Complaint Review: BookMasters - Internet

I am involved in a lawsuit against BookMasters - AtlasBooks. My complaint includes fraud in the inducement, negligence, breach of contract, and detrimental reliance.  Here is a copy of my complaint:

Now comes plaintiff, Rene Reid, and states the following.
1.      That Plaintiff, Rene Reid (hereafter Ms. Reid) is a published author, having five books in print prior to beginning work on an historical novel that would come to be titled Peace Amidst Conflict, (hereafter referred to as The Work) a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
2.      That Ms. Reid is a resident of the state of Nevada.
3.      That Plaintiff Rene Reid is also a publisher, doing business under the trade name Quantum Leap.
4.      That Quantum Leap is based solely in Nevada.
5.      That Quantum Leap is the publisher of the Work.
6.      That defendant, BookMasters, Inc. is an Ohio corporation, licensed to do business in the state of Ohio.
7.      That AtlasBooks is a subsidiary of defendant, BookMasters, Inc., having its principal place of business in Ashland, Ohio.
8.      The plaintiff is a citizen of Reno, Nevada with her principal place of business in Reno, Nevada;  defendant is a corporation incorporated under the laws of Ohio, with its principal place of business in Ashland, Ohio; the amount in controversy, without interest and costs, exceeds the sum or value specified by 28 U.S.C. 1332, to wit seventy five thousand dollars ($75,000.00).
9.      That the storyline of The Work is time sensitive with the ending forecasting Barack Obama as the presidential candidate most capable of bringing peace out of the conflict in the  world.
10.  That one of Ms. Reids books with Random House (under their Three Rivers Press publishing company) has sold nearly a million copies and has been translated into a dozen languages.
11.  That in August of 2007 Ms. Reid discussed the publication of The Work with an account executive at Random House who indicated that, if they were to publish the book, it would take well over a year before it would come out.
12.  That in September/October of 2007 Ms. Reid began investigating other publishing and production options for The Work.
13.  That at this time Ms. Reid made contact with Rod Knieper, an agent of AtlasBooks and BookMasters,
14.  That Mr. Knieper is a senior account executive whose job was to recruit clients for BookMasters and AtlasBooks.
15.  That during this contact, Ms. Reid informed Mr. Knieper that she was searching for a printer and / or distributor for The Work.
16.  That during this contact Ms. Reid informed Mr. Knieper of the political nature of The Work and its key separator from other books, that over one year from the next presidential election, and four months before the first primary, that her book predicted Barack Obama would become the next President.
17.  That based on this conversation Mr. Knieper proposed that BookMasters would be an ideal printer and that AtlasBooks, a subsidiary of BookMasters, would be able to distribute The Work.
18.  That during this contact, Mr. Knieper made strong assurances that The Work would be distributed to the marketplace well before the election and well before more traditional publishers would be able to do so.
19.  That Ms. Reid chose to publish the book under her own publishing company called Quantum Leap Publications.
20.  That Quantum Leap Publications is the publisher of The Work.
21.  That The Work is an historical novel, set against the backdrop of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attack and the subsequent American political and world events that followed.
22.  That the work carefully evaluates the causes and consequences of the 9/11/2001 tragedy including how America was blindsided by terrorists and why our country was misled into declaring a preemptive war in Iraq.
23.  That Ms. Reid spent four years writing and researching The Work beginning in January 2004.
24.  That the research that would provide the historical foundation of The Work was done from 2005 to 2006 and, unlike a typical novel, a list of her resources is provided at the back of The Work.
25.  That at the time of the completion of The Work, numerous Democratic candidates had declared themselves for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination process.
26.  That at the time of the completion of The Work, these candidates included Barack Obama, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Joseph Biden, amongst others.
27.  That the Iowa Caucus was the first major event of the 2008 Presidential Election process.
28.  That the 2008 Iowa Caucus was held on January 3, 2008.
29.  That at the time of the completion of The Work, The Iowa Caucus was a full four months away.
30.  That prior to the Iowa Caucus, Hillary Clinton was considered to be the clear frontrunner for the Democratic Nomination.
31.  That despite this fact, The Work boldly predicted that Barack Obama would be the winner of the 2008 Presidential Election.
32.  That Defendant, BookMasters, Inc. (hereafter BookMasters) is an Ohio corporation, registered to do business in the state of Ohio, having a primary location of 30 Amberwood Parkway, City of Ashland, County of Ashland, State of Ohio.
33.  That BookMasters provides services in the publishing industry including book printing and warehousing.
34.  That AtlasBooks (hereafter Atlas) is a wholly owned subsidiary of BookMasters who is the distribution arm of BookMasters and has as its primary place of business 30 Amberwood Parkway, Ashland, Ohio.
35.  That Mr. Knieper, on behalf of BookMasters and Atlas, assured Ms. Reid that The Work would be heavily promoted to major booksellers such as Borders, Barnes and Nobles, as well as wholesalers such as Ingram, and to major internet sellers.
36.  That based on this conversation, BookMasters prepared a representation contract (hereafter the Contract) and forwarded it to Ms. Reid.
37.  That the Contract provided to Ms. Reid was dated October 15, 2007, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
38.  That the Contract obligated Atlas to endeavor to distribute The Work.
39.  That the Contract made Atlas the exclusive distributor of The Work.
40.  That the Contract promised that as part of  their endeavor to distribute by Atlas include[s] setting up Publishers titles in key book industry databases, creating a web page for the publishers titles, inclusion of publishers title in season Atlas books trade catalogs.
41.  That on November 12, 2008 Ms. Reid received an Email from Mr. Knieper promising a marketing plan for The Work including promotion to all bookstores, wholesalers and internet sales companies. 
42.  That this marketing plan included email blasts, monthly newsletters, and listing via the Atlas online bookstore.
43.  That on November 30, 2007 Mr. Knieper suggested a title change and re-editing of The Work prior to printing of any advanced copies.
44.  That The Work was re-titled and re-edited, at the cost to Ms. Reid of $3,375.00.
45.  That on January 9, 2008, the Boston Globe newspaper reported a surge in the sales of books by and about Barack Obama.
46.  That, in a conference call on January 24, 2008 with Ms. Reid and her editor, Rod Knieper promised that, if Ms. Reid agreed to print an advanced reading copy of her book in paperback (which would take 2 weeks), he would get 75 copies to the sales force to begin pitching the book early to the bookstores (March and April) while awaiting the printing of the hardcopy (which would take 8 weeks).
47.  That, in that same call, Mr. Knieper also spoke of the recent acquisition that Atlas had made of two other distribution companies (Biblio and Bookworld) and that Ms. Reids book would be marketed worldwide by 30-some members of the sales force.
48.  That the additional cost of the printing of the 200 advanced copies to Ms. Reid was $2418.00.
49.  That Ms. Reid ordered an initial production run of 3000 hardbound copies of The Work be printed by BookMasters.
50.  That this cost was approximately $13,500 and paid by Ms. Reid.
51.  That on January 29, 2008 Ms. Reid signed the Contract, making BookMasters her printer and AtlasBooks her exclusive distributor, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
52.  That, after the layout and artwork was completed; The Work went to press on February 26, 2008.
53.  That based on the representations of Mr. Knieper, the advance copies would be ready no later than March 11, 2008 and the final hardcopy productions of The Work were slated for the end of April, 2008.
54.  That submission of The Work to the wholesalers Ingram and Baker & Taylor is a normal next step in the process without which a book does not appear in any booksellers system.
55.  That unbeknownst to Ms. Reid, a listing with Ingram was not applied for.
56.  That Beth Boeh is an employee of BookMasters and Atlas and was assigned to be Ms. Reids personal representative.
57.  That on or about February 26, 2008, Ms. Reid requested Ms. Boeh to submit the book to Amazon.com using an electronic submission process.
58.  That Amazon.com is the worlds largest online book retailer.
59.  That all that is required for the electronic submission process, by which a work is listed with Amazon.com and the other dot com booksellers is to submit an electronic copy of the text of the work along with an electronic copy of the artwork for the book.
60.  That, despite Ms. Reids request, and despite the fact that the electronic information was provided to BookMasters by Ms. Reid, this was not done.
61.  That on March 3, 2008 a series of primaries known as Super Tuesday were held.
62.  That after the Super Tuesday primaries, Barack Obama was considered a strong contender, if not the frontrunner for the Democratic Presidential nomination.
63.  That the results of the Democratic Primaries held on March 3, 2008 was a top news story for the following week.
64.  That on March 7, 2008 Ms. Reid was informed that The Work had been selected for a signing at the Atlas booth at the Book Expo of America (hereafter BEA).
65.  That the BEA is the largest convention nationally for booksellers, buyers and distributors.
66.  That on March 12 Mr. Knieper notified Ms. Reid by email that the 75 copies of The Work had been distributed to the AtlasBooks sales force and they were in the process of creating sell sheets and distributing them to the independent sales representatives.
67.  That the understanding was that the Atlas sales force would promote the book throughout the spring (March and April) even though The Work would not appear in the AtlasBooks Early Fall Catalog until the end of May.
68.  That in the same email, Mr. Knieper reported that their national sales manager was going to Barnes and Noble corporate towards the end of the month and would have Ms. Reids book under his arm.
69.  That, in a separate email on March 12, 2008 Ms. Reid questioned Mr. Knieper as to why The Work was not yet listed with Amazon.com.
70.  That Mr. Knieper then assured Ms. Reid that they would establish The Work with Amazon and that this service is part of package with Atlas as outlined in section 1.A. of the Contract.
71.  That as of April 9, 2008, The Work was still not listed on Amazon.com.
72.  That on April 25, 2008 Ms. Reid was informed that 3000 copies of The Work were off press and available.
73.  That of the 3000 copies printed by Atlas, numerous copies (the exact number unknown) contained missing pages and misprints.
74.  That as of April 25, 2008 the identity of the Democratic Presidential Nominee was still in doubt.
75.  That as of an April 30, 2008 Gallup poll, democratic voters were divided between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
76.  That on May 5, in answer to Ms. Reids question how the presentations for her book were going, Mr. Knieper informed her that the National Sales Manager was out making calls to bookstores and was unable to get feedback until he returned on May 16th.
77.  That Randy McKenzie is the National Sales Manager and has a cell phone and blackberry with him at all times and therefore could have been reached.
78.  That, on May 5, 2008 Ms. Reid booked a 7-city tour to promote The Work.
79.  That as of this date The Work was still not posted with any online bookseller or available in the system of any physical bookseller.
80.  That Ms. Reid was informed by Ms. Boeh that posting took four to seven weeks from the time of the opening of an account with AtlasBooks (BookMasters).
81.  That Ms. Reid opened her account on January 29, 2008.
82.  That using Ms. Boehs timeline, the posting should have occurred no later than March 18, 2008.
83.  That on May 14, Mr. Knieper informed Ms. Reid that the National Sales representative has just come back from meeting with the independent sales representatives and that they all seemed positive about the book but that fiction was not moving well in the bookstores at this time.  
84.  That as of May 27, 2008 the only place The Work was purportedly available was the AtlasBooks website.
85.  That on May 27, 2008 Ms. Reid informed Ms. Boeh that the AtlasBooks website showed the wrong title for The Work.
86.  That on May 27, 2008, Ms. Read printed 6000 brochures at a cost to her of $675 to hand out to booksellers at the BEA.
87.  That on May 28, 2008 Ms. Reid attended the BEA where she first met Randy McKenzie, the National Sales Manager for AtlasBooks.
88.  That during this conversation Mr. McKenzie informed Ms. Reid that he had no awareness of the 75 advanced copies of The Work and they had never been distributed to the Atlas sales force.
89.  That Mr. McKenzie informed Ms. Reid that as of May 28, 2008 fifteen copies (not 75) of the paperback version (not the hardback) of The Work had been distributed only to the regional sales associates of Atlas.
90.  That counting himself and the book relations manager, Mr. McKenzie informed Ms. Reid that there were only seven members of the sales force in the U. S.
91.  That there were 30-some members of the sales force internationally as Mr. Knieper had explained but that Ms. Reids book would only be promoted nationally within U.S.
92.  That Mr. McKenzie informed Ms. Reid that no national sales associates would pitch The Work to national chains or major booksellers until it appeared in the Atlas catalog.
93.  That this condition was not included in the Contract between Ms. Reid and Atlas.
94.  That the Atlas early fall catalog was released at the BEA.
95.  That nearly 100 copies of The Work were passed out at the BEA due entirely to Ms. Reids efforts from passing out her brochures.
96.  That Ms. Reids book signing was scheduled for Sunday morning after about 90% of the conventioneers had gone home.
97.  That Mr. McKenzie, in an effort to make up for all of the mishaps, promised Ms. Reid that she could contact him directly from this point forward without having to go through Ms. Boeh.
98.  That on June 5, 2008 Senator Barack Obama was determined to have secured the Democratic Nomination for President of the United States following the announcement of multiple Democratic Super delegates that they would cast their votes for Senator Obama.
99.  That on June 11, 2008, in accordance with her contractual requirement to generate sales, Ms. Reid hired Milton Kahn as her public relations representative for The Work.
100.                      That Mr. Kahn is a well-respected and heavily-connected public relations professional.
101.                      That the cost of Mr. Kahns service contract was fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for four months (July through October) taking the publicity campaign up to the presidential election.
102.                      That beginning on June 19, 2008 The Work was featured in several magazine articles including Stepping Out, Florida Style Magazine, MidValley News, Tri-County Sentry, and The Denver Daily.
103.                      That Ms. Reid was asked to write an article on Barack Obama that was featured in Creations Magazine.
104.                      That as of June 19, 2008 no local bookstore placement for The Work had been secured by Atlas.
105.                      That as of July 1, 2008 The Work was still not listed with Barnes and Noble, Borders, or Books A Million online.
106.                      That when Ms. Reid contacted Ms. Boeh at Atlas, she was informed that Atlas had not yet procured a listing with Ingram, and that without an Ingram listing The Work could not be listed with any online or physical book sellers.
107.                      That Ingram is the largest wholesaler of books and essentially all books must go through them to the retailers.
108.                      That on July 3, 2008, after talking to Ms. Boeh, Ms. Reid contacted Mr. McKenzie to ask why The Work had not been listed with Ingram.
109.                      That Mr. McKenzie reported that he did not know why The Work had not been listed with Ingram, but that he would address the issues and fix the problem.
110.                      That this was the only contact Ms. Reid ever had with Mr. McKenzie after his commitment at the BEA that he would be her direct contact.
111.                      That on July 11, 2008 Ms. Reid was contacted by Ms. Boeh who told Ms. Reid that she was working with Ingram on posting The Work.
112.                      That, in response to Ms. Reids request that The Work be listed in Atlass second fall catalog (essentially their winter catalog) on July 16, 2008, Ms. Reid was informed that Atlas would not publicize the book again, that they had met their requirements.
113.                      That, in light of Atlass failure to secure a listing with Ingram for The Work, on July 17, 2008 Ms. Reid secured the Ingram listing herself.
114.                      During email correspondence, dated August 1, 2008, between Atlas and Ms. Reid regarding the marketing push being provided by Atlas, representatives of Atlas described The Work as a time sensitive fiction work and stated that fall sales of The Work would dictate what if any effort would be provided to its promotion in 2009.
115.                      That on August 25, 2008 an article entitled Michael Moore: Stop Reading Now appears on the CNN.COM touting the strong book sales for political related titles due to the election year.
116.                      That despite this fact, representatives of Atlas reported that Ms. Reids work was facing a weak sales market.
117.                      That as of the date of filing of this complaint, a book search under the name Barack Obama at the Amazon.com website produces one thousand four hundred and fifty unique results.
118.                      That on information and belief, the number of entries into the market for works related to Barack Obama has grown exponentially since January 2008.
119.                      That The Work was completed and ready for publication and promotion prior to the vast majority of these works.
120.                      That as a direct and proximate result of the failures of BookMasters, valuable promotion and sales opportunities for The Work have been lost.
 
COUNT I
FRAUD IN THE INDUCEMENT
 
121.                       That plaintiff restates the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-120 as fully rewritten herein.
122.                      That BookMasters, its representatives and subsidiaries made multiple promises to induce Ms. Reid to utilize BookMasters for the production and exclusive distribution of The Work.
123.                      That based on these representations Ms. Reid has paid BookMasters and its subsidiaries a total of $25,000; this total including $2,418 for printing of the Advance Copies, $13,500 for the printing of the 3000 hardback copies of The Work, $450 of initial startup fees, insurance fees, storage fees to warehouse The Work, and fees to ship The Work to supply her at promotional tours.
124.                      That the total cost of fees paid to BookMasters and its affiliates is in excess of nineteen thousand dollars ($19,000.00)
125.                      That Ms. Reid engaged the help of a second editor at the prompting of Atlas at the cost of $3,375.00 of her personal expense.
126.                      That not a single sale of The Work was accomplished via any work provided by AtlasBooks but via personal and internet promotion by Ms. Reid.
127.                      That Ms. Reid spent four years researching and writing The Work and countless hours travelling to cities to promote The Work.
128.                      That but for the inducements of representatives of BookMasters, Ms. Reid would have selected another production and distribution provider for The Work.
129.                      That promises of timely production and placement of The Work were critical to Ms. Reids decision to engage BookMasters and its affiliates for this undertaking.
130.                      That by engaging BookMasters and its affiliates for this undertaking, Ms. Reid forwent opportunities to utilize other printing / distribution entities for the production and distribution of The Work.
131.                      That the misrepresentations were continuous and ongoing.
132.                      That each subsequent misrepresentation induced Ms. Reid to continue her affiliation with BookMasters and its affiliates.
133.                      That, after so many months of misrepresentation, it was too late for Ms. Reid to engage another distribution company for The Work.
134.                      That as  a direct and proximate result of these misrepresentations, Ms. Reid engaged Mr. Milton Kahn to perform public relations services with regards to promotion of The Work at a personal cost of $15,000.00.
135.                      That Mr. Kahn was engaged with the full expectation that The Work was being actively promoted and pitched to all major online sellers, and that all requirements for online sales and presentation by the sales force of BookMasters and its affiliates.
136.                      That Ms. Reid spent thousands of dollars travelling to cities to promote The Work.
137.                      That Ms. Reids costs for airfare, lodging car rental and meals related to promotion of The Work are in excess of three thousand and ninety dollars ($3090.00) for airfare, in excess of five hundred and sixteen dollars ($516.00) for car rental, four hundred ninety three dollars for lodging ($493.00), and eight hundred and seventy seven dollars ($877.00) for meals.
138.                      That the total personal cost of Ms. Reid in promoting The Work is in excess of four thousand nine hundred and seventy six dollars ($4976.00)
139.                      That this expectation was created by multiple representations of agents of BookMasters and its affiliates.
140.                      That but for these representations, Ms. Reid would not have engaged Mr. Kahn at her personal expense.
141.                      That each continuation of her affiliation with BookMasters and its affiliates caused Ms. Reid to forego other distribution opportunities for The Work.
142.                      That each delay in distribution of The Work created a diminution of its nature as a unique and revolutionary predictor of the outcome of the 2008 Presidential Election.
143.                      That each delay in distribution caused Ms. Reid to be unable to capitalize on the positive sales pressure associated with works about or regarding the 2008 Presidential Election in general, and Senator Obama in particular.
144.                      That due to these misrepresentations Ms. Reid has suffered damages.
145.                      That Ms. Reids damages include the aforementioned out of pocket expenses, lost advertising opportunities, lost distribution opportunities, lost publicity opportunities, and most importantly lost sales of The Work.
146.                      That the total of Ms. Reids damages is a value to be determined at trial, said value being greater than seventy five thousand dollars ($75,000.00) in compensatory damages and greater than two hundred twenty five thousand dollars ($225,000.00) in punitive damages.
 
COUNT II
NEGLIGENCE
147.                      Plaintiff hereby restates the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-146 herein as fully rewritten.
148.                      That BookMasters, its affiliates and representatives owed a duty of representation to Ms. Reid with regards to the promotion of The Work.
149.                      That said duty required the timely presentation of The Work to online booksellers like Amazon.com, Borders.com, Barnes and Noble.com, and BooksaMillion.com.
150.                      That said duty required an attempt to promote The Work to bookstores in cities where Ms. Reid did radio shows, made personal appearances at numerous Democratic Conventions, and had articles appear in various magazines and newspapers.
151.                      That said duty required the timely procurement of a listing with Ingram Booksellers for The Work.
152.                      That said duty required timely placement of The Work in the hands of the National Sales force of BookMasters and its affiliates for presentation of The Work to nationwide booksellers.
153.                      That said duty required that The Work be recognized for its unique nature, as predictive political and historical fiction, and be promoted as such.
154.                      That said duty required that The Work be recognized for its initial time sensitive nature.
155.                      That BookMasters and its affiliates have failed in each of the above stated duties.
156.                      That timely listing of The Work with online booksellers was not accomplished.
157.                      That timely presentation of The Work to physical bookstores was not accomplished.
158.                      That, after weeks of failure to procure the listing with Ingram, said listing was finally achieved due to the efforts of Ms. Reid, and that said listing was not procured until nearly six months after the inception of the relationship between Ms. Reid and BookMasters.
159.                      That The Work was not placed for presentation to national chains as originally promised during the months following the inception of the relationship between Ms. Reid and BookMasters.
160.                      That placement of the books with booksellers in cities where The Work was promoted was never attempted.
161.                      That as a direct and proximate result of the multiple failures of BookMasters and its affiliates have caused harm to Ms. Reid by causing her to miss multiple opportunities to capitalize on the meteoric rise of Senator Obama, and the ensuing demand for works related to him.
162.                      That as a direct and proximate result of the failures of BookMasters and its affiliates, Mr. Kahn has been unable to provide the type of promotion a book of the nature of The Work would normally receive given its subject matter and the current climate surrounding Senator Obama.
163.                      That as a direct and proximate result of the failures of BookMasters and its affiliates to perform their obligations to Ms. Reid, as her agent with regards to promotion of The Work, has caused Ms. Reid to be damaged in an amount to be proven at trial, said amount being greater than seventy five thousand dollars ($75,000.00).
 
COUNT III
BREACH OF CONTRACT
164.                       Plaintiff hereby restates the allegations contained in paragraphs 1 163 as fully rewritten herein.
165.                      That BookMasters and its affiliates were obligated to perform promotion services for the work via the Contract between BookMasters and Ms. Reid signed January 29, 2008.
166.                      That the Contract required BookMasters to endeavor to distribute The Work.
167.                      That the Contract made Atlas the exclusive distributor of The Work.
168.                      That the Contract promised that as part of  their endeavor to distribute by Atlas include[s] setting up Publishers titles in key book industry databases, creating a web page for the publishers titles, inclusion of publishers title in season AtlasBooks trade catalogs.
169.                      That a precursor to any of these actions was the procuring of a listing with Ingram.
170.                      That Ingram is a key book industry database referred to in the contract.
171.                      That as of almost six months after the Contract was signed by Ms. Reid, no Ingram listing had been obtained.
172.                      That but for the efforts of Ms. Reid, on information and belief, no Ingram listing would have been procured to date.
173.                      That it was this failure that prevented The Work from being presented to national sellers by the BookMasters sales force, the listing of The Work with major online booksellers like Amazon.com, Borders.com and BarnesandNoble.com, and the listing of The Work with physical book sellers around the country.
174.                      That Ms. Reid currently has a book that has been translated into 12 languages and is sold throughout the world;
175.                      That Atlas reneged on its original commitment to put The Work into the hands of the International sales force.
176.                      That as a direct and proximate result of this breach, Ms. Reid has been damaged in an amount to be proven at trial, said amount being greater than seventy five thousand dollars ($75,000.00).
 
COUNT IV
DETRIMENTAL RELIANCE
 
177.                       Plaintiff hereby restates the allegations contained in paragraphs 1 176 as fully rewritten herein.
178.                      That Plaintiff did incur numerous  out of pocket expenditures in promotion of the Work, including but not limited to airfare to numerous cities to promote the work, lodging and meal costs while promoting the work, publicist fees and advertising expenses.
179.                      That all of these fees were incurred in reliance on representations made by representatives and agents of BookMasters that the Work was being promoted to major booksellers, was listed on Ingram, was listed on Amazon.com and was available for sale to the general public through these venues.
180.                      That based on the representations of agents and representatives of BookMasters, Plaintiff, Ms. Reid, did not seek alternative avenues of distribution for the Work.
181.                      That due to Plaintiffs reliance on the representations of BookMasters, made through its agents and representatives, Ms. Reid was damaged in an amount to be determined at trial, said amount being in excess of seventy five thousand dollars ($75,000.00).
 
COUNT V
NEGLIGENCE
 
182.                      Plaintiff hereby restates the allegations contained in paragraphs 1 181 as fully rewritten herein.

That numerous hardbound copies of the Work were missing pages, contained misprints and other defects unknown to the Plaintiff at this time.
That these errors were not a result of the proofreading process, but were due to the negligence of BookMasters, its agents and affiliates.
That BookMasters, its agents and affiliates had a duty to produce true and accurate copies of The Work, without errors or misprints.
That BookMasters, its agents and affiliates had a duty to inspect the final copies of the work to ensure their quality.
That on information and belief, this quality control was not performed by BookMasters, its agents or affiliates.
That as a result of this negligence, on information and belief, numerous flawed copies of The Work were distributed to individuals and corporations.
That on information and belief, the distribution of the flawed copies of The Work was made through direct sales to individuals by the plaintiff and through promotional copies distributed by BookMasters, their agents and affiliates.
That as a direct and proximate result of this negligence, Plaintiff, Rene ReIds reputation was damaged.
That on information and belief, as a direct and proximate result of the negligence of BookMasters, its agents and affiliates, the distribution of the Work was hampered.
That on information and belief, this negligence has resulted in lost sales of the Work.
193.                      That as a direct and proximate result of the negligence of BookMasters, its agents and affiliates, Plaintiff, Rene Reid, was damaged in an amount to be determined at trial, said amount being in excess of seventy five thousand dollars ($75,000.00).
 
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
 
            WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, Rene Reid prays for judgment against Defendant, BookMasters, Inc. its assigns and affiliates, including but not limited to AtlasBooks, jointly and severally, in amount in excess of $75,000 plus interest at a rate of ten percent (10%) from January 25,  2008, plus costs, reasonable attorneys fees and any and all other relief which this court may deem just and equitable as compensatory damages and an amount in excess of $225,000  plus costs reasonable attorneys fees and any and all other relief which this court may deem just and equitable as punitive damages as for her cause of action in Count I;
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, Rene Reid, prays for judgment against Defendant, BookMasters, Inc. its assigns and affiliates, including but not limited to Atlas Books, jointly and severally, in amount in excess of $75,000 plus interest at a rate of ten percent (10%) from January 25, 2008, plus costs, reasonable attorneys fees and any and all other relief which this court may deem just and equitable as compensatory damages for her cause of action in Count II;
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, Rene Reid, prays for judgment against Defendant, BookMasters, Inc. its assigns and affiliates, including but not limited to AtlasBooks, jointly and severally, in amount in excess of $75,000 plus interest at a rate of ten percent (10%) from January 25, 2008, plus costs, reasonable attorneys fees and any and all other relief which this court may deem just and equitable as compensatory damages for her cause of action in Count III;
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, Rene Reid, prays for judgment against Defendant, BookMasters, Inc. its assigns and affiliates, including but not limited to AtlasBooks, jointly and severally, in amount in excess of $75,000 plus interest at a rate of ten percent (10%) from January 25,  2008, plus costs, reasonable attorneys fees and any and all other relief which this court may deem just and equitable as compensatory damages for her cause of action in Count IV;
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, Rene Reid, prays for judgment against Defendant, BookMasters, Inc. its assigns and affiliates, including but not limited to Atlas Books, jointly and severally, in amount in excess of $75,000 plus interest at a rate of ten percent (10%) from January 25, 2008, plus costs, reasonable attorneys fees and any and all other relief which this court may deem just and equitable as compensatory damages her cause of action in Count V.