A new book site has appeared on the horizon, and boy let me tell you, are we all in for a treat. The site is called, "Leafmarks", and it was started by Emily May and Jacquie Mak Sakata. There is an interesting story behind these two, but before we get into that, let's take a look at their new online book site. But first, let's meet the owners.
We'll be getting to know these girls a little better in the post, so stay tuned.
First I want to cover joining the site. I have to start with this because there is a little something you should know. When I joined, I quickly discovered that there was no "delete my account" button, or option. I couldn't find it anywhere. So before you go rushing to join, I thought you might like to know that little tidbit. You can create an account, but you can't delete it later. Maybe this is something they will address down the road, but for now, once you join, the only way your account can be deleted is when they do it for you. You don't get that option as of yet.
Not starting out good at all here, are we? But hang on, there's something else you need to know.
Security. To be blunt, there is none. This website has more security issues than the ObamaCare website. Let's forget for a moment about the "sign in" using Facebook or other social sites you may be a part of, that alone for any website is a security risk within itself. If someone can hack into your personal account, they could have access to all of it if you practice signing into sites using other social media accounts, and your email. Let alone, a website that offers absolutely no security measures for their members, like "Leafmarks".
I know this to be true because they go into this whole song and dance on their "Terms of Use" page where they stress how they (Leafmarks) are not responsible for security breaches on your account. I ran this by my attorney and he basically laughed at it. All websites are responsible for "security" breaches, just as "Target" is being held accountable for their security breach by way of a class action lawsuit being filed against them. These two ladies might want to hire a lawyer for their website. I know they haven't any legal counsel because, according to my attorney, who looked over their "Terms of Use" section, it appears they grabbed stuff off of the internet and pasted it onto their ToU. The truth is, I don't think it would take anyone, who knew what they were doing, any time at all to hack into their site with relative ease. If security issues don't bother you, then have at it. This is a site for you.
The fact that they stress how it is against their policy for members to "hack" into other members accounts, and or into the website itself, and how it is forbidden to infect their site with a virus, spyware and or malware (which is common knowledge that these practices are within itself, illegal) demonstrates clearly their lack of security for the website, and its members. Not to mention, highlights their concern of this very thing happening.
They try to suggest that they are not responsible for what their members do, say or post, yet, in reality, they are fully responsible. If this website is created in the United States, these two girls are forgetting they have more than just local, state and federal laws to abide by, but then there is the FCC, FTA, FTC, and others. I don't think it would take much to hire a lawyer for three hundred dollars to send them a letter that would cause them to have to shut down should things get too radical on that site. (There's a reason why I say this, keep reading.)
According to my attorney, no lawyer would word their "Terms of Use" in the manner that it is written.
So let's look beyond the fact that you can't delete your account after you join, and the security issues for a moment, and let's look at something more simple, like the lack of "professionalism" from the owners themselves. We'll start with why these two girls started this site, and take a look at their "Mission Statement".
They start out by saying: "Leafmarks came about because we love books. We really love books. And we want to share that with others." - To this I say, really? Then why do the members they already have list so many books 1 star? And have such nasty, insulting, and hateful bookshelves attacking books and authors? Even the owners practice this behavior. (We'll touch more on that later.)
They go on to say: "So our mission is to bring together like-minded literature lovers from all over the world." - Bring together "like-minded"? That's scary. But read on. "We find that words in the form of a story, a book review, or any form of expression can be entertaining, poignant, and insightful."
They actually believe this shit. They honestly believe that by singling out authors, and calling them vile names is entertaining? Poignant? And insightful? Yes! They do honestly believe this. (You'll be seeing evidence of this later in the post.)
"Beyond connecting those in the reading community, Leafmarks likes to "up the ante" and take it a step further. Because Leafmarks is a place where you can not only keep track of what you're read, rate and review books, and organize your books in shelves, but also express yourself openly and creatively. It is a space in which freedom of speech and expression will always be upheld."
Yeah, but unfortunately, that free speech they are talking about is "hate" speech. It's kind of like the Ku Klux Klan and Black Panther Party, they have freedom of speech too, and they use it, however, they use it to spread hate. (Which is why their membership is so low, so shall it be with "Leafmarks" too.) Read on.
"Only when this is achieved do we feel that discussion and interaction become meaningful. Leafmarks will strive to make sure that this site will always remain TRUE and HONEST."
I will be showing you how "true and "honest" this website already is in their first few weeks of operation, so keep reading.
Their "mission" statement: "Unfiltered reviews. Unbridled creative freedom. Friends and a community you can trust." - Again, I will be showing you this "trust" they are talking about.
Now, as I stated earlier, we will get to know these two ladies. I will start off with Jacquie Mak Sakata. I don't have anything on her. I don't know if she has attacked authors or not, or maybe if she has, she does so under a sock puppet, I simply don't know. But rest assured, now that her name is associated with Emily May (who is known to run in the bully crowd) maybe we will learn more about her in the future.
As far as Emily May is concerned, she has been known to associate with the bullies. Most notably, Angela Horn. Here is a screenshot of her friends list on her website.
Do you recognize anyone? Especially the last one?
And if that isn't enough to demonstrate what Leafmarks is really all about, let's take a look at Emily's "professionalism" and "Leafmarks" mission statement in action, shall we? (This next screenshot comes from one of my books, "Of The Light". Let's take a look at that free speech, trust and honesty now, shall we?)
Did you get a load of the shelving? Even the owner herself, Emily May, leads by example here. This is what I meant by their "free speech" being that of "hate speech". These bookshelves serve one purpose, and one purpose only, to demean, belittle, insult, and humiliate other human beings. Most notably, authors. Call me crazy, but I don't see how this sort of behavior is entertaining, poignant, or the least bit insightful. Can you? Maybe it's entertaining to them because being hateful towards others is very entertaining to bullies, this is why they do it.
And as for the honesty? And trust? Well, Amanda Welling is just one of many of the bullies who did not read any of my books yet she, like many others, rate my books 1 star. How is that for honesty and trust? Fake reviews! Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.
Also, here is more of their "honesty". On all of my books listed on this book hate site, they have wrongfully listed their publication dates. Take a look at one example.
They claim my book, "Children Of The Flower Power" was released on January 1st of 2011. I hadn't even sent it to my publisher on that date, much less, been published. And if they can't even get the published dates correct on books, then how "honest" and "trustworthy" can they be in regards of other information, and aspects of their site? I mean, really? They can't get something as simple as publishing dates correct? (All of my books are showing inaccurate publishing dates.)
One has to wonder.
In this next screenshot, I want you to pay particular attention to what I have circled in red.
Did you see it? Here, allow me to tell you. There is a part where they say: "Other sites out there often block users content and reviews, post fake reviews for the purposes of marketing, or mine your data in order to boost book sales." - Do these girls realize that "fake ratings" is just as bad as "fake reviews"? .... Evidently not.
I do agree that they are against "boosting" book sales. Their interests lie in "killing" book sales, and indie authors careers. That is their agenda. The "Leafmarks" agenda that is. They also go on to say: "As we aim to be RESPECTFUL, we also expect you to use good judgement, to be considerate, to respect the community in your postings ...." - Do these screenshots of insulting bookshelves towards authors and fake reviews look "respectful" to you? .... Of course not. This is their hypocrisy in action. Say one thing, mean and do something opposite. This is the "Leafmarks" true agenda. These people will never understand the difference of an "opinion" to "libel". Maybe when they get summoned with a lawsuit, they will learn the difference. And seeing how they have no legal counsel behind them, that should be fairly easy to do, I'm sure.
Here is another telling screenshot.
When your "community" consists of bullies who would rather spend their time humiliating, and insulting other people instead of reading books, this becomes a frightening statement, don't you think?
So in conclusion, "Leafmarks" was created by bullies, for bullies. The freedom of speech they are talking about is "hate" speech, designed to attack authors. They are not a "professional" book site, they have major security issues concerning their members accounts, even their owners participate directly in insulting other human beings who happen to be authors. Their ratings system is a fraud, displaying complete lack of honesty, trust and integrity. You can't delete your account once you create it. They have no lawyer to guide them.
So go ahead, join their book site. And when your account gets hacked, you can thank them for it. When you click on something on their site that is a computer virus and your computer crashes, you can thank them for it.
Trust me, no serious reader or lover of books is going to join that site. Everyone knows that 99 percent of readers only care about books, not the authors who wrote them. Only one percent of readers are bullies, and in fact, not even readers to begin with. They're people who only want to go around and stalk, harass, insult, humiliate and attack authors they deem unfit or "badly behaving". Hell, one of the book shelves says that I have multiple sock puppets and that's why she doesn't like me. And yet, not one person has ever presented evidence that I have one sock puppet much less, multiple. They say I am a BBA (Badly Behaving Author) yet they have not one shred of evidence that I have ever attacked a reader or complained about a legitimate review. In fact, of all their claims against me, not one of them can they support with actual evidence. If they could prove it, they would claim the 1,000 dollars I am offering for any evidence they have against me. None of them have claimed the money yet because none of them have any proof. That's telling within itself.
But anyone can claim that money. Anyone who finds the evidence and shows it to me can claim that money. The offer isn't just for the bullies, it's for everyone. If you can find any evidence that supports any of the bullies claims against me for anything, grab a screenshot of it, send it to me, and collect your reward.
Meanwhile, join "Leafmarks" at your own risk. It won't take a serious reader long to discover that once they joined, and took a look around, it's nothing but a bully site. A place where you can go and hate on people in peace. Serious book lovers don't want that. This is why serious book lovers are celebrating the changes over at GR. Serious book lovers and readers, they only care about the books. They might love a book from an author and maybe not like that authors next book. Over at "Leafmarks", you will notice that when they hate a book of an author, they hate ALL books of that author and they hate that author in the process. That is not a serious "lover of books" book site, it is a bully site disguising themselves as a book lovers / readers website. The bullies make themselves all too obvious.
I don't think it will be long before "Leafmarks" is contacted by an authors lawyer. Or before they get hacked, or their members accounts get hacked. Don't come crying to me when it happens to you. I warned you. I wouldn't be too surprised if the feds shut them down for any API violations. I mean, these girls who own the site don't have legal backup to protect them. They're probably running this site from their parents basement. Regardless, one thing is for certain, and it has been proven here today, that "Leafmarks" is all about the free hate speech and bullying.
Have fun with that.
I'm Carroll Bryant .... and this is The Looking Glass.
