Archive for 'vanity-press'



Would Be Print Authors Scammed by Vanity Press

San Diego publisher, Ed Johnson, promised non published authors that he could make their dreams of being in print, a reality. For $5,700.00 an author could send their book to be printed through Johnson’s press. The books, however, never materialized. Emails went unanswered and phone calls unreturned. The website is no longer operation.

Johnson says that the firm has just gone out of business due to the challenges that effect any small business. Unfortunately, about 40-50 aspiring authors who had paid thousands of dollars were left with nothing to show for it. Johnson operated at least two publishing ventures, the first was one Simon & Northrup in 1998. It’s corporate offices were at 3333 Midway Drive in California. Simon & Northrup went belly-up when the California Secretary of State suspended its articles of incorporation in 2004. This didn’t deter Johnson. He began a new publishing venture in 2005 called Martell Publishing housed at the same Midway Drive address.

There’s more to this horrific story including how an office manager was forced in editing position and that there are no recorded published books from Martell Publishing and only 27 from Simon & Northrup. …