PODdy Mouth Post comment

A few days ago I posted about a query on the excellent PODdy mouth blogsite regarding Raider Publishers. A follow up comment was later posted by “Wordsmith”. I would like to take this opportunity to reply to the comments left.

“Wordsmith” wrote,

Mick, you should be more careful to find out the facts before you write things such as this. Do you just believe everything you read on the internet without checking it out for yourself first?! Surely this is the wise thing to do?You say the ‘wonderful and decicated‘ man you mention is a ‘champion’ for author’s rights BUT this man is a competitor of Diggory’s so it is in his interest to diss their reputation! Also he makes some very dumb and also contradictory claims in his complaint. You can be sure that IF he had a case this would have been through the courts already. To date, Diggory have not been taken to court by anyone, (these facts are easily verifiable), far less had any judgment against them, so how could any author be ‘screwed’ over in the British law courts? It is just more lies by this so-called authors champion, very easy to say and to damage a company’s reputaton, but impossible to actually backup! In fact easy to prove its a lie.It is very easy to cry ‘wolf’, but no proof has been provided anywhere he actually tells the truth on anything. In fact there is actually plenty of evidence he is talking nonsense. He claims he has a long list of authors but he has said that for many months and it is just what HE says. You believe him at your peril for he makes some really ludicrous claims such as them making secret isbns and so on. How can you even do this?!! It is impossible. I feel very sorry for Diggory Press.
January 15, 2008 8:11 AM

Thank you “Wordsmith” for your comments. Firstly, let me point out that I stand corrected. Currently, as of this month, no formal action by Stephen Manning of Checkpoint Press, by himself, or on behalf of any authors has reached the British courts as a class action against Diggory Press in the uk. However, what cannot be in dispute is that writers through a number of well know on-line forums have expressed complaints about their treatment by Diggory Press. Through 2007, and in particular on the BooksandTales POD writers forum, an unseemly tirade of exchanges ensued, with claims and counter-claims . Few casual forum visitors could possibly have avoided it. I have rightly edited my original posting, and this reflects the situation, that there remains questions about this whole affair, and any writer considering POD publishing would have reservations about placing their work with Diggory Press. Some writers may concur with “Wordsmith’s” view that Stephen Manning has been unfair to Diggory. They may even feel that this view is the majority view. This is not entirely my view, by any means.

To any perspective POD author, who has carefully thought about publishing through the self-publishing/subsidy channel, they would probably be familiar with the Predators&Editors site and forum. This is a site which is well respected by writers who publish both through traditional channels and POD. Let me remind writers and “Wordsmith”, that this site currently classifies DiggoryPress as “Not Recommended”. Hmm…they must believe everything they read on the Internet too, like me, huh, “Wordsmith”?

Most writers who write and are published still have to hold down full time jobs. This is the honest reality of the field of writing. Most of them work for companies in many varying industries and services. Most of these companies in the normal course of business will have customers, some elated with the service they receive, some quietly satisfied, and there will be those in a natural minority who are not satisfied, perhaps they are even deeply unsatisfied and aggrieved. From Stephen Manning’s input on his own site and various forums, I think its fair to say which category he would have an affinity with.

Regarding the above, let me draw “Wordsmith” to what I said in my original posting, in case he thinks I am unfairly taking sides, or foolishly jumping on an Internet victim bandwagon.
The reality I have found is that most authors who pay for a POD services get what they pay for, and if they complain afterwards, its usually because they went into the POD process naive and as author Mark Levine might say, didn’t read “The Fine Print of Self Publishing”.

Let me take this opportunity to set things clear and straight. I have never met Stephen Manning, though he has been a part of posting threads on forums that I have posted to. It is my opinion that Stephen Manning feels deeply aggrieved about his experience with Diggory Press and does believe he is championing other authors causes. As I have not met him, I do not know if some of his motivation is revenge, though I have seen countless blog postings and forum postings from aggrieved authors who have expressed exactly that feeling and motivation.

Quite frankly this whole business has taken up far too much time and bytes on the Internet over the past year, and as “Wordsmith” rightly pointed out in his comment, until and if an action ever comes about we can all hold our own opinions, as nothing will truly be proven as fact unless it lands in a court of law.

I would urge any perspective author to research any POD publisher they are submitting to and while you can be guided by the forums and other writers, it is you who will have to put things in perspective and decide what you are looking for from a publisher.

I have always stated that what appears on this blogsite are my views and opinions and I am happy to stand corrected. I would like my own right of reply in regards “Wordsmith’s” comments.

To date, Chechpoint Press have listed a half dozen or so books, so I would not describe them as a competitor of Diggory. I’m sure they are quaking in the boots at the rise of the Manning empire.

I entirely agree regarding the ISBN issue. Having self published under my own publishing imprint, once assigned, ISBN’s are simply not transferable. This is ludicrous as each ISBN is unique and identifies the publisher with the first few digits.

I don’t do nicknames or pseudonyms, I express my opinions under my own name. While I may be critical, I will not engage in abuse or personally derisory remarks.

Let me leave you with “Wordsmith’s” own words speaking about Stephen Manning on Emily Veinglory’s blogsite some weeks ago regarding this very same issue in case there is any confusion as to where he stands;

The guy is obviously not right in the head, he makes some really ludicrous claims. I feel very sorry for Diggory Press. The guy has made similar complaints about other companies before, and seems to be a serial nightmare customer from hell. According to Diggory’s website, they are not currently taking on any new projects as they are at full capacity, but their output continues nonetheless with their latest batch of books brought out in December.


Authors

18 Comments

  1. Anonymous said:

    I have had a very bad experience with Diggory press and am one of the authors involed in th class action. Let me assure you that Diggory Press is an unethical company. Do not walk away from Diggoy Press run…….>

  2. Mick Rooney said:

    Thank you anonymous for your comments. I can appreciate you not wanting to disclose your name, but it is exactly this reason why a certain previous comment poster and others are not prepared to take Stephen Manning and the agrieved authors he is trying to help with their actions against Diggory seriously.

    I would be interested to know at what status the current legal action is at and in general your experience. Please feel free to use my email instead of the blog comment. mickrooney777@hotmail.com

  3. wordsmith said:

    The complaints ‘all around the net’ about Diggory Press, are the work of primarily just one man, a competitor in publishing, who among other things makes claims that are impossiblities of facts – eg. no company can sell books using ‘secret isbns’. His ranting claims are extremely nasty and extremely personal and are obviously untrue – but it is untrue anyway to say they are all ‘across the net’. In the process of doing his nasty windup job, he’s maybe gone and wound up a few other authors who think they have sold ten thousand copies instead of maybe one hundred copies or whatever as Diggory claim (or these may be just aliases and pure inventions just like his isbn story!), and they post on a few boards because they are worried and know no better – but there is no actual good complaint out there that I have seen, neither can his claims even be true. It totally lacks all credibility. I know there is a claim the guy tried to blackmail them after harassing them for many months, and given the malicious and contadictory and extremely personal nature of the nonsensical claims out there this retaliation would make sense.

    Regardless of motive, there are lots of obvious contradictions in his tales, obvious even if you do not know the whole story from both side. The man is malicious and also a competitor so whatever he says should be taken with a large pinch of salt. He claims also that ‘writers have been screwed in the UK courts’ when suing Diggory, yet to date, as can easily be verified by anybody doing a little research, not one case has been brought against Diggory Press in the Uk or the USA courts – far less by him and his so-called class action suit – and the guy has been bitching over a year, plenty of time enough. The guy is a total wind up merchant!

    In his listed class action suit (on his website), such facile complaints include one from a non customer such as: ‘I sent one email to them and they did not respond so they must be bad’ (!), and another says: ‘on amazon my book was cross-linked with another Diggory title’ – oh come on! This is bad, and how can Diggory be blamed for how amazon cross link a book?! Another guy claims that because his book is for sale everywhere (hundreds of sites) it must have sold everywhere and so Diggory must have robbed him of royalties which is not at all true or even logical, the books are print on demand so may not have sold one copy despite being listed everywhere- also sales are easy to prove anywhere so I do not think a company like them would dare to misreport sales! Another person who did a cat book that was not even in their distribution is surprised there is no royalties and claims she has been ripped off – but how can there be royalties when a book is not even in distribution, I ask you?!!! Oh, and then there is the guy who complained his book had not yet been published – and wait for it, his check had only just cleared the day before he posted his complaint! It’s crazy. This is a ‘class action’ suit?! Come on! With friends like these who needs enemies?

    If you think it fair that ONE company should be allowed to do this to another company out of sheer spite – when even you admit on your blog his complaint is ludicrous – and thus get it onto predators and editors based on this facile complaint, then the reputation of predators and editor goes down hugely in my opinion. You posted a post without researching the facts, and many others came to similar conclusions so why not p & e?

    Your ‘countless’ complaints are NOT countless BTW, most (if not all) are not legitimate, and all seem to originate from one complaint mill.

  4. Mick Rooney said:

    Thank you “Wordsmith”, “Bunnykins”,
    or whatever name you wish to use next on this site or other forums. You know what is sad in all of this is that you are correct. Every company deserves a forum of reply. And anyone representing Diggory would be welcome to reply here, if they so chose. Read my articles. Every PoD has authors who complain, and most POD’s deal with them without issue. Is is when the complaints are not dealt with professionally, then there’s a problem. Engaging in abuse, written slanging matches, will solve nothing. If you genuinely are who you are, then may you sleep well, and feel that you are telling the truth the way it should be told.

    TAGS FOR TODAY, ERIKA, RED.

  5. June said:

    Thanks for your comments on my blog Mick, and also for the link, will link to yours after I finish work! Wordsmith also tried to post some comments on my blog after I had written something about Diggory that he did not like. Thankfully I have chosen to ‘moderate’ mine though, so that they have to be approved. I simply hit the delete button then!

    Your anonymous friend though is not the only one to be caught by Diggory, so thank you for bringing this to the attention of other writers. As for Wordsmith/Bunnykins, what he thinks or does is up to him – the words River and Nile though spring to mind.

  6. skiman said:

    Hello Mick

    I just received an email quoting some of the comments on your site, and feel obliged to offer this reply.

    I apologize in advance for the length of the post – but in the face of numerous attacks on my person and credibility by Mrs Franklin of Diggory Press (using various aliases) I feel I must defend my position as comprehensively as possible.

    The text below contains a recent article by Private Eye Magazine entitled ‘Diggory Pokery’ – which I’m sure your visitors will find of interest.

    So I would be greatly obliged if you would review the text of the following, and if you approve, post the contents for all to see.

    But firstly Mick, may I commend you on the general objectivity of your comments so far in regard to this matter.

    However, I would like to make a small clarification in regards to the ISBN issue. If you check out the links below you will see that Mrs Franklin did indeed take a CheckPoint Press ISBN, and submit it as an Exposure Publishing product. She managed to do this by falsely signing off on an internal Lightning Source form stating that she owned full rights and permission to publish. When I raised the matter when my book surfaced under the Exposure imprint – the problems began..

    I realize under normal circumstances that the misuse of an ISBN would be almost impossible, but in this case, as a relative newcomer to the POD business (my first publication in fact) – I was directed to Rosalind Franklin’s book-designer skills (in April 2006) as a final checking stage before I submitted the book to Lightning Source under my own CheckPoint Press imprint.

    May I respectfully ask you to check out the links below Mick, and you will see that this is exactly what happened.

    Kind regards

    Stephen

    ………………………..
    Post to Internet Forums, Feb 2008:

    Hi Folks – I thought it might be appropriate to respond to the posts attacking my credibility here.

    I am Stephen Manning – as mentioned in previous posts – and although I would prefer not to have my name and reputation associated with Mrs Rosalind Franklin or any of her dubious businesses, the sheer volume of the disingenuous attacks on myself and other abused authors requires that we make the occasional response in order to keep the record straight.

    Accordingly, I post here several links to materials that should leave the reader in no doubts about the credibility and integrity of those of us lodging complaints – and of that of the incorrigible Mrs Franklin.

    Before I list those links however, may I first of all draw attention to Mrs Franklin’s increasingly desperate campaign to discredit us. Having failed in her threats and attempted intimidation of individual authors who felt they had cause for complaint, Mrs Franklin is now directing her rancour primarily at myself using all manner of deceptions and false accusations. Having refused to cooperate with our lawyers, publishing industry officials and investigative reporters, she is now resorting to direct personal attacks using a variety of pseudonyms on various author’s forums. Such names as ‘Anonymous’, ‘Wordsmith’, and possibly also ‘Barry K’ are some of the latest aliases that have come to our notice.

    Others on the web include ‘Auntie Carol 123’; ‘Joy’; ‘Florida Oranges’; ‘Bunnikins’; ‘Truthwarrior’..and I’m quite sure there are many more. One can usually identify Mrs Franklin behind the false identities in these posts by the attacks on anyone who has ‘dared’ to question her or her highly-suspect modes of operation, and by her questionable defence of her three interchangeable businesses; Diggory Press, Exposure Publishing, and Meadow Books.. Forum moderators, innocent commentators, and most of all ex-Diggory clients come in for the most virulent of abuses and contempt in such posts – most especially myself of course as the person who first posted a formal complaint on the web.

    Since the posting of that complaint, I have been contacted by no less than forty individuals (to date) who have felt variously mistreated, defrauded, or otherwise have cause for serious complaint against Mrs Franklin. Most have commented that the offences are doubly-upsetting in light of Mrs Franklin’s use of the ‘ethical Christian business’ motto, whilst simultaneously heaping scorn and contempt on her defrauded authors. Of those forty, roughly half are taking legal action – such is their sense of offence at the way they have been treated by a person who so callously markets herself as ‘an honest operator’.

    The plain truth is that Mrs Rosalind Franklin has perpetrated a series of systematic frauds and deceptions on trusting authors – and continues to do so with apparent impunity. Numerous authors now report remarkably similar tales of woe. From the absence of transparent accounting to point-blank refusals to pay royalties owed; from ignoring emails and registered letters, to the use of expletives and crass rudeness; from forging documents, to threatening her clients with the seizure of their work and money; and now stooping to this disgraceful and dishonourable tactic of launching false accusations and personal attacks without any supporting evidence – whilst hiding behind the guise of contrived aliases..

    Amongst those seeking redress in the Courts are a range of aspiring authors, including teachers, psychologists, civil servants, business executives, students and Internet bloggers. Without exception, all agree that Mrs Franklin has (in their opinion) acted either disingenuously or contemptuously – or both. Having had no success in trying to reason with her, each has now committed to the laborious process of suing her in court. This in itself should be a demonstration as to the integrity of the complaints – as well as a testament to Mrs Franklin’s loudly-proclaimed, supposedly ‘sterling Christian character’.

    I don’t wish to bore the reader with details that can be easily verified by following the links provided, but I will say that these contrived posts by Mrs Franklin are being collated for presentation to the Court as-and-when she defends our claims for defamation and slander. So if anyone knows of any other similar ‘suspicious’ posts elsewhere on the Internet, I would be most obliged to be informed at stmphd@mail.com thank you.

    Meanwhile, I paste here a copy of the recent Private Eye Magazine article, so readers may see the truth for themselves:

    ……………………………
    Source: PRIVATE EYE – No 1202 – 25/1/08

    DIGGORY POKERY

    ■ WOULD-BE author Jack Havana (his pen-name) decided to self-publish his book after reading a website recommendation in the Sunday Times “In Gear” section last summer. “A self-publishing service I recommend is Diggory Press, which charges £30 for setup and reasonable fees for printing on demand,” wrote columnist Nigel Powell.

    Six months later, Jack is more than £600 out of pocket and doesn’t have a single copy of his book to show for it. He says Diggory Press director Rosalind Franklin was initially enthusiastic and took his £160 for setup, printing and listing on Amazon but she then stopped replying promptly to messages and, despite attempts to contact her by recorded mail, stopped replying altogether. Jack is now trying to claim his money back through the courts.

    The Eye knows of at least 17 writers pursuing Diggory Press in the small claims court, for sums between £200 and £5,000.

    One author, Sandra Lean, has received plenty of feedback from readers, but she says Franklin has refused to pay royalties or to provide accounts or sales figures. The authors are asking the court to order printers Lightning Source to open up their books and thus reveal what royalties they are owed.

    The Eye contacted Diggory Press and asked: why will you not give authors detailed sales figures or accounts? Why will you not remove authors’ books from your website when they ask? Have you withheld any royalties owed? Why have you been so difficult to contact/failed to reply to correspondence? Diggory Press failed to reply to this correspondence either and answer came there none…

    ‘Bookworm’

    Source: PRIVATE EYE – No 1202 – 25/1/08

    Link to copy of original article: http://color-of-truth.com/PrivatEye1.pdf
    ……………………………..

    So as we can see, seventeen Court Claims – possibly more now – have already been registered against Diggory Press and Mrs Rosalind Franklin in the British Courts (as of Jan 24th 2008), and no amount of lies, attempted deceptions, or other personal attacks on myself or other complainants will change this fact.

    The obvious question remains – if Mrs Franklin has nothing to hide, then why wouldn’t she talk to the reporter – let alone respond to her clients’ numerous attempts to reason with her?

    We have tried to maintain some sort of dignity in the face of months of frustration. But time after time Mrs Franklin has shown herself willing and able to stoop to the lowest levels of malice and deception in order to undermine the integrity of our complaints against her.

    I genuinely regret that myself and others have been drawn into public exchanges with a person of this calibre – but after spending months trying to reason with Mrs Franklin through the Police, our lawyers, the Trading Standards people etc.. and to be continually met with abuse and contempt – our only remaining option is to sue her in court. We all have better things to be doing with our time of course – but sometimes we simply HAVE to stand up and be counted. At the very least, our collective action can serve as a warning to those who may otherwise suffer the same indignities at the hands of those who would capitalise on our trust.

    This is not about money – at least not for me personally. I have already spent far more money and time pursuing justice in this matter than I could ever hope to recuperate. But at the risk of sounding a little melodramatic, this is plainly-and-simply about the principle of not letting a bully and a liar get away with systematic fraud, theft and slander.

    Sometimes, we just have to do the right thing – despite the immediate personal cost.

    Kind regards to all..

    Stephen T Manning PhD
    CheckPoint Press

    And finally, any other authors who have been defrauded by Diggory should email me at stmphd@mail.com with their details, and we will do what we can to help and advise you.

    …………………………………………………..

    Internet links with direct supporting evidence..

    1. Evidence that Rosalind Franklin used my own (CheckPoint Press) ISBN on my own book, and then illegally claimed to have ‘full authority and ownership’ before publishing that book under her ‘Exposure Publishing’ imprint. (Please note the publisher’s name in each case – and the fact that Mrs Franklin later added “in association with CheckPoint Press” on her own website so as to try to mislead investigators.

    For the reader who, under the onslaught of Ms. Franklin’s attacks might have developed any doubts about the integrity of my complaint, I post here today (Feb 2008) the direct links to those pages on the Diggory Press website STILL displaying my book for sale under the Exposure Publishing imprint over SIXTEEN MONTHS after my lawyer formally requested its withdrawal….

    http://diggorypress.com/product_info.php?cPath=213_100&products_id=434

    http://diggorypress.com/index.php?cPath=213_100

    http://diggorypress.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=238

    Please bear in mind that Mrs. Franklin may now alter these details on her site after-the-fact in order to attempt to discredit me again… (a regular tactic used – especially in the changing of her ‘Terms & Conditions’ during disputes with authors..)

    Each of the following links shows my book still available today AS PUBLISHED BY EXPOSURE / DIGGORY / MEADOW BOOKS on websites in Germany, USA, UK, Canada, France etc.. Here is undeniable proof that Mrs. Franklin did indeed submit my book with a CheckPoint Press ISBN under her own imprint(s) – and has lied consistently about the fact ever since. Please also note the hugely-inflated prices that Mrs Franklin sent in to Amazon!! The book should retail at $21.00 US Dollars – but here it is listed at over £40.00!! Surely there is some simple explanation why my book is still up for sale by a company who never had the authority to publish it – and is trying to sell it at prices that I never agreed to – and have never been paid for…?
    UK by Exposure / Meadow Books at £40.00:
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0955150337

    Amazon Canada by Exposure at $25.00:
    http://www.amazon.ca/dp/0955150337

    France by Exposure Publishing:
    http://www.amazon.fr/dp/0955150337

    Germany by Exposure / Meadow Books at E58.00:
    http://www.amazon.de/dp/0955150337

    Hopefully, having long since cancelled the ISBN and secured Lightning Source’s cooperation in blocking Mrs. Franklin’s further sale of that title, the book should slowly begin to drop off these international sites as well.

    If anyone still has any doubts, please call the UK ISBN agency on 0870 777 8712, or email their website http://www.isbn.nielsenbookdata.co.uk and ask who owns this ISBN: Title – The Color of Truth, by S T Manning, ISBN 0955150337. This number has been officially abandoned since Nov 2006 – but this has not stopped Mrs Franklin from keeping that book up on her website for over 14 months, and continuously denying on Internet forums that she ‘seized’ that ISBN illegally!

    2. Outrageously fraudulent letter posted by Mrs Franklin on the Books & Tales forum in a devious attempt to deny the facts and discredit the complainant. Please note the opening line of the contrived ‘Memo for Nielsen’s’ where she blatantly denies having published my book – despite the evidence of the links above..
    http://www.booksandtales.com/podforum/viewtopic.php?t=4957&start=15

    3. Link to a list of email complaints about Diggory / Mrs Franklin as received during 2007. Several more authors have since taken Court action in the British Courts.
    http://color-of-truth.com/DiggoryComplaints3.pdf

    4. My own original ‘Official Police Complaint’ can be viewed at this link:
    http://color-of-truth.com/DiggoryComplaint.pdf

    5. My solicitor’s letter can be viewed at this link:
    http://color-of-truth.com/SolicitorLtr.pdf

    6. This link shows the new version of my book, published by CheckPoint Press under a new ISBN. The question as to why this is also listed as an ‘Exposure Publishing’ book needs to be asked!!
    http://www.libri.de/shop/action/productDetails/6739886/stephen_t_manning_the_color_of_truth_vol_one_patterns_in_light_0955150345.html;jsessionid=fdc-r1461czgki4.www15#prod_infos

    7. Link to testimonials and personal references regarding my credentials and character.
    http://color-of-truth.com/CondensedReferences.pdf

    8. Link to Court forms for automatic lodging of claims online:
    http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n1_0102.pdf

    Again folks, I apologise for the length of this post, but hopefully the information here will once-and-for-all put a stop to Mrs Franklin’s outrageous duplicity and malice, and remove any remaining doubts about the integrity of our collective efforts to simply do the right thing.

    Further enquiries can be forwarded to stmphd@mail.com

    Best wishes to all

    Stephen T Manning PhD

  7. Mick Rooney said:

    Thank you Stephen for your input and feedback regarding the posts and threads. Yes, I take the particular point you made about the ISBN issue. I have previously quite a number of times checked your title, and indeed, until a week ago when I last checked, your title still appears in their bookshop page. Some blog posting sites do use the “comment moderator” option before comments become available, as you will note, I do not. That is deliberate, not accidental. Your lengthy comment will remain in the thread, as I believe it only fair balance for other viewers to form their opinions. I think also your comments update the current situation from your perspective which is not available elsewhere. In particular, the “Privateye” publication as this widens the discussion and awareness, which up till now has generally been confined to the internet. However, I would at this stage point out that the link for the pdf file does not work and urge you to rectify this. As you only posted today, I would assume you are in the process of uploading the file to your site.

    I do intend posting on this matter shortly, and will quote your comment if that is ok. Again, thank you for the invaluable input, and feel free if you wish to email privately. My hotmail account is available to anyone who views the blogsite.

  8. wordsmith said:

    >> Engaging in abuse, written slanging matches, will solve nothing.

    Who is doing that? I am not. I merely state my view. It seems the only opinion though allowed is any that write against Diggory which is hardly fair play. And June, because someone again opposes the prevailing opinion (which you do even not know to be true or well founded), their opinion is autatically deleted? So much for free speech! Yet you allow somone who has already been shown to be lying space to continue to make their silly claims.

    His collation of webnames he gives, I assume are people who are either neutral or who defend Diggory – a ridiculous assumption.

    As for virulent abuses, it can be seen exactly what Diggory’s owner said on Books and Tales openly in her own name and there are no virulent abuses etc, just a well thought of defence against obviously bogus claims. Manning was shown up there for lying if you bother to read through all the posts. If you want to believe Manning – even in the face of such evidence from third parties – go ahead but at least let people who say Manning is obviously wrong and obviously spiteful equal press space.

  9. wordsmith said:

    ps

    A Private Eye article does not necessarily reflect truth, it only reflects allegations. One can claim almost anything and the phd does.

    Nothing is proven til it is proven in court. It will be interesting to see what happens. I know where my money is.

  10. Mick Rooney said:

    Thank you wordsmith for your contined input on these threads. Again, I have no intention of moderating or deleting comments, as I do agree that a sizeable input on other forums are either neutral or in favour/accepting Stephen Mannings & other claimant authors. There does seem far less posters to forums who have been prepared to support the Diggory Press point of view. I think it is more difficult for a business to defend itself in today’s world, without human nature lending itself to an automatic and inherrent suspicion. I would urge people to look with care and balance on all of this. I know “Epicman” has detailed a very positive experience with Diggory on Absolutewrite, and I am also aware of a “John Lister” would has also posted positively about his experiences on the internet with Diggory.

    As I have said in a previous comment, I do intend posting again regarding this issue over the coming days. However, let me make it very clear that I have no wish to take sides, at worst, I have highlighted a current on-going dispute, and naturally advised caution and care for any writer. I do believe over the past few months that this issue has greatly underlined the core views of POD publishing in general, the expectations of writers, particularly first time writers, as well as what it is reasonable for POD publishing to deliver to authors.

  11. Gary Clark said:

    I published a book: Live Forever or Your Money Back in 2006. Diggory were difficult to deal with, but it worked and I was not worried until I heard rumours of bankruptcy. Then they stopped respondoing to my emails – and you can’t call them by phone.

    I wanted to publish a new edition of my book, wanted to know how many copies the original had sold so asked them, forcefully in the end, to withdraw it from publication. No reply. No reply. No reply, until I said I would join the class action against them at which point they said they would pay my back royalties and withdraw the book from Amazon.
    That was some weeks ago.

    I was reluctant to give them my bank details to pay royalties into, bearing in mind the tales that were circulating. I managed, using my own devides, to get the book removed from Amazon UK, but it is still for sale on Amazon worldwide, and so long as it is I can’t republish, can’t gauge readership – I can do nothing. I’ve spent 5 years writing these books and am stuck in limbo because of this company. This has been a heartbreaking experience.

    A correspondent of mine at the University of Texas, Arlington, ordered a book only last week and had it delivered within a few days. Very efficient, except I get no royalties beause these go straight into the handbag of Ms Rossalind Whatsherface, nor any notification of sale.

    At that point, I decided to gather what press and whatever authors were will to travel, at Diggory offices and try to embarrass this woman into letting me go. I also enquired about placing the matter into police hands as this now appears, prima facie, to be a fraudulaent operation. Whether it is fraud in the US, where the copy was sold, I will discover in the next couple of weeks.

    The person who suggests we should feel sorry for Diggory should try it sometime. With a view to joining the class action and getting together to sort this out, I would appreciate an address if anyone has one.

    Best regards

    Gary Clark

  12. Mick Rooney said:

    Gary,

    Your best bet is to email Stephen Manning directly at the below email and he will bring you up to speed. He has also being helping authors in your postion who are trying to take their books out of the hands of Diggory.

    stmphd@mail.com

  13. Anonymous said:

    Hi Folks;
    Latest information regarding the Diggory / Exposure / Mrs Franklin court cases can be found at this link..

    http://checkpoint.ie/roguesgallery.html

    Briefly; the cases were forwarded to a specialist court in Bristol – but have now been returned to Bodmin again.. Meanwhile, Mrs Franklin has failed to fulfil several court orders and therefore should be digging herself into difficulties with the judge..

    Anyone who wishes to be on the direct mailing list should email stmphd@mail.com with their story.. thanks. Hopefully this will all come to a head soon.. three years and counting..

    Best wishes to all

    Stephen

  14. Bookwhirl said:

    The best thing is to moderate comments. That way, you will have full control. Thanks for sharing this post.

  15. Editor said:

    Thanks, Bookwhirl.

    This thread goes back quite a while and fortunately was the only one I seriously considered using comment moderation.

    However, in fairness to free speech, and the fact that few posters to the site abuse the open policy – I have held off doing so.

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