Wednesday, December 05, 2007

NEWS: Diggory--veinglory

Rosalind Franklin of UK self-publishing provider Diggory Press and author Stephen Manning are currently to be found all across the internet.

Stephen Manning makes detailed complaints, the substance of which I have no basis for judging--and issues the following invitation: "Those authors who feel they have a case against Ms Rosalind Franklin (aka Diggory Press) for fiscal improprieties of any sort, are respectfully invited to email Dr Stephen Manning at stmphd @ mail.com to discuss their possible inclusion in the upcoming group court action. 26 names on the list already and growing daily. No costs involved - just fill out a formal statement, and we will process your claim on your behalf."

Exchanges can be seen at Lulu. Franklin makes many detailed replies at booksandtales including statements such as: "BooksandTales.com are formally put on notice that if they continue to allow these libellous and defamatory remarks to remain in this form unchecked on the website, particularly the link posted by 'Abused and Robbed', then they could be part of a libel and defamation action." (With similar comments directed to the Lulu forums).

Book output at Diggory seems to not extend past September 1st.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

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. Accordng 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.

Anonymous said...

"The guy is obviously not right in the head" excuse me! I don't see you leaving you real name on this post.

Stephen Manning is standing up for what he believes is true, good for you Stephen.
I too have had a very bad experience with RK and Diggory Press.(Exposure Publishing)

My advice
Don't walk away from Diggory Press Run....>

L Larose

Anonymous said...

Mr. Manning has a rival POD company that charges a hefty £200 for a contract - I wonder if this has any bearing on the situation.

Also "major sedation" may be needed for him as well...Because obviously he is very angry.

Just a suggestion.

skiman said...

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

I am Stephen Manning - as mentioned above - and I strongly suspect that 'anonymous', 'wordsmith', and possibly also 'barry k' are some of the latest pseudonyms for Mrs Rosalind Franklin of Diggory Press.

Others on the web include 'Auntie Carol 123', 'Joy', 'Florida Oranges' etc - and I'm quite sure there are many more. One can usually identify Mrs Franklin in these posts by the attacks on myself, and the questionable defense of her three interchangeable businesses; Diggory Press, Exposure Publishing, and Meadow Books..

I paste here a copy of the recent Private Eye Magazine article, so that readers may see the truth for themselves: (The original can be viewed at the link soon to be posted below - along with other proofs of Mrs Franklin's duplicity)

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

I have tried to maintain some sort of dignity in the face of months of frustration, as I attempt to secure justice in the face of theft and fraud by Mrs Franklin. 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 regret that myself and others have been drawn into public exchanges with a person of this caliber - but after spending months trying to reason with Mrs Franklin through the Police, 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.

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

See you in Court Rosalind.

PS - Any 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.

Stephen T Manning PhD

Anonymous said...

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.

skiman said...

As promised above - here are some 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.

Accordingly, I post here today (Feb 5th 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 clearly 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 canceled 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 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 16 months, and continuously denying on Internet forums that she ‘seized’ that ISBN illegally!

2. View here an 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 personal integrity.
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

9 (New): Link to archives showing the multiple changes of details (especially her terms & conditions) on her website since 2005..

Webpage at: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http:/www.diggorypress.com/
Email address if you can’t get what you’re looking for: wayback@archive.org

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 malicious duplicity, 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
http;//color-of-truth.com

Aberamentho said...
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Aberamentho said...
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Aberamentho said...

Hmmm ....I think I recognise that tone and use of language, Wordsmith.

My name is Gill Harley and I'm the author of Lord of the Dance and one of The Seventeen authors taking Diggory to court.

Diggory have now had the Court Papers served on them and we are awaiting their response.

I along with the other authors have a sad tale to tell about how I've been treated by Diggory, but that's not why I'm posting here.

I want to respond to the scandalous and scurrilous claims certain aliases have made against Stephen Manning on here.

For anyone to say that Stephen is not right in the head only proves to me the truth of the matter: they obviously don't know him and thus have a vested interest in smearing his name.

Stephen has been an absolute tower of strength and patience in recent months as we've been putting our case together. We are all enormously grateful to him for this work that he has put in, and for his good natured patience and diligence whenever we seemed to hit any snags, all of which he has overcome.

I feel I know him well now. So if anyone is trying to smear his name by questioning his mental competence, please understand that they are almost certainly not who they say there, and all the smearing in the world will not help them when we get into court.

Most of The Seventeen have much worse complaints about Diggory Press than me. But if you’d like to read more about my own particular case, and follow developments, please go to my blog: http://gillharley.blogspot.com/.

Thanks for listening.

Anonymous said...

That woman never ceaces to amaze me.

I'm Karina Kantas, another author who's having problems.
I've left blogs, comments around the internet about the court case and RF treatment towards her authors.
RF actualy came on to my myspace page and defended her company (in disguise of course.)on my blog, Court proceedings.

It makes interesting reading, if you care to take a look.

Power to SP authors!!!!!

http://www.mysapce.com/karinakantas


Come and join me on Yuwie. It's a great network for promotion.
http://r.yuwie.com/karinakantas

Anonymous said...

How on earth can Diggory or any of its staff be blamed for the price of USED copies on amazon? That price setting by third party merchants is nothing to do with the publisher but the second hand merchant, rbmbooks and anybook-uk, in the case of the listings on amazon.co.uk.

Surely Dr Manning knows this very well and is just trying to make Diggory look as bad as possible by claiming everything and anything he possbly can about them whether it is true or not - and that lacks personal and professional integrity.

As for what Diggory say on the books and tales thread re the Nielsens memo, they do not deny printing and distributing Manning's book (they readily admit that) - but they do deny ever claiming to technically be the actual publisher and invite the public to find this out by asking Neilsens Book Data directly themselves.

One wonders if Gill Harley or any of the others, Karina and L Larosse, who so vigorously defend Manning, the self publisher, have taken this simple step, at a cost of a 10 pence phone call, and one further wonders what they - or any of the others - would do in the light of finding out the truth - that their mentor has mis-stated crucial facts to them (which are easily verifiable by all)?

Well, what would YOU do? Would you perhaps have to rethink Dr Manning's motives, not to mention stop to critically examine everything he has ever said?

For the record, I am in no way linked with 'Barry K', although we do seem to think alike.

Aberamentho said...

Since when was a telephone call only 10 pence? You need to check your phone bill next time, Wordsmith - or should I say, Diggory's phone bill?

I don't need to hide behind a pseudonym because I am not afraid to stand up and tell the truth about Diggory.

And no-one is taken in by their internet smear campaign against Stephen Manning. The point is, he asked Diggory not to sell his book - and they are still selling it.

For more Diggory abuses, which are heaping up as a mountain of evidence as each day unfolds, please see my blog: http://gillharley.blogspot.com/

skiman said...

Rosalind Franklin of Diggory Press (aka 'wordsmith' here) continues the charade by attempting to mislead the reader..

May I respectfully redirect the reader to the links in my previous post above that clearly and unequivocally disprove these latest deceptive suggestions..

As for her not being directly connected to 'Barry K' - this could of course be true. But what is more important - and should of course be noted here - is the absence of any denial that she is in fact the person behind all of the other pseudonyms listed above..

Considering the absence of such in all previous correspondences, I am particularly intrigued by the tardy recognition of my professional standing. Unfortunately, I remain concerned that the motives for such a belated acknowledgment of my credentials is in some way connected to the production of contrived evidence before the Court..

Sorry folks, but I just needed to state this 'for the record'.

Court paperwork is already on the march, and we should have news for all soon.. (Feb 16 2008)

Anonymous said...

Hi all,

having considered self-publishing - which is still a going concern for me - I was looking for reviews on another self-publishing company, and found Diggory compared favourably.

I had been seriously considering using Diggory, but as I've just found, a little research can save a lot of time and money! (I notice the last post was in mid-February: what has happened since then?) I shall take even more care with companies in future.

Hope everything goes well for all concerned.

Anonymous said...

The Court hearing against Diggory Press and Rosalind Franklin is scheduled for Tue August 12th at 10.30am at Bodmin County Court.

We will keep this forum updated with the results

Anonymous said...

Any news yet on Diggory's case as I've been trying to contact them and they are ignoring all email?

Anonymous said...

Hi Slim..just got back from the Court hearing last week, but cannot go into detail just yet as we are assessing our options whilst efforts to mediate are played out..

We should know pretty shortly whether or not we enter into settlements - or whether we have to move to the next level of legal action to secure justice..

Naturally, we'll keep the blog updated as-and-when developments occur..

If you are not on the extended mailing list already, please email me on stmphd@mail.com and I will send out information directly.

As for them not responding to emails.. well, it's been our experience that you shouldn't hold your breath..

Stephen

Anonymous said...

Notice the diggory web site has been down for some time. The end?

Anonymous said...

Hopefully, its the beginning of the end at least Slim.. but Mrs Franklin has been very, very busy online in other directions..

Interested parties should checkout her 'end times prophecy' blog, where she actually now claims to have direct access to God Himself..

http://endtimespropheticwords.wordpress.com

Plus, there's her 'Kingdom Come Publishing' operation targeting vulnerable Christian authors..

http://kingdomcomepublishing.com/

Where does she get the energy..? If only she could generate it into honest enterprises..

We will be sending out another comprehensive update on the progress of the Court cases soon, but as of now, we are scheduled for a five-day trail later this year..

Anonymous said...

So where does this leave me I ask myself?
No website for DP and RF is not answering email?
As I have 6 books published thru DP will I see my returns/royalties?
The kindomcome website is registered to: Kingdom 7 Apparel,CMR 454 Box 1628APO, Armed Forces Other Areas 09250, United States. Are you sure this is RF?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the response Slim. This particular url is definitely Mrs Franklin's handiwork - as I have sent Court papers to her via the site.

http://kingdomcomepublishing.com/

I can't answer for where it is registered, but there are a couple of other sites with very similar names out there - so are you sure you have the right one? All the same, Mrs F has recently been in the States, and is obviously targeting the US Christian market as the site is in dollars..

As to your personal situation regarding your books - if you cannot get a response from Mrs F then you are justified in contacting Neilsens Bookdata Tel: +44 (0)1483 712 200 and Bowkers UK Tel: +44 (0) 1342 310450 advising them you want those ISBN's 'abandoned'.

Most importantly though, you need to contact Lightning Source Legal Department USA Tel: 615.213.5885 stating you have cancelled your contract with Diggory / Exposure and therefore LS UK or USA should NOT print and sell any more of your books.

Then email me at stmphd@mail.com and I'll do what I can to advise you how to recover control of your work with minimal costs and hassles..

We are hoping shortly to have more data to help defrauded authors, so please stand by and I will post details here as-and-when they arrive..

Stephen

Anonymous said...

Stephen

I just want to say, you have been absolutely brilliant throughout all of this. Your efforts have been unflagging not only in bringing Diggory to justice, but also in helping any wronged Diggory author, whether or not they were a part of the court action. And you did all this in fact of some pretty nasty but vain attempts at character assassination from the Diggory side in the shape of Ms Weasel-tongued Wordsmith.

Now that Diggory are turning tale and fleeing, others will recognsie that you were right all along. And that the pressure that Diggory is folding under is no small part attributed to your tenacious, warm-hearted and determined efforts.

Well flippin' done mate!

Anonymous said...

Thanks to the latest poster for the encouraging and supportive words - there is of course some satisfaction in finally getting to the point where our sincere efforts for justice are recognised for what they are.. Thanks again.

Meanwhile, I have just investigated the 'Kingdom 7 Apparel' website mentioned above by Slim, and (surprise, surprise) it seems that this site http://kingdom7apparel.com/index.html is yet another false front set up by 'someone' to draw attention to the Kingdom Come Publishing site.

Some give-aways are; (i) despite it having the appearance of an 'apparel' store, there is nowhere to purchase anything; (ii) that the t-shirt logos are superimposed; (iii) that the design and language is identical to the KCP site; (iv) that the KCP site is at the head of the 'links' list; (v) that it rings of all the usual deceptions and sleight-of-hand of Rosalind Franklin - especially the manipulation of the 'honest Christian business recommending another Christian business' angle..

Someone needs to advise Mrs Franklin that if she only directed the same amount of energy into honest enterprises - she would undoubtedly have been successful by now..

Anonymous said...

Any updates on this situation?

Anonymous said...

Hello Slim - here is the link for all the latest information on the Diggory / Franklin issue..

http://www.checkpoint.ie/roguesgallery.html

We are waiting for official notice that the case has been moved again from Bristol Chancery Court back to Bodmin County Court.. and will send out an appropriate update as soon as we have that notice.

Unfortunately, Mrs Franklin continues to do everything she can to avoid facing the facts in Court, and is using any tactics she can to delay or circumvent the legal process.. But as I've said before, we are absolutely committed to seeing this through..

Slim said...

Understand Diggory were at court on 9th Nov. Any updates on this situation?