Books – JenEric Designs

Scam Warning: Ottawa’s Easter Weekend Market

March 17, 2025 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

Earlier this month we were emailed by a John Stokes (agoratoronto@gmail.com):

Would you like information on how to apply to become a vendor at Ottawa’s Easter Weekend Market at Lansdowne?

John Stokes

T-fob.ca

The casual tone and lack of salutation hurt my elder millennial heart but I thought maybe John was just one of those super casual people.

The website for the event has a stock image of people selling supplements (not something I want to be associated with) but I was curious and read some more. It had a lot about self-publishing services and then some times for the “Market”.

I looked up events happening at Lansdowne and the only thing that came up was held by the Ottawa Farmer’s Market (an event organizer that is well known, respected, and has a good web presence).

I found an eventbrite site for Ottawa’s Easter Weekend Market that said it was outside of the Aberdeen pavilion. The hours didn’t match either, which is what made me extra suspicious. On top of that, there wasn’t an application and the eventbrite was just for vendors to “buy a table” for $85.

I did a WHOIS lookup to see who owned the website and found that it was owned by “The Agora Cosmopolitan Inc”, a vanity press. Most of their books look like conspiracy theories or vanity projects. I looked them up on the Library and Archives Publisher Database and found that their address is a postal box in a mall in Kanata. I looked at the actual website of the company and it calls itself “The Canadian Business Daily”. Its articles are all kinds of fringe and cringe.

At this point, I was fairly sure it was a scam but I decided to do some more digging and found Mr. Stokes’ picture on a stock photo site and a few blogs warning that “The Agora Cosmopolitan Inc” was a scam.

To be absolutely sure, I emailed the Ottawa Farmers Market to ask about it, and this was their reply:

Hi there,

Thank you for reaching out! Please be aware that this is a scam and not associated with us.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead!

[Name omitted]

Ottawa Farmers’ Market

(613) 417-3595

info@ottawafarmersmarket.ca

ottawafarmersmarket.ca

The most important thing when you are a vendor is to trust the organizers of the events you go to. If it seems too good to be true or they don’t have a large web presence, that’s a red flag. The ultimate red flag, however, is an event that sells tables without vetting its vendors.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Can’t Wait for The Copper Tarnish?

March 7, 2025 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Readers!

If you’re as excited about The Copper Tarnish as I am, then you probably wish you could read it right now. (I’ve wrote it and I want to read it again.)

Pre-orders coming soon!

While you wait, however, you can now buy the second printing of Parasomnia and learn the origins of Agent Katherine Price.

At the Aux-Anges institute, nestled in the woods outside of North Bay, they study and treat parasomnias, or sleep disorders. Ashley suffers from night terrors, Terrance sleepwalks, Kiri sleep-eats, and Paul sets fires; they are there for treatment. Adelaide took the job as a counselor to discover why she still has an imaginary friend. When they discover the secret hideout of an old club called the Dreamers, they are shocked to find that the five of them are connected through more than just the Institute.

Enjoy your reading!

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Excellent Promo

March 3, 2025March 3, 2025 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

Working with Renaissance Press, Jen made some awesome promo:

Baker City Mysteries & Coffee Shop Between The ‘Verses

@pressesrenaissancepress
Combine the “Sherlock Holmes” series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “Disappearing Nightly” by Laura Resnick, the “Nancy Drew” series by Carolyn Keene, and an amethyst necklace to get the “Baker City Mystery” series by @Éric Desmarais #CanLit #canadianauthor #indiepublishing
♬ Mistery (Acoustic) – Raf’s

@pressesrenaissancepress
Combine “The Lost Hero” by Rick Riordan, “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams, “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie, and coffee beans to get “Coffee Shop Between the ‘Verses” by @Éric Desmarais #CanLit #canadianauthor #indiepublishing
♬ Little Things – Adrián Berenguer

Click on the book below for more information and where you can buy it.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Can’t Wait for Winging It?

February 28, 2025 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Readers!

If you’re as excited about Winging It as I am then you probably wish you could read it right now. (I’ve read it and I want to read it again.)

Go Pre-Order it… Seriously!

*Winging It* by Jen Desmarais is available June 3rd, 2025!
Cover Art by Pinkpiggy93

While you wait, however, you can now buy the second printing of Everdome and learn about the world that will feature in part of the book.

Will YOU be Everdome’s next hero?

S.M. Ardwur’s epic ten novel series and the world’s biggest MMORPG is a world fractured by a magical disaster and saved from destruction by a brave king and mad wizard. It is now formed of twelve floating continents with magical domes protecting them.

For thirteen lucky contestants, when a man dressed as a knight offers them the opportunity to visit their favourite fantasy world as an immersive reality show, there’s only one answer they can give: YES!

The level of impressiveness is beyond anything they can believe and some of them start to wonder why.
Abigail, James, Krista, Nicole, Richard, and Megan have to learn how to play the game and win; the fate of Everdome depends on it.

*Everdome* by Éric Desmarais.
Available now!

Enjoy your reading!

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

The return of Everdome and Parasomnia

February 10, 2025 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

Before being published, I thought books lasted forever. Afterall, I can still go out and by a copy of Oliver Twist, The Scarlet Pimpernel, or Pride and Prejudice.

Unfortunately, the average lifespan of a book is 5-10 years. Most books don’t sell more than 500 copies in their entire life.

Two of my novels, Everdome and Parasomnia, haven’t been performing that well, and I’ve decided to buy the rights back from the publisher. They did a great job with the books, but it’s time I try to get them in more readers hands.

What happens now?

Once the rights and files have been completely returned to me, I will republish them with some minor changes. I’m calling this a “Second Printing”.

Part of the buying of rights back was also buying out Renaissances stock. I’m going be selling those at cons and on our website. In a few months, I’ll do a full update, maybe add a short story to the back, and re-release them. Everdome will be getting a new cover to make it match more with Winging It, which partially takes place in the world.

This is new and exciting, but also kinda terrifying.

More news to come. Thank you for reading.

Éric

Ottawa Comiccon Winter Edition 2025

January 24, 2025 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Fellow geeks and nerds,

Tomorrow is Ottawa Comiccon Winter Edition 2025. It’s at the EY Centre and I hear the train goes there, starting on Saturday.

Come see us at booth A605 and A607

We’ll have coffee, crochet, and books.

Hope to see you there!

Éric

Smith’s Falls Holiday Signing Tomorrow

December 13, 2024 by Jen Desmarais

We will be at The Book’s Better Bookshop in Smith’s Falls along with three other awesome authors (Emily Murray, Kate Cole, and Christine Krause) and we will have all our books on hand for personalized signings.

This will be our last in-person event before the holidays, so drop by and fill your loved ones’ stockings with books!

Come see us at Geeking Out For The Holidays: Ottawa’s Geekiest Gift & Craft Show

November 29, 2024 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Coffee and book lovers,

Come see us for you coffee fix and some great reads.

Geeking Out For The Holidays: Ottawa’s Geekiest Gift & Craft Show. This Sunday from 10-4 at the Ottawa Sportsplex.

Hope to see you there!

Shipping and Shopping

November 22, 2024 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Coffee Lovers!

The current Canada Post strike will affect us, but we have found alternative ways of shipping. Canada, USA, and International may be slower to fullfil, but we’ll find a way.

Coffee.JenEric-Designs.ca is still open for business!

Ottawa Shipping

For those inside Ottawa, we are now offering a discounted shipping cost of $10. We’re working with Trexity to get the packages into Ottawa and parts of Gatineau.

Coffee with Coffee Shop

For the holiday season we are offering a bonus 2 ounces of mystery coffee with every purchase of Coffee Shop Between the ‘Verses.

Good luck with your holiday shopping.

Éric

“Fanatics! Inevitable Honeymoon Crashers” is finished!

November 18, 2024 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Readers!

I’m filled with exclamation marks! (Sounds like a medical issue honestly.)

After a year and a month of writing, we’ve finally finished Fanatics! Inevitable Honeymoon Crashers.

This is the third of four books in The Gates of Westmeath series and honestly my current favourite.

Our characters are happily married and on a chase for all the peices of Kennedy’s magical gem. They’re not the only ones though, aliens and Fay alike are going to try and get there before them. It’s a treasure hunt and race across the world, with stops in Ottawa ON, Montreal QC, Hope BC, Parry Sound ON, Paris France, and the magical archives of the Library of Alexandria.

The next step for us is editing and sending it to beta readers. Once that’s done (hopefully a few months) then we submit to our publisher and if they like it, it should be published, if we’re lucky, in 2027 or 2028.

We’ve only been publishing one book per year and next year will be the thrilling sequel to Crushing It!, and in 2026 we have slated a book called Faymous, which is a fun portal/Fairy book.

If you’re interested in being a beta reader, and you’ve read the first two books, please contact us. We have two spots available.

Good Reading,

Éric

Until you get to read this awesome new book why not read the first two?