This Author Bullied HERSELF?!

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Hello and welcome or welcome back to another video. I'm so glad you're here.

[00:00:04]On this channel, I talk about news, controversies, and drama on the bookish side of the internet, and I certainly hope you'll stick around. There's nothing I love more than actually watching a like chaotic and dramatic situation unfold in real time, and this is one of those times. While there are definitely some real things worth discussing here, and I will, this is more of an unserious story than I usually cover. So, right away, huge shout out and thank you to Wine Seller Library for not only busting this whole thing open, but also sending me screenshots of things I missed when I told her I could no longer stay awake.

[00:00:41]So, our story begins with this post by an author named Myra Bloom. She wrote a book with a fat main character and is talking about all of the hate messages she's been sent because of it. Stop it.

[00:00:51]Please stop it. And then she has one of these. I don't know exactly what they're called on threads, but it's like condensed and then you can click on it and it makes like a much longer message so you don't have to like worry about the character count. So, she writes, "I didn't realize that I was opening myself up to so much [ __ ] scrutiny by writing a plus-size size curvy character in my book. I shouldn't be told what I can and can't write. And one of the main things about my writing is that I love to write about issues people suffer from daily and that need to be talked about more." I could say things about that, but we're going to move on. I have received over 20 messages telling me what to write and why I shouldn't have written about a curvy woman. It hurts. I put my heart and soul into this book, and while people have loved it, so many of you have been ruining my release week for me. I didn't force you to pick up my book, so please don't force your opinions on me. These types of messages are precisely why I write the types of books I do. Your messages only compel me to write more, but it is annoying nevertheless.

[00:01:47]Please just stop. I have already cried enough this last week. So, by the time this thread graced my feed, it had already been up for about 12 hours and it had hundreds of likes and comments. I try not to be a cynic, but after Sticker Gate of last year, this felt a little bit like overkill to me. And since it had been up for 12 hours, I was shocked to see that no one had posted any bit of like skepticism. I have fat people in my life that I'm very close to. So, I know that fat phobia is very real, but this is not how it usually plays out from what I've seen and confirmed. Um, the rest of the post went like this. One more message and I'll lose it. And then we have a screenshot from a message that she was sent and it says, "Hi, so I just stopped reading crossover because I couldn't stand it anymore. You didn't have to unnecessarily put a plus-sized female main character in the book. It doesn't add much and only spoils the fun of the book. Anyway, I'm not going to finish it cuz I can't read a plus-siz heroine, and I'm just here to advise you to not use a fat woman in your next book. More people might read it that way.

[00:02:53]So, I didn't initially take screenshots of many comments, and of course, the post is now deleted. But every single one was in support of her with many saying she's immediately on like their must-read list and then that people are disgusting and horrible and all of that.

[00:03:07]She even got the attention of some famous authors like Roxan Gay who said, "These people are very ill. Block liberally and Jasmine Gillery who said, "These messages are horrible. Please block these people and also I'm buying your book right now."

[00:03:22]And then I got to this one and it's from Wine Seller Library. It says, "Why lie though?" and then is part of the screenshot that Myra had posted with an arrow pointing to the scribbled out profile picture of the person that sent it. So, my initial thought was what?

[00:03:42]Like, are you really calling this this person a liar because of this teeny tiny corner that's visible of a profile picture? Like, I definitely thought this whole post was weird, but this felt like a reach to me. But now obviously my nosy ass was invested and Wine Seller Library whose name is Jennifer and I'll be calling her that now. She did her homework and let me tell you I am very sorry that I ever questioned you my love. She shows up with receipts. So first she shows the screenshot Myra had posted with the profile picture mostly scribbled out. Then she shows the profile of a user called Black Rose Loves to Read which is allegedly the profile of Myra's covered artist. But more on that in a bit. So you can see that the profile picture matches with what we can see on the screenshot Myra posted. And we can see in this screenshot that Black Rose Loves to Read has posted reviews and promos with Myra tagged on her own Instagram, which does not track with being sent hate from this person. Jennifer posted several more examples just like this one. So I know what you might be thinking. Laura, that's clearly a stock image. This proves nothing. Stay with me. At this point, Jennifer makes a post of her own quoting Myra's original thread. She writes, "Does no one else realize this is a PR stunt? The account she's claiming sent this message, literally wrote a five-star review, is an author herself, and reposted this post. She's literally still tagged in the review."

[00:05:09]Then she goes on to say, "I just dug deeper. Go check out the bullies repost.

[00:05:13]99% of them are reposting this author's threads months back. She's bullying herself. I'm officially dubbing this Crossover Gate." So, I went ahead and screen recorded this. So, there was no doubt that Black Rose was at least a fan, if not just Myra herself. Like, all of her reposts, all of her, all of this is all about Myra's account. Yeah, it just continues like this, but I figured you'd get the point. And then this account, Blue Sapphire Web Design, also just happens to be listed as the business account of Black Rose. So, if blue sapphire is Black Rose and Black Rose is Myra.

[00:05:52]Jennifer goes on to list all accounts associated with Myra and we'll look at a few comments on her post. So, Nikki Reed Smut, a frequent contributor here, um writes, "Hey, thanks for looking out.

[00:06:04]It's one thing to do some variants of funny rage bait PR. It's another to do this and then keep it going for the pity pre-orders."

[00:06:11]Uh, Evelyn Gold says, "I tried to stay out of drama, but if you're right and this is all fake, which it looks like it is, then this absolutely needs to be called out. There's so much hate in the world already. Manufacturing more only contributes to more anger." And Jennifer says, "I got a weird vibe from how overacted it seemed. Both her long post and the message. I figured if it's real, the author would have blocked the sender, right? But I found the sender in her follows and so much more. It's really disappointing. pity marketing is bad enough, but she's actually tearing down plus-sized women by creating this fake bullying scenario. And Evelyn says, "Yeah, I got the same weird vibe originally, but I didn't think to check her followers. It's sad because it's definitely working for her based on the comments." Darby Quinn says, "As a fat woman, that post gave me weird vibes all day. People who hate fat people won't even look at a book with a fat woman on the cover, let alone try and read it. If her post is PR rage bait, it's appalling." And uh RebeccaQincaid says, "I just looked at her book on Amazon and read the blurb, and it's nonsensical to think a reader wouldn't know what they were getting a story with a fat female main character when her size is a central theme, as it's literally in the first sentence of the blurb." Yep, fat phobic people wouldn't touch it with a 10-ft pole. Also, it's worth mentioning that I don't ever recall a time in my life when a fat phobic [ __ ] has ever used plus-size when speaking negatively about my weight. Great points. So, while we're at it, let's look at the cover here and the synopsis. So, I don't know.

[00:07:37]The synopsis says, "Andy Moore is done waiting for life to start after a lifetime of conditional love and friends who vanished when her body changed. Andy Moore is taking control. Her mission, radical self-love, and a crash course in everything she's missed in the bedroom.

[00:07:50]She needs a teacher she can trust, someone who sees the woman she is now and doesn't look away. The glaring fact that he's a tattooed broody and her brother's best friend isn't enough to deter her from having him fulfill all her wishes in bed. Even if that's all it is, just physical. The rest of it's not really super um important. Doesn't really say much. But this is not a book that someone who hates fat people would come close to picking up. Not only does the description make it pretty clear, but this cover shows a woman who honestly I don't think she looks that fat, but would again probably not appeal to someone that hates fat people. More comments say read with cat. Wait, so did she get that other account to send that message? Like has that other account been posting stuff to and they're really just sending each other fake hate mail to rage bait about? Jennifer said that's my suspicion. She even gave someone who quote posted OP's post a plus-siz wreck.

[00:08:44]It's like sticker gate all over again.

[00:08:46]And in this screenshot um that she posted, you can see that someone who had reposted Myra's um original thread had asked for some recommendations and Black Rose Reed had given recommendations to this person.

[00:09:03]So, back to talking about multiple accounts. This user says, "I'm like 99% sure that Blue Sapphire Web Design is her, too. Because the owner of the account is from India, and shocker, their name is also Rose." Jennifer said, "Yep, I noticed the same thing going through the repost. She is also the account Black Xoxo Rose." And uh this person said, "It's all terribly traced AI, [ __ ] up cans, characters not looking at each other." I don't like to comment on AI art or or potentially. So, all I will say is, uh, these look, I guess, a little unnatural. Another author said, "Okay, this makes me feel better. I saw that post and one she made in a Discord I'm in and I knew something seemed very off about it." And Jennifer said, "I'm so curious to know what was posted on Discord." Same.

[00:09:46]Another one. Wait, she runs both accounts or is it two people in cahoots?

[00:09:51]Either way, yuck. She runs both and two more.

[00:09:57]And uh another person, Caroline, says, "It hurts my heart as a plus-sized woman to think that someone would make up hateful messages about curvy characters for advertisements/views.

[00:10:06]Why can't we share positive things that celebrate different body types? There are people who will read that message and feel bad about themselves." So, while the pile of evidence kept piling up, Myra doubled down. In this screenshot, someone says she isn't backing down. Wild. Kieran M said, "The evidence that this is a PR stunt on your part is pretty clear. I'm really grossed out that you would use plus-size/curvy discrimination to get attention. And my rubber replied, I would never do that when I myself am not a lean figure woman. I'm sorry that you think so. So, she then went on to make this post continuing the story that she's sticking to. I had to come and make another post.

[00:10:45]The one who was bullying me was not Black Rose Loves to Read. She's such an amazing person. She has designed my covers for God's sake. This is the one who had been bullying me. I did not reveal the real name because I didn't want to drag someone's like that online.

[00:10:58]But accusing me of [ __ ] bullying myself is a new level of insane. Please message me and I'll share the ID of that person myself with you. Today has been her today has been enough harrowing. And Brin Renee Books said, "Can you share the icon of the person that sent you that DM?" So we have Brin Renee Books over here doing the Lord's work. and she made a video with these two images fading and they match. She writes, "I don't know. It looks like she straight up played y'all." And you can see that fading into the same thing. So, Myra decided the only way to combat this slander is to post the entire screenshot of the message. To protect myself and my cover artist, I'm sharing the full screenshot of the message, but I beg you, please do not go after anybody innocent. This world is already too hurtful. And then she shows this the message coming from someone called Aana Kosik. And it's the same the message here whatever.

[00:12:00]So question, why would some why would people go after someone innocent? And why would you want to protect a bully to begin with?

[00:12:08]Also want to note the time stamp here, 8:46 a.m. This will come into play later.

[00:12:13]So after Myra posted this, Bin Renee did the same type of edit where the images like faded into each other, but this time they didn't match up. You can see that the image is the same, but it's not cropped in the same way. You can also see that this account has zero posts and four followers, which are generally signs of a sock account. Now, as mentioned, I was watching this unfold in real time, and Jennifer was able to get these side by side after she'd already had pointed out they were different, and she still couldn't get them to be the same size or the same cropping. So, Bin Renee had posted the uh the two little videos she made. The first video is your cover artist icon. The second is Aana's, which does not line up. And Myra said, "You can go and check her account for yourself." Bin Renee says, "I did. The crops are of the icons are completely different. It's literally easier to easier to just say sorry and fess up than it is to do all of this Myra. But do you think Myra said sorry and fessed up? Of course not.

[00:13:16]But Brinn wasn't done. She said you can't make this [ __ ] up. Really? Both are timestamped and you can clearly see the cropping she did. So Britain had taken screenshots while this was happening. You can see this one at 10:49 where this image is cropped in a different way than it was at 11:15 p.m.

[00:13:38]Now the book only shows one page. It's so absurd.

[00:13:42]I also saw this change happen in real time. Like the jig is up. Come on. So things started to get really crazy at this point with like a ton of different threads to keep up with. So, we're just going to have to do this one subject at a time because they were all kind of happening simultaneously.

[00:13:58]So, the management company that worked on this book with Myra came out with a statement. So, this is from Luna Literary Management. Lemie here. Well, it's always Lemie here. But coming here to make a statement about something that's bothered me all day. And as the day has progressed, more red flags have been sent my way. This is not going to be some eloquent message. This is going to be me going WTF along with all of you.

[00:14:22]I saw a thread this morning that made me side eye because an author posted about hate she was receiving for having a plus-sized character. We handled arcs for this book and looking at the reviews and reader feedback, the online story being told was not matching my data. So, I reached out to the author and asked for all the accounts that were sending hate messages because we don't stand for bullying at Luna. The email has yet to be responded to. Now I am getting sent all of your amazing detective work that is also going along with my red flags and something smells fishy and I'm not at the ocean vibes. If this was a true crime documentary, we would have run out of string for the detective board. But here's where I step in to first off apologize because it appears this person is scamming us all. Readers, authors, book businesses, and the community as a whole. Obviously, I am just finding out about all of this, but that doesn't excuse any harm she's caused to people I respect and admire. I'm embarrassed for allowing someone to come into our space where we strive for inclusion, kindness, friendship, and positivity, where we want people to feel safe. She's put a damage to my alarm system. I have confronted her on the many red flags sent to me this evening, and it appears it was Miss Scarlet in the library with the fake accounts. Sorry, trying to use humor and not break down and cry. I truly am at a loss for words, even though I just wrote a lot. I am sad, mad, and feel like I have failed this space. If you're an author who partnered with her for a giveaway, I would love to reimburse you. If you are someone she bullied or made uncomfortable, please know my DMs are open and I am forever sorry. This has been a tough two weeks for me, but I will keep my head held high. I love this space and I am so sorry. XOXO Lemie. Now, this whole debacle clearly has nothing to do with Luna Literary Management. And the comments had nothing but support and praise for the company and for Lemie.

[00:16:05]Someone commented on this and said, "Can confirm Lemie has been playing Clue since this morning? Gh. I added a screenshot of something.

[00:16:13]Literally me all day." So, remember I said Myra's thread is weird. Like, I think she's lying. I emailed her for a list of accounts messaging her so I can block them. Let's see what she says.

[00:16:22]Clearly, yeah, she's been doing it all day. Let me briefly mention authors who had partnered with Myra for giveaways.

[00:16:28]Many of these are now deleted, but the super slleuthes on threads got their screenshots. So, she hosted giveaways all the time with other indie authors.

[00:16:36]And somehow the winners nearly always ended up being Black Rose Loves to Read.

[00:16:43]Here are examples of some of these posts. So, this one she did with three other authors. This was from November.

[00:16:50]Here's one she did with one other author from yesterday or like two or three days ago at this point. Another one with five other authors. You know, she just she did a whole bunch of these. And the first person I saw connecting the dots about these giveaways was Tamara Renee Books. And I'm sorry if I said your name wrong because I know two people who spell their names just like this, but one is Tamara and the other is Tamara.

[00:17:16]And so I'm sorry. So she writes, "I did a giveaway with her for her first book, and the winner was the Black Rose account."

[00:17:24]And Jennifer said, "Oh my word." And then she tagged me like an angel.

[00:17:28]Literally me right now. That post today made me feel a bit sus. combined with many other posts I've seen lately and now this.

[00:17:35]And another author says, "Not to be messy, but I connected these dots like 10 minutes ago. I think we were in the same group giveaway and I have sat here stunned. Was she the one that chose the winner?" This just makes me realize anyone I do a giveaway with, I want full receipts of how they picked the winner and that it was fair. Shame on me for trusting her. This isn't your fault at all. No one would ever assume an author was hosting a giveaway to simply choose herself as the winner. I mean, the entire thing is just bananas. And Tamara said, "Truly, but it still feels really shitty. It's a good sad lesson for the future to be more diligent." The same author that said not to be messy says, "Actually, I do want to be messy because asking fellow indie authors to do giveaways and then choosing yourself as the winner is such an interesting choice." Yin Quiros author said no because that's certainly a choice and she's lucky I'm still trying to gather more evidence before I get really messy.

[00:18:25]Uh Veronica Eden author says, "I'm so sorry to anyone that entered the one I was a part of. I had no idea. She legit got us all fooled, babe. So, don't even worry about it. I just hate the fact that she's trying to gaslight everyone.

[00:18:37]And Tamara said, "I'm so freaking glad you caught all this and said she archived some of them because I saw it as well and now they're all back and she's claiming I'm lying that she did it. I'm guessing she can still see your posts from another account, which is why she unarchived them." And Yin Curos said, "I forgot to block her other account, so I'm doing that now."

[00:18:57]Stephanie Alves says, "Our giveaway is currently live. What do I even do?" And she's advised I would I would pick a winner yourself and explain they'll only be getting your book because gestures at all the drama. I was going to DM you last night and forgot. So, I'm glad you saw this. Yeah, that's what I'm planning to do because I would feel bad pulling out now. And Dana Russo said, "So much for these three giveaways, huh?" And post is unavailable. That was there.

[00:19:24]Kennedy Bryant said, "Never been more happy my book didn't make the cut for a giveaway." A few more people who just feel bad, which they shouldn't because they had no idea. Piper Hail Books, swear to God, I need to know how many of these she picked the same person for because it was the Black Rose account in mine. Good thing I was ADHD and too close to the sun and I haven't sent it yet. Was feeling real guilty about that.

[00:19:46]But I think that's the first time my executive dysfunction has saved me money rather than cost me extra. So yeah, she's hosting partnered giveaways and then somehow they all allegedly have the same winner and that same winner happens to be her on a different account. What a strange coincidence. I feel for all of these authors who trusted her and I certainly hope they know that they aren't to blame at all. Most of us are trusting people until we're given a reason not to be. And until this point, it doesn't really seem like Myra had been known as someone untrustworthy.

[00:20:20]So despite the mounting evidence to the contrary, she just kept making excuses.

[00:20:25]So she wrote, "If I'm not choosing to reply or post to any more comments, it's to protect my peace. If you wish to ask something, you're more than welcome to DM me." And then a little bit after that, she wrote, "I have done three giveaways, two for paperback and one ebook. The winners for all three were different. If you need the ID of the other two, let me know." And then a few minutes after that, she said, "I've uploaded the screen record, cleared about the giveaway, and never once have I been mean to anyone in this community.

[00:20:49]Thank you for showing me kindness isn't always repaid. Kieran M13 said, "You didn't clear [ __ ] about the giveaways."

[00:20:56]Tamara Renee Books, here's where she claims she cleared about the giveaways.

[00:21:00]And she said, "Pardon? She hasn't said a word to me. Where's this clearing claim?" Kieran M13 said, "Did you accidentally use one of your alts to upload it because it isn't here?" Myra, I won't dox you and post the address that multiple people in different giveaways have that is the exact same.

[00:21:15]Nothing about the giveaways is cleared.

[00:21:17]Another comment to Myra, don't piss me off. You didn't upload [ __ ] You didn't clear up anything about giveaways, and you weren't kind in the slightest. You used fat phobia real authors have experienced in this industry and fabricated being attacked just to sell your book. You garnered hundreds of sympathy replies predicated on a lie you cannot deny. You've been given multiple ways to prove you didn't lie to hundreds of people, and you've refused at every turn. Whatever happens after this is your own doing. Enjoy. And she said, "You, I have uploaded, and I have sent books to other winners. I will not force those authors to come to the front or name them here, but I will definitely be willing to share the screenshot of those messages with you personally. And what the [ __ ] are you talking about? I've been patient long enough. Check your [ __ ] thread. She got mad. And then she posted a screenshot of Brin saying, "Let me know when she posts a screen recording of her opening that DM and clicking on the user's profile. Easiest way to clear this up." And Myra said, "Could you please tell me how this would work? I can. If I can, I will definitely do it." She came out guns blazing. and then admits that she didn't understand what she was being asked to do. So, here is the screen recording that's supposed to be clearing everything up. She writes, "I did not understand that." And for that, my bad. I hope this satisfies you. So, she's scrolling. She's scrolling. So, we can see this in her DMs.

[00:22:35]She's blocked the account. And that's that. But wait. Bin Renee Books points out, "So, this says you got the message five hours ago, but you posted screenshots of it 17 hours ago." And Myra said, "I did, and where I am right now, it's 9:13 a.m. I really do not have a clue about that IG glitch. Like, you didn't see me post when I in fact did.

[00:22:59]Now, I don't have it in me to prove anymore or listen to anyone. I can't make you believe me."

[00:23:05]Must have been a glitch. She She really thinks we're all idiots.

[00:23:10]This clearly says it was sent 5 hours ago. And this is not the only place where she said it was just a glitch. On Kieran's uh next post, she said, "Hey, author Myra Bloom, how are you able to post a screenshot of a fat phobic message 17 hours ago when according to your proof, it was sent only 5 hours ago?" And she said it wasn't. I don't know how or why that glitch is happening. She was also unable to see my video before when I posted. I can't help it. So, the thing that Myra is missing here is that her not being able to see the video initially has nothing to do with the timestamps here. Whether or not Brinn could see it, the fact remains that she posted about this 17 hours ago when the alleged message says it was sent 5 hours ago. One last thing on the giveaways. Tamara spent a lot of money on this giveaway. She said, "I finally threw in the towel at 3:30 a.m. after all the gaslighting and [ __ ] in my DMs, but I'm still outraged and even more so this morning. I spent 80 [ __ ] dollars on shipping that book to the winner."

[00:24:10]And then to be told I'm lying and a bully when there's proof of it, plus the proof of the lies with the posts yesterday. Oof, I'm so still so mad. I knew shipping to India was steep, but $80. OMG. Yeah, I didn't think it would be that much, but I went to check last night. This is also in Canadian dollars.

[00:24:27]shipping from Canada is brutal. So, we've got even more here. No, because let's talk about more things she's done.

[00:24:34]A few other authors, myself included, who hosted giveaway international giveaways with her out of the kindness of our hearts because we should be supporting each other as indie authors, just found out that the winner of different giveaways had the exact same address. Raven at a writing desk said, "Could you clarify for me? My brain is broken. Author is in the US, for example, and the hosts are around the world to ship for the winners. If so, why ship to the same address, which I assume is the author? Wouldn't that have negated the need for international hosts? To be clear, I'm not defending the author or questioning hosts. I'm sure no one knew the same address was given to everyone. This is more what was the point of getting international hosts instead of just doing it herself. And then, I'm sorry if that confused you when you weren't confused cuz it kind of did to me, but I just wanted to read the next thing. The giveaway was multiple authors. It was also international, so anyone could enter for multiple groups.

[00:25:23]giveaways she did with different authors. We figured out the winner had been the same. Literally, these giveaways were done days, maybe even weeks apart, and the winner had been one of her alias accounts.

[00:25:35]So scammy and awful. I'm sorry you all went through this. I had it in my head that she was saving on postage by sending to the authors who would then do the giveaways of her books only in their area country. Sometimes I get myself into a mess mental mess of all my own making.

[00:25:50]oodles of Noodles says, "I'm just going to point out that the Black Rose account is linked to India listings and that timestamp is real close to the current time in India right before the reveal was posted. The lack of a date stamp, which would exist if she got the message yesterday, feels sus unless she's in the States, but then the timing still feels off. Not a definite indicator, but certainly interesting to note."

[00:26:13]So, you know, all it said was 8:46 a.m., which you know, if you if you use Instagram, you know that that's not how this would show up. If it was on a previous day, it would say the date as well. It also tracks with her kind of getting offline for like 6 8 hours while she's probably asleep and then coming back to wake up to this to see what was posted and then trying to do damage control.

[00:26:43]Tamara said, "This was my exact thought, too. Plus, the book I sent Black Rose for the giveaway with Myra was an India address. So, Ken confirmed the linked India stuff with that account." Oh, wow.

[00:26:52]I once did a giveaway with Black Rose and her reviewer account back in 2024 before she created those other accounts.

[00:26:58]And the winner was a real reader, so I had no idea she was scheming this, but it did make me uncomfortable when, and I told the real owner, she started that Blue Sapphire business and was promoting a free template package, which I got.

[00:27:10]And then when I joined the Patreon of Book Marketing with Courtney, now Spellbound Marketing, it was the same free templates she had. She just changed the colors to match her Blue Sapphire Business. When I told Courtney, funny enough, she no longer had them up on her website. Like, she took Courtney's work just to get clients. I'm shook someone all that she's doing. And again, that's alleged. I don't have proof of it, but it tracks, I guess. So, I'm not saying that that's certain. Um, but something to note.

[00:27:41]So, it does bring us to the next topic that's being uncovered. Going back to something that was briefly mentioned, another account associated with Myra and Black Rose is Blue Sapphire Web Design.

[00:27:53]And it appears Myra is their only client. It with the exception of one single post showing a cover for someone else. The rest are all pre-made covers showing her making something on Procreate, which isn't actually her drawing. and then what appears to be character art she's created. I don't want to be an [ __ ] but this website design is so bad. Let's take a look. So, this is the homepage. Right off the bat, we can see that the logo is like not completely on the screen. Like we're missing part of this here.

[00:28:29]Can see some of the the options they have. services, book cover design, website design, brand design, merches, merches, and character art. None of this is looking very much like someone I would want designing a website for me.

[00:28:44]Their about us page is like cut off here at the bottom. You can barely read it because of this typewriter graphic in the back.

[00:28:54]Their services are this is the same as their homepage that I just showed you.

[00:29:00]website design like I yeah the the number one um and I think only reference that they're showing here is Black Rose. What do you know? The website looks so on point with my brand and working with Blue Sapphire was so tensionfree and exciting. I just this doesn't this doesn't look like something I would want to hire someone to do. Um, and this is I don't know what currency this is in, but $600 for this, 1,700, and then 2500 for I guess their like full pro package. Like I mean, this is just not good.

[00:29:45]Here are some options of their book covers. You can get pre-made. There's Myra's books. These which are I'm guess I think Myra writing in a different genre.

[00:29:55]These are the only two authors that are not Myra Alyssa Milani and Savannah Giles and Freemates. And honestly, this was making me a little bit nauseous to look at this website.

[00:30:10]Illustrated book cover commissions, you know, this kind of thing. Just nothing here is is appeasing to the eye. Like, I'm just overwhelmed. And here again we have this logo that just doesn't doesn't work.

[00:30:27]And again with merch and character art our sketchfolio.

[00:30:32]Here's all the different things they can do for you. Commission info and then in addition you have to pay for the commercial license.

[00:30:41]And yeah, their only brand design example besides Black Rose and Myra Bloom is Sunburn Gaming, who what do you know, also based in India, just like Myra and Rose. And yes, I know that India is the most populated country in the world, but there's a lot of other shady things happening here, too. It's not like it's just that. I also think that the art shown on the Instagram profile is not good. And again, I'm not trying to just pick on on all of this, but come on.

[00:31:13]Look at the face here. Look at the face here. Look at the face here. Obviously, this is totally my opinion. But whether or not you think it's good or bad, it just it really doesn't match up with some of the other art she has. Like, what is this? Why is his head so small?

[00:31:34]Why is his coffee cup bigger than his head? And why does his hand look like that? Like I just This isn't This picture I could keep staring at it and just keep picking things out that are confusing my eyeballs.

[00:31:47]The smut file says, "Not to add fuel to the fire. Absolutely to add fuel. I beta read for a certain con artist writer for book one and I had concerns about the writing. Also, please look at the cover art and the hands." The bookish poll says, "If you're referring to the same person from earlier, apparently they are also the designer as well as running various accounts as different people, one being the cover designer's account.

[00:32:07]As a creative, it's annoying having these grifters take over the services space as well." And the smut file said, "Yep, this is why I want people to be aware. I generally don't comment on art in anything other than a positive manner, but it is not good. And now it appears to be why." And then Myra said, "If you had concerns, then you should have told me. You never did. And now month after months you're saying this and what on earth is wrong with the hands on either of the covers? I can't see it. She says, "I did have concerns.

[00:32:35]I brought them to you. I asked if your book was edited. The language was strange. The verbiage was off. And sorry, one is the art print." And then she posts a little closeup of this hand.

[00:32:44]Honestly, it does look pretty weird, but in a different way than the other ones I just showed you looked weird in my opinion.

[00:32:54]There's literally nothing wrong with the fingers. And as a beta reader, you literally read my first draft, so forgive me if you found some errors. And Jennifer said, "Did the fingers get smashed in a hydraulic press? Hands don't do that, Myra."

[00:33:07]So, I I do want to say that I know hands are notoriously hard to draw. So, if if AI usage is being applied here, I don't necessarily agree, but I do think that this is really amateur looking and should definitely not be on the cover of the book. So, this is something that an author named Kennedy Bryant had hired her to do character art and then this is what she wanted. This book was advertised and it was kind of one of these things where like this this is the example and we'll insert um we'll make these characters look like your characters but this will be the basis of it.

[00:33:42]And then this is what she received.

[00:33:43]Here's the picture from said author.

[00:33:45]It's something granted it could be worse but also not what I asked for. Here's a closer look. So, I think it's great to have hobbies and for her to be learning to draw, but as we've discussed, not every hobby needs to be monetized. And the objectively best thing that she has posted on this Instagram only shows her coloring and not actually drawing.

[00:34:10]The lines are already here. So, I don't know if she traced it from somewhere of like I don't know how these things work.

[00:34:15]But the fact that we don't actually see her drawing this and how different it looks from her other art uh leaves me to believe that this isn't something she drew herself. She wants us to believe that the same person who made this also made this. And again, I totally understand that everyone starts somewhere, but maybe don't immediately put your services up for sale when you are not proficient. Next, let's look at some snippets of reviews on Goodreads from arc readers before all this came to light. Practically every interaction the female main character had with someone not in her inner circle, they were outwardly calling her fat. As a fat woman, this doesn't happen. They may look at you with contempt, but they never outwardly call you fat, especially when just meeting you. It was literally frustrating.

[00:34:59]Another part of a review said where I struggled, the first third was Rocky.

[00:35:02]Andy faces repeated very public fat phobic encounters. A blind date, a stranger, even her vice principal. She's a teacher in the book. As a plus-sized woman myself, these moments felt exaggerated to the point of pulling me out of the story. I've lived in this body for 40 years. And while cruelty exists, the frequency and extremity here did not match my lived experience. For example, the vice principal situation would be an immediate HR issue. And who sets someone up on a blind date with a person who would behave like that? Be sure to check your trigger warnings.

[00:35:31]There's a significant amount of fat phobia directed at Andy, often at a unrealistic level. Early in the book, a blind date yells at her for being fat.

[00:35:39]While I appreciate the author's attempt to address the topic, the portrayal felt so over the top that it pulled me out of the story.

[00:35:46]And for the record, this book has a perfectly respectable 3.94 stars and plenty of positive reviews. But I do find it interesting that the biggest source of criticism is the unrealistic fat phobia. The last thing to cover before I wrap this up. Much like we saw with Rachel Doodles in Sticker Gate, this is not the first time she's pulled the same stunt. It's just the first time it's blown up. Examples coming after me in my DM saying that it's boring, childish, and cliche, among other things, that my female main character in Crossover chooses not to cuss is not okay. Saying it's unrealistic is not okay because it's not. I have several people around me who make a conscious decision of not using cuss words, especially when they're around kids. I understand you're entitled to your opinion. What you're not entitled to, however, is forcing that on me. And that was another thing that was mentioned in some reviews, but not so much that she wouldn't cuss, but that she'd instead use phrases like nuts on an apple pie, crappy snackers, crackers on a cracker, choco cookies in a sundae, cream on a fudge cake, chocolate on a pie, nuts on a cracker, and several more. Another example, the last couple of days I received hate for writing a plus-siz main character. And so now I want to make crossover to reach into the hands of every single one of us curvy baddies.

[00:37:08]So if you're someone who enjoys a hockey romance about a plus-sized woman who's learning to love her body and a broken NHL goalie who's secretly battling undiagnosed depression, pre-order Crossover 41926. This is awful. The amount of messages hating Crossover I have received when it's not even out yet is not okay. just because you think that reading is an escape and plus-size and/or curvy girls don't belong in fiction. I'm appalled to say the least.

[00:37:34]On the 21st, readers signing up for the arc of My Hockey Romance knowing it has a plus-sized female main character and then receiving the said arc and then having the audacity to say they hate plus-sized female main characters because she's cringe for not wanting to cuss because she's a teacher and believes kids have impressionable minds.

[00:37:52]What the hell are you on? There are so many people out there who relate to her struggles and you guys just saying you don't didn't like the plus-sized woman knowing she was the female main character when signing up.

[00:38:04]Being an elder daughter is never easy.

[00:38:06]Not when you have the responsibilities of your siblings and family weighing on you. Not when no one in my family understands what it means to follow your dreams, seeing that they're so conservative in their beliefs. They want me to get a 9 toive job and quit writing if my release tomorrow doesn't live up to their standards. all in the name of a stable life. And so I hope the readers find crossover and relate to it in a way that I do. Like honestly, I have secondhand embarrassment.

[00:38:33]But at least she's not claiming any of this was a social experiment. And if that reference is confusing to you, once again, please watch Sticker Gate.

[00:38:41]People decided to poke fun at this whole situation. And I thought it was a little funny, so I'm going to throw some of these out here. Katie Reed said, "What is this email, you guys? I'm going to keep on keeping on despite the haters. I always remember those who tried to drag me down. And then it's an email from Katie to Caitlyn. Your Bookstagram sucks. Hey Katie, give give up. You suck. Also, I hate your pictures.

[00:39:03]Another author that said, uh, LRA Sterling said, "Someone was mean to me.

[00:39:08]Money, please." And it's clearly her with the things scrippled out. Same things. In closing, I do want to read a post that I found discussing how behavior like this can have a real life impact. Laurel Hall Books said, "The thing about fat phobia is that it's usually not direct, even if it is loud.

[00:39:26]In the bookish space, it's books with fat characters being passed over, being held to higher standards/criticized more harshly, being labeled unrealistic, thin authors writing books about fat characters weight loss journeys. In real life, it's diet talk in the office, denied medical care, lack of accessibility, lack of options, you're just so cuddly, you're not fat, you're beautiful, wage gaps, people saying your body is their nightmare, but I think other plus-sized people are beautiful, just not me, and a billion other tiny subtle ways. It's so ingrained and insidious that once you learn to recognize it, it's impossible to escape it, even when you're no longer taking it to heart. And it's so hard to get to that point in the first place. When people perform fat phobic violence, especially blowing it up in an over-the-top way, it further obscures the not so microaggressions for people who can't who don't slash can't recognize it. It makes people think, well, as long as I'm not getting that, it's not that bad. It's training you to accept other forms because they're less in your face, but no less violent. It's all bad. It's all violence, and you deserve none of it.

[00:40:25]And someone said also thin characters crying about gaining weight or the possibility of gaining weight and the likening of fat characters to animals.

[00:40:33]Yep. All of this. That's why I can't read most malemale romance with a fat main character. It's like they're not allowed to be happy unless they're losing weight or a thinner person says they're attractive.

[00:40:44]So yeah, by faking those messages in order to sell books, she's going to make it a lot harder for others to be taken seriously when like true fat phobia is going on. And to me, the wildest thing of this entire situation is that it all started because Myra didn't scribble out the entire profile picture. So note to all scammers, if you want to be a shady liar, you need to cover your ass. This is a joke. Please don't be a scammer.

[00:41:09]This is a situation that I'll be keeping up with as it only happened like two days ago as I'm filming this. So, I'm sure there will be more to unfold. So, for my indie author feature today, I could not be more excited to promote the lovely and amazing Savvy Lizer. You might know her as Savvy Writes Books here on YouTube, and you might have even found me through her channel. Her newest book titled Not Straight is releasing on June 2nd, and she was so kind to send me a whole bunch of different stuff. She has all kinds of stuff she handmade.

[00:41:40]I'll show it to you in a minute. But first, I'm going to tell you about the book itself. After five horrendous years of Catholic school in a back brace, 17-year-old Kira Mave Donovan has finally gotten her her scoliosis under control, at least under control enough to become a star high school athlete. If Kira could just secure a college scholarship in women's powerlifting, she could finally get out of her church church obsessed neighborhood, away from her parents' non-stop divorce squables, and out of her perfect older sister's shadow. But when her back gives out at the state championship competition, Kira has to face the fact that her spine might not be as strong as she thought it was. Now, spending the rest of her junior year in physical therapy and hoping to recover fast enough that she's not stuck in a rockolid back brace at her perfect older sister's wedding, Kira just wants to recover as fast as possible and get back under the barbell.

[00:42:28]But when Kira bonds with Simone Jackson, a gorgeous powerlifter from a rival school in physical therapy, Kira starts to wonder if her spine isn't the only thing about her that's not straight. I I love that so much. So, let's look at this cover. I love it. It's so gorgeous.

[00:42:45]I love this use of the spinal cord as like part of the design. Something that I really, really love is that the inside is also printed. I always take off dust jackets when I'm reading hardcover books because I have like grubby little hands and just I'm a mess. So, I love that this is still so beautiful. She also has made a whole bunch of merch. This is probably my favorite thing. This is like a companion. So, Savvy loves dolls, particularly American Girl dolls. So, she made this whole little companion to go with the book Meet Kira. Um, and it's just like the Meet whoever books from the American Girl series. if you had those. I loved them. Um, and she has like this whole little thing with all of her different outfits, her Easter outfit, her um, out competition outfit.

[00:43:38]Like, I just think this is so creative, so cool. And I love that this like goes along with the book, but also is just so savvy.

[00:43:47]She's also made stickers to go along with it. This one says strong girl summer.

[00:43:53]We have curvy girls, scoliosis pride, not straight, just like the cover. And two that were just like from the cover that I mentioned that were like the the spinal cord, the curvy spinal cord. And lastly, she made this bracelet that says strong girl summer. I've already been wearing it. I'm not an influencer.

[00:44:12]Sorry, I'm doing a terrible job with this. But it is so pretty. It's got rainbows and just really, really cool.

[00:44:18]All of this is available on her website in the bundle or you can of course just buy the book. Savvy is a brilliant writer as one as well as just a fantastic human. So definitely go check her out, support her. And this comes out again on June 2nd. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. If you haven't subscribed, I would love it if you would check out my binder page if you'd like to support me over there.

[00:44:41]Thank you once again for watching and I will see you in the next one. Bye.

[00:44:46]Hey. Hey. Hey.