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People, Places & Plants / ppplants.com - Has owed for 2

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angelahoy Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 8:27 am Post subject: People, Places & Plants / ppplants.com - Has
owed for 2

Joined: 01 Aug 2003

Posts: 1697 From: Angela Hoy
To: paul@ppplants.com, shampine@ppplants.com, richm@ppplants.com
Subject: COMPLAINT about People, Places & Plants
Date sent: Wed, 24 May 2006 11:48:30 -0400

May 24, 2006

People, Places & Plants

Paul Tukey, Editor - paul@ppplants.com
Paul Shampine, CEO - shampine@ppplants.com
Rich Miller, Director of Editorial Operations - richm@ppplants.com
512 Memorial Highway / 60 Pineland Drive, Bldg. 3, Suite 207
North Yarmouth, ME 04097 / New Gloucester, ME 04260
P(207)829-4783 / (207)688-8882 / (800)251-1784
F(207)878-4957 / (207)688-8905

WritersWeekly.com has received a complaint about:

People, Places & Plants / ppplants.com

WritersWeekly.com is a publication that publishes information for and

about freelance writers. The publication is the largest-circulation
freelance writing ezine in the world.

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As part of that information, WritersWeekly.com publishes a Warnings

section on its website and in its newsletter. This warning section
contains reports about publications that are unprofessional in dealing
with writers, have refused to pay writers money owed to them, who have not
abided by their contracts, or who have unfair contract terms. These
reports are used by WritersWeekly.com's subscribers to decide which
publications they should and should not work with.

Your firm has been submitted to us for inclusion in the

WritersWeekly.com Whispers and Warnings section.

Step one of our investigation of this report is to gather all relevant

correspondence between your publication and the person submitting the
complaint so that we can piece together that person's side of the story.
Step one of our investigation has been completed.

WB (name removed for publication here but was, of course,

provided to the publisher) alleges you owe him $710.00 for a cover
story that was published more than 2 years ago and that
you are ignoring his correspondence. See complete allegation
under my signature.

-----------------
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
-----------------

The second step in our investigation is to send this communication to your

firm to get its side of the story. If you have evidence disputing these
allegations, or would like to make your own statement about these
allegations for publication in our report, please email
angela@writersweekly.com within two business days.

***All correspondence for our investigations must be in writing and is

subject to publication.***

Our report on your firm is scheduled for inclusion in our publication next
Wednesday.

If there is no response to these allegations, WritersWeekly.com will

still publish this complaint, but our readers will not be able to read
your side of the story.

We appreciate your prompt response in this matter.

Angela Hoy
Publisher
WritersWeekly.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE COMPLAINT

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: WB
Subject: Whispers & Warnings
Date sent: Tue, 23 May 2006 01:56:26 +0000

Hi Angela,

I have tried for nearly two years to get payment for a lead article I
wrote for People, Places, & Plants (Mid-Atlantic Edition), with no luck.
The publisher owes me $710.

Here's the story.

I negotiated with the editor, Lynda DeWitt, in late 2003 to write for the
magazine. We agreed upon $.40/word and $50 per color photo used. She
required an invoice for each article; there was no contract.

The first article, "Success Stories - Kathy Brooks," was published in the
Early Spring 2004 issue. My invoice was honored and promptly paid upon
publication.

The second article, "Success Stories - Hetty Francke," was published in

the Summer 2004 issue. Again, my invoice was honored and I was paid
shortly after publication.

The third article, "Peppers as Perennials," was the cover story for the
Autumn 2004 issue. I sent in my invoice (1400 words, $560; three color
slides, $150; total=$710) on Sept. 21, 2004. A week or so later, after the
magazine was published, Lynda DeWitt told me that the Mid-Atlantic Edition
was going on hiatus and that she was leaving. I have yet to receive
payment, even though the publisher is still in business and continues to
publish the magazine in the New England area and has, according to the
Writer's Market, a readership of 52,000.

Lynda told me to contact Paul Shampine, CEO, concerning payment. My

e-mails were ignored.

In April of 2005, I sent a letter to Paul Tukey, the Publisher, about the
issue. Soon after, I received the following e-mail from Paul Shampine: "As
you know, the Mid-Atlantic Edition was put on hiatus due to shortfalls in
revenue. We continue to collect on the advertisers that have outstanding
balances with the Mid-Atlantic Edition. We are hoping that as their season
(Garden Center and Insudtry Companies) moves toward their cash-rich time,
they will pay us and we will in turn compensate you."

That was the last correspondence I received from Paul Shampine.

This past March, I wrote another letter to Paul Tukey asking for payment
and indicated I have extended my patience well beyond what is reasonable

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and would be turning this over to my attorney if I didn't receive payment

by April 1. I received no response.

WB

~~~~~

From: WB
Subject: Re: Whispers & Warnings
Date sent: Tue, 23 May 2006 16:40:44 +0000

Hi Angela,

Thank you for the quick response! I'm honestly surprised that this
publisher has failed to pay me, despite the fact that the Mid-Atlantic
Edition that I wrote for folded. If you check out their Web site at
www.ppplants.com, you can see that they're a quality, successful outfit,
even have a weekly show on HGTV. When I first started working for them, I
was very pleased. I've been a garden writer since the early '80s, and I
can spot the "fly-by-night" types. This wasn't one of them. Why they
refuse to pay me (for a cover story, no less!) is beyond me.

The publisher, Paul Tukey, can be contacted at paul@ppplants.com,

but I've never actually corresponded with him. The only response I've ever
received was from Paul Shampine, the CEO (and person I was told to contact
by the edition's former editor). His e-mail address is
shampine@ppplants.com.

PUBLISHER RESPONDS

From: Paul Shampine <shampine@ppplants.com>

Date sent: Wed, 24 May 2006 22:33:03 -0400 (EDT)
Copies to: paul@ppplants.com, richm@ppplants.com

Angela:

We have two writers that we have outstanding invoices with our now failed
Mid-Atlantic Edition. Instead of declaring bankruptcy and leave our
writers with little or no compensation, we have attempted to seek
alternative revenue streams to compensate debtors.

As a result, we have fortunately negotiated a contract with a merchant

with regard to this entity and expect payment within 30 days. When that
payment arrives, I will compensate Mr. [B.] and other accordingly.

Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions regarding this
matter.

Best regards, Paul

Paul D. Shampine, CEO

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People, Places & Plants TV & Magazine

2006 American Horticulture Society Award Winner
On HGTV 7AM Sundays
60 Pineland Drive, Building 3, Suite 207
New Gloucester, ME 04260
1-800-251-1784, x101
Fax : 207-688-8905

WRITER RESPONDS

From: WB
To: angela@booklocker.com
Subject: Re: Rec'd response from People, Places & Plants
Date sent: Fri, 26 May 2006 16:12:17 +0000

Hi Angela,

Thank you for pursuing this!

I'm willing to wait another 30 days, although I must admit I'm slightly
suspicious. Why didn't they contact me about this? Why did it take an
e-mail from you to elicit a response?

What's your procedure after this? Wait and see?

--
WB

WRITERSWEEKLY RESPONDS

From: Angela Hoy

To: paul@ppplants.com, richm@ppplants.com
Subject: (Fwd) Re: Rec'd response from People, Places & Plants
Date sent: Mon, 29 May 2006 14:37:19 -0400

Below is the writer's response to your email. I have asked him

to notify us within 30 days if payment has or has not arrived.

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

WRITER NOTIFIES US 5 WEEKS LATER:

From: WB
To: angela@booklocker.com
Subject: Re: (Fwd) Re: Rec'd response from People, Places & Plants
Date sent: Fri, 07 Jul 2006 20:27:02 +0000

Hi Angela,

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I haven't heard anything, and it's been 5 weeks. Now what?

WB

WRITERSWEEKLY EMAILS PUBLISHER:

From: Angela Hoy

To: paul@ppplants.com, richm@ppplants.com
Subject: Re: (Fwd) Re: Rec'd response from People, Places & Plants
Date sent: Fri, 07 Jul 2006 16:33:56 -0400

Hi Paul,

You promised payment would be made to Mr. [B.] and others within 30
days and it's now been 43 days. Why haven't you kept your promise?

Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com

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angelahoy Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:01 pm Post subject:

Joined: 01 Aug 2003

PUBLISHER RESPONDS AFTER WE POST A WARNING ABOUT THEM IN
Posts: 1697 WRITERSWEEKLY.COM:

From: "Paul Shampine" <shampine@ppplants.com>

Subject: Rec'd response from People, Places & Plants
Date sent: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 13:50:49 -0500

Angela:

We will be sending Mr. [b.] payment Monday, July 17.

Best regards, Paul

Paul D. Shampine, CEO
People, Places & Plants TV & Magazine
2006 American Horticulture Society Award Winner
On HGTV 7AM Sundays
60 Pineland Drive, Building 3, Suite 207
New Gloucester, ME 04260
1-800-251-1784, x101
Fax : 207-688-8905

Back to top

angelahoy Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 7:58 am Post subject:

Joined: 01 Aug 2003 AFTER TWO YEARS, THEY FINALLY PAID!

Posts: 1697

From: WB

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Subject: Re: (Fwd) Rec'd response from People, Places & Plants
Date sent: Sat, 22 Jul 2006 04:05:13 +0000

Hi Angela,

I actually received the check for the full amount this afternoon. Thanks
so much with your help with this. I guess you need to mention in "Whispers
& Warnings" that People, Places, & Plants finally (after over two years)
came through with the payment!
--
WB

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