Kitty Brown Art Illustrator didn't finish illustrations but kept all the money Internet CA

The illustrator started off fine with the project. She completed started sketches for the main character of a book that was to be published. However, a few months in, she started to have family emergencies and communication stalled. Suddenly, she had a death in the family.

Six months in, we still had no illustrations and a character sketch for the main character still wasn't complete. When we finally decided to terminate based on the issues with communication and slow work, she said she would give a partial refund - unacceptable really, because we had nothing to show for her "work" over 6 months. One character sketch that we couldn't use. She kept saying an offer to settle was in the mail from her attorney. When we didn't receive anything and inquired, she simply stopped responding.

Not only did we not receive the several hundred dollars she was willing to return, even if we felt we deserved more, but we didn't even receive a response to our follow ups. She dropped off the radar from her Facebook page and website claiming a death in the family and we never heard from her again. She kept our full $1,275 deposit and we never got a single completed illustration out of it, let alone the layout she was supposed to do for the book. This illustrator is a scammer. She accepts contracts from out of state, we believe, knowing full well that there is little recourse for filing a small claims case against her. The cost to take her to court would be more than our deposit, so she gets away with our money.We also do not know her real name or even a legitimate address to file a claim.

If you are looking to self-publish, are a small publisher with a limited budget, or are even a large publishing company with money to spend, do not use this illustrator. She is not a professional and claims to run a business but does not seem to be a registered company (so we cannot file a better business bureau claim).