wish anything bad on her but she KNOWS all about RH. She was right there reading stuff in RH's group and stuff others said when they outed her practices. Yet she lied to me claiming she wouldn't work with her again but there she is, right there with her hand out to get letters. It's sad.
My main point was how does RH escape what others don't? Anyone else had done this and they'd be finished especially in the book industry but as I said, it must be about the letters. I can't see why people keep ignoring what she's done in order to work with her unless it's so they can say they got on the list (with 50 other authors).
Good for Christina though. A shame the others RH did wrong didn't get a happier ending. I admire Christina for fighting it out.
This goes back to people seeing what they want and not what they don't want to. Those who want to justify working with RH will come up with every excuse in the book to disparage authors like Christina or to say their situation with RH is different. Those who know she is crooked, there isn't anything you can tell us to change our minds. The thing is there is more proof on OUR side than the defenders. For example, if this woman wasn't doing anything wrong Amazon wouldn't have BANNED her from KDP yet her defenders can find a way to spin that too. They do it to make themselves feel better because they know what she does is wrong and they're being complicit in it. Anyway, they deserve what they get the same as she does. I believe one day she will get what she deserves and not be able to recover professionally from it. I believe big time in karma. You can't keep doing bad things to people and getting away with it. One day she's gonna mess with the wrong person. It's too dangerous of a world for you to be scamming folks out of money and not think you will pay for it one day.
Also, RH claimed she wasn't doing box sets anymore. I'm so surprised she lied. ROFL!
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Post by dormouse on Jan 27, 2019 21:43:40 GMT
One day she's gonna mess with the wrong person. It's too dangerous of a world for you to be scamming folks out of money and not think you will pay for it one day. I think that's the key. If she hits someone with the money, experience and mental toughness she'll come a cropper (as it is hardly likely that she will be in the right). Many business people deal with legal threats and cases most weeks of their lives and have developed the ability to deal with them without undue stress. Writers are vulnerable, purely because they spend a lot of time opening their minds and writing. Vulnerable to being taken in and vulnerable to pressure. I feel very proud for Christina and her supporters having taken this so far, but it has to have been at a substantial emotional and financial cost. And I can't help being concerned about RH's refusal to accept a non-disparagement clause. |
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Jan 28, 2019 2:06:21 GMT
I don't understand why any author cares that much about getting their letters. It's meaningless to me. But then so is having someone from a trad publisher wanting to steal money from me to publish my books. I don't get why anyone would want that. (shakes head)
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Post by davidvandyke on Jan 30, 2019 16:35:13 GMT
Because many authors are in it for the validation first. In fact, statistically I'd say most aspiring authors (as opposed to indies who've made it) are in it for the validation--not the money, not the love of writing.
I've gone to many writers' groups and I've never been to one where the serious writers exceeded the foolishly hopeful Dunning-Kruger candidates--many of them sweet, nice, good people, but as likely to succeed as Peter Dinklage in the NBA. But they hope, and they get taken advantage of as they get tempted by shortcuts.
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Jan 30, 2019 19:01:14 GMT
Because many authors are in it for the validation first. In fact, statistically I'd say most aspiring authors (as opposed to indies who've made it) are in it for the validation--not the money, not the love of writing. I've gone to many writers' groups and I've never been to one where the serious writes exceeded the foolishly hopeful Dunning-Kruger candidates--many of them sweet, nice, good people, but as likely to succeed as Peter Dinklage in the NBA. But they hope, and they get taken advantage of as they get tempted by shortcuts. Hmm can't say I understand that, either, but whatever floats their typewriter boats. |
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Post by drdastardly on Feb 4, 2019 1:44:03 GMT
I was, long ago, in a couple of list-making sets. With RH. I wanted to see the process. As you might expect, a lot of it goes on behind closed doors, but I did get a good idea of what went on, and more importantly, what not to do. The lack of transparency on a couple of things made me nervous, but by the time I identified the concerns, we were heading to release date. I put my head down, took care of the tasks I'd agreed to manage, and made it through. It wasn't easy. There was a lot of work to be done. Most of which I feel was legit - which has convinced me I'm uninterested in ever making a list run again. Good lord. I had a to-do list every day.
There are so many ways the drama could be lessened. SO. Many. Ways.
And in defense of newer writers, as I was at the time, I looked up RH, on Kboards, among other places. No one said anything bad about her. Now that would be different. I'm really glad the Kboards thread is staying up.
I think validation is a tough one. We indies are given the message that financial success = validation. But not everyone hits $$$ right away. So what do you do? You look for other ways to validate yourself. Being part of a successful team effort is one way.
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Post by possiblyderanged on Feb 18, 2019 20:03:24 GMT
No one said anything about RH because they feared the repercussions. The woman is quite intent on dragging down anyone who dared say a word against her. Kboards's owner was probably worried about getting sued, which was a valid threat. It's easy for things to go on when people are fearful of lawsuits, blacklisting and being turned in to Amazon for doing something that could get their accounts closed.
As to the "letters", there are tons of people who think they mean something. They've been told all their lives that being a "bestseller" and on various curated lists is a good thing, that it means big sales and lots of attention. The fact that it doesn't mean all that much doesn't compute. They have the dream of being a successful writer, and nothing is going to dissuade them.
These are the same people who fall for the vanity publishers, the advertising scams, and every other underhanded thing that comes along. They want to hang with the cool kids, and they either don't know or don't care that these people use them and take their money.
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Post by davidvandyke on Feb 20, 2019 7:11:01 GMT
Turtle and the hare. "Letters" are a hare tactic. It's all about velocity, not about longevity.
I have no letters, but if you added up all the books I've sold and count them in one week, I'd have about 10 bestsellers. The only difference is, they sold over years instead of days.
On reflection, I think I got the best of that deal.
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Post by writeway on Mar 22, 2019 23:48:54 GMT
Wonder how things are going for Christina now. I hope the bad times are behind her.
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Mar 23, 2019 5:53:24 GMT
I hope things are going peacefully for her now. She was last active on Kboards on the 19th, and her birthday was last month, that's all I know. She was supposed to write up a long post explaining all the stuff she couldn't say on Kboards, but if she did I don't know where she posted it. Maybe it was too much, and she changed her mind. I wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to discuss the lawsuit again!
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Post by davidvandyke on Mar 23, 2019 17:33:54 GMT
No one needs wonder why vigilante justice stories are popular, as it's so hard to obtain justice IRL.
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Mar 23, 2019 19:40:50 GMT
No one needs wonder why vigilante justice stories are popular, as it's so hard to obtain justice IRL. Ramen! Preach the truth! This is also why I enjoy horror because the ones who die are usually horrible. Also why I like dinosaur/monster movies. It's very satisfying watching the evildoers get munched on. This is also why mysteries and crime stories are so popular because people like to see the bad guys get arrested while we get to pretend they're going to be punished for their crimes. Watching the jerk get cut up with a chainsaw is more satisfying though.  |
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Post by possiblyderanged on Mar 30, 2019 19:46:41 GMT
I think Christina is working an outside job now and writing when she can. I think that was the last thing she really said about the business with RH, that she'd had to go to work and the writing was suffering. I'm hoping she's doing okay. Meanwhile, I guess RH is still playing the pity party line and making bank from her funding projects. *snort*
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Apr 1, 2019 8:03:07 GMT
The Sith will always rise and the Jedi will always have to fight them.
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Post by writeway on Aug 31, 2019 5:11:10 GMT
See this is the stuff that makes me sick and the reason crooks like RH continue to run their scams. In a FB group today someone posted about her service and it was clear many of the posters didn't know the REAL deal with Rebecca. So an author posted her experience with her warning others and a few other authors posted as well to warn people. Well, the admin deleted all those comments gave some lame excuse about she didn't want any drama to start. So the woman who posted about her experience blasted the admin with good reason and left the group. She told the admin that there is no need to have a group if people can't warn others. I shook my head. People like the admin disgust me more than the scammers because they protect these crooks. There wasn't any drama just people posting the truth. I can understand if the admin didn't want the discussion but yet she didn't delete the thread where the OP asked about the service! So now the post is still up there but without any of the negative comments so people who know no better are going to end up signing on with RH probably. That admin should be ashamed. By leaving that post there she is leading authors who don't know better to slaughter. Sure, they need to research too before getting involved if they do but as an admin who says she is running a group to help authors, she is doing a horrible job. Sure is funny she didn't delete the original post just the comments telling the truth.  |
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Post by possiblyderanged on Aug 31, 2019 12:18:41 GMT
This is why people like RH keep sucking others in. We say "research first!", but when they do, they find nothing, or just hints. People are actually afraid of RH, who has not stopped her scammy games, by the way. She keeps reinventing herself and pulling more people into her schemes.
The problem with people speaking out is one, they can't afford to be sued. Two, leaders of groups are either working with RH, or afraid of her, so they pull relevant posts down. It's a shame, really. But I've posted links to some stuff on Absolute Write from years ago where RH was having her cray cray days, and it's helped some stop wanting to work with her.
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Post by writeway on Sept 1, 2019 17:17:44 GMT
I agree Possibly,
Groups and forums for writers are supposed to be there to help writers more than anything so it's sad if newbies or whoever can't find reliable info. I checked into the group and the admin still has that RH post up. I can't see why she wouldn't delete it knowing that RH is not honorable. When she deleted the comments she gave the same lame excuse KBoards mods used to, "Please only post about the promo service and not the owner." Yet, then said folks are free to share their experiences. Apparently not! And how can you talk about a service and not talk about its owner if she is a crook scamming people? That's the stupidiest thing I ever heard. It's like saying you can talk about LeBron James' NBA record but don't talk about LeBron James as a player. Uh...okay.
If these admins are so scary then they shouldn't even have groups. I also don't know why the hell everyone is so afraid of this woman. She's a nobody. People act like she's working for the FBI or something. LOL! She's some loser who learned how to game the systems by getting people on the USA Today list. All she had was some loser Internet minions. Most of them are long gone because she did them wrong too in the end. I don't feel sorry for them since they were bullying people right along with her now they fell out with her. Many also left her side because of that lawsuit (one of many) and were scared they'd be charged for bullying too.
RH is a coward with no power and she doesn't have nearly as much of a following as she used to.
That lawsuit slapped her butt back in her place.
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Post by writeway on Feb 23, 2020 17:49:31 GMT
Anyone ever hear from Christina? Is she still writing?
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Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Feb 23, 2020 20:02:35 GMT
Anyone ever hear from Christina? Is she still writing? I saw one of her FB ads the other day. I think she recently published something. |
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Post by writeway on Feb 26, 2020 21:34:25 GMT
Anyone ever hear from Christina? Is she still writing? I saw one of her FB ads the other day. I think she recently published something. Good to see she's still writing. I hadn't heard anything about her since the lawsuit wrapped up. I think she posted once or twice after Kboards was sold to the new people then disappeared but that could be for the same reason most left. Good she didn't let that RH mess drive her from publishing. Some people would've quit after going through that. |
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