The First Years After Jenna Sold Absolute Write to Melodi "Mac" Sherman and Partner Spangenberg

2006

In a sadly prophetic post about Jenna Glatzer's founding, building, and eventual sale of Absolute Write, author Ted Gross states:

We miss you, Jenna!

If the new owner(s) and moderators choose to use it for their own personal ends, something that Jenna never did, AW will fall by the wayside. If they choose to allow a differing of opinions then AW may flourish. They will need balance and wisdom. They will require certain innate qualities which no one can know they have until it is put to the test. They will have to learn the elements of respect and fear and know how to understand each. That only the future will tell, and thus no amount of discussion will do any good...

A poignant observation on how Absolute Write became the central forum of the writing industry. For a bit of background, Ted Gross was an active, supportive member for years. His glowing recommendation from 2005 can still be seen.

2007

A bare few months pass with the "new guard" in charge. The same Ted Gross, who spoke so highly of Absolute Write community, becomes one of the first targets of mob mentality. When a member of Absolute Write used a swastika in his signature line and the moderators did nothing about it, Ted, who is of Jewish descent, took offense. The questions he asks may sound familiar to some readers:

[W]here the hell are the police mods who seem to be all over when heaven forbid, someone says something not to their liking? Where the hell are the "open-minded" people who run this board? Could it be that if you say something not kind about Absolute Write you will get banned but showing a swastika is considered "freedom of speech"?

Lisa (yes, that Lisa, a la Spangenberg) feels it her duty to lecture Ted on what he is and isn't allowed to be offended about, and how the swastika had meaning for centuries before the Nazi's began using it. I would love to see someone post "gay people suck," and then lecture Mac and Lisa on how the word "gay" had meaning for centuries before homosexuals starting using it, and then tell them they aren't allowed to be offended because it means "happy people suck." I'm too big of a coward, but someone should do this. I'd watch. With popcorn.

So anyway, the AW moderators continue to bash Ted, his feelings, and his beliefs for months and defend the use of a symbol one of their members found offensive. One commenter even blames Jews for allowing a few decades of hate to obliterate the wonderful meaning of the swastika.

Yeah, we're not kidding. It's there in the last link.

2008

Money troubles abound at Absolute Write, starting this year and spilling into next. Part of the financial woes could stem from Barbara Bauer's regular tantrums (she got the web host shut down in 2006, sued in 2007, and filed amendments in 2008).

Class instructors turn to Writers Weekly as a neutral third to arbitrate disputes over not receiving payments for services rendered. Not all writers know about the possibility of arbitration, though (ironically, the reason communities like Absolute Write exist), and at least one writer is forced to take a loss.

Look at Them

In a blow for the writing community at large, having Barbara Bauer (a proven fraud) attack Absolute Write shored up the AW community and made it appear more legitimate. We suspect that if no lawsuits were filed, Absolute Write would have faded into obscurity. However, their heroic battle against the evil Bauer agency resuscitated and introduced the forums to a new generation of writers.

Some of those financial woes might also link to MacAllister's (aka Melodi Sherman--her real name) new business ventures. It's hard not to speculate where some of the money might have gone when at the same time Absolute Write was financially struggling, MacAllister "Melodi Sherman" Stone was aggressive expanding her own personally branded site, macallisterstone.com, and online magazine, Coyote Wild.

http://jmmcdermott.blogspot.com/2008/02/macallister-stone-head-editor-of-coyote.html

Written in Stone - stone engraving business http://www.macallisterstone.com/wis/index.html

(Not) Written in Stone (now defunct and deleted) - forum touted as "sister site" and actively pedaled to new members: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-111521.html

Per Internet Wayback - Registration turned off between 10/17/2008 and 11/20/2008, members dropped from 217 to 115; before 2008, was a simple Blogger blog, between 6/2/2014 and 7/14/2014 went live with new content - Content now resides at /wis subfolder

Absolute Write Amazon Store http://web.archive.org/web/20081207132549/http://www.absolutewrite.com/shop.htm + Absolute Write newsletter called Absolute Markets

2009

Beginning in January, the servers behind Absolute Write experienced intermittent outages throughout the year. The core group, who couldn't survive an hour without bashing someone, migrated among a Starchat channel, a temporary forum hosted by Roger Carlson, and MacAllister Stone's own website (presumably because allowing someone else to own the site host for the forum was unbearable for her).

The forum at Absolute Write flourished without the participation of the owner and her band of cronies. Lisa and Mel popped in only rarely to ban people or attempt to discourage beginners; Old Hack worked on her self-publishing review site, redesigned her personal "God's answer to writers" website, and started a brief (pun intended) flash fiction blog; and Hapi "Teresa Nielsen Hayden" Sofi lent her particular brand of vitriol to the forum.

The rest is still unfolding history, ugly history. Thank you, Macallister Melodi Sherman-Stone.

"After Nine Years and 30,000+ Posts at AW, I Got Banned"

"The place has become a hostile nightmare to open discussion."

The comment below was originally made on another page post, but we are reproducing it here because we believe it demonstrates quite clearly that the ownership culture at Absolute Write (namely Lisa Spangenberg and Mac "Stone" Sherman plus various crackpot moderators) has not changed or learned a thing from the dozens of websites and forums critical of their actions and vitriol. It's as if they believe their own absurd lie that it's all just the work of one troll. 

And here we go (the poster chose to remain anonymous):

"After nine years and 30,000+ posts at AW, I got banned a month ago for using the word "nutcase" in reference to the father of Orlando mass murderer Omar Mateen. His father had produced on a local TV commentary show in which he claimed, among other things, to be the President of Afghanistan, and ranted in a semi-coherent way on a variety of things. This had been reported by reputable news sources, and I simply made the comment and linked one article, either from ABC or NBC news.

"AW Admin" called me on the carpet for using the word "nutcase" because if violated the AW rule about "respecting your fellow writer" When I questioned this interpretation, I was informed by "Admin", with a dictionary definition, that the word meant "crazy or eccentric person" and that it could apply to 80% of the AW commenters. I then pointed out, publicly, in another thread, that the word "n*tc*se" had apparently been banned at AW. That comment was instantly taken down, and I was banned for 30 days, with no reason given.

The 30 days expired today, and just for fun (I have no intention of returning to the hellhole that site has become) I tried to log in. At which point I was informed, again with no reason given, that the ban is permanent.

I have friends there, other long-term posters, who have wondered privately to me what the hell is going on with the site. It simply appears that Stalinism is what is going on. I'll pass along this quote, from "AW Admin", in a threatening response to one of those friends:

“if I had any desire to shut down discussion, I could do it in ways which would not be perceptible to the users. There are in fact multiple methods of accomplishing this.”

Both a non-idle threat and a boast. It is happening all the time there these days. The place has become a hostile nightmare to open discussion. The absurdity of the "reasoning" behind "Admin"'s comment to me is obvious and requires no further comment.

I was close to leaving the place, anyway, so I'm dismayed only for the people still trying to populate it. I cannot recommend strongly enough that people stay away from it."

Where Are The So-Called Publication Professionals? Sad Commentary, Character Assassinations, Does Absolute Write Owner and Chief Admin Lisa Spangenberg Seriously and Truly Believe She's a Druid Witch?

[TO THOSE PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT ABSOLUTE WRITE: in this post and others, we are not talking about the non-predatory aspects of a group board like AW, we are discussing an end to the predatory aspects. It is like we're talking about Philly or Oakland in the context of ending rampant corruption and crime. We know there are good places to eat and Streisand will concert tour, but we want the mayor and city council arrested. And because there are those who have expressed puzzlement, here is a page that lists all the reasons why we maintain this blog. Thank you.]

---

The omnipresent Absolute Write advertising claim designed to lure naive writers: "At Absolute Write you will find a wide variety of publishing industry experts and professionals: literary agents, publishers, editors..." So where are they? Why not name them? We've explored this exaggerated claim by Absolute Write already and nothing we've seen since on AW has arisen to contradict us. To this day we still can't locate all these "experts" who are supposed to be just hanging around on AW waiting to help new writers. And btw, don't they have jobs or real lives? Even the "experts" we did manage to identify are of dubious worth and teetering on irrelevance. A few are even known to be cyberbullies.  Despite the presence of these "experts" the Absolute Write forums are dripping with bad advice. It's omnipresent. We've explored this issue in detail already and other websites have touched on it.

It appears the "experts" just look the other way while the amateurs run amok.

And btw, don't accept any advice on the matter of "Absolute Write query letter hell" or anything else concerned with the writing of query letters. Accept advice only from known professionals such as literary agents who are identifiable as such and not allegedly hanging around on bizarre chat forums disguised as beasties and elves.

(to the right, bottom to top: defender Janet Reid, Uncle Jim, Teresa "Hapi" Nielsen Hayden, Doyle Hack, Stacia Kane, apologist Victoria Strauss, owners Lisa Spangenberg and Melodi "Mac" Sherman) 

ACCORDING TO RANKRETS.COM, ABSOLUTEWRITE.COM
VALUE HAS PLUMMETED TO $33,056.00.
______________________________________________________________

 Excerpts from text and comments re AW

From the "Haters Gonna Hate" post by Strauss wherein she states that critics of AW are all just one troll

(a very recent note written 6/20 to Victoria Strauss and not answered): 

I've appealed to you in the past with regards specifically to the very large lie told about my faculty member Robert Bausch on Absolute Write's forum. Perhaps the lie remains because your motto is to respect the writer. That means the powers at Absolute Write respect the writer making the accusation, not the accused, so this negates the apparent hypocrisy? When will this lie be removed? Robert proved himself that TNH was making false and libelous comments, and later on the same thread, yet no one removes the false and libelous comments and to this day they still exist. 

      -  Michael Neff - Haters Gonna Hate Comment Thread

He made the bad mistake of going on AW and announcing himself. And let’s just say he was pounced upon, challenged by every howling watch dog on their Beware et al pages specially dedicated to us. When they challenged him, he tried to stand up to them—tried to explain that he just a trainee, which again was none of their business. The poor guy actually thought he was dealing with reasonable people instead of packs of slobbering, howling idiots.

      - Gatekeeper's Diary

@Fiendish writer, no one is lying about Absolute Write. That place is a almost a sewer of negativity. The mods are bullies. They bash self-publishing. They are so pathetic. I don’t know why writers even bother going over there- to have themselves kept in check by a bunch of bums. That’s just my personal opinion, of course. I’ve never been in trouble there or been banned, but I saw how volatile that place was and got away quick. Nobody is lying. Everything they say about that place is true.

      - "The Last of Us" (comment thread)


I'm one to lurk before joining in, and after watching the mods tear apart people for NO reason, then egging on others to bash those people, then carrying on long after they chased the person from the site...yeah I think I will pass on joining in. I've never seen anything so vile. There is a definite "clique" there. The site is great for them, but it looks like it's near impossible to become part of their "in club". Whether I could get in with them or not, I don't think I'd want to because I won't stand behind such poor behavior. This has to be the worst writing community I've ever encountered.

     - The Complaints Board


I was lured in by their marketing people who are also members of the Absolute Write forums. One of them was Victoria Strauss who is a formerly published author, now a self-published author. At first, I received what I believed was fairly good advice from a couple of anonymous people in the short fiction forum, but in the novel forum I was uncertain of the quality of advice there. I'd been warned by other people about Absolute Write and I'd read the many critiques online. The novel writing advice turned out to be lousy. I copied five things people were saying there and was able to show all of them to be erroneous. There were no mods around or professionals hanging out to help, like Strauss has claimed. It was just a free for all.

     - The Complaints Board


I went to Absolute Write seeking community and received in return a determined assault of absurd accusation and juvenile contradiction for truthfully speaking my mind about a conference I attended in New York which was wonderful and life changing for me. An Absolute Write member named Francis Bruno kept returning in an effort to make me look as if I were a cross between a fool and a hireling of some sort for daring to contradict the infallible opinions of the Absolute Write social club led by Macallister Stone who in fact is the worst hypocrite imaginable. The woman appears to delight in being a bully shepherd. She knew full well that the Bruno person was a huge liar, but when I pointed out his lies, one by one, I was chastised by her. Ridiculous. How long can you roll in the pig slop before it gets on you? At the end I was dubbed a "sockpuppet with a vendetta" for refusing to bow to the tireless Bruno man.

      -  Babs Stevens - Write Absolute Reviews "iPredator" Comment Thread

It's pretty much just what you'd expect. A lot of bad-to-mediocre writers giving bad-to-mediocre advice to bad-to-mediocre wannabe writers... The mods are powertripping jerks, just as many of the other posters have said. I met a handful of nice people, but no reason to stick around. I never posted any work to be critiqued because honestly, so much of what was posted in the critique section was so bad and the advice that was given equally amateur... I just didn't feel like I'd gain anything from it that I didn't already know. And most of the advice from different critters was conflicting, anyway. 

     - Rachel W. - The Missing Sitejabber Reviews

Ironically these “websites / authors” are doing what they claim others are doing, taking advantage of people who are looking in good faith for facts and information, truthful information about the publishing industry. Their responses are reduced to internet babble. A mix of half truths, alleged facts and very personal un-professional remarks and behavior. They tend to be abusive, Holier then thou, and totally off the mark. ALL they have to do is PROVE what they post. Just saying they have “hundreds” of complaint isn’t going to cut it. People are fed up with that attitude. Courts are leaning heavily toward companies and individuals who are entitled to face their accusers and their alleged facts.

One poster stated that they’re “reaping what they sow” how true. All of sudden people are asking them questions about who they really are, besides mutual friends.

So why don’t they just tell the truth?

     - Publishing Facts


I’ve only been a member briefly, and found this blog by searching how to leave the AWWC. It’s horrible. I thought it was an open, honest forum to exchange ideas and learn. I found myself in the middle of backbiting, condescending, bitter people (including two Mods) who were not helpful at all and hide behind screen names.

How am I supposed to take career advice seriously from someone called SuperModerator, when I can’t tell if they’ve ever published anything? I asked a specific question, and when I questioned politely but firmly the uninformed and negative advice an anonymous writer gave, she harangued and condescended like a fishwife.

On another thread, she jumped into a productive discussion and tongue lashed not only me, but every contributor! Lord, it must’ve taken her half an hour just to quote every single one of us LOL It was a ludicrous critique: she said we “had to” provide evidence for everything we said. This, immediately after telling me one of her pets doesn’t have to provide any, and I am rude for asking. 

     - The Cult - Absolute Write Water Cooler (comments)

Now that I reflect upon it, the websites critical of you two [Lisa Spangenberg and Macallister Stone], and the AW in general, are in some sense, hate sites. I've never in my life seen or heard so much utter loathing for any other two people, or any other website. In retrospect, no one hated Jenna. She worked hard to out the bad fellows, but no one hated her. She was respected. She was reasonable and a nice person who didn't like to bully. Whereas you are hated. Hated. Is it because you are hostile bullies with a sense of ridiculous entitlement? Or because you are just doing your jobs and the haters are really just one ex-member who you justifiably gave the boot to?

     - Lesley Cameron - "Haters Gonna Hate" (comments)

I will give give "Absolute Write" credit for one thing though, they're very intelligent people. You see, they solved the mystery of my age. Using their version of commonsense and deductive reasoning, they were able to figure out that I am a withering and wilted old man. In a thread on their forum, they were talking about me. As everyone who has been following me knows, my age has not only been a bully obsession, but has baffled them for centuries. It's really all they can talk about... I will go on record and say that I am not one hundred percent positive that "Absolute Write" is a scam, I have no concrete proof of it, but when the owner of the site lies about her real name, and address, and has been sued on multiple occasions, then all of the signs point to ---> Buyer Beware!

     - Carroll Bryant


The main focus of Absolute Write is the "Water Cooler", a huge forum which addresses authorship of any kind. It has begun to suffer from a typical ailment that creeps in most long-standing Internet forums: the dreaded Clique Mentality. This occurs when a relatively small set of users contributes the vast majority of posts, combined with a set of unwritten rules--which are often rather unclear to anybody else than the clique itself. Hapless outsiders who violate these clique conventions will often find a mob of old-standing users pounce upon them like a group of ravenous wolves. I'm not joking--it's not a pretty sight when it happens. I have seen posters on Absolute Write being bullied merely for disagreeing with a clique member on a fairly minor matter. 

 The mob will pull any trick to discredit an outsider: ridiculing, twisting words of out context, and fairly often rather nasty personal attacks. People with few to no publishing credentials will get told that their opinions are unimportant and that their writing "likely sucks."  The irony is that most clique members are themselves writers of mediocre fare dwindling in the lower parts of the midlist, if that ...

     - Anon : The Missing Alexa Reviews


As far as I'm concerned, if a site is run this way it has no value so I will ignore it and encourage everyone to ignore it. It is run by a bunch of lower mid-list (and that may be being generous) old biddies who have nothing better to do than to dictate their rules to others. Free speech does not exist on Absolute Write and where free speech does not exist, I will not go. They talk a good game about "respect your fellow writer" but take umbrage at things in an oversensitive way and pull that respect from you without a second thought.

    - Mark Breuer : No Irish, No DGs

---

BEWARE THE REAL HARM LURKING ON ABSOLUTE WRITE - Part II : CHARACTER ASSASSINATION (yes, it's real)

"Is your name or business or anything about your background now suddenly out in public, index-able by the biggest search engine in the world, thus easily allowing future landlords, mortgage bankers, employers, social directors, neighbors, enemies and friends alike to find you after typing your name in Google?... With just one click anyone can see you out there being trashed and humiliated, perhaps even lied about. And make no mistake, there is no appeal. You can't win against that mob."

If you've taken the time to click around, google the search strings about Absolute Write, you will have found dozens of personal blogs, forums, and websites critical of the cyberbully practices and bad writing advice found there. Like our blog, most of these websites include links that document the truth we have all been saying repeatedly; and now we can easily put a face to those who unflinchingly host the hostiles and sociopaths of the Absolute Writer Water Cooler (Sherman "Mac Stone" and Lisa Spangenberg).

So what are the risks to you?

And are they really worth whatever reward you believe can be gained by hanging out on their forums and chumming with potential future victims? Of course, there are a lot of former members who passed through to glorious self-publication and who never encountered the wrath of AW mods, members, or owners. That's great news. Thank the heavens they made it through unscathed. But what about those who didn't? Their stories are here. Their stories are everywhere, and more to come as the victim toll mounts.

Let's list the many risks below following a typical Water Cooler scenario that will catch you unawares and scare the shit out of you. Let's say you've taken part in a discussion about writing or another subject that causes an oversensitive or arrogant geeky moderator to go after you. What did you say? You may have simply disagreed politely, added something to the conversation, counterpointed logically because you believed it would be okay? Now, your unexpected doom arrives like a hurtling freight in the night.

Let the cyberbullying begin:

• The moderator slaps you down with punitive measures that include humiliating you, badgering you, insulting you, and stripping your identity for public view.
• Same as above, but a long-time or inner-circle member goes after you and does the same thing.
• Same as above, but an owner or one of their cronies goes after you and does the same thing.
• Same as above, but a whole mob of AW members, looking to impress the mods and owners, decides to make an example of you for days.

Is your name or business or anything about your background now suddenly out in public, index-able by the biggest search engine in the world, thus easily allowing future landlords, mortgage bankers, employers, social directors, neighbors, enemies and friends alike to find you after typing you name in Google? 

There you are. No hiding. Top of the page! 

With just one click anyone can see you out there being trashed and humiliated, perhaps even lied about. And make no mistake, there is no appeal. You can't win against that mob.

---

Does The Administrator of Absolute Write, Lisa Spangenberg, Actually Believe She is a Druid Witch With Powers?

An odd set of circumstances, this one. We came upon a quote by Lisa Spangenberg recently wherein she reveals herself on someone's blog as the mod who banned a particular user of Absolute Write. Then it gets rich, as follows:

"I'm the mod who banned you. I'm the person who suggested, strongly, that you research your own religion. I did that, by the way, as someone who has read somewhere around a thousand spells, and incantations, and invocations and curses in roughly eight languages, and has been invited as a witness by followers of a variety of traditions, including Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Wiccan, and two family trads, as well as more Neo Pagan druid events than I can count."

She's read around a thousand spells, incantations, curses, and so forth, plus she has attended a considerable amount of druid events. So btw, who spends gobs of time in arcane books pouring over curses and invocations to raise demons unless... 

Next we have this comment in a book review about Druid magic which states:

"Worse, there is a harsh critique of the book by Lisa Spangenberg, a noted Druid..."

A "noted druid." Okay, and now we have pages of research and writings on Druids by Lisa Spangenberg, becoming obvious as soon as one searches Google with the right search string. Look it over, will you? It really is fascinating stuff! You'll see that at times it becomes very difficult to separate a Druid from a magician or witch. It appear that Druids are inherently steeped in the imaginations of magic to one degree or another. 

Well then, what of it? If you're the least bit superstitious you might not want good old Lisa casting a spell on you. There are many sources online, but here is a primer for learning what types of magic the Druids practice (including shape shifting). 

Does this mean Lisa turns into a wolf at night and goes in search of her enemies? Or perhaps she just possesses a parakeet and flitters amongst the leaves.

Absolute Write Down and Out?

Not yet. But by any measure, the worth of Absolute Write is lessening. Matter of fact, it has plummeted. Traffic is at an all time low and the long drop shows no sign of slowing down. We've noted the reasons for this. We've examined the iPredator phenomenon and read testimony of the victims. We've reviewed the banners of questionable advertisers and other forms of trash advertising. We've called out major bullies and proved beyond any doubt that bad writer advice is rampant on the AW forums. We've demonstrated that the horse farm owners of Absolute Write have no qualifications for running a hands-on website for writers.

Though we think the value grossly overestimated, a website estimates Absolute Write to be worth a purchase value of just over $95,000 (make sure and click the update link). According to a poster on Michael M's blog, the site was previously worth over a million buckaroos (!!!!) at some point in 2013 or 2014. We think this number was also grossly overestimated, however, the clear fact remains: Absolute Write is going down, steadily dropping in value and in traffic, and therefore, in the ability to bully and misinform writers, particularly naive writers.

And the owners have no one to thank but themselves for this circumstance.

As soon as the AW forum website was sold to Melodi "Macallister" Sherman and Lisa Spangenberg, the future was set in Stone. Cyberbully bloodbaths and acts of ongoing misinformation reached epidemic levels. Never before had the writer community online seen such a virulent form of moderator and mob abuse. The victim count mounted. All manner of writers, presses, and agents and organizations fell under the AW ax policy of shoot first and ask no questions. The banning of long time members skyrocketed for the minor offense of daring to disagree with the new owners or their favorites. Websites, forums and blogs critical of Absolute Write began to appear on the web. The owners, and apologists like Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware fame, not only denied any form of abuse whatsoever, but actually invented the absurd story that all of the "haters" were just one person.

There is so much evidence of all the above on this blog, and so much more around the web, that only a demented fool or AW advertiser can deny the reality. All of us pray for the day when Absolute Write is once again sold, hopefully to someone good and fair, like the original owner Jenna Glatzner.

One more time... We miss you Jenna.

Down, over and out.

Absolute Write Hoax Continues: No Quals, Tabloid Trash, One Troll Theory, Bash Marla, Going Mad Dog, Max Ashkenazi Acts Like Garth from Wayne's World

---

Vision and taste mean far more than experience in the mechanics of publishing (which can be learned by anyone), but the hacks of Absolute Write won't acknowledge that. They set an arbitrary standard their victims can't meet, then the blood bath begins with editors and their staff smeared on Internet where everyone can see it.
                                - Anon Victim of AW

Absolute Write moderators and defenders have insisted for years that Absolute Write is a great place to get advice if you are a writer, but a bit of casual investigation on Google shows that the owners, Lisa Spangenberg (aka "Medievalist") and Melodi Sherman (aka "Macallister Stone"), have no qualifications whatsoever to operate an advice board for fiction writers and poets, much less actually give them advice. This goes a long way to explain the poor moderation and lack of adequate moderation in crucial areas of the forums where amateur writers thrive with a multitude of opinions that desperately need someone to sift through and clarify. But this doesn't happen. 

Below are screenshots that demonstrate the "qualifications" of Absolute Write's owners, Lisa and Melodi. Lisa has demonstrated some skill with tech manuals and Melodi has demonstrated skill with nothing at all. She once "edited" a defunct writer magazine but we're not sure of her actual role given her background as a horse farm operator. Neither one of these people has ever worked in the literary or commercial side of publishing, and neither one has ever published a creative work in any genre; and yet, they continue, to this day, to give silly and counterproductive advice to new writers. 

When asked directly what qualifies her, Melodi "Mac" Sherman states, "I own the site. It's not a public utility." And she is telling the absolute truth. Her only qualification is that she owns the site.

---

Below we have a screenshot of one sample of the rotating tabloid "flash trash" that circulates around on every Absolute Write Water Cooler forum page. There are literally thousands of these being flashed at new and naive young writers. We can't help but ask if the more mature writers actually wish to be associated with a website that makes a living selling trash advertisements. This lack of culture and sense demonstrates clearly that the owners of this website are simply in it for the money. It reminds you of the way an unscrupulous health care clinic poorly treats patients because it isn't about care, it's about dollars.

Trashy advertising on AW - Money made from clicking. What kind of people promote this tabloid flap?

---

ONE TROLL CONSPIRACY

As everyone now knows, Victoria Strauss posted a "Haters Gonna Hate, etc" post on her blog in an attempt to make AW look spotless and blame all negative activity on one single person (while never revealing the troll's identity). She fails to reference specific smears and unwarranted attacks by Absolute Write mods and owners noted here on W.A.R. and in other forums, and if you patiently read the comment thread, she dodges questions put to her that demonstrate she is clearly making misleading statements and lies of omission about Absolute Write (which is no wonder since the forum serves as the primary marketing vehicle for her self-published work) but she does make sweeping statements like this with reference to W.A.R. posts:

They're replete with sockpuppet comments (the blogs' owner likes to talk to herself) and larded with misinformation, including mistaken guesses about the identities of AW moderators (I know this because I know some of the people involved) and libellous unsourced allegations about AW members and defenders (again, I know some of the people involved). More unpleasant pastimes include attempting to doxx AW's owner, her parents, and AW admins, and to interfere with their livelihoods

The above comment, like many others by Victoria, are laced with misleading and false statements. Since she pushes the stupid conclusion that everyone online who gripes about AW is the same person, therefore, all the scores of comments at W.A.R. are the same person: LIE #1. The misleading statement that follows states that we made a mistake about the ID of AW mods, when in fact that isn't the case. The ID of only one mod, Old Hack, might still be in question, but nowhere online will she tell us who Old Hack really is. So what is her name? They still withhold while claiming we are mistaken. They cannot or will not prove we are mistaken. As far as the dox of AW's owner, that was accomplished prior to our posts by another blog unrelated to us (Absolute Wrong--and a big thank you to them). And for LIE #2, nowhere on W.A.R. do we note anything about owner Melodi Sherman's parents. As far as "AW admins" go, there is only Lisa Spangenberg. Everyone knows her, so she never needed to have her disguise ripped away. And no one wishes to interfere with livelihood, but it was discovered by another blog that Lisa and Melodi operate a horse farm in WA state. No one cares what they do, but any fallout consequential to their horse business results directly from their own behavior on AW, noted here on W.A.R. and on dozens of other websites. It is their responsibility. Also, keep in mind that AW mods have never stopped to consider the ruination of the livelihood of others as evidenced by their smears of legitimate presses, writers, agents, and organizations not on their favored list (see examples here at W.A.R.).

Aside from all above, aside from the victim hoax "conspiracy of one troll" maintained by Victoria, aside from our rebuttal to her comments, ask yourself this question and consider the logical answer:

WHY IS ABSOLUTE WRITE THE ONLY WRITER BOARD ONLINE WITH SO MANY OTHER WEBSITES, FORUMS, BLOGS, AND INDIVIDUAL WRITERS SPEAKING UP AGAINST ITS MODERATORS, OWNERS, POSTS AND POLICIES?

And if you will bother to read our Sad Truth of Hate post, you might also ask the question, WHY DID THE NEGATIVITY TOWARDS ABSOLUTE WRITE ONLY BEGIN AFTER JENNA SOLD THE SITE TO MELODI SHERMAN AND LISA SPANGENBERG? 

---

WE CAN RUIN YOU

A Scary Note to Marla re Google Soon to Trash Her

If you click on the above you will see a bigger graphic you can read. This is a slice of a thread wherein AW regulars were dissecting and ripping at Marla Miller. The bigger point here is Theo1 making a revealing statement about the power of AW to ruin someone's reputation.

---

GOING MAD DOG ON THE TRAINEE

This is from a blog post from a former agent who wishes to remain anonymous due to the retaliation record of Absolute Write. This agency was driven out of business by the bullies on Absolute Write. Please read this entire post if you are still neutral on the subject:

He made the mistake of going on AW and announcing himself.

We took on another full-time agent who was also an attorney. This was a business decision. New York based literary agencies do this all the time and, of course, no one on Absolute Write’s Bewares, Recommendations, and Background Checks challenges their decision or their right to do so. If they say anything it might be a note of congratulations to the new agent. However, because we were small, not located in NYC and because they are bullies, their Head Bully believed it her duty to question our decision and thus check our ability to make a business decision. She, this head bully, asked what our new agents qualifications were to be a literary agent. Unbelievable.

In an ordinary world, who would think of doing such a thing? But this was, and still is, a bully’s paradise.

Our new agent, being a smart and gracious lady, answered the challenge by stating she Princeton graduate, finished law school, was an author, had taken courses in intellectual properties law, had handled contracts and had been a practicing trial lawyer. In typical bully fashion, all comments ceased. This usually happens when someone more powerful enters the fray. Could it be they feared reprisal if they said more? There was no doubt. It was that close.

This, however, was not the case when we took on an agent trainee. He made the bad mistake of going on AW and announcing himself. And let’s just say he was pounced upon, challenged by every howling watch dog on their Beware et al pages specially dedicated to us. When they challenged him, he tried to stand up to them—tried to explain that he just a trainee, which again was none of their business. The poor guy actually thought he was dealing with reasonable people instead of packs of slobbering, howling idiots.

From this first encounter, he was continually harassed. Before its end, it had even boiled over onto our blog. Finally, he’d had enough and resigned his agent training because he felt he had brought us harm.

---

MAX ASHKENAZI ACTS LIKE GARTH

We recently received the provocative letter below from one of the AW cronies attempting, like others, to goad us into a pointless email exchange. He calls himself the name above (almost like ask-a-nazi). This one seeks to somehow validate the smear forums of Mac and Lisa while invalidating the concerns and complaints with a combination of false statements and bad logic. 

Our comments are in red:

Dear AW victims,

I was reading through your blog and had some questions about your allegations about AW (bad writing--sounds like Lisa Spangenberg). You have said that AW these days is essentially for mediocre writers (no, never said that-where is the link?), unless I am mistaken (yep!), but it seems like there are still some successful writers who post there (seems? why passive voice? and he forgot Stacia Kane) , i.e. Vincent Morrone (who?), Jamie Mason - known as Perks on AW, Cathy Clamp and others (okay, so the alleged presence of these people invalidate our claims or ...?). In addition, have heard that it is mainly for frustrated writers (heard from who? a case of projection?) but it seems that many regulars are in fact from other successful backgrounds and are not really wannabe writers (so they're whatever and they're authors? huh?). One of the AW regulars, for example, is a Yale Law School grad who it seems spent years as a successful attorney in NY before getting into writing [her posting name is CassandraW I believe] (tell her to leave) and there are others who were/are owner of martial arts studios, former police and other successful professions (so if cops and karate dudes are there then... ummm?). And so it seems like AW still does attract people who are successful and on top of their game in some ways (but it's never too late to learn even if filming porn is your speciality) and so it seems like it is wrong to say that it is (OMG, this writing is painfully bad!) only for failed writers who do not have a life outside AW (that is wrong, whoever said it).  Am I missing something? (yes, all kinds of things).

And it does seem like now there is diversity of opinion (seem? passive again).  On the AW water cooler there are posters like William Haskins, CassandraW, highttimer, rugcat, robeiae and others who do not simply echo what the Mods say all the time and in fact often fundamentally disagree with them (their banning is coming). And so it seems inaccurate to say that AW only allows for those who agree.  AM I missing something here? (yes, reality, and the ability to write well)

Thanks for any response you may have.

Thanks, Garth, but you have your answer. Btw, how old are you? And a note to the Absolute Write Roundtable. You have to send better knights than this to slay the Truth Draconis. 

---

Courtesy of Absolute Banning

Here are a few examples of AW regulars, who had posted at least 500 times, who were then banned by the owner or her admin, Lisa Spangenberg. This solidly contradicts owner Melodi Sherman's claim that writers banned from AW are "trolls and sockpuppets."

The size of the forum is unimportant. We're dealing here with the estimated percentage rate of banning at AW (35%), as compared to most other forums (2%).

The fastest way to get banned is to disagree with the mainstream.


MEMBER                                POSTS                       THREAD
                            
Scarlet Peaches                       48,359                        Airlines forbid men from sitting to....
Wayne K                                   21,681                        Contract Termination
Yorkist                                         1,974                       Kelly's Soft Asylum & Home for Way...
Sarah Dalton                                  927                       Publishing Diary: First Year Sales
RJLeahy                                         568                       Airlines forbid men from sitting to....
Blarg                                            2,497                       Americans Don't Kill Children...
RobJ                                            2,682                       Something I Can't Understand
Axler                                            1,052                       Cryptozoica illustrated novel ebook
Billythrilly7th                               11,813                      Should We Celebrate Columbus Day
Amsterdam Assassin                   1,734                      Teaching Derail From BWQ
Glutton                                         1,521                       Interesting Article I Found
Paul                                              4,508                      A Place For Off Topic...
Freelancer                                       997                      Derail From Book Promo...
Sarpedon                                      2,702                      Famed Astrophysicist...
Wayne K                                     21,681                      Terry Jones Death Threats
Spookywriter                                 9,726                      William's House of Hate...
Ruv Draba                                     5,114                      The Never Ending Religion...