Writers Beware: RobinHood Press and Nathaniel Hammel

Not that I think this company will even get off the ground (it's that awful), but I still feel it my obligation to pass on this information. Plus, it's too funny, in one of those you've-got-to-be-kidding ways. (And with a little "Screw You!" thrown in.)

I think some of you know that I have a MySpace page that I set up for networking. Well, this evening I found the following email in my MySpace inbox:

Congratulations for your acheivement [sic] in writing.

RobinHood Press, Inc

Hello, My name is Nathaniel Hammel. I am the proud owner of RobinHood Press, Inc. We offer a beautiful and specialized Publishing and Printing Pack for the Author(s) of the later day.

We provide awesome tools for the Writer to either, market themselves, or let us market for them through our Print on Demand Pack, saving time and money.

We also have an exclusive Writers Club, featuring a News room and discussions, a place for Authors to post there writing for free, join in writing competitions, and much more!

Please give us the chance to be apart of your life, and pass the word on of us and our company.

Visit: www.robinhoodpress.biz

Please and thank you for you time in reading this, and I hope it will do you good.

Sincerely,
NATHANIEL HAMMEL , Owner

I have a knee-jerk reaction when I receive spam on MySpace: I delete it. That's exactly what I did with this note, before I really even read it. Then I found a friend request from him, too, and decided to visit RobinHood Press's MySpace page. It's nothing to write home about, so to speak, so I also clicked over to the Robin Hood Press website.

This is where it gets scary. Nathaniel Hammel apparently fancies himself both a writer and a graphic artist. The main page of his website states:

All artwork and graphics are not all mine, like the one to the left. I do not remember where I received these images due to the fact that I go through so many, but I give respect and acknowledgement to all the artist which [sic] created these pictures and graphics. The only graphics I claim Are the ones located in the My Graphics Page.

Basically, he's announcing that he's using other artists' work without permission - without even knowing who they are! How does someone with absolutely no understanding of copyright law even think he can go into the publishing business?

After the outraged email I sent him, he may remove or change the text - but whether he will remove the artwork, who knows.

After sending him my email, I browsed his site a little more. I was appalled by how bad the writing is - simple words are misspelled, commas are misused, etc. After noting the frequent mistakes, I checked the email I had deleted, and sure enough - that has several mistakes, as well.

I think Nathaniel Hammel is a scumbag for using other artists' work without their permission, not to mention mildly stupid for allowing so many mistakes in his portfolio, website copy, and even the "marketing" letters he sends out. And like I said, I highly doubt that RobinHood Press is going to go anywhere. Even so, I recommend that my fellow writers stay far, far away from anyone who shows this little professionalism.