Warning about Xtreme Detroit Magazine:

I wrote the editor, Joe Race, asking to write for his magazine. He asked for
writing samples, I sent them, he liked what he read and gave me an assignment --
along with a due date, what payment would be and if that was exceptable then
to let him know and start writing.

I wrote the article, sent it to him, he liked it and wrote back "Great! Send me your
address so I can send you a check. Care to write another one? Write about....".

I sent him my address and agreed to write the next article. I sent that one in
when finished. I also asked him about what publishing rights he was interested
in and asked about a contract. He never responded about the rights or contract.
He liked the second article and asked for a third, giving me another topic to write
about. Like an idiot, I wrote the third article and sent it to him. Again, I asked him
about a contract and publishing rights. I got no response, except for that he was
very happy with my writing and liked the articles.

My articles were supposed to be published in his October issue. His October issue
was two weeks late hitting the stands. I waited and waited to hear something and
nothing. I finally wrote threatening to take further action. He gave me excuses and
said that he was unsure when he would use my articles. To this date, I have no
idea if he ever published my articles. I have not heard anything and have not received
a check.

So, a word of warning: Use Caution When Dealing With This Editor! Editor/publisher's
name is Joe Race for Xtreme Detroit Magazine.

He wasted a lot of my time and owes me money!

That isn't the same mag as Motor City Sports Magazine, is it? I thought there was only one sports mag in Detroit, but I could be wrong.

No. This isn't related. Xtreme Detroit magazine is in the same style as Maxim.
It's a new publication. Just come out in August.

http://www.xtremedetroit.com/

Be careful with this guy!

The editor/publisher, Joe Race, and I have some mutual friends. I just found out that
he's pretty much broke! So, that's even more reason to be cautious for anyone
considering submitting to this publication.

Now, this is just hear say, so don't quote me on this. But I trust that what I've heard
is true.

Be careful!

You have no clue, or the right to post such a warning! I am pretty sure I know who this is. You emailed me over 50 times begging us to publish your work. I reviewed your material and thought it was o.k. at best! I encouraged you to continue to submit more, as I do with all writers who submit material. Then if we used any of your submissions we would have notify you and paid you our standard freelance writer fee.

I always ask for the writers to get me their addresses incase we do use their work so I can have our accounting department release payment. I have over 200 writers in our database currently. I receive articles on a daily basis. Not all of them are going to make the magazine. Your anger is about as ridiculous as a band sending a demo tape to a record label, then blasting that record label because they didn't sign them!

Every month we have our regular writers who get published and paid. I would be very concerned if they posted such a nasty and venomous warning.

We passed on your work. We felt it did not meet our standards. We use many writers from the Detroit News and Free Press along with radio personalities from AM 1270 and WRIF. We receive over 20-30 submissions a week from potential writers. I am sorry your feelings were hurt that your work did not make the magazine.

As far as your personal attacks on my finances, that is totally absurd! If you really did your homework on me, you would know that I also own 2 other publications in Atlanta and Washington DC. Our financials for 2004 was over 4.5 million in sales. So if you want to slander me and or distort topics you obviously have no idea of what your talking about, then get your facts straight!

Be careful on what you say, or write about me personally or my companies you can be held liable for slander. If you continue to post untrue trash about Xtreme Detroit Magazine or any other personal attacks, then I will hand this over to my attorneys to deal with you accordingly.

Maybe you should spend more time on your writing skills then bash people who pass on your work.

Sincerely,
Joe Race
Publisher
Xtreme Detroit Magazine

WARNING**** Although not really pornographic, this is not a site you should view with kids around. I'm sorry, I had no idea what Maxim was so didn't know what to expect.

The homepage (the only one I was on) is definitely advertising a "mens" magazine.

Cathi

Joe,

I don't have to do my homework on you. I have very good sources that tell
me these things and I think you know who they are.

Isn't my husband and Steve P. supposed to come out to your house to
record? Try explaining this to Dan. He's seen all your e-mails telling me
what topics to write, telling me to send my address so that you can
send me a check, telling me how great you thought the articles were, etc.
I still have those e-mails.

Sue me for slander? Lol...

I have every right to post my complaint about your publication. Didn't I tell
you that I would take further action if I didn't get the payment for the articles
you asked me to write? As for e-mailing you, you're damn right I e-mailed
you...wanting PAYMENT. Get used to it, Joe. This is what happens when
you screw over writers.

I'll have Dan give you a call. Or maybe I'll go with him when he comes
over to record with Steve.

Joe,

You are so full of it!

Here are a couple of your e-mails to start with. Would you like me to post
the others?

Nice! Money is very scarce. Since we are a start up with a small budget,
we can pay you $50 for 750 words. As the magazine grows, so will your pay.
If this is acceptable, then I need a story on:
"Dating your sisters friends..The Good, the Bad, the Ugly"
I need between 750-850 words and I need it in 2 weeks.
Let me know
Joe Race
Xtreme Detroit Magazine

Awesome! Send me your address and telephone number so I can send you a
check. Want to write another one? Try:
Dissecting the Nascar fan:
Make sure you mention stuff like: If you are starting to get those special feelings
for your sister or other immediate family members, this is the sure sign that you
are a Nascar fan!
Really rip the fan of Nascar. Make this one short. Like 300 words. If you want to
make it a top 5 thing thats fine
Joe



I was going to let this go and just leave it at warning other writers about your
publication, but after reading your lies, I think I'll contact the National Writers
Union.

Good luck, Joe

Joe,

I just received your private message. I never said you published my articles.
If you go read the original post with the warning, you'll see that I said I was
unsure what you did with the articles, but that you assigned them and said
you would pay. So, this was a warning to other writers to be careful when
dealing with you.

I could care less about the name calling or the rumors you've heard by the
snakes. This has nothing to do with them. Of course they are going to
have negative things to say about me because of what happened with Dan.

This is about the ethics of writing and publishing.

I did not call you for a pissing match, as you put it. I posted a warning about
you, which I have every right to do.

You posted lies, I proved you wrong. I bet you weren't expecting me to save
the e-mails, did you? I can post the rest of them, if you'd like.

So, if anything comes of this, I hope it will be that you've learned not screw over
writers. You can shove your trashy publication right up your.....!

Question to Writer's Weekly:

Am I allowed to post a private message I received from Joe Race?
Or does it have to remain private?

One other thing....

You seem to think that just because you didn't publish the articles that
I have no right to post this warning.

You assigned articles, you said you liked them and that you'd send a
check. If you knew anything about publishing, you'd know that when a
publisher assigns articles and then decides not to use them, there
is something that is called a "kill fee". I'll let you do some research
and find out what that is on your own. No, you did not offer a kill fee
(probably because you don't even know what it is). The point here
is you don't assign articles to writers, tell them you will pay them and
then screw them over because of rumors you may have heard from
past mutual friends that have nothing to do with publishing. I guess that
goes to show how professional you are.

I'm not going to chase you around for payment (which I probably could if
I wanted to pursue it) because after viewing what you've been publishing,
I don't want my name appearing in such trash. This was just a warning to
other writers.

I hope you've learned a little more about publishing and what rights writers have.

I could post a lot more about this, but I'll save you the humiliation. But if want to
continue with your lies, I'll be more than happy to.

go ahead, post the private message!

Jokat is absolutely right about professionalism - if an editor asks a writer to write articles and promises payment, the editor owes that writer even if he doesn't use the work.

Like she said, it's called a kill fee. It's standard in the industry and Joe Race is obviously uninformed about what ethical editors do.

I've been a published writer for more than twenty years and I've dealt with more than one editor who is unethical but none as bad as this guy sounds. Just by reading the thread Jokat was absolutely within her right to post a warning about this guy. He sounds low - not just in her posts but in his own. His own words tell the story - what a creep!

Joe Race - if you're going to call yourself an editor, learn something about the business. If you ask a writer for articles and promise payment but don't use the work, you owe that writer. Pay Jokat and get over it. If you're not going to pay her, at least can the personal attacks and admit it - you owe her!

And keep in mind, many writers will have seen the warnings and they will remember you and your magazine!

Angela informed me that I can't quote the private message, but I can paraphrase it.

It goes as follows...

He asks me what articles he owes me for and what articles were published.
Then he tells me that he does not pay for submissions, but he seems to be
forgetting that these were assigned topics that he gave me, which the e-mails
above prove. Then he says he has more writers than he can handle
(yeah, that's why he has an add on his site that he's in need of freelance writers)
and that I can write to Jesus Christ as far as he is concerned because I posted
that I would contact the NWU. Then he goes on to tell me that I'm a crazy *itch.
Then he tells me he wishes to have no further contact with me and that he refuses
to get into a pissing match with me because he has better things to do. (Could that
be because he knows I will post all his e-mails that will prove him wrong?)
Then he says he will not respond to anything more that I have to say. (Probably
because he knows he's busted).

So, that's about it. I did not respond to him privately. I want everything made public.
Anything he says to contradict what really happened, I have e-mails that will prove
differently.

I agree totally with joetowngirl. This guy thinks he's this big time publisher, but he
really needs to learn a thing or two about the publishing industry. But if he continues
to think that he's above these guidelines, I'm sure it will come back to bite him in the
#### one day. What comes around goes around.