Conlan Press is crashing and burning with multiple lawsuits for over $50 million and a fraud scandal.  That includes 11 YEARS of fake “pre sales” for TWO HEARTS.  Most recently, the lying delivery promises were for October… then November… then February… “Spring 2016″… and then all dates were removed from the sale page:

(- Conlan Press).  See bottom for more outrageously slimy excuses for why this isn’t happening.

The lies have been so consistent and intentional that they need special tracking to list them all.  We started in 2014. (Another site has a Lie List too). The public is fed up:

Complaints keep piling up about Kubo art prints, Last Unicorn Blu-ray movies, “Better Beagle Bundles”, THE LAST UNICORN expanded graphic novel, and THE LAST UNICORN worldwide screening tour edition. From 2/17/2016:

(Facebook post by G.N.) I consider myself to be a rather intelligent and cautious man when it comes to scammers and those who choose to take advantage of others for the sake of a dollar… the reason I am posting this… is to draw attention to Connor Cochran of Conlan Press and expose him to the world as the crook that he truly is. I also wish to express my deepest sympathy to Peter S Beagle and his family who have all been taken advantage of by such a disgusting and self-serving lowlife. I may never see my $120.00 again or ever receive my merchandise, but I refuse to stand by and let the legacy and beauty that is “The Last Unicorn” be tarnished and desecrated in such a manner…

Here’s what owner Connor Cochran delivers, instead of what you paid for.

Mr. Reece Mack has publicly announced getting the Crisis Manager role for the “Last Unicorn Movie” page on Facebook.  Months afterwards, that is.  On LinkedIn, he says it happened in September 2015. (Was it timed in advance of Peter’s lawsuit?)

A deleted comment by Mia S.: “So… By happy place do you mean deleting all mentions of bad business on the part of the publishing company?” 

 

Mr. Mack’s LinkedIn profile publicly presents his Crisis Management role. It shows a talented, wholesome-looking guy, making sympathy about a good person damaged by association with Connor Cochran. (Below, read a professional’s advice to get distance.)

Connor Cochran gave this role to Mr. Mack while he’s in school near Vancouver for a PR degree.  Using a student has benefits for a manipulator. They may be passionate and exploitable – until they’re burnt out and disposed. (See how Cochran exploited a cancer patient until they collapsed.)  

Why would Cochran want a Vancouver connection? It’s a center for animation industry with lots of international investment and tax breaks. And don’t forget refuge from legal jurisdiction. In 2015, he fled California after calls for investigation, and moved to Bellingham WA, 15 minutes from Canada’s border.  He was chasing $125 million from Chinese movie investors – until they saw Peter Beagle’s lawsuit.

September 2015 was an interesting date to engage Mr. Mack’s service.  Cochran had already done a few months of calculated deception about Peter’s health. (See the doctor’s report about good health in Peter’s lawsuit).  That was to spread distraction, because Peter refused to shield Cochran’s fraud any longer.

So Cochran reeled in a crisis manager.  We sympathize for Mr. Mack about being strategically put in the line of fire. It sucks to be a Human Shield – and if it comes down to it, a scapegoat like many before him.

We’ve been respecting Mr. Mack’s prudent silence about this, until he belatedly announced and named himself on Facebook, to soothe customer anger about fake “pre sales” and delivery lies by Cochran.

It’s a shitty job, but nobody has to do it.  Let Cochran face justice with no more delay.

Mr. Mack, it’s time to stop excusing fraud and be honest to all – including yourself.

Years of consistent complaints aren’t “negative rumours.”

It’s not a rumor that Connor Cochran has been sued many times for scamming.

• Penguin Group (usa) Inc. couldn’t get Cochran to pay his $3,000 bill until they sued. We received a report that they won with damages: San Mateo Superior Court, case #CLJ511166 (2012) – A writ of execution was issued in the amount of $6001.28. The judgment was finally satisfied in early 2015. 
• Baker & Taylor Incorporated sued for $6,000 of DVD’s after Cochran broke their contract, and pretended to have other terms that didn’t exist.
• Sydney Clemens had $25,000 stolen when Cochran promised to publish her, broke the contract, forced her to sue, and gamed the system to run up her bills.
• The Last Unicorn Tour investors are suing him for misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• New grounds to sue keep coming, because Cochran treats contracts like disposable wrapping paper on presents to himself.

Mr. Mack, what this site exposed in 2014 wasn’t rumor. It was prediction long before Peter’s lawsuit gave so much more evidence. See a letter we put out to your predecessor, Chris Rickert, and wonder if she saw it coming.

Mr. Mack, please read advice about Cochran from one publishing professional to another one, who was disgraced for supporting him:

Dude, I don’t know how far back you go with Cochran, but some friendly advice having known and worked with someone just like Cochran… don’t go to bat for him. I’m a casual observer, I know maybe a smattering of the details, and everything I see is red flags.

Seriously. What’s more likely: he’s the innocent victim of a decade of bad luck and poor project management, along with a duplicitous client and an internet-wide smear campaign lasting ten years, masterminded by angry fans and a former employee using a bunch of sock puppet accounts to sully the name of somebody trying to preserve a beloved author’s career… or the more realistic version?

Honestly, just take a step back from all this. Do it for your own good. I worked for a small publisher in my area for a couple of months, and he fed me a line of bullshit just like Cochran’s about a few projects we were doing… Seriously, just get distance and don’t look back.

Mr. Mack, please don’t underestimate how much worse it will get with the sad thing you’re carrying on.  Think about whether a disgraceful fraud scandal belongs on your resume. Get on the right side with the victims, and support consumer rights and Peter Beagle.  We wish you the best in getting distance from Cochran’s damage.

For anyone else, if you don’t feel like you’re being scammed by Cochran’s PR manipulation – YOU ALREADY ARE.

Even more outrageously slimy excuses with one Human Shield after another.

@jbwhelan and absolutely zero reference to the notorious audiobook scam err I mean product we were charged for 10+ years ago and never got..

— Rachel Beckman (@rachabeck) January 9, 2016

“The Raven, January 8, 2016 – This is a free email newsletter from Conlan Press regarding Peter S. Beagle’s work” (A slimy way to exploit Peter more without permission.)

“EXTENDED PRE-ORDER DISCOUNTS ON NEW LAST UNICORN BOOKS (Linda Robertson’s loss is your gain)”

Last October Linda Robertson, our freelance book designer, was in a car accident while taking her father on a much-delayed vacation. Linda and her dad came out of it all right, thank goodness, but the same could not be said for the car, which was totaled. So Linda asked us to share this note with all of you:

“Hi everyone. I’m Linda, the book designer working on the tour edition of The Last Unicorn and the exciting Two Hearts hardback. I’m thrilled to be working on both of these books and I hope you’ll love the finished volumes.

“If you’ve ever worked in publishing you’ll know that delays are almost a given. After 40 years in publishing I could tell you stories that would make your eyes cross and head spin. At my end a recent auto accident has taken up a lot of time. Though none of my family was hurt, I am left dealing with insurance companies and an attempt to find a replacement car.

“So please don’t think the books are on the back burner and that you’ll never see them…

DOWNSIDE OF THE ACCIDENT: We wanted The Last Unicorn Worldwide Screening Tour hardcover and the illustrated Two Hearts hardcover to be out by now, but obviously that’s not happening. This delay also pushed back our schedule on the new expanded Regular and Deluxe hardcover editions of The Last Unicorn graphic novel.

UPSIDE OF THE ACCIDENT: (a) Linda’s loss is your gain, assuming you’d like to save money. Our pre-order discount on these titles was supposed to end in October, but because of the accident we are extending it until the books go to press. In addition, (b) the additional time made it possible to add a section to the tour hardcover commemorating Lula Coe, the amazing Idaho girl whose terminal cancer prompted us to bring a screening…

See again the victim report of how Connor Cochran exploited another cancer patient.

And a car accident last October is his amazing BS excuse now after 11 years of fraud. That’s how gullible he thinks you are when he uses others to promote himself.

Getting a crisis manager can keep the excuses coming.  It can’t fix the ownership of the company.  For real solution, see CALL FOR INVESTIGATION in the sidebar.