September 14, 2008 at 5:19 P.M. I was obstructed and denied access to my MSN group, as I struggled to post a revised version of an essay that was vandalized overnight -- an essay dealing will illegal medical experimentation in America and New Jersey. I will run scans for the rest of the day, struggling to overcome censorship efforts to write at Critique.
September 13, 2008 at 11:18 A.M. I have been unable to reach my MSN group, again, due to obstructions and illegal blocking of my cable signal this morning. I will keep trying throughout the day to write somehow and somewhere.
September 12, 2008 at 3:35 P.M. I was just obstructed, again, as I tried to reach my MSN group. I will try throughout the day to return to my hotmail account and group. This sort of obstruction usually means that "errors" are being inserted in my essays. I will do my best to make corrections as quickly as possible. (See "What is it like to be tortured?")
September 11, 2008 at 1:44 P.M. I was just obstructed as I was writing at my MSN group. I will struggle to get back to that site. I am still unable to post images at blogger. I am blocking:
http://view.atdmt.com/iview/msnnkhac001728x90xWBCBRB00110msn/direct;wi.728;hi.90/01 (NJ, Senator Bob?)
September 10, 2008 at 9:28 A.M. access to my MSN group was blocked, an essay was duplicated. I was prevented from making corrections. Harassment value is the goal, I guess. I will spend the rest of the day seeking to regain access to Critique. I will try to continue writing under these circumstances.
September 9, 2008 at 1:33 P.M. My cable signal was illegally blocked moments ago, denying me access to MSN. I will struggle to return to my sites and continue working on essays today. This usually means that more writings have been defaced or vandalized. I will do my best to repair the harm done, eventually.
September 8, 2008 at 9:05 A.M. I was just blocked from accessing my MSN group, which is not an unusual censorship and harassment tactic. I will spend the rest of today trying to get back to my group to repair the harm done to essays at that site. I will do my best to continue writing, somehow, although much good work may be lost because I may be unable to do it under these circumstances. (See "Censorship and Cruelty in New Jersey" and "What is it like to be tortured?")
September 5, 2008 at 2:52 P.M. After numerous attempts to post this text at my MSN group, I will struggle to post it here. Hackers prevent me from posting this work at Critique. New Jersey's $36 BILLION dollar "short-fall" resulting (partly) from theft due to corruption necessitates a sharp increase in toll costs on the Turnpike and Parkway. I cannot print an article discussing these developments, but I can refer the reader to that article. Spacing has been affected by hackers. No images can be posted at these blogs due to obstructions. Won't they steal the toll money?
http://wwww.msnbc.com/id/26550468/ 9-5-08. (Tolls and fees to rise in New Jersey.)
I sent a manuscript to a small publisher I found on-line. I have decided to post a copy of my cover letter. I expect "anonymous" messages to this publisher about what a terrible person I am, which is bound to indicate that the book is likely to sell many copies. This essay has also been altered and defaced. Anyone wishing to express an inclination to purchase thousands of copies of this immortal work should feel free to do so. A novel is next. I will find some way to put this essay collection out there, somehow. Calling me a terrible person only means that I am like every other author. Nice people may have little to write about.
It is very weird to discover that the publisher I found on-line two days ago, apparently, no longer exists. My submission was just returned to me. This is very discouraging and frustrating, of course, but there are other publishers and on-demand printers out there. I will keep searching and trying to put the words "out there." My daily war against cyberstalkers and censorship has made me pretty determined and indestructible in my efforts to communicate my anger and outrage at these injustices.
Does anyone know what happened to "Mr. Rodney Ohebsion" at http://www.immidiex.com/ or http://www.immidiex.com/ ? What is http://www.doubleclick.com/? Why is Norton Security blocking them all the time? I also never received an explanation from "Mr./Ms. Prather" at Publish America. Is there such a person? I wonder why the book was rejected? Probably just not right for them, I guess. "Alina Falcone?" "Howard Masia, Esq.?"
I have just sent an e-mail to "T.Ratliff" asking for an explanation. I am looking forward to his/her response. I finally managed to upload my manuscript to Lulu, despite all kinds of obstacles. Several attempts to purchase an ISBN and a copy of the book have been unsuccessful because of problems of one sort or another. I have received an e-mail from "Pay-Pal" asking for personal information to "verify" my account. I do not have an "e-bay" account. I do not have a "Pay-Pal" account. Why would they want my personal information? Do you think that New Jersey lawyers and politicians can be behind these tactics? Besides, the thefts and rapes and other crimes that one has come to expect from many members of the N.J. bar.
Letters have been removed from my manuscripts at Lulu during my "revisions phase" in order (I believe) to frustrate posting efforts. I can not know whether the books have survived as I wrote them or are still available. I cannot know whether my ISBN number for my second book is valid. They kept the money for it.
I have resubmitted my manuscript by e-mail to http://publishamerica.com/ Let's see what happens. Nothing so far. I am simply ignored. Weird, they were so enthusiastic and suddenly -- for no discernible reason -- they rejected the book. Now, no response. My e-mails seem to take so long to arrive at their destination. I wonder why that is? Is Publish America affiliated with one of the major parties? Maybe they "know people" in New Jersey? Have they been "reached," as they say in Trenton? Why are my Internet transactions obstructed? Perhaps I will receive another threatening letter from Trenton. (See "A Letter From the DRB, in New Jersey!" and "Another Letter From the DRB, in New Jersey!")
Efforts to renew my security service are a war every year. Ethics, Mr. Rabner?
Dear Mr. Internet Publisher:
Attached is my manuscript for Why I am Not an Ethical Relativist and Other Essays 2000-2006. This collection divides neatly into metaphysical, political, ethical and religious concerns. Some of the essays have been published previously. This is indicated in footnotes when appropriate.
I have published one previous book Paul Ricoeur and the Hermeneutics of Freedom (Lulu: 2004). This work is available on-line, where it has received close to 10,000 hits to date. This is an estimate. It is also selling reasonably well, as best I can determine, considering that it is available for free. As with my previous book -- though I wish to retain the copyright -- I will donate all proceeds from sales of this collection to the publisher to promote Internet publishing opportunities for ordinary people. I will advertise the book myself and seek to obtain reviews. I may even sell copies of it on Manhattan's subway trains. One author sold 15,000 books that way. I will create links to the book and publisher's sites at my blogs. Give me a decent-looking book and I will make it worth your while.
I am a writer living in New York. My profile is available on-line. Comments, criticisms and suggestions are welcome, even if you choose not to publish the book -- whether for safety reasons or any other concerns -- I will be grateful for your critique.
Thank you for your time and attention to my work.
Maybe I should say that I went to Smith College and attended a "Bread Loaf Conference" in the mid-west? Nah, I don't think so.
This experience of not being published is significant. This is true whoever represented him- or herself as "Publish America" in those mysterious e-mails sent to me soliciting the manuscript. Senator Bob? We'll find out. I am describing this episode in detail because it is reflective of something ugly that I am trying to capture for those who have not experienced it. A lifetime of insults and condescension, trivializing dismissiveness and "instruction" directed at me, usually by middle-brow types (or worse) in positions of authority in academia and the legal system. Too much of American culture is the blind leading the sighted, provided that the blind reside in suburbia and are "nice." Race and ethnicity may not be entirely irrelevant to such experiences. (See "What a man's gotta do" and "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
People who have read a fraction of what I've absorbed will recommend books on feminism, politics, history and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Philosophy (I want that one!) without realizing how much I have read or how intensely and for how long I have been studying these issues. Patronizing, insulting condescension becomes almost a daily feature of life -- for some of us, not all of us. Why me? I am so nice to children and dogs. The challenge is to cope with fury at insulting dismissals of one's thoughts by persons incapable of understanding them and the contradictions of a corrupt, racist, ethically tainted legal system. Millions live with this level of rage and hatred produced by such treatment, rarely as much criminality or hypocrisy as I have experienced. I hope and expect that any lawyers (or teachers) who have participated in this effort at psychological torture will lose their professional licenses in whatever state they dwell. "Ethics?"
We have not been well-served by energetic and self-important mediocrities in high places -- law, literature and philosophy in America have also not been well-served by such people. They are the gate-keepers of culture and political power. The culture police. They seek out non-threatening, dull-witted minority types, persons who will strive only for their own self-enrichment and further personal power, if elected to office or given an "opportunity" to lead. You know who those people are. Minority officials who do not play that game, simply get passed over.
I wonder why Donald M. Payne was not appointed to the Senate by New Jersey's Governor Corzine? Racism, ethnic and religious rivalry will be detectable in these decisions or so-called "evaluations." Persons who will be deemed to write well will really churn out the tepid, lifeless prose that is reflective of tepid and lifeless "situations." Anger, even rage, fury, the experience of evil, struggle, violence and hunger will make rare appearances -- except in fraudulent forms -- in the safe and sanitized writing of our times. (See "Senator Obama and 'The New Yorker'" and "Skinny People Dressed in Black.")
Why is Amiri Baraka not sufficiently appreciated? Real literature and philosophy may well take place "elsewhere." No longer in American mainstream literature -- with all exceptions granted -- will we find that music produced only by Apollo's Lyre. These intellectual provinces where writing still happens will be a locus of struggle and pain, of love, redemption and hope. It is there, in that struggle, where you will find broken lives, true, but still human lives. Not on Park Avenue, but in Brooklyn or Alphabet City, in the West Village or Inwood, even in Texas or Indiana there is somebody working on the "Great American Novel." Philip Roth has already written "The Great American Novel," several times.
The message delivered by a culture that has mastered the art of indirection is that you do not matter. What you say is unimportant. What we have done to you -- however terrible it may be -- is therefore insignificant. Reading ten times more books and writing better prose will guarantee you nothing in the competition for cultural recognition. It will not matter if you have something to say, that you say it well, or that we need to hear it. The rewards will go to what is safe, familiar, dull and to those who embody those qualities. The consequences of this can be seen all around us. We get both the culture and society that we deserve. Scary. Worse, excellence and originality become categories of guilt that, somehow, justify criminal censorship and suppression of creative work. This may explain the journalism of Rafael Pi Roman.
I will continue to write. I will also record my adventures in publishing in this space. I fully expect more hackers and alterations of this text as the only response to what I say.
What a pleasant surprise to receive an invitation to submit a short story:
GinoskoEditor@AOL.com
Monday, June 18, 2007; 2:01 P.M.
Sent to me at: Gilligan2_@hotmail.com
Heading: SUBMISSIONS.
Juan-
Accepting short fiction & poetry for the 5th issue of the literary journal ginosko.
Editorial lead time 1-3 months; accept simultaneous submissions and reprints; receives email & postal submissions. Length flexible. Copyright reverts to author.
Publishing as semiannual ezine--summer & winter. Moving towards printed version to be distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Selecting material for anthology.
Downloadable issues on website: http://www.ginoskoliteraryjournal.com/ezine circulation 2200+.
Also looking for artwork, photography, CDs to post on website and links to exchange.
Ginosko (ghin-oce-koe)
To perceive, understand, realize, come to know; knowledge that has an inception, a progress, an attainment. The recognition of truth by experience.
GINOSKO LITERARY JOURNAL Robert Paul Cesaretti, PO Box 246, Fairfax, CA 94978
Isn't it nice that this e-mail -- from what purports to be a literary journal asking for a short story from me -- was addressed to me on a first name basis. The return address listed, once again:
Ginosko@AOL.com;
date: Monday, June 18, 2007 at 2:01 P.M.;
recipient: Gilligan2_@hotmail.com;
heading: SUBMISSIONS.
How curious that there is no such journal? Why send me a request for a short story from a non-existent literary journal?
In a letter dated September 27, 2005 bearing the signature of "Bonnie Williamson," identified as "Assistant Acquisitions Editor," the following was communicated to me: "I would like to invite you to send your complete manuscript to us." I still have this letter. This was after I identified the text as a collection of previously published essays. The following information was provided for "Publish America," the alleged "publisher":
Publish America, LLLP.
http://www.publishamerica.com/
Incorporated in Fredrick Maryland
Member of the Association of American Publishers
Baltimore
USA: P.O. BOX 151
Frederick, MD 21705-0151
Phone 301-695-1707
Fax: 301-631-9073
Is Publish America really Bob Menendez? Is engaging in Internet fraud something a U.S. Senator should do? I doubt it.
On December 1, 2006, after submitting my manuscript, I received this e-mail:
From :PublishAmerica Acquisitions
Sent :Friday, December 1, 2006 3:31 PM
To :gilligan2_@hotmail.com
Subject :Your submission has been rejected
Dear Juan Galis-Menendez:
Thank you for your submission of "Why I Am Not an Ethical Relativist: Collected Essays 2000-2006" to PublishAmerica. I have reviewed it today, December 1, 2006. This work does not currently fit our requirements. We cannot consider previously published works, including works published on the Internet. Please do not take this [as] a setback to [for?] all your hard work as a writer.
We wish you the best of luck.
Sincerely,
Acquisitions Department PublishAmerica http://www.publishamerica.com/
After several months, I have been told that Publish America does not want my book because several of my essays have been published or "linked" previously in scholarly journals, like The Laing Studies Journal, Philosophy and/or Applied Ethics, New York Press, Massdensity. Thus, the fact that essays were considered publishable by scholarly journals and periodicals was deemed detrimental, preventing publication of my work in book form. These persons are going to "instruct" me on the issues and writing. O.K., fair enough.
Why did Publish America invite my submission of this manuscript KNOWING that it was collection of previously published essays in order to reject the essays because they were previously published?
I will struggle to put this essay collection out there, somehow, and I will save enough money to purchase an ISBN number. I can't do this work until after Christmas. This allows me to make additional corrections to errors that have "surfaced" suddenly in the text. Gifts for my loved-ones (including someone I may not see again) come first, especially her gift. I will continue to make corrections -- sometimes the same corrections, as I say, dozens of times -- after hackers alter these texts, while ignoring insulting e-mails, numerous anonymous phone calls at all hours, together with other harassments. (Please see "Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "What is it like to be tortured?") Ethics, Stuart? Is this what they call "disconfirmation of identity and feeding back a negative self-image to the victim"?
How does one respond to a deliberate illegal attempt at dehumanization and denigration from persons who comment on one's ethics? These people are New Jersey lawyers, judges, politicians who disapprove of my ethics. You decide who is "unethical." Who has the money stolen from my office? How about my watch? Stuart? ("Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")
Politics has a lot to do with these determinations, I am sure, and (naturally) the political-organized crime group in New Jersey does not like me for some reason. I don't know why. No doubt they are influential with the "politically-affiliated" media. I am afraid they will like me even less in the future. Henry Miller was unpublished for twenty years. Now his books do very well. True, he's dead. But I am sure that Miller's happy to know -- wherever he is -- that while his sins were scarlet, his books are read. ("Manohla Dargis Strikes Again!" and "The Heidegger Controversy.")
Dozens of memoirs from people who got laid last summer (or so they claim) in the Hamptons are in the publishing pipeline. I can't wait to read them. I'm rewriting and revising the book, before assigning an ISBN number to it. I'll keep writing. (See "The Long Goodbye.")
My second submission to "Publish America" was rejected. I wonder why?
From :M.N. Prather
Sent : Wednesday, August 23, 2006 1:45 PM
To : Gilligan2_@hotmail.com
Subject : Query Letter Followup
Dear Juan Galis-Menendez:
Thank you for your query concerning "Why I am not an ethical relativist and other essays," on 9/27/2005 BW. We requested [Why?] your submissions package on the same day, but have not yet received it.
If I can be of any further assistance, please contact me.
I look forward to receiving and considering "Why I am not an ethical relativist and other essays soon."
Best regards,
M.N. Prather Executive Director PublishAmerica http://www.publishamerica.com/
Numerous "theoretical" expressions of interest from persons seemingly already familiar with my writings, suddenly resulted in fear and rejection.
The following web sites are being blocked as I write these words:
http://adfram.mediaplex.com/ad/js/198-43498-20 (NJ, JS? "Superior Court Judge"?)http://ad.doubleclick.net/N2992.MSN.com_/... (NJ, Doubleclick?)
My most frequent attacker, as of my last scan, is computer #82.165.24351. NJ Government? Judiciary? How strange.
Words of Wisdom from a publisher:
From : PublishAmerica Acquisitions
Sent : Wednesday, November 22, 2006 2:28 PM
To : "Juan Menendez"
Subject : Juan Menendez: Status
Dear Mr. Galis-Menendez,
I apologize for the wait. Due to the large number of submissions we receive [punctuation?] we have not yet had a chance to review your book. We review manuscripts in the order they are received and we should be getting to yours shorty. [Is that last word an insult?]
Thank you for your patience in this matter. Let me know if you have any questions.
Best wishes,
Tim Ratliff [What an interesting name.]
Acquisitions DepartmentPublishAmerica http://www.publishamerica.com/
Is it possible that persons paid by taxpayers have spent their time (and your money!) illegally harassing and committing crimes against me -- like stealing from me -- because my opinions are not popular among the Mafiosi in New Jersey government or because they don't like me? We will find out. 1988-2010. ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture.")
See "Does Senator Menendez Have Mafia Friends?" and "Senator Bob, the Babe, and the Big Bucks," then "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State" and "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System."
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, federal criminal law, copyright law, interstate laws designed to prohibit spreading of illegality -- all have been violated, for years, by my cybertormentors/cybercriminals and the Jersey Boys, with impunity. I wonder what they're all so worried about? Why do my writings alarm you? These are the people who judge my ethics and character. I consider most of them worthless scumbacks, some from Ridgewood, New Jersey. ("More Trouble for Ridgewood, New Jersey.")
Do you speak to me of ethics, Stuart Rabner? Anne Milgram? No more threatening letters from Trenton today? See again: "A Letter From the DRB, in New Jersey!" and "Another Letter From the DRB, in New Jersey!" Is silence from the A.G. complicity in this criminality? Where is America's "independent" media? No wonder people around the world laugh when we speak of a free press.
My essay entitled "Is this atheism's moment?" has been submitted to Quodlibet, an Internet journal of theology and philosophy, allegedly, but it was returned to me unopened for some reason. "David Foutz" is identified as the editor of this journal. How curious? Perhaps I will try again. http://www.quodlibet.net/misc/howto.shtml and http://www.quodlibet.net/ ("Carol Mateo? Larissa MacFarquahr? Patricia Cohen? Ginger Thompson? Manohla Dargis? Caitlin Flanagan? Are these names all used by the same person or persons?")
I resubmitted the essay. I have received no response. To ensure that a distorted version of this essay does not appear, I will retain and republish the original for purposes of comparison.
On May 22, 2007 at 2:30 P.M. there were 639 intrusion attempts against my computer and 106 web sites were blocked. The day is young. Main attacker computer #24.192.174.68. (NJ Supreme Court?)
On May 24, 2007 I cannot print out items from my msn group. This is the sort of insult and crime that may help to illustrate my argument in this essay. I only get a blank piece of paper with the following address on it:
http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/N2998.MSNAdDirectResponse/2304119.3;sz=728x90;ord=159625831?cli... (December 18, 2007 at 11:11 A.M. I am blocking this same site.)
June 9, 2009 over the past 24 hours or so, in addition to numerous calls from "anonymous," I have received these and many other calls: 6/9/09 at 11:54 A.M. 866-849-3243; 6/9/09 at 11:04 A.M. 866-849-3243; 6/8/09 at 4:32 P.M. 000-000-0000; 6/8/09 at 3:05 P.M. 800-285-4812; 6/8/09 at 11:49 A.M. 866-849-3243; 6/8/09 at 11:07 A.M. 800-285-4812.
Allow me to make something clear to New Jersey mafiosi: If you are involved in hurting children or any young women, I will do my best to lock you up for a very long time. Won't it be a million laughs to discover that some of the people involved in hacking into my computer are involved in Internet porn? I think so. You know what is even funnier? A lot of those people are now on the agenda of their local FBI offices. Mazeltov.
I have reason to believe that the true number of visitors to my books' site is not recorded accurately. On May 27, 2007 at 6:07 A.M. there were 743 intrusion attempts against my computer, 130 web sites blocked and numerous illegal connections to my computer and spyware, which I will detail in a future post. The number of visitors to these blogs is also not recorded accurately -- not even "approximately." 25-50,000 hits at blogspot?
If you care about the First Amendment, then these crimes committed against me over a period of years, on a daily basis -- probably with the blessings of the authorities in at least one state -- should trouble you. Today, it is me who is censored, stolen from, raped, assaulted, destroyed professionally. Tomorrow or next week, it will be you or someone you love. This is not what the Framers envisioned for a free society. Do you want to chat about "ethics," Stuart Rabner? My opinions will change as a result of these tactics.
New Jersey's forensic psychiatrists make use of modern questioning techniques, hypnosis, secret drugging, anxiety, and far more unpleasant methods against persons who have often committed no crimes. These methods often make young women available for sexual assaults. Frustration and economic devastation, sexual humiliation -- all are said to be very popular with these "highly ethical" agents and information-gatherers of the Garden State. (See "An Open Letter to My Torturers, Terry Tuchin and Diana Lisa Riccioli.")
How does a Jew become "Mengele"? ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "What is it like to be tortured?") Who do you think will be next? ("R.D. Laing and Evil.")
Access to my MSN account is blocked. Numerous obstacles make writing very difficult today. Hackers have affected the spacing of these notes and will insert "errors" repeatedly. I was obstructed while trying to work at my MSN group today. September 4, 2008 at 1:19 P.M. My security system has been attacked and is flashing a red warning. September 4, 2008 at 1:40 P.M., then August 31, 2007 at 7:31 P.M. I will continue to try to regain access to my msn account. I am blocking all of the following:
http://view.atdmt.com/NYC/iview/msnnkcpc01800http://view.atdmt.com/iview/msnnkhac001160x600http://view.atdmt.com/iview/msnnkhac001728x90http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/N361.msn/B21210http://view.atdmt.com/iview/msnnkhac001160x600http://view.atdmt.com/iview/msnnkhac001728x90http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/N361.msn/B21210
...
What follows is a slightly edited (for clarity) correspondence between myself and Lulu Press, which is very enlightening. There are many more e-mails exchanged on this issue. Mysteriously, I have received a response to my latest inquiry before posting this essay. I am now advised that this is all a computer "glitch." No one intended to remove or disable my download feature which will be restored immediately. I just checked this morning, the book is still not downloadable. Eventually, the book will be downloadable, for free.
The book should be sent to book sellers. I can not determine at this time what further damage has been done to these copyright protected books, whether they are still available as I wrote them, or whether they are available for free download on-line. I hope they are. All I have to do, they tell me, is change the title to my book -- requiring a new ISBN number (presumably) -- upload it again (with a new title page and separate copyright page, indicating that the book is published by Lulu, listing the ISBN number that will no longer apply!), which will result in the book being kicked back and not being distributed, yet again. Frustration?
Frustration tactics, combined with an all-out assault on self-esteem and disconfirmation of identity; feeding back to a person who reads as much as I do, that I am not well-read or intelligent; destroying social relationships for the victim and others (providing further disconfirmation of identity); adding stress from daily defacements and vandalism of written work; denigration of one's views, opinions, mind, more theft, when combined with additional threats and anxiety, like destruction of economic relations -- along with other harms, naturally -- can devastate a person very nicely. "It is a real job" not allowing such crimes to alter one's sunny disposition. Luckily, I continue to be the epitome of charm.
Ideally, efforts should then be made to instill and use guilt and other humiliations as weapons. I suggest a careful reading of the biography of Paul Robeson. Government experimentation with the use of social science as a "weapon" to control populations should worry you. Philosophy Cafe? See Rebecca Lemov, World as Laboratory: Experiments With Mice, Mazes, and Men (New York: Straus & Giroux, 2005) and Alfred W. McCoy, CIA Interrogation, From the Cold War to the War on Terror (New York: Henry Holt, 2006), then "Psychological Torture in the American Legal System" and "Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and finally, "What is it like to be tortured?"
I can't wait to see you, Terry Tuchin? I am asked, in effect, to purchase a new ISBN number, or a new proof copy, or both; to add a new title page, or copyright page, or both; after changing the title, requiring a new ISBN number. Meanwhile, my first book has been distributed to Amazon, along with Barnes and Noble, without a separate copyright page and has received close to 6,000 hits so far. I suspect the number of visitors to my blogs and books is greater than I am told. Perhaps, 25,000 + readers/hits.
My ISBN number for this second book is ISBN #978-1-4303-2393-8, 9000; Lulu is already identified with its logo next to that number and there is a Lulu id number #567258, since Lulu is already the publisher of this book and has been for some time: Why are these new difficulties created? Who is responsible for this confusion? Or is it deliberate? Why is the book still not available for download? Has this ISBN number been registered? If so, on what date was it registered? A revised version of the text listing the ISBN number has been uploaded to the Lulu site. Nothing happens. Decent looking versions of these two books would sell thousands of copies.
I suspect that, if I were dealing with a Japanese firm, I would receive a somewhat higher level of customer care. I wonder whether Lulu employees are subject to "influence" (i.e., cash) from the Jersey Boys? Maybe they are the Jersey Boys? Hackers have altered the spacing of paragraphs in this post. I wonder why? Maybe they object to a single reference to Fidel Castro in my collection of essays which would constitute "content-based" censorship with "state contacts." This is an actionable offense and a crime.
Letter No. #1:
From: "Distribution Services"
To: gilligan2_@hotmail.com
RE: Approved: Published By Lulu Distribution Service (LTK91018985193X)
Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2007 12:13:00 -0400Reference number: LTK91018985193X
Please use this ticket number in any correspondence with us.
Subject: Approved:
Published By Lulu Distribution Service
Dear Juan,
I checked with accounting, and Lulu does not retain anythng [sic.] out of the ordinary from the sales of your books. We are not keeping your royalties. Wheyour [sic.] book sells retail copies, there is no royalty, so neither you nor Lulu make profit. However, if you look at the pricing section of your book(s), you'll see that there is a royalty if the book sells on Lulu.co, rather than in retail settings. This means that if someone were to purchase your book from Lulu.c you would receive a royalty. If you don't want one, [one what?] you may choose to donate your royalties to a cha; many Lulu authors do this. [sic.]
Alternately, you can make your books unavailable on Lulu by setting them as Private Access. This won't affect their availability witother retailers. [sic.] lease ensure that your pricing is set the way you want bef approving the book, because you will have to pay a revision fee to change the price later. [sic.]
We have not required you to change your older boo to reflect our IBN-on-the-copyright-page requirement because we did not find it necessary to force established Lulu authors to revise their books, so we grandfathered those books. [sic.] Since Lulu is working to estalish a whole new method of publishing, we have had to adjust as we go to meet the demands of the existing industry.
What I can confirm for you is that if your book meets all o Lulu's Mandator Requirements for distribution, found here:
http://www.lulu.com/help/index.php?fSymbol=distro_requirements, there will be no other obstacles to distibution. [sic.]
Thank you very much.Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.Please use this link to rate the response you received in this email.
Regards,
KatyD (Lulu support) [Irony?]
Letter No. #2:
Dear KatyD, et al.:
What I can confirm for you is that when books are sold, money is paid to the publisher. When Lulu is the publisher, then Lulu receives the money. Whether that money is called a "royalty" or a "profit," or "cost," is irrelevant to the receipt of the money by Lulu, which will not happen for long if Lulu were losing money on these transactions. Hence, my guess is that Lulu makes good money, then pays taxes on what it classifies as "profit" (a small portion of the money actually received), and not on total sums received. Relax, I am not the IRS.
["Errors" were inserted in this text since yesterday by hackers.]
I have asked for and receive no royalty. My "charity" is Lulu. You have "changed your policies," you tell me. However, previously published books without the ISBN number are not affected and may be distributed to book sellers. If this is so, then the "requirement" in the industry is not such a "requirement" after all -- since books that do not meet that "requirement" are publishable in America and sold on line, today, still, every day. This includes numerous Lulu titles.
Hacking into my computer to alter this text will not change the idiocy of Lulu's response and stance.
At this time, you cannot confirm what are those new Lulu requirements that I must "meet" or what they will be, since my request for such a confirmation is denied. As a result, after I place my ISBN number on a new title page and purchase a new book, I may well find that "requirements" have changed (once again), so that I will be "required" to remove the thirteen digit number from my title page and purchase another proof copy -- but only to have the process repeated after that, da capo, forcing me to include the thirteen digit number on yet another title page. Such a process might become a tiny bit frustrating.
[More "errors" were inserted since yesterday in this message. I will do my best to continue making corrections.]
I will stay in touch.
Regards,
Juan Galis-Menendez
Letter No. #3:
From: "Distribution Services"
To: gilligan2_@hotmail.com
Subject: Published By Lulu Distribution Issue (LTK91018985193X)
Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2007 13:35:09 -0400
Reference number: LTK91018985193X
Please use this ticket number in any correspondence with us.
Dear Juan,
I was reviewing your title, "Why I am Not an Ethical Relativist and Other Essays 2000-2006," for Published By Lulu, when I noticed there was no ISBN on your title's copyright page. The Mandatory Requirements for Distribution ( http://www.lulu.com/help/index.php?fSymbol=distro_requirements ) states that all titles submitted to Published By Lulu must contain a copyright page displaying each title's correct, 13-digit ISBN.
I have set your title to Approve/Deny status, so you may edit your title without incurring a revision fee. (You will find your Approve/Deny status link, to create your new revision under the "Publish" tab under your title's listing.) Please take this opportunity to look over The Mandatory Requirements for Distribution and make all the changes necessary to make sure your title meets up [sic.] to Distribution standards. When you have done this, please upload your newly revised files to your project's account, then complete all the publishing steps.
Finally, purchase a proof copy [another one?] to make sure there are no adverse printing errors that have occurred as a result of the edits you have made to your files.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.
Please use this link to rate the response you received in this email.
Letter No. #4:
The item below purports to come from the IRS:
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $109.30. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it.
A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.
To access the form for your tax refund, please click here
Regards,
Internal Revenue Service
A Note with irony detected by me:
Imagine that, the IRS sending me "regards"! Isn't it a crime for someone other than the IRS to claim to be the IRS? I am blocking:
http://atdmt.com/iview/msnnkhac001728x90 (Senator Bob?)http://view.atmt.com/iview/msnkhac001160x600 (NJ Government?)http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/N3285.msn_Cusa/B2 (Cuban American National Foundation? CUSA? Commerce Department under Bush Administration Secretary Gutierrez?)
http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/N3016.msnfmm.com (Doubleclick?)
My access to the site where my books are located is obstructed as of September 8, 2007 at 1:02 P.M. As a result, I cannot determine whether my books are still available, check my downloads, or make any alterations. The goal of these frustration efforts is to silence and censor Constitutionally protected speech and to induce further frustration.
Having already generated over a thousand dollars for Lulu's greedy owners, this policy of censoring and obstructing the distribution of my work -- together with inane and insane justification efforts -- is foolish for this on-line publisher.
This experience with "customer disservice" is indicative of some troubles in American commerce these days -- stupidity and short-sightedness, for example.
I am looking for other publishing "options."
Letter No. #5:
I am blocking:
http://view.atdmt.com/msn/iview/msnnkhac00178x90 (Senator Bob and/or Staff?)
Dear Mr. or Ms. "Distribution Services":
I will not change my title. I will not pay for a revision or new ISBN number. I could not have listed that number on the title page before purchasing it or uploading the text, since I did not know what the number would be. Otherwise, I will try to see to it that the book meets with all specifications for distribution. I notice that you have now abandoned the request for a separate copyright page, new title, or new ISBN number.
Why do I already have a Lulu id # if this work is not published by Lulu? Lulu itself has listed the work as "published by Lulu." Incidentally, I did not list the thirteen digit number in my previous Lulu title before that book was distributed and this "non-listing" was not a problem. The book is available everywhere. Incidentally, I appreciate the "personal touch."
Can I speak to the manager?
"Regards,"
Juan Galis-Menendez
P.S.: I published our exchanges in my blog. I hope you don't mind. Think of it as free advertising!
September 21, 2009 10:10 A.M. spacing in this essay was altered by hackers since my previous review of this work. Apparently, police departments in New Jersey towns operate as private armies for local bosses "targeting" enemies or persons they dislike to the indifference of the Attorney General and state police.
Letter No. #6:
From: "Distribution Services" orders@lulu.com
To: gilligan2_@hotmail.com
RE: Approved: Published By Lulu Distribution Service (LTK91018985193X)
Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 13:37:02 -0400Reference number: LTK91018985193X
Please use this ticket number in any correspondence with us.
Subject: Approved: Published By Lulu Distribution Service
Dear Juan,
Since Lulu is a self-publishing site, we do not alter your text block or make changes to your book for you. It is your responsibility to do so. In addition, I can assure you that Lulu's profit in this scenario comes from the 20% that we keep of your royalty. All other costs are base printing costs or retail markups, which Lulu does not keep.
You recieve [sic.] the remaining 80% of the royalty.
It is very clear in the Mandatory Distribution Requirements that the ISBN must be included on the copyright page of your book before it can be fed into distribution channels. This is an industry standard that is not required when you sell only on Lulu, but is required for outside retail sale. Please see the Mandatory Distribution Requirements here: http://www.lulu.com/help/index.php?fSymbol=distro_requirements.
You may also look over the Published by Lulu License Agreement, the terms of which you accepted when you purchased the package, here: http://www.lulu.com/help/index.php?fSymbol=pbl_agreement.
All that has to happen at this point is that you need to put your ISBN on your copyright page and upload this corrected version during a revision to your book. Gary has already reset your book to Approve/Deny status so that you can make these changes with no revision fee. Then, since you have made a change to the book, you will need to purchase a new proof copy to ensure that it still prints correctly. [emphasis added]
I know you don't want to do this, but had you met all Mandatory Requirements for Distribution [I did!] before ordering your original proof, this would not be necessary. I'm sure you understand. [I sure do.]
Hopefully, this clarifies the issue, and I sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding about what is required for distribution that may have occurred previously. [Huh? Who had the stop sign?]
Thank you.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.Please use this link to rate the response you received in this email.
Regards,
Katy DLulu Support
Letter No. #7:
Dear Gary/KatyD/Distribution Support:
Since I have donated 100% of my royalties/earnings/proceeds of sales to Lulu, your profits are not "20% of the amount that would normally be distributed to an author as royalty" but ALL of the proceeds from the sale of the book. I have asked for and receive no royalties of any kind whatsoever.
My previous book was distributed without my inclusion of the ISBN number on the title page, including distribution to Barnes & Noble and Amazon, even though the agreement I "signed" then is identical to the one signed now. My first book is STILL BEING DISTRIBUTED AND AVAILABLE THROUGH BARNES & NOBLE, WITHOUT THE ISBN NUMBER ON THE TITLE PAGE, as are other titles from Lulu. I should not be required to purchase a new copy from Lulu. These difficulties should not arise at this point.
I have uploaded a revised version of the book with the ISBN number, which may be invalid since the money I paid for that number has (apparently) been stolen by Lulu.
Is Lulu "connected" to New Jersey in any way? Why is this so difficult when so many other titles from Lulu are being distributed without the ISBN number on the title page? Don't you want to work with me to generate fees for Lulu?
Is there no one capable of making an honest effort to resolve this matter that will put money in your accounts?
Regards,
Juan Galis-Menendez
Letter No. #8:
Dear Lulu/Price Support/KatyD/Gary:
I do not receive royalties. All sums earned from the sale of my books are retained by Lulu as per an exchange of e-mails. It doesn't matter what my "royalties" are "set at." Both my first book and quite a few Lulu books today are available through distributors without an ISBN number on the title page. Now you are telling me that, although this is true, Lulu has changed its requirements, so that I must add my ISBN number to my title page and purchase a new book, before I will have the book distributed.
[An "error" was inserted and corrected in the foregoing paragraph since my previous review. January 4, 2007 at 11:00 A.M. The thirteen digit ISBN number is already printed in the published copy by LULU, which I have in my possession.]
Will you please confirm that these new requirements are the only remaining obstacles to distributing the book?
I think I have my answer concerning New Jersey's politicians. Thank you for your invaluable assistance.
Regards,
Juan Galis-Menendez
Letter No. #9:
From: distro@lulu.com
To: gilligan2_@hotmail.com
Subject: Thank you for approving your book!
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 10:33:09 -0400
Thank you for approving "Why I am Not an Ethical Relativist and Other Essays 2000-2006."
You have completed your portion of the Published By Lulu process. Your book information will be sent to Bowker's Books In Print and once approved by Bowker, Lulu will upload your title to our distribution network. Should there be any problems with your title in Books In Print, we will contact you. This process is generally completed within 2-3 weeks. You can expect to see your book listed on Amazon and other online retailers within the next 6 to 8 weeks.
Regards,
Lulu SupportMessenger Café — open for fun 24/7. Hot games, cool activities served daily. Visit now.See what you’re getting into…before you go there
Letter No. #10:
From: Juan Menendez
Subject: RE: Thank you for approving your book!
Dear Sir/Madam:
This is the third time that I have approved this book, assuming it is the book that I wrote and of which I have obtained a copy [with ISBN number!]. My download of this text was first available for free; then only for a fee; and now, not at all.
Although my purchase of the ISBN number and approval of my book took place months ago, it is still not being distributed to booksellers online and there are concerns that it may be altered or tampered with before distribution.
My recent notes in response to several previous e-mails thanking me for approving the same book, with the single ISBN (I have a print copy in my possession, so that future copies should be identical to this one and not mysteriously "damaged"), are copied below.
Why are there so many problems about this? How can this be such a problem?
Please advise concerning what "boss" we need to speak to in order to resolve these difficulties.
Very truly yours and "Regards,"
Juan Galis-Menendez
Letter No. #11:
To: "Juan Menendez"
Subject: Thank you for approving your book! (LTK91-----.)
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:07:09 -0400
Reference number: LTK91------.
Please use this ticket number in any correspondence with us.Subject: RE: Thank you for approving your book!
Dear Juan,
We have sent you emails regarding your book, on July 31, and again on August 8, telling you that we could not process your book because it is mandatory to add your ISBN number to your copyright page. Also, it is mandatory that the copyright page must be separate from the Title page.
[None of this was or is necessary or "mandatory" with my first book. Many Lulu books by other authors TODAY are not subject to this requirement and are distributed to on-line booksellers.]
Letter No. #12:
RE: Thank you for approving your book! (LTK----.)
Dear Anne Marie C:
I received a written message indicating that the book would be distributed and no new title page was required, [and] without my consent, the download feature was disabled, the book has been approved at least three times.
Isn't it possible to do a little better than this? Is there a supervisor (or "boss") we can speak to about this problem? Does Lulu have anything to do with New Jersey politicians?
Regards,
Juan Galis-Menendez
Letter No. #13:
From: "Distribution Services"
To: "Juan Menendez"
Subject: Thank you for approving your book!
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:11:30 -0400
Reference number: LTK91 --.
Please use this ticket number in any correspondence with us.
Subject: Thank you for approving your book!
Dear Juan,
I apologize for any inconvenience. I see you have another ticket open where you are communicating with Gary regarding CID 56 ---. So, before we go any further, can you specify if this ticket is regarding the same CID?
[What "ticket"? Which "ticket"? Are we "going" somewhere? Clearly not. I refuse to go anywhere with my ticket "open."]
If this is about the same CID, then the issue, as I see it, is that your book does not meet the mandatory Distribution Requirements http://www.lulu.com/help/index.php?fSymbol=distro_requirements
I understand you have already bought a proof copy, but you must meet the requirements. [Say what?]
Please edit your book to meet the requirements. All that includes is adding an ISBN to your copyright page and having a seperate [sic.] title page.
I would like to help you, but we will not do this editing for you. Since these changes are substantial enough, you will need to order another proof. However, I'd be happy to refund your proof copy order once you place it.
I'm not sure I understand the issue about your downloads, but please let me know whether you would like it enabled(price?) or disabled and I'll make sure it stays that way.
[What is "it"?]
If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks!Please use this link to rate the response you received in this email.Regards,Mo TLulu Supporthttp://www.lulu.com/helphttp://www.lulu.com/serviceshttp://www.lulu.com/forums---------------Original Message---------------
Letter No. #14:
Dear "Anne-Marie C" and/or a.k.a. "Gary":
I need something else. August 30, 2007 I visited the Lulu site to enable the download feature of my second book. This morning, August 31st, the book "Why I am not an Ethical Relativist 2000-2006" is still not available for free download nor is it available for download at a fee.
["Errors" have been inserted in this text since my last review of it. No doubt more will be added in the future.]
I have tried to make it clear to Lulu that ALL fees are to be kept by the publisher. It is in your interest to be helpful (not the opposite) in this matter. No explanation was offered by Lulu for why the download was disabled, without my consent, in the first place, or at whose order this was done. This has nothing to do with an ISBN number on the title page.
After my receipt of your first note, I received another note from Lulu informing me, yet again, that my book was in fact being sent to Bowker's for distribution to book sellers. Hence, the contents of your note suggesting that I am required to repost the entire manuscript of my book in order to change the one line on the title [or a new copyright] page to say "Published by Lulu" -- something I was told I could not do when I initially uploaded the text -- and then to purchase a new copy, or new ISBN number, seems very bizarre and irrational to me. My printed copy of the book already indicates that the work is "published by Lulu."
There must be some other way to deal with this situation. This is especially true since lulu prints this information that you are now asking me to supply on its published copy of my book -- as I say ad infinitum -- something which Lulu has already done, since I happen to have a published copy of my book in my possession with the published by Lulu ISBN.
You have represented to me that you will be responsible for ensuring that the download of my book is available. I will hold you to that promise. I will also publish the exchange of letters between us for the benefit of any persons considering Lulu, as a P.O.D. publisher. If this is the experience of someone putting a thousand dollars and more, so far, in your coffers (whether this sum is called a "profit" has to do with avoiding taxes, probably), I shudder to think of what others have experienced.
I am somewhat less than blissfully happy with my "Lulu Adventure." I look forward to your response. Curiously, e-mails I have received -- allegedly from the IRS -- tend to have the same closing as your "notes." I wonder whether the IRS signs off on letters with the word: "Regards"? Despite the cruel humor of IRS agents, I think this is unlikely.
Strangely, the same patterns appear in my correspondence with "Publish America" as in my letters to and from "Lulu." Incidentally, I already have a separate title page and an ISBN number. But what the hell?
Have a lovely day and don't take any wooden nickels.
"Regards,"
Juan Galis-Menendez
New Jersey Chief Justice Stuart Rabner is a so-called "champion of free speech rights." Does that include my rights to free speech, Mr. Rabner? How do you feel about freedom of speech, Ms. Quinn? City Council Speaker? Will any light be shed on this mystery?
