Thornton Publishing, Books to Believe In, EJ Thornton Ellen Craig, Ellen Blake Thornton, Ellen Brock, EJ Blake Thornton Vanity Publisher, Subsidy Publisher Parker, Colorado
Thornton Publishing of Parker, Colorado and Englewood, Colorado, which is also Books to Believe In and perhaps other entities, and which is headed by Ellen Jean (aka EJ) Blake-Brock-Thornton-Craig although she never uses all of her names at once. It seems as the most common names she calls herself are Ellen Craig, Ellen Blake-Thornton or EJ Thornton. She is also my youngest sister. After dealings with those entities I feel the need to warn the consumer away from them.
Thornton Publishing, Books to Believe In, etc., are really nothing more than the lowest possible quality Vanity Press, which charged, in my case at least, unconscionable and false charges for web hosting, that in fact was not paid for by the publisher but rather by the author, costing thousands of dollars in addition to the monies originally spent on printing. I never received a dime in the admittedly meager royalties the publisher received from the few customers who came across it buried in a poor quality link.
When, after my book (which is called "A Dolphin's Tale," and is now at this link http://appshopper.com/books/a-dolphins-tale languished for years, along with every other book I am aware of at these publishers, I lost patience and l asked to terminate my relationship with the publishers, requesting a refund of $1500 that I had previous paid and which had not been spent by the publisher according to the publishers own books. EJ dimply juggled the books to reflect an outrageous monthly charge for web hosting that she had not even paid for and claimed at that time that I owed HER money.
Worse than the poor and overpriced print quality, the taking of an author's dream and wrecking it was the dishonest way that Thornton takes advantage of authors foolish enough to sign on with them.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Richard
Centennial,Colorado,
United States of America
More Thoughts on Thornton Publishing, Profitable Publishing
#4Author of original report
Wed, May 23, 2012
The more that I think about it the more I have to believe that the rebuttal "Bogus Complaint" had to have been written by EJ. The big giveaway? It's anonymous. No author ever posts anything anonymously while they are trying to promote their book. I ought to know. EJ ought to have known but probably had to because she was unable to cajole any of her authors into writing it. That probably says more than my complaint does.
Richard
Centennial,Colorado,
United States of America
Rebuttal to the Rebuttal
#4Author of original report
Sat, May 12, 2012
I strongly suspect that the anonymous person writing the rebuttal to my ripoff report is EJ Thornton (aka ad infinitum) herself, but in any event this person has their information wrong. While it is true that there was substantial family drama due to my father's stroke and EJ's perjury filled action to try and take possession of Dad's house for herself, the only effect that had on this situation is that I finally decided to go ahead and warn people about Thornton Publishing, Books to Believe In and EJ, whereas I hadn't put anything out there not wanting to hurt my sister's business. In fact, I was one of her very first authors and rather than show appreciation for that with good service Thornton and EJ ripped me off for thousands. The other allegations in the rebuttal are also untrue and I am unsure where this person came up with the idea that I had attempted to buy my father's house for $1 but unfortunately EJ is a near pathological liar so I assume that information either came from her or as stated earlier was written by her.
Anonymous
Englewood,Colorado,
United States of America
Bogus complaint
#4General Comment
Sat, May 12, 2012
As a successfully published author with EJ as my publisher, I was quite concerned when I came across this report. It sure didn't sound right to me, so I did some research. It turns out that Richard, the complainer, is EJ's brother, and that this complaint is simply vindictive drama due to Richard's recent attempts to buy their father's house for $1 while their father was in the hospital due to a debilitating stroke. Ever since Richard lost the court case he has apparently been attempting to slander his sister out of spite. Just to make sure, I checked with half a dozen of EJ's other published authors, and they all had glowing remarks concerning EJ's business, and a couple of them who also know Richard had nothing but criticism for his vindictive actions. My conclusion is that this complaint is simply a case of unfortunate internal family drama, and that it has absolutely nothing to do with reality. Please feel free to ask for references about EJ's business - just make sure it's from people outside of her family! This complaint, coming from an estranged vindictive brother, has no merit whatsoever.