Sorry to hear this sort of thing yet again. 

 

I wish I could say I was surprised.

I'm sorry you had to learn about his shenanigans the hard way.

 

I'm so sorry that happened to you. I have heard others say the same thing. Even publishers who hired him.

I do hope your post here helps to warn others.

 

So wait, this is in addition to the last thread about this guy?  Wow...that's not good.

 

Just a bit of a reminder by way of fair warning:  it is completely appropriate to give honest, objective feedback, whether positive or negative, about your experience with a vendor you discover through KindleBoards.  Please be careful in discussing things, however, to refrain from any personal attacks; and you may NOT re-post any private communications.

In general, agreements between members are at their own risk. . . .as always, we strongly encourage due diligence before selecting a vendor.

 

That's precisely why I started not charging people until I was sure that their project was deep into the in-progress list when I got backed up in September. The process can take long enough in revisions that it is a burden to have money tied up in it for a while.

Of course, I've never been one to do full cover work to spec. The author must provide the artwork and a general idea of the layout. It's a lot easier to get it right quicker and get everyone happy. I don't see how full-blown cover artists do it.

On topic, never seen the man's work or heard about him, but he could have at least acknowledged receipt of the email.

 

Because of the first thread which detailed the problems I had with Ronnell, I have had at least a handful of people emailing me with such complaints.  I am truly sorry for your frustrations.  I do hope you are able to get your money back.

 

So sorry to hear about this. That must be so frustrating. Not only to lose the money but the time you've been waiting. If you've paid via paypal you can file a claim with them. They have a resolution center and might be able to help you.

 

Keith, how did you find him? Was he listed on KB? If so, you might ask the moderators to remove the listing.

This is not the first complaint thread about this person.

(The last person who posted here about him had to pose as a "new customer" in order to get a response from the artist.)

 

Just a bit of a reminder by way of fair warning: it is completely appropriate to give honest, objective feedback, whether positive or negative, about your experience with a vendor you discover through KindleBoards. Please be careful in discussing things, however, to refrain from any personal attacks; and you may NOT re-post any private communications.

In general, agreements between members are at their own risk. . . .as always, we strongly encourage due diligence before selecting a vendor.

Ann, that's exactly what this is. Putting information out there so people can see that there's a habitual scammer at work, burning author after author. No way for the next writer to see what's going on if she can't Google and find stuff like this.

 

Yeah, let's spam both here and Ammy forums with the same post, and call someone who's apparently delivered the artwork (which you called 'great'), a 'scammer' because there's such a major difference between an MP-4 and an MP-10.
*rolls eyes*
I hope you pay the same sort of attention to line edits.

 

Keith, how did you find him? Was he listed on KB? If so, you might ask the moderators to remove the listing.

This is not the first complaint thread about this person.

(The last person who posted here about him had to pose as a "new customer" in order to get a response from the artist.)

For the record, Ronnell is a member here, though I don't believe he's posted in some time. He is NOT listed in the Yellow Pages maintained by our Librarian.

Ann, that's exactly what this is. Putting information out there so people can see that there's a habitual scammer at work, burning author after author. No way for the next writer to see what's going on if she can't Google and find stuff like this.

I never said it was anything else. . . .just reminding people to keep it civil. If it gets nasty the thread will be locked.

 

I am so sorry to hear about your experience with your cover designer!

By way of counterpoint, the "unknown" designer I hired, Shayne Hellerman, has been an absolute joy to work with. Responsive and accommodating, actually delivering more than was promised. I lucked out.

Communication is key. Problems appear out of the mist but they can be addressed if there's communication between designer and client. Compromise is always possible. With communication, you might have found it acceptable to change the gun in your story to an M-10 if the designer couldn't obtain an M-4, but you'd never know without the communication. On the other hand, if it had to be an M-4 and the designer couldn't provide it, that could be a deal breaker and you should learn that up front. If you didn't specify an M-4 in your initial proposal, and that developed as a problem later, a "kill fee" (partial reimbursement) might have been appropriate if this only surfaced as a problem part way through the design process. You might have been able to live with the inconsistency, but your designer wouldn't know that if you couldn't communicate.

Professionalism is called for on both fronts. Ignoring emails is just not acceptable.

 

Sorry to hear about your experiences.

Sometimes I wish the internet had the ability to punch people in the face.

 

I am so sorry to hear about this. If you're still looking for a designer I highly recommend Keri Knutson http://alchemybookcover.blogspot.com/. She designed my ebook cover for New Hope City http://sunhimistwalker.com/books/new-hope-city/ in only a few days. She was very responsive to my emails and my feedback. I will definitely work with her again.

 

Sometimes I wish the internet had the ability to punch people in the face.

LOL! ROTFL!!!

 

Sorry to hear about your experiences.

Sometimes I wish the internet had the ability to punch people in the face.

See, this would be an example of the sort of posts we don't want.

 

Yeah, let's spam both here and Ammy forums with the same post, and call someone who's apparently delivered the artwork (which you called 'great'), a 'scammer' because there's such a major difference between an MP-4 and an MP-10.
*rolls eyes*
I hope you pay the same sort of attention to line edits.

Truly, truly one of the most unkind things I've seen in a while.

Scam: defined as a dishonest scheme, fraud.

So, I ask you ... how this is a 'scam' and not a scam. Because, from where I'm sitting ... I see no miscommunication in the fact that the OP was swindled out of money a la scammed. However, feel free to disagree, I'm just wondering on what grounds you'd see fit to do so ...

I'd hope you'd remember what a BIG deal our covers are, I'm sure you've felt much the same about your own ... how much time, thought, consideration, imagination and the like goes into those images that grace the front of our books. They mean a lot ... many of us authors spend months picturing what our covers will look like, I am SHOCKED you would attempt to minimize this experience of shoddy customer service and half-baked work with your callous comments and mockery.

There is a big enough difference (as a non-gun-girl) between the two guns that, because it was wrong, it should be fixed ... no questions asked. Period. End of story.

 

Sorry to hear about your experiences.

Sometimes I wish the internet had the ability to punch people in the face.

Or at least the ability to filter out the bad apples from the good.

 

I think this is a situation where personal recommendations are very important.  I was recently trying to hunt down a cover artist who ignored numerous emails I sent.  I was recommended a different person by a writer friend and not only did I get a reply within the same day I had a finished cover in a week.  She listened to everything I had to say, offered suggestions and when I asked for something to be changed it was done without complaint.  The final cover looks great, and for the price was a bargain.  That was a company called www.novelprevue.com, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them or work with them again.

 

Yeah, let's spam both here and Ammy forums with the same post, and call someone who's apparently delivered the artwork (which you called 'great'), a 'scammer' because there's such a major difference between an MP-4 and an MP-10.
*rolls eyes*
I hope you pay the same sort of attention to line edits.

He did not get his finished cover. He paid for a finished cover. He has the right to warn others. This is not an isolated incident. Ronnell has done this many times.

This is not spamming. This is warning others.

 

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies, I only wish I had searched the internet more thoroughly before paying the designer.

Ian,

"Yeah, let's spam both here and Ammy forums with the same post, and call someone who's apparently delivered the artwork (which you called 'great'), a 'scammer' because there's such a major difference between an MP-4 and an MP-10."

There is a vast difference between the M-4 (NOT an MP-4 as you stated) and the MP-10. Size, weight, calibre, M-203 attachment to name but a few. Currently, soldiers in Afghanistan (and at the beginning of the Iraq war) are being engaged by the enemy at up to distances of 1, 000 metres. If you have any idea about weapons, you'll know that even an M-4 is struggling at these distances, never mind an MP-10.

I pay just as much attention to my line edits as I do to the fact the character on the front cover carries the correct weapon.

Thanks again everyone.

Regards,

Keith

 

Sorry to hear about your experiences.

Sometimes I wish the internet had the ability to punch people in the face.

See, this would be an example of the sort of posts we don't want.

I think you're barking up the wrong tree on this one Ann. I find the post below much more offensive.

Yeah, let's spam both here and Ammy forums with the same post, and call someone who's apparently delivered the artwork (which you called 'great'), a 'scammer' because there's such a major difference between an MP-4 and an MP-10.
*rolls eyes*
I hope you pay the same sort of attention to line edits.

 

I just want to say that I hope this doesn't sour you on other artist on KB. I've worked with tons of authors who have had lots of luck with a variety of artists. Sorry to hear about your loss in money though. Maybe he will decide to pop in and set things right.  Although it's been quite a while since he's been a regular on here.

Best of luck to you. Oh and btw- my husband is a veteran and agreed about the guns. I wouldn't have had any idea but then, I'm not your target audience. 

 

Yeah, let's spam both here and Ammy forums with the same post, and call someone who's apparently delivered the artwork (which you called 'great'), a 'scammer' because there's such a major difference between an MP-4 and an MP-10.
*rolls eyes*
I hope you pay the same sort of attention to line edits.

There is a GREAT deal of difference between the two weapons. If the correct weapon was clearly described in the initial brief then this is a major and unacceptable problem. If you wanted a Ferrari on the cover as it was related to the story-line, but you got a Lotus - would that be acceptable to you? The issue however seems to be lack of interest/communication on the part of the designer.

Would you like to roll your eyes again? You are so impressive when you do that.