If you’re a writer, I’ll bet you’ve been spammed by JM Northern Media.
Don’t recognize the name? Maybe these will ring a bell. The Los Angeles Book Festival. The Hollywood Book Festival. The Halloween Book Festival. The Green Book Festival. The Paris Book Festival. The New York Book Festival. The San Francisco Book Festival. The Animals, Animals, Animals Book Festival. And at least nine other annual festivals, all owned and operated by JM Northern Media.
(UPDATE 12/12/19: Sometime after July 2019, JM Northern took its website offline (here’s the Wayback Machine’s most recent cache). Its only web presence now appears to be at BookFestivals.com, which seems to be trying to boost its credibility by also listing other book fairs. It mentions only four of JM Northern’s many properties, but more are included on the handy “multiple entry” form. Here’s the list as it appeared on the old website.)
Why, you might ask, would one company run so many book festivals? To make money, of course. JM Northern’s “festivals” aren’t really festivals at all, but textbook examples of a moneymaking awards program. Here’s the M.O.
– Solicitation. To maximize entries, moneymaking awards programs do email blasts. JM Northern is no exception–if you get on its list you’ll be relentlessly spammed with calls for entry to any or all of its fifteen “festivals.”
– High entry fees. For all but the Hollywood Book Festival, which charges $75, entrants must pay “a non-refundable entry fee of $50 in the form of a check, money order or PayPal online payment in U.S. dollars for each submission.”
– Lots of entry categories. To maximize income, moneymaking awards programs create as many entry categories as possible, and encourage multiple entries. JM Northern’s festivals all have 15 or more entry categories–actually rather modest for such programs, but that’s offset by how many of them there are. Plus, you can get 10% off by entering more than one festival at a time!
– Opportunities to spend more money. Moneymaking awards programs’ profits don’t just come from entry fees. They also hawk award stickers, certificates, critiques, and more.
On its festivals’ entry forms, JM Northern asks writers to indicate whether they’ll be willing to buy “promotional items” or critiques–to be provided, I’m guessing, by JM Northern’s own Modern Media Publicity, which sells said promotional items (“Nothing says free advertising like a quality t-shirt or coffee mug”) as well as “Regular” ($150) and “Deluxe” ($350) critiques by “by our staff of authors, publishers, festival judges, filmmakers and agents” (unnamed, of course). (UPDATE 12/12/19: Modern Media Publicity appears to be recently dead, but here’s how it looked in July.)
JM Northern also maintains a “book marketing portal” called Table of Honor, where festival winners and honorees can pay $75 per title to list their books. (UPDATE 12/19/19: Also dead, with the domain for sale, but here’s how it looked in May.)
Let’s do the math. According to this article, the Hollywood Book Festival received 2,740 entries in 2012. At $75 per entry, that’s a gross of $205,500. Let’s assume that the other 14 festivals, with a lower fee, also get a lower number of entries–say, 1,500 (I’m lowballing to demonstrate how insanely lucrative this scheme is). Altogether, that’s over $1.25 million just in entry fees. A year. When you add in revenue from the critiques, the merchandise, and the marketing, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that JM Northern’s annual festival gross is $2 million or more.
– Anonymous judging. JM Northern’s festivals promise judging by “a panel of industry experts,” but don’t reveal who those experts are. This is typical of moneymaking awards programs, where the judges are usually not the experienced professionals promised in the publicity material, but rather the program’s staff, who may simply pick winners out of a hat.
– Negligible prizes. To avoid cutting into their profits, moneymaking awards programs typically offer prizes that cost them little or nothing: press releases, media announcements, printed certificates, website listings, features on satellite websites they themselves own, donated items, and, of course, the supposed prestige that comes from being able to claim that you’re an “award-winning author.”
Here’s where JM Northern differs a little from the norm. Winners and placers in the various entry categories get (at least according to pictorial evidence) nothing but a framed certificate. But JM Northern does sponsor actual awards ceremonies, and the grand prize winner for each festival receives an “appearance fee”–between $500 and $1,500, depending on which festival–plus a plane ticket to whatever city is hosting the ceremony.
The festivals’ websites name winners, so I emailed several of the grand prize recipients to verify that they’d received their prizes. I heard back from three. All reported that they did receive a check (in one case, after a delay), along with a plaque (although see the update below). Only one accepted the plane ticket and attended the ceremony–a relatively bare-bones snack-and-cocktails affair at which the person gave an acceptance speech and category winners and honorees received certificates. The person also confirmed that there was no actual book festival, in the sense of an event with speakers, exhibitors, and a variety of events–just the ceremony, along with a display of the honorees’ books
What about prestige? Moneymaking awards don’t typically command a lot of name recognition (two of the grand prize winners I spoke with told me that their publishers, which had submitted their books at their request, had never heard of the festivals before)–but if you win or place, you’ll be able to tag your book as an “award-winning book” and yourself as an “award-winning author.” How much readers care about such designations is an open question. With all the fake review scandals, as well as readers’ increasing disillusion with authorial self-promotion, I think book buyers have become more cynical in general about what authors say about themselves.
Moneymaking awards, which overwhelmingly target and ensnare small press and self-published authors, are a cynical play on authors’ hunger for recognition and exposure in an increasingly crowded marketplace. JM Northern is by far the most prolific of these schemes, but there are many others. In my opinion, they are never a worthwhile use of writers’ (or publishers’) money.
JM Northern Media’s empire includes several other moneymaking properties, including the DIY Convention and the YPE International Summit. It’s run by journalist and author Bruce Haring.
UPDATE 3/30/19: From a recent comment on this post from a festival winner,
I entered the Great Midwest Book Festival and won Grand Prize of $1000 and transportation costs to the award dinner, held in Boston in this case. I met other authors there, including the grand prize winner of the New England Book Festival. We were served a good dinner, each of us had our 5 minutes at the mic, and I got a framed certificate and promise from the emcee that my check would be sent in 30 days.
No check arrived.
I inquired. Bruce Haring told me the emcee was mistaken, that checks were sent in 90 days.
I waited another 60 days. No check arrived.
And so it went through months and promises. The last promise was that I would be “made whole” on the matter, and that he would begin to send a little something regularly until the amount was paid in full. No little something arrived.
This author has sought help from the BBB, the Authors Guild, and the National Writers Union–all of which have attempted unsuccessfully to intervene–and has just filed a complaint with the California Attorney General. Well over a year after the festival dinner, the author still has not received their winnings (see the author’s followup comments on 8/25 and 9/20).
So be warned: if you beat the odds by winning a prize in one of JM Northern’s faux festivals, you can’t count on getting a check.
UPDATE 1/13/20: After a hiatus of quite a few months, JM Northern is soliciting again. I got this email this morning:
J.M. Northern now has an F rating with the Better Business Bureau, due to its failure to respond to complaints (two of the three complaints are from writers who say they never received their checks), and is the subject of a warning from the National Writers Union. The websites for most of its properties are dead; the only ones that seem to have active websites are the New York Book Festival, the Paris Book Festival, the Hollywood Book Festival, and the San Francisco Book Festival.
Thanks for this blog post, Victoria. I'm checking on an award a creative writing teacher supposedly won. Before I take a course from this teacher, I want to see if the award for his book is truly legit. The Northern Media contests don't seem to be behind this person's award, but I have enjoyed reading all of the posts in this thread, and I check your site frequently for good advice. My very favorite post was from "Anonymous," who complained bitterly about those stuck-up academics in their "ivy" towers. LOL. (retired academic here)
This is an update on my previous comments about JM Northern Media and their hesitancy to pay me $1500 as grand prize winner of the 2018 SF Book Festival. My perseverance finally paid off once the CA Attorney General's office received my well-documented claim. A couple of phone calls from them to JM Northern Media's office and just a few weeks later, I got an email from Bruce Haring saying he put a money order for $1500 in the mail and what do you know, I got the MO the next day and it didn't bounce! So, it can't hurt to try this and fight for your rights! Most of all, never give up.
Cristina Pugh
This is a follow-up to the latest post I made on this website on 8/25/2019 @ 2:40 PM:
I received a letter in mail from the CA Attorney General's office dated 8/29/2019 saying that they have received my complaint and will try to contact JM Northern Media LLC regarding nonpayment of the $1500 cash prize promised me after my entry in their 2018 San Francisco Book Festival won the grand prize. I'm not sure if they will be able to help get JM Northern Media LLC to pay me the 1500 they owe me or not.
But I urge everyone who was announced as a grand prize winner of one of this company's numerous national book contests held in the state of California and who has also not yet received their prize money to join me and file their own complaints with the CA Attorney General's office. The more people who take this action and speak out against this potentially criminal and certainly greedy company, the sooner the CA Attorney General's office will investigate and hopefully hold them accountable.
To those grand prize winners of JM Northern Media LLC's national book contests or "festivals" that were held in states other than California who also have not received their promised prize money, I urge you to file your own complaints with your state's Attorney General's office as well.
I can't see any other way to get this company to clean up their act. To me, they are breaking at least one California law and probably other states have similar laws protecting consumers against phony and fraudulent contests, lotteries and giveaways.
I hope everyone who follows this blog/website sees these recent posts by me and joins me in esta lucha, this fight to protect authors (ie., consumers) rights.
Otra vez, muchas gracias a ustedes
crispycritter828@gmail.com
This is a follow-up to the comments I made on this website, 5/11/2019. With a bit of online research using suggestions that were posted some time ago on this blog and several others, I found out that JM Northern Media LLC and its owner(s) are in violation of California law when it comes to contests. That is they are breaking CA Business & Professions Code 17539.1 (a)(7) and (a)(8).
17539.1 (a) "The following unfair acts or practices undertaken by, or omissions of, any person in the operation of any contest are prohibited:
(7) Failing to award and distribute all prizes of the value and type represented."
In other words, if you win some award in a contest in California, you are legally entitled to receive that prize and it's illegal for the sponsors of the contest not to pay you the prize you won (and announced publicly, like on their "Call for Entries" website).
Additionally, California law has several criminal and civil provisions for enforcing this law, that is, CA B & P Code sections 17200, 17534-17536 (More about these provisions can be found on the CA Department of Consumer Affairs website). "Specifically, these provisions state that anyone who violates the 17539.1 contest rules above is guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be prosecuted by the Attorney General, the district attorney or other state legal enforcement agencies. Civil penalties may include a fine of $2500 for each violation, injunction and restitution of the contest law and an additional penalty of up to $2500 for each violation as an unlawful business practice."
With this valuable information, I recently filed a complaint to the CA Attorney General's office against JM Northern Media LLC. In my complaint I also asked that this company be investigated for multiple violations of this law because I've found out that so many other writers have been victims of this company's greed. I will let you know as soon as I find out the results of my claim. Muchas gracias!
Jan Maher,
Your experience with JM Northern Media LLC is nearly identical to mine. My late husband's book was selected as the grand prize winner of the 2018 San Francisco Book Festival. As his widow and the person who entered his Vietnam War memoir in this contest, I too, like you, have yet to receive the $1500 cash prize promised to the grand prize winner of this contest. And JM Northern Media LLC continues to promise this bogus grand prize money to authors thinking of entering the 2019 San Francisco Book Festival, and, I assume, all of their numerous 2019 "Book Festivals." I am also planning to file a complaint against this company and its founder, Bruce Haring, with the CA State Attorney General if I don't receive this prize money in the very near future. What really bothers me so much is that most new and independent and very likely broke authors like me (representing my late husband, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran who died from lung cancer caused by his exposure to Agent Orange while stationed in South Vietnam), and perhaps you as well, how unbelievably callous, disrespectful and manipulative Mr. Haring is. He's done this to me (and you and perhaps many others like us) by leading me on at first, faithfully answering my email inquiries about when I could expect the prize money in the mail; then when this check didn't arrive as promised, how he was having financial difficulties and hoping I'd have more patience, swearing I'd get the prize money by the end January 2019; then refusing to answer any more of my email inquiries after that. Finally I google this company and find out I am never going to receive this prize money because he and his company are con artists. All I know is how much work my dear late husband put into his book and how I promised him I would finish and publish it before he died; how I spent every last dime of my savings getting his book published and with what little money I had left, entered his book in at least two of this company's book festivals; and feeling so proud when his book won the grand prize in the 2018 SF Book Festival and also was a finalist in the 2018 NY Book Festival, only to have my hopes dashed, knowing the only way I might receive any financial compensation from them is by litigating them and filing complaints against them. I thank you Victoria Strauss, Jan Maher and all others who have come forward to expose this scam to unsuspecting new authors and warn them about what they may expect to face should they enter one of this company's book festivals and actually win the supposed grand prize. I think boycotting all contests sponsoring by JM Northern Media LLC is a great idea. Thanks for bringing this outrage to the public's eye. Hopefully, justice will eventually prevail.
Jan Maher,
Thanks for your comment, and I'm sorry for what you've experienced. Please update us on any new developments, or email me directly: beware@sfwa.org.
Here's my experience with JM Northern Media, edited for brevity:
I entered the Great Midwest Book Festival and won Grand Prize of $1000 and transportation costs to the award dinner, held in Boston in this case. I met other authors there, including the grand prize winner of the New England Book Festival. We were served a good dinner, each of us had our 5 minutes at the mic, and I got a framed certificate and promise from the emcee that my check would be sent in 30 days.
No check arrived.
I inquired. Bruce Haring told me the emcee was mistaken, that checks were sent in 90 days.
I waited another 60 days. No check arrived.
And so it went through months and promises. The last promise was that I would be "made whole" on the matter, and that he would begin to send a little something regularly until the amount was paid in full. No little something arrived.
I tracked down the other Grand Prize winner and learned that they'd gotten their prize money only after their agent and publisher (a major publishing house) had interceded. Having no agent and a small university press with an equally small legal division (i.e. no means to pursue a case on my behalf), I asked for help from Authors Guild and National Writers Union attorneys, each of whom wrote to Mr. Haring on my behalf asking for a specific payment schedule and date for final payment. He answered neither.
I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, which made repeated attempts to contact him. He ignored them.
It is now well over a year since the award dinner and I have just filed a complaint with the Attorney General of CA.
It appears to me that grand prize winners are paid only if they have what Mr. Haring perceives as clout, and otherwise they are blown off.
I would be quite comfortable with JM Northern Media's book festival empire if it played by its own announced rules. An entry fee in exchange for the possibility of a cash prize. The payment of said cash prize as an appearance fee at an award dinner. (In fact, before this entire affair had begun to get tedious and then outrageous, I won a second Grand Prize with the Great Southeast Book Festival and forfeited the prize money because the award dinner timing was set quickly and I had no time in my schedule to fly to LA. I received no framed certificate for that prize.) But he does not play by his announced rules, at least not in all cases.
The National Writers Union continues to advocate for me with regard to this matter, and I will wait to see whether the Attorney General of CA can do anything to assist.
If you enter one of JM Northern Media contests, know that even if you win a grand prize you may have a steak dinner and certificate to show for it, but not the cash prize you thought you'd get. Like others here, I've removed mention of the award from my website and other social media accounts.
Did you ever hear back from Bruce? I received an honorable mention and decided to go, that is until I discovered that there was an $115 fee to attend the dinner!
Don't be too fast to convict an award of being a scam! A book award is still an award. The National Book Award costs $135 to enter, and can only be entered by a publisher. And if a book wins, the publisher must pay a $3,000 payment for marketing and other expenses. And if a book wins, it is mandatory that the author attends the award ceremony! And this award is backed by the National Book Foundation. And you still have to order your own stickers and pay for them!!!!!!
All awards cost monies to enter. Why? Because it costs monies to put one together, that's why. It isn't free. If we only had "free entry" awards, then how many award would be out there? One, two, none.
The chances of winning would be greatly reduced too.
I love a competition myself, but I still want to at least have a chance.
There are companies who's sole purpose is to put on competitions or dinners or other functions. That doesn't mean they are a bad company, etc. It is why they are in business.
Do your homework yourself before you turn your back on an award. And in reality, any award is better than no award.
Clearly this information is available to (and appreciated by) authors. However, vilifying the organizers seems extreme. Pharmaceutical companies, proprietary colleges, health insurers are probably more worthy of our disdain. The company makes a profit– and authors, who are blocked from the mainstream, have a chance to compete.
I've been writing for decades– published 4 novels with independent (not vanity) publishers, won some awards, and wrote for several high-end magazines. Since my living is earned as an educator, I've always considered myself a hobbyist. I write like some people hang glide.
And based on what I've read here, I might forego dinner and drinks one night to send in one of my titles and see what happens.
So yes, thanks for the info, but really, the competition sounds like a literary day at the races.
Back in April 2016 we spent over an hour submitting my wife's book for the contest. Just to be told last week it was not submitted properly. I asked for a refund and they will not respond. Had I checked out all the reviews on this company I would have seen they are only in it for the money. Not a good way to do business. Lesson learned!
I have a feeling it wasn't Random House that took notice, but Author Solutions when it was still owned by PRH and was heavily touting the connection.
I handle awards submissions for a large publishing house; one of our authors asked to be submitted for the Amsterdam Book Awards, which the editorial and publicity departments had never heard of. I suspected it was a scam, but it turns out that it's a much larger and better organized scam than I initially thought! Thanks for bringing this to light.
And I'm highly skeptical of the point above that Random House "took notice" of an entry. I don't work for Random House but I do work for a comparably large publishing company; we didn't even know this award existed, and we certainly didn't pay any attention to its winners.
I have read all the comments and I would like to add, I am a newbie in the industry and yes I have attended 2 book festivals. I have nothing but good to report, the publishing world sat up and took notice with my entry into the festival, where as before it was simply yes we've heard of you. It's a tough world out there, and nothing is free, dues as we call it come in all forms. Random house publishing, took notice and they are the largest in the industry. I will continue to enter, the people I met and the contacts I made keep me going in an industry that is one of the toughest to compete in. I wish you all success in all you do. I offer my email for those that would just like to chat, or have questions.
whocindylu@yahoo.com
Veda,
It's true that the National Book Award charges a fee. The difference is that it's paid by the publisher, not by the individual author (individual authors can't even submit). As for SCBWI, your membership fee gets you far more than just eligibility for awards and grants.
If you're a self-published author, there are much better ways of spending your promotional dollar than on entering high entry-fee awards, which exist not to honor writers, but to make money from them.
IBPA's awards have more legitimacy that many profitmaking awards because the sponsor is a legit organization, but they still tick most of the boxes mentioned above–high entry fees, multiple award categories to maximize entries, anonymous judging, and negligible prizes. $95 per title per category (or $225 if you're not an IBPA member) is a lot to shell out for the chance of winning an award that may look nice on your resume but may not boost either sales or exposure (and many writers submit in more than one category).
The Moonbeam Awards are owned by Jenkins Group, which runs multiple for-profit contests and awards. Jenkins is especially notable for the large number of expensive extras it hawks to award participants, such as certificates and plaques.
The IPPYs have been around for a long time, and are possibly a bit more reputable because of that. But they still tick most of the profiteering boxes, including selling merchandise to honorees.
Reader's Favorite exists for no other purpose than to sell stuff to writers. Not just the awards, but reviews (many of which are really poorly written) and services. It also offers an affiliate program where people can earn a commission from steering writers to the awards.
For a more detailed discussion, along with the names of some other moneymaking awards, see my blog post: Awards Profiteers: How Writers Can Recognize and Avoid Them.
I have not participated in any JM awards but I have won others. I think people need to realize that even The National Book Award charges a fee. In fact it's several hundred dollars to participate and its one of the most prestigious awards that exist. Also, SCBWI does not charge but you have to be an active member in order to submit so you are still coming out of pocket. Furthermore, indie authors have limited choices in the awards we have access to…. My favorite indie award options are as follows:
1. IBPA
2. Moonbeam (winners seem to be the best indie children books out there…legit…professional)
3. IPPY
4. Readers Favorite (the biggest perk to this award is the network that comes with it.)
I do agree awards will not result in sales but I've noticed that's the case with other mainstream national awards as well.
Last year I entered the Halloween Book Festival with my book "Trick or Treat Murders" and I received an honorable mention. It cost me to enter and then cost me for the certificate. I bought labels for my books, but they were too big so I printed up my own promo labels to stick on that book. I used the award to my advantage, no reader was going to do a check on the validity of the award, but I was awarded it and I promoted it. No, it didn't make my book sales go through the roof, but it gave a little more notoriety. I have for three years entered the IPPY Book Awards and spent money to enter. I got nothing. No big deal, but I felt that they could have given honorable mentions out also. I no longer enter the IPPY awards. I have a friend who writes children's books and has entered the Northern Media Book Festivals and won a number of years. She has no complaints about the award ceremonies and was a happy winner. She speaks highly of them. There are tons of award contests out there and with the thousands of authors it's easy to get lost in the rush. I will enter another book, "Doyle's Haunting", in the Halloween Book Festival this year and hope I get first or runner up but another honorable mention will be welcome. Anything to give my books a little prestige. I presently have 55 books in five series on Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and iBooks. So I'm not new to all this. Thank you, Bob Moats, murdernovels.com
Thank you for your input. I have just had my first YA novel published and am interested in legitimate book awards. Almost all ask for some kind of entry fee and its hard to know which ones are worth the money. But I had noticed the JM Northern logo on several "book festival" listings and wondered if they were on the up and up. I think I'll stick with the "IPPY" awards and such. And your website is very well written.
Sincerely, Penny Miller author of Color Blind
I agree with David Hearne. I do not believe it is a scam. All award contests and festivals cost to enter. Whether its the kindle book awards,Epic Awards, International Book Awards, Global eBook Awards, Indie Excellence Awards – they all charge to enter and for their stickers.
It's to help self published authors with their marketing. I have no doubt in my mind that the awards I've won have helped me to get published and have got me through doors that were previously closed. It's not the awards that are the question. It's how you will promote yourself AFTER the award. Ever bought a bottle of wine because it had a gold sticker? Can you remember which wine show it was that gave the award to that bottle of wine? The answer is 'no you can't.' Because the truth is 'you don't care.' It has an award and the other bottles of wine beside it 'don't'. The same works with books! I wish you all much success with your books in 2015. Best, Vanessa
SCBWI usually hosts free contests to members. Also highlights for children offers a free contest every year in the magazine category with a cash prize $1,009, I think). Lots of other notable and free contests. Just have to do some digging. You can always submit your manuscripts for free to editors and agents. If they like your work… and offer a contract…. that is a much better deal than a contest win.
I have entered books in these northern media contests and in many others. I am not sure if I understand what the fuss is all about??? Why do you see this as a rip-off?
I have been a winner and a loser in these contests. Winning a contest is just a small piece of making yourself known to the public and anyone who has the illusion that winning any regional or even lesser known national contest will dramatically change your sales, is out of touch with reality. Those who said that they didn't see any uptick in their sales means what? They won an award and just sat there thinking that now they will be read by the world. Winning an award is just one cog in the big media machine. If you do not hype yourself, you should not even be in this game. Someone has to tell others how great you are. The chances of someone reading your book over some writer who is better known is very unlikely and adding a few awards to your name is certainly helpful… Sure it would be nice if you could pick up a Nobel Prize, but be grateful for what you can win. I hope that when I won that piece of paper that they had 10 thousand writers who won zilch. I would bet that most of you who are complaining about this as some type of rip-off do very little to promote yourself. Going to book signings unless you are a celebrity is about as profitable as the day’s earnings of a slave laborer in some third world nation. You have to sell yourself and your book – but most importantly you really must sell yourself. Make your name huge on your books. Your name has to be remembered. I think that northern media contests are no more of a rip-off than paying hundreds of dollars for a review with Kirkus or a foreword review. Bottom line is I would love to know what book contests are out there that are “FREE” where I can submit some of my work – and if I win, get money and a trip to the award’s ceremony and become so important to the literary world that my books fly off the shelves like free 10 oz. bars of gold.
Hello, I attended the 2014 SF Book Festival & was excited before the event because I thought that I was going to "mingle" with book industry agents, publishers & other important people. However, it was only authors who attended the events and the food was fairly good with an open bar. Overall, the event was great because I got to meet some interesting authors & listened to how they finally published their book. I didn't pay for any extra services or products I am happy to pay my entry fee because I smile every time I look at my award! What does it matter that a company is making $100 or 1 million from authors who are looking for some recognition? Nobody works for free, stop whining & start writing your next book!
Anonymous is resubmitting and stands by it. These festival contest have given me great national and international exposure. Nearly every book contest has an entry fee. Pulitzer with multiple categories has a $50 entry fee per. Bruce has been one the most consistent and stead-fast support of me and my work at no extra cost or sticker purchases. I have never been pressure to purchase anything other than the entry fee and there have been times Bruce has waived fees to the award ceremony dinners which are very very nice !!
…
My experience has been that nearly every book contest request and earns money and JM is and should not be any different. I have found JM Northern to be very supportive and at time has even comp costs to me.
"All" of the ceremonies ( New York, New England, San Fran, HollyWood, LA, Chicago) have been in very profession, in beautiful settings with excellent all you can dining and open bar.
The quality of the writers winning and in attendance have been high. I have made many many good writer friends who have been especially supportive. I have won 2 Grand prizes and have been paid in full both times. I have also been awarded airfare for both wins; flying from the east coast to the west coast. J.M. Northern have been nothing but totally supportive to my career. Their earning money is something they have a right to just as many of us are trying to advance our literary career to amongst other achievements, earn money. People have the right to earn a little- small or large.
Personally JM has helped launch my career and exposure national and internationally. In a smug literary world where the good old boys and ivy tower academia have systematically kept writers out unless they conform and pay, JM is a fresh breath of air, providing many of us an opportunity and a stage to stand upon. I recommend JM to all writers . And I will continue to participate in his book contests for a chance to win but more importantly the opportunity to meet and befriend some of the most beautiful writers in the country.
Yes, I thought there were a few too many mistakes there! Anyway, I just "won" in the Nature/Animals category of the Great Southwest Book Festival. I wrote and asked if I would be receiving any free stickers or anything else that was free. Haven't heard back – no surprise. I was researching around to see if this was an award worth proclaiming on my second book, so I'm glad I found this blog. I won't bother to mention the award, and certainly won't ever enter this guys contests again. Thanks for your information and opinions.
How odd that Anonymous should accuse the site of only allowing comments that agree with the author's opinion (or the facts as she lays them out), when Anonymous's opinions are being published alongside all the others.
And please forgive me if this sounds pedantic, but Anonymous makes an awful lot of grammatical errors to be a multiple award-winning author.
Thank you, Victoria, for your diligent investigation into this and other contests and 'opportunities' for writers.
This site selecting which comments – most those that fit with its agenda – for posting and those that do not, they are being screened out. This is not honest journalism and reporting. It is more like a witch hunt, a vendetta ?
I suggest you interview JM northern with some its winners and attendees
Your commentary reflects that you are poorly informed and appears to mask another agenda particularly since you are screening out those comments that do not align with your mis-informed comments.
This is a biased site. They pre-screening all posts and only allowing through those post that align with their agenda.
the scam may be Writer Beware.
Anonymous,
Thanks for your comment. However, it'd carry more weight if you'd written it under your own real name. I invite you to return and let us know who you are.
My experience has been that nearly every book contest request and earns money and JM is and should not be any different. I have found JM Northern to be very supportive and at time has even comp costs to me.
"All" of the ceremonies ( New York, New England, San Fran, HollyWood, LA, Chicago) have been in very profession, in beautiful settings with excellent all you can dining and open bar.
The quality of the writers winning and in attendance have been high. I have made many many good writer friends who have been especially supportive. I have won 2 Grand prizes and have been paid in full both times. I have also been awarded airfare for both wins; flying from the east coast to the west coast. J.M. Northern have been nothing but totally supportive to my career. Their earning money is something they have a right to just as many of us are trying to advance our literary career to amongst other achievements, earn money. People have the right to earn a little- small or large.
Personally JM has helped launch my career and exposure national and internationally. In a smug literary world where the good old boys and ivy tower academia have systematically kept writers out unless they conform and pay, JM is a fresh breath of air, providing many of us an opportunity and a stage to stand upon. I recommend JM to all writers . And I will continue to participate in his book contests for a chance to win but more importantly the opportunity to meet and befriend some of the most beautiful writers in the country.
I wondered about those digital "tokens," Regina–I saw them on a number of authors' websites when I was researching this post. Pretty amazing that you had to pay for them! Yet another way for a program like this to make a profit.
Thanks for your article on JM Northern Media.
I made an "honorable mention" in San Francisco, a "runner up" in New
York and a "category winner" in London with them before finally
realizing they are scam.
I have taken the award tokens, (which I paid for) off my web-site by now.
The "awards" have helped me nil…………….
It's sad that there are so many sharks out there……..
Thanks for keeping up writer beware blogs!
With best regards
Regina
I entered twice – the first time my novel won first place in its category and I received a free copy of First Draft software. I thought it odd, because even though I am a screenwriter, they didn't know that and how many others would have appreciated it? On the other hand, I don't think I expected anything. I have done worse scams – such as the screenwriting contest just for the sake of the guy earning money for the Cannes Film Fest. It does seem, too, like they have way too many of these contests and people are catching on. Thanks for posting this.
Thanks so much to those of you who are commenting on your experience with these festivals–it confirms everything I've heard about them, and is a great cautionary resource for other authors.
I entered the New York Book festival. Paid the fees, won a second prize and was intrigued that the event would be held at the famed Algonquin Hotel. Went to the even, because my daughter lived right near it and a great time partying with my wife in the bar. The event was anti-climatic, the food stunk, and it was a cash bar. Most of the other contestants were bigger suckers than I was and paid all sorts of outrageous sums for trinkets. Thanks for the column Victoria.
Thank you Victoria for this post.Years ago, I attended the Los Angeles Festival of Books. I paid my vendor fees to an individual calling himself organizer, and fifteen authors, including myself, were stuffed into a small tent. I sold that day two books. My point here is that someone calling himself an organizer collected our moneys, made a profit for himself and paid the festival fees. Live and learn.
A follow up to my comment; I contacted Bruce. He said I hadn't heard from him because I didn't download my book properly. I asked for a refund and he promptly contacted Paypal and I received the refund.
Thank you for alerting writers to these scams. I really appreciate it.
Victoria, you are my heroine. Thanks for your diligence in protecting writers.
Jeani Rector, Editor
The Horror Zine
Well, I'm embarrassed to admit I got sucked in and entered a book in the San Fransisco Book Festival. Just when I was thinking I'm a savvy book marketer….live and learn. I wrote to this email address bruce@jmnorthernmedia.com asking for an explanation. If I don't hear, I'm going to get my money back via paypal.