Did @Bookbzz Buzz off? #WheresConrad #Prizewriter

As an independent author, you spend a lot of time and effort trying to get your book marketed. So, typically when contests come along, independent authors tend to submit the stories, so as to help generate some buzz for their books and get people to review/critique their work. For me, the reviews and critiques are always the draw for me, because I'm always looking to become a better/stronger writer.

You may have seen the tweets/facebook posts/ general appeals from me over the past month, as I was a finalist (and the eventual winner) of the Book Buzz Prizewriter competition. Part of winning that contest included Artwork and Press Release info so that we could utilize it to generate our own buzz for winning, but it also included a share of a $3,000 prize.

For most indie's, they don't write for the money. Many of us have 9-5's, and writing is simply our creative outlet. For me currently, I'm unemployed and unbenefitted as my UI insurance has run out- so that share of $3k was going to go towards just staying afloat while I continue to look for work.

Unfortunately, Book Buzz seems to have buzzed off, and taken our money with them. There was a $25 fee to enter - and it's twenty five dollars so its a drop in the bucket really, but its the prinicpal of the matter. Myself along with the other authors who won, spent a great deal of time and effort reaching out to our fanbase appealing to them for votes, and generating a lot of traffic to the Book Buzz website for Conrad Murray and his business.

We are now all facing the disappointment of being taken for fools. The website has disappeared, attempts to contact go unresponded, the phone number that was listed as belonging to one Conrad Murrary of Book Buzz is a fake number. Weve all been bamboozled.

It's a lesson learned of course, but it doesnt take away the sting of reality.