LCP - Laray Carr, Etc.

If you've been around the sites at all, you have probably heard about the issues going around with Laray Carr, or with LCP. There are many sides and facets to this story, but as far as we can put together, LCP posted some adds asking for writers at the end of August. They wanted writers to write articles for magazines, and they wanted them fast. MOST of the writers were asked to choose their own article titles and subjects, from a list of magazine titles. They were told that they would be paid 25$ for articles of 500-1000 words, and 50$ for articles of 1000-1500 words. MOST of the writers were given a contract as well. At the beginning ,the writers were told that payment would be made around the 20th of September, which was the launch date for the magazines. Later, SOME writers were told the launch had been pushed back - October 1st was one of the dates mentioned.

The writers got into a very heated discussion over at FWJ and other places as well during this time frame. There was a lot of research done into the websites that LCP owned, the people who worked for them, and everything down to the contract and the emails from the contact person, Hope Hunt, was scrutinized. Things got angry, heated, and very strange, for awhile.

September 20th came and went with no payment for writers. A few days later, a mass email was sent to ALL writers, (at least all that have come forward to say so) claiming that all of the work that was done was going to be scrapped and that no one would be paid for it.

The debate/question is thus: The writers had a contract that stated that they'd be paid on publication of the articles, and the articles, supposedly, aren't going to be published. However, the writers who have come forward on other sites have claimed that Hope Hunt told them they were NOT querying articles or assignments, but rather they were being ASSIGNED articles, and therefore payments WOULD BE MADE.

The debate in this whole thing is over what rings true in the end. The contract (that some claim was copied off of existing sample contracts on the web) or the emails from the contact person, stating that the articles were assigned and would therefore be paid?

Please debate.

Beware of Leann Garms, a PR trickster

I would like to address a PR agency and the owner who
scammed me out of $800 for services rendered. This
happened a few years ago but I've noticed she's still
online and practicing PR.

This woman is a trickster and a scammer. She's based
out of Dallas, TX and I just want to warn contractors
and writers NOT to work for this woman. I have a
degree in Journalism/PR with ten plus years experience
working in non-profit fundraising. This woman is vile
and gives PR practitioners and all those who work in
this industry a bad name.

Beware please!

Write Media

Has Scammed a writer out of 156$

The writer was given two assignments from "write media". One was to write some home improvement articles, and the other was to write a series of motivational speech articles. Both assignments were turned in on time. The writer was told that the motivational speech articles were not long enough, even though they were written within the specifications that write media had given to the writer. The writer told Write Media the motivational articles would be fixed WHEN the home improvement articles were paid. After not getting payment, the writer decided that she needed payment in FULL for all of the articles, and has not had any correspondence since.

The worst part is that this particular writer voiced concerns to Write Media about the fact that the name "write media" had come up as a possible scam on freelancewriting.com. Write Media assured the writer that this was simply one disgruntled writer, and that the writer would be paid right away.

PAYMENT NOT RECEIVED. NO CONTACT FOR THREE WEEKS. Currently owes $156.

****UPDATE

Recently Write Media started contacting (at least one) writer(s) to say that she was very sorry she had not made payment. The excuse that was given was that another writer/employer who owns a freelance company, had stolen all of her personal information including her paypal account and her bank account. This writer, who will not be mentioned, denies that he has stolen anything from Write Media and instead claims that Write Media is angry with him because Write Media owes him money and he is not very happy about it. Write Media insists that she will be making payment as soon as she has regained control of her assets. We will keep you updated.

UPDATE: It has been posted once that Write Media is in conjunction with the Laray Carr, LCP "scam" - This has yet to be verified with anyone else. At current time, it is our belief that Write Media and LCP are two completely different entities. If anyone has proof that they are the same operation, please comment and post on it.