Writersworld Limited - Graham Cook - Writers Warning
Writersworld Limited - Graham Cook
Today's Woman Writing Community has received,
and continues to receive warnings regarding Graham Cook owner of Writers World
Limited, a print on demand book publisher
based in the United Kingdom (UK), Spain and the Netherlands. Complaints
include non payment of services, non-production of promised books, non-payment
of royalties and harassment from Graham Cook to those who question or complain. Authors with complaints
about Graham Cook should contact Today's Woman Writing Community staff
though our feedback form.
http://www.todays-woman.net/feedback.html
You are also invited to
share your grievances via the
Invision- Graphics.com forums.
Submitted: June 7, 2005, 8:14 am
Sender's Name: Graham Smith
Very interesting to read of your
problems with Graham Cook. The man is a rogue.
We dealt with him once and he used our private
address as an address for one of
his bankrupt companies. Beware!
It will be
three years ago approx since I discovered his site. We communicated
by telephone and were on
the point of doing some proofing for him. Then a
bailiff arrived at our address waving
bankruptcy papers for a company which Cook
owned, I forget the name of it. Turned out he had
registered the company at our
address to escape creditors!
Needless to say I
reported him to the Oxfordshire police and gave him a large
piece of my mind. I've heard no
more of him since, until I spotted the scam
warning on Google which led me to your
site.
Graham Smith
Submitted: Wed 7/20/2005 6:03 AM
Sender's Name:
Duncan.
A further warning about Graham Cook and
WritersWorld:
I am a former contractor of Graham Cook of WritersWorld, a print on
demand
publisher based in the UK. What I can gather of Graham Cook's business, from my
own experience follow.
Stage 1.
Graham first gathers together a group
of contractors (these are freelance
Editors, Cover Designers etc). He probably speaks to them
on the phone, assuring
them of swift payment on completion, as the money is paid upfront by
the
author he can immediately transfer the payment to the contractors on completion.
I
never liked Graham's use of the telephone for conversations
concerning payment and how the
business worked, a definite warning sign I should
have noted.
*Note: Payment on
completion, only when all the contractors have signed off
their parts of the work do any get
paid. A fair deal really. Also a good excuse
for not paying someone.
Stage
2.
The Authors pay upfront and in good faith. Graham has their
money.
Stage 3.
The Contractors - (Editors and Cover Designers) go to
work.
The Authors are happy at this point, as are the Contractors who are doing a good
job.
Stage 4.
The Contractors all finalize their parts of the job.
They get the Author to sign
off - they are happy with the work and ready for their book to be
published.
Stage 5.
Here it all becomes a little hazy. What seems to happen
is that Graham starts to
juggle all the Contractors in an attempt not to pay any. I don't
understand why.
As he pointed out to me over the phone - the Authors pay their money upfront,
therefore it's ready to be distributed when all the work is complete.
Perhaps he pays
some of the Contractors and not others. Sometimes he may pay the
Contractor a small
percentage of what he owes them, not exactly as he described
- 'payment on
completion'
I think that the Editors must get the worst of it, their half edited books
are
passed to other editors to complete in a seemingly never ending merry-go-round,
only
no-one is enjoying the ride.
Stage 6.
The Authors are getting
impatient.
Graham might tell them that he is having problems with Contractors. Stories of
escalating costs as he is forced to get books re-edited, sloppy work etc etc.
Some
Contractors and Authors may be told he is suffering from terminal cancer
and has only weeks
to live, this is a common and successful tactic of Graham's,
one to look out for! Anything
to stall them and give him time to get all the
components together that will enable him to
publish. Only some of the
Contractors are understandably a little unhappy. They haven't been
paid for
their work.
Stage 7.
Some of the seriously unhappy Contractors
might take Graham Cook to court, in an
attempt to get the money they're owed. My guess is
that, shielded by his
company (WritersWorld), Graham has already withdrawn that money and the
company
has no funds to pay the court fee's never mind the money owed. There are many
outstanding County Court Judgments (CCJ's) against the company, I expect more
in the
future.
Stage 8.
A mass 'walkout' occurred recently as all the
Contractors working for
WritersWorld withdrew their services and informed the
Authors why. I'm not sure
if this was in his plan! It upset his system for a while. It is a
system,
seemingly without end.
Stage 1.(again)
I'm afraid the cycle
now begins again, only the participants are different.
Graham can always find new Editors,
Proof Readers and Cover Designers to
exploit, and of course new
Authors.
Hopefully with the grounds well of 'bad press' and information about
WritersWorld
and Graham Cook, and pages like this, warning Authors and Contractors alike, he
will be unable to continue. WritersWorld is however, up and running. This
worries
me...
Submitted: August 3, 2005, 3:12 pm
Sender's Name: Philippa Roberts
Hi everyone. I am new to the site, having found it
through a google search for
information about Graham Cook at Writersworld. Like other people
who have
written on this site I have had a very bad experience with him. I paid him to
set up a POD book of my grandmother's poems written during WW2. The book he
produced was
set out like a child's exercise book, and had a number of mistakes
in it. I did not want my
grandmother's name (or mine!) on something so tacky so
I asked him not to produce and sell
it. I took legal advice about whether to
pursue him for the money I had paid, but although I
was told I had a good case,
did not pursue it because of the time and energy commitment
required. He went on
to produce and sell it! (It is still on many Internet sites) - and I
have never
seen a penny of the money and it is totally against my wishes. I am now pursuing
him legally but wish I had done it before!
From: markquin
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2005 6:16 AM
Subject: WRITERS
WORLD
FOR MRS ROSE
DESROCHERS
Dear Mrs Desroches, my name is Mark Quinlan. I am an author who
was ripped off
earlier this year by Mr Graham Cook of WritersWorld over two books that he did
not publish, but was paid for. They have now been published by Authorsonline and
that
company could not have been more helpful, but they are now used to Mr Cooks
modus operandi. I
am currently undertaking an Action against Mr Cook at Bow
County Court in London for the
return of my £3,000 and am in turn being sued for
libel for damaging his reputation by Mr
Cook to the tune of £10,000. The papers
in Claim Number 5BO 01978 were lodged with Bow
County Court in Stratford
yesterday. The information on your website scam alert section was
most useful
and has been forwarded to the court as evidence of Mr Cook's reputation. I am
currently trying to track down all those writers, editors, designers and
companies who
have been ripped off by Cook since he began his scam, as I feel
this will be useful in court
and I also believe that the only way to bring him
down is to widely publicise his activites,
which will choke off his game. I am
going to write a bulletin of Cook's activities and
circulate it to the 20
individuals I have tracked down so far. Hopefully this will result in
more
information coming to light, other individuals coming forward and further
editions
of the bulletin.
I hope this of some use and by all means please feel free to
distribute it to
anyone you think might be interested.
Kind regards - Mark
Quinlan
From:
markquin
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2005 9:43 PM
Subject: RE: WRITERS WORLD
Dear Rose, thank you for the
courtesy and promptness of your reply, I attach an
enclosure that you can post on your scam
alert page. By all means put my name on
it. I am currently being countersued by Cook for
£10,000 already,
(for damaging his reputation, if you please ), so it will make no
difference. Mr
Cook needs to be put out of business as soon as possible. (He and his team of
lawyers will not be flying to North America at any point in the near future, he
is a
fantasist). Please feel free to disseminate the enclosed as widely as
possible.
Kind regards - Mark Quinlan
WRITERSWORLD LIMITED is a ‘Print on Demand’
publishing company registered in
England and Wales: Number 4102289: Registered
Office: 9 Manor Close, Enstone, Oxfordshire,
OX7 4LU, England: VAT Registration
Number: 841325450. Mr Graham Martyn Cook is listed at
Companies House as
director and is believed to be the only member of staff. He would appear
to be a
former plumber, who has no academic qualifications. In 1984 he set up three
companies in Great Britain, Serendipity Travel, Universal Conservation Services,
and
Universal Credit Services. They all folded and he was declared bankrupt,
owing thousands of
pounds. In the mid-nineties he tried to set up the Napa
Valley Legal Education Trust in USA -
which failed. He then tried to get funds
to set up an Irish/British public house named
‘Winston's’, which also failed. On
25 February 2000 he set up a company in the UK called
Read My Writing (http://www.readmywriting.co.uk/),
which was initially given the start-up
name of Orlamed Limited. On 30 March 2000
the company changed its name to Readmywriting Ltd.
On 29 December 2000 the
company changed its name to WritersWorld Ltd. On 27 September 2001
the company
changed its name back to Readmywriting. It has since changed its name back to
WritersWorld. The last accounts for the company were filed at Companies House on
30
November 2002. (Section 242A of the Companies Act 1985 imposes a legal
requirement on all
British companies to file accounts at Companies House
annually). Oxfordshire Trading
Standards Authority is currently taking a keen
interest in Mr Cook’s activities. The contact
there is Mr Richard Staveley.
Telephone: 01865-815606, his e-mail address is
richard.staveley@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Mr
Cook relies strongly on the fact that most authors and contractors are not
rich people and
cannot afford to go to law. He is a serial litigant and
experienced in court procedure. In
this situation, writers pursuing dreams are
fair game. However, there are currently at least
two cases against WritersWorld
pending in Britain’s law courts. One is being brought by an
author claiming
£3,000 for two books that were not published (Case 5BO 01978 at Bow County
Court
at Stratford in London) and another action is being brought by a designer
claiming
£4,000 for work unpaid. Regrettably the WritersWorld scam is not
limited to Britain’s shores,
and reports of Mr Cook’s activities have recently
surfaced in Canada, Hong Kong, USA and
Thailand. The only way the current cycle
of fraud is going to be broken is by those who have
been scammed publicising
Cook’s activities widely as possible, so as to choke off the supply
of new
authors and contractors, and secondly by authors and contractors taking him to
court and obtaining Judgement against his company. WritersWorld currently has
the
following County Court Judgements outstanding:
04/2005, a Judgment of £345 was
made in NORTHAMPTON Court (Case No. 4XH13705 )
against WRITERSWORLD LIMITED of 9 MANOR CLOSE,
ENSTONE, OXFORDSHIRE, OX7 4LU
09/2004, a Judgment of £1,403 was made in
EASTBOURNE Court (Case No. EA301858 )
against WRITERSWORLD LTD of 86 BLENHEIM COURT,
HESINGTON ROAD, OXFORD, OX20 1JL
04/2004, a Judgment of £1,116 was made in
IPSWICH Court (Case No. 4IP01023 )
against WRITERSWORLD LIMITED of 47 CHURCHILL ROAD,
CHIPPING NORTON, OXFORDSHIRE,
OX7 5HR
05/2003, a Judgment of £659 was made in
NORTHAMPTON Court (Case No. XF337592)
against WRITERSWORLD LTD of 47 CHURCHILL ROAD, CHIPPING
NORTON, WOODSTOCK,
OXFORDSHIRE, 02J 1JL
Here’s how the WritersWorld scam works:
Stage 1. Mr Cook gathers a group of contractors (freelance editors,
illustrators. cover designers etc). He speaks to them on the phone, assuring
them of
swift payment on completion, as the money is paid upfront by the author
he can immediately
transfer the payment to the contractors once their work is
signed off. A fair deal and a
pretty good excuse for not paying the contractor.
The WritersWorld website brings in the
authors.
Stage 2. The authors are lulled into the ‘comfort zone’ and seduced by
Mr Cook
(CEO and Managing Director etc) the salesman with his all-singing all-dancing
website. They are constantly reassured by the constant repetition of the
pro-phrases
‘honesty’, ‘outstanding’ ‘ethical’ and ‘satisfied customers’. The
authors pay cash up front
and their money is then deposited in the WritersWorld
account held at HSBC Bank, 24 Market
Square, Witney, Oxfordshire 0X8 7BG. This
is the last the authors (or indeed anyone else)
will see of it.
Stage 3. The contractors set to work. At this point the authors
(who don’t know
any better) are happy, as are the worker bees who are working hard and doing
a
good job.
Stage 4. The contractors finalise their part of the job and get
the author to
sign the work off – at this point they are happy with the work and ready for
their book to be published.
Stage 5. Here’s the switch. Mr Cook juggles the
contractors in an attempt not to
pay them. The authors have paid up front, therefore the cash
is ready to be
distributed, when all the work is complete. He pays some of the contractors
and
not others. Sometimes he pays the contractor a small percentage of what he owes
them,
not exactly as he described - 'payment on completion' the editors get the
worst of it,
their half edited books are passed to other editors to complete in
a seemingly never ending
merry-go-round, only by this point, no-one is enjoying
the ride any more. Mr Cook’s office
technique bears mention here. If an author
phones him and he answers the phone, which doesn’t
happen that often, he will
find out who the individual is and what they want. He then tells
them: ‘I’m on
the other line at the moment, I’ll call you back.’ This buys him another few
days and needless to say he never returns calls. He does not answer the
telephone most of
the time, and at this point he does not respond to e-mails. At
this point the author will be
continually asked: ‘Have I ever let you down?’
Stage 6. The authors are getting
impatient and Mr Cook will tell them that he is
having problems with the contractors. Then
there are stories of escalating
costs, as he is forced to get books re-edited, sloppy work
etc. At this point,
contractors and authors will be informed that Mr Cook is suffering from
terminal
prostate cancer and has only weeks to live, or his best friend has been shot
dead in Iraq by the CIA and Mr Cook needs time to grieve, he has had a death in
the
family, flu, the weather, his computer has packed up, hard drive problems,
or any imaginative
variation of the above. You get the idea. When the guano
really starts to hit the air
conditioning, Mr Cook will inform the
author/contractor that WritersWorld has ‘gone bust’,
‘been taken over in a
merger’, ‘been sold’, or any combination of the above, thereby washing
his hands
of the problem. Exit disgruntled author/contractor. This technique has been used
by Mr Cook with considerable success in the past, but as can be seen at the
websites
www.writersworld.co. uk www.writersworld. com.es
and www. writersworld.tv/
the ride on the
merry-go-round goes on.
Stage 7. Some of the contractors or authors might take Mr
Cook to court
attempting to get the money they're owed, but the money has already been
withdrawn. His modus operandi in the law courts commences with him trying to get
the case
moved to Oxford County Court: ‘As we are a public limited company’. He
then counter-sues for
£10,000 in the hope of deterring the Claimant from
pursuing the Action. Mr Cook claims to be
qualified at the Bar of California and
any correspondence from him will be larded with all
manner of pseudo-legalistic
mumbo jumbo, which is intended to frighten the Claimant. A stream
of abusive and
deranged e-mails continues all the while, in the hope of provoking a response,
which can then be used as a smokescreen in court. The California Bar Association
has no
record of Mr Graham Cook and the extent of his legal experience in the
USA would appear to be
limited to being declared: ‘A Vexatious Litigant’ in the
State of California, (a person who
has habitually, persistently, and without
reasonable grounds engaged in any of the following
acts in a civil action or
actions: (1) acts obviously serving merely to harass or maliciously
injure
another party to the action, (2) acts unwarranted under current law and
unsupported by a good faith argument for a change of that law, or (3) acts
performed
solely for delay). Mr Cook’s legal experience would also appear to be
informed by the time he
has spent in the slammer at Marin County Jail, San
Rafael, California and Napa County Jail,
California for passing dud checks. So,
when Mr Cook informs you dear reader, that he will be
getting on a jet this
afternoon with his legal team, picture in your mind a drunken
down-at-heel
paranoid schizophrenic derelict, beavering away at his laptop, at the kitchen
table of his pokey gated-flat, rented from West Oxfordshire Council, you will
then have
some idea of what the landscape looks like.
Stage 1. (again) The merry-go-round
starts up again, only with a different set
of passengers. Mr Cook now seeks new editors,
proof readers and cover designers,
and with his well- designed website, he has a stream of
gullible authors queuing
up to be relieved of their money. Mr Cook’s activities in the
publishing world
have recently been the subject of widespread comment on the Worldwide Web
and a
résumé of his activities has now appeared on a number of Scam Warning websites.
Further details may be found on the following websites:
http://writersworld5.tripod.com/
http://www.invision-graphics.com/ftopicp-719.html
http://ezinearticles.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=302&highlight=
We the People, are rather pissed off at the above state of affairs, and
would
politely suggest that if you are considering publishing your book with
WritersWorld, please think again. In August 2005, in response to popular demand,
Mr
Cook’s victims in the publishing community established the WritersWorld
Fanclub and this
campaigning body has four aims:
1. To force WritersWorld Limited into
liquidation.
2. The removal of Graham Cook from any involvement in the publishing
industry,
by widely publicising his activities and choking off the supply of authors and
contractors.
3. The disqualification of Graham Cook from holding the post of
company director
in the United Kingdom.
4. Returning Mr Cook to his original
vocation in the household plumbing
industry.
I have just loggod on to your site and was surprised to see
so many complaints
about Graham Cook. I spoke to Mr. Cook in January 2005 while deciding
which
company tochoose to publish my book. Mr. Cook is very convincing on the phone
and
the site looked so professional that I decided to choose his company to
publish my book. Mr.
Cook did requested that i transfer the amount of £1175)
into his account and that he will
deliver my book within six weeks. I deposited
the money and I was contacted by his project
manager. Two months later and two
editors later, I was worried but I had no choice but to
continue on my
relationship wiht Mr. Cook. In May (five months later) no book and everyone
within his organizaiton had left. Needless to say this situation has been a
costly
nightmare. Not only was I ripped off, but Mr. Cook had the original
manuscript in word and I
was only able to view the work done on my book on PDF
which was unacceptable for other
publishing companies. As a result of Mr. Cook's
deceit, I had to pay to retype and reformatt
my already formattted manuscript
(paid seperately for this work) and then find another
publisher to publish my
book. Mr. Cook has not only ripped me off but he has caused me
embarassment in
the medical community since I had promised my clients that the book would be
available by March. He has caused me major financial loss since I had to refuse
consulting contract to focus on getting the book in order for another publisher.
If you
are a new author wanting to publish a book, do not publish with
Writersworld regardless of
how convincing Mr. Cook is. I am sure that he will
have some story to tell you as to why
everyone is attacking him. He is a con man
and that is all he is
From:
Shahida Rahman
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 2:25 PM
Subject: FW:
Dear
Rose,
I contacted Graham's associate
Alejandro, twice, to remove my book
cover from the Writersworld sample page and
the testimonial. He is the web master at
Writersworld. He hasn't done this. I
published with Writersworld in July 2004. I have not
been paid a single penny in
royalties despite selling a few books. I hold rights to my book
not him. He is
in breach of his contract. Instead he sends me this message. It's one of his
threats to get me to back off. No way.
Please feel free to post this on
your web site. The message says I
all.
Shahida
From: Graham Cook
Sent: 16 August 2005 18:28
To: shahida.rahman1
Subject:
As you are still at your activities
you are on notice we will be seeking a restraining order, plus oral testimony
plus
costs.
This will not negate any other
causes of legal redress we have inclusive of your retention of our
property.
Received Wednesday, September 28, 2005 3:31 PM
I have recently contacted Graham
Cook as I am a freelance copyeditor. Within 24 hours I had received two books to edit via email,
and then the next day a manuscript through the post.
I couldn't seem to get the information
I needed with regards to formatting, and I was beginning to realise then that I was not dealing
with a professional.
He had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned 'margins'.
He is full of friendly chat, but he will shortly be receiving an email from me saying I will not
be working for him. See what happens with the Manuscripts I have?
I am a professional, and I
just felt I was wasting my time. Now I know for sure.
It's such a disappointment to
realise he is conning me, but at this point I have lost nothing. But I really feel for those
people whose manuscripts will never see a book cover, when they have worked so hard to make a
dream come true.
Rgds
H
Submitted: January 6, 2006, 6:23 am
Sender's Name: Charles
I know that a warning has already been issued about
www. writersworld.co.uk, but
the owner Graham Cook is continuing in his quest to not only pay
his editors and
authors, but to try to destroy the reputation of anyone who questions him. If
an
author decides not to publish with him, he then starts a campaign to belittle
the
author and sends all sorts of idle threats about legal action, which he
never carries out. He
is currently trying to sue Lightning Source for dropping
him as a client, because HE owed
THEM huge amounts of money. The list of people
on his hit list is endless. He spends all his
time trying to damage the
competition rather than concentrating on building a valid business.
Most of
staff who worked for him left because he didn't pay them and as a result he
spends his time writing malicious and defamatory emails to them and everyone
else whom he
thinks might listen. All of these emails have been kept as evidence
and passed over to
respective lawyers. If you value yourself as a writer, then
avoid Writersworld like the
plague.
Submitted: February 21, 2006, 2:58 pm
Sender's Name: Mark Quinlan
Dear Today\'s Woman, I am sure you will be interested to learn that the Case of
Quinlan v Writersworld was heard at Bow County Court in London on 13 February
2006. (Case number 5BO01978). The Defendant, Mr Graham Cook did not appear in
Court, but honoured it with a three page fax explaining his various illnesses,
all of which were claimed to be the consequence of actions undertaken by the
Claimant. A General Form of Judgement by the Court against the Defendant was
received by the Claimant on 18 February instructing the Defendant to pay the sum
of GBP 2920. Whilst it is highly unlikely that Writersworld will ever pay the
sum owed, it is important that County Court Judgements are sought by those
ripped off by Mr Cook, as they are a matter of public record. An investigation
into his activities is currently being conducted by the Company Investigations
Branch of the UK Department of Trade and Industry. I will keep you posted - Kind
regards.
04-10-06, 04:35 PM
Philippa Roberts
They are selling a pirate copy of my grandmother's book, (which I edited) in
spite of warning letters from my lawyer. They have no rights in it whatsoever.
It is a horrible tacky production. I originally paid them to set it up as a
POD book, then was so horrified by the finished product that I asked them not
to sell it. Since then I have seen many many second hand copies for sale
alongside the new, (these must have been sold by them originally) - but I have
of course never seen a penny from it and I am very embarrassed to have my name
and my grandmother's name on something so tacky. The book has since been
published under a different name but this one remains on amazon.com and many
other web sites. (No doubt draining sales from the authorised editions). I
would advise any other writers to avoid this company like the plague. Graham
Cook, the 'managing director' tells sob stories about his own life to win
customers confidence, so beware this tactic. I was told a great many tragic
tales, and naively wished to help him. Philippa.
Mon 4/10/2006 11:06 PM
Hi, I too have been conned of £1000/- and have experienced the wrath of Mr
Crook....the head cook and bottle washer...via emails and phonecalls. I caught
him out in his lies when he declared in one of his emails that he had no idea of
the person he himself sent my work to, when the moment came for him to pay her
for her services. He went to the extent of trying to make me believe that he
indeed fancied me...flirting with me etc...! ' It is sad indeed that people like
him are allowed to spoil the reputation of honest hardworking individuals who
try hard to provide a service to innocent people like myself ...who are trusting
and have a dream to be a published writer. That man needs to be locked up and
the key thrown into the ocean. Maybe we should all get together and sue
him...flush him into the shithole where it would make an ideal home for a
scumbag. Take care. Julie de Souza
I am
about to tell you that I too have had tremendous problems with Graham Cook and
Writersworld. Everything I write in this email is the truth and nothing but the
truth so heaven help me! I have done a lot of research over the years since I
lost £1000/- to Writersworld and had the wrath of Graham Cook who thinks he can
use, and abuse people for his own financial gain. After you read what I have to
say you be the judge.
It is sad that Mr Cook thinks he is above the law and it
makes me angry and very let down in the manner he treated me. I found his
company over the net and since having dealings with him it has scarred me to
trust anyone selling a service over the net. I found his impressive website and
went to meet him in Oxford at the Woodstock Hotel he is promoting on his site
presently. He seemed a nice old man and I was desperately looking for my book to
be published...He offered the service of editing, cover design and print on
demand...I was to get 100% of the profits...the total fee would be £1000/- and
the Book was to be in all the shops before Christmas of 2003. I deposited the
money in good faith directly into the Writersworld HSBC account...I have all the
written proof... After I paid the money...
He sent me an email to confirm that
he had engaged a woman gave her glowing testimony that he had worked with her
before to do my editing...and asked me to correspond with her. When the time
came to pay her for her services...he changed his mind about her credibility and
wrote nasty things about her to poison my mind...he refused to pay her and she
refused to release the edited document...he mentioned that I was only to get
10-15% of the profit and I wasn't happy...and I made it clear that I was
misguided by him and told him that I was going to seek legal advise with regards
to the percentages before signing any contract with his company...so Christmas
came and went! He then engaged another lady and the same story as above...I was
caught up in the middle not knowing what to do and what was going on...I asked
him to release the funds to pay the second woman...he refused saying it was his
decision whether he should or not...I was confused...initially he said that
after the editing was complete and I was happy I was to email him and he would
release the funds to pay her...and that is what I did..
He wanted the complete
edited version and she refused to send it unless she was paid...ethically she
was right...in demanding to be paid...By then I had lost my patience...I refused
to sign the book off and withdrew my novel as my lawyers had advised me to do
immediately... I demanded my money back and he said it wasn't my money anymore
it was his money as he had spent so much time on the book and he had already
advanced money to the guy who had by then created the book cover...I felt
cheated as that money was a gift from my children...they had saved for mother's
day...I was fuming mad...I requested him again to rethink his decision. He
became aggressive and threatened to sue me, and the two women he had engaged
accusing them of libelling him...they only asked for their payment...
I realised
that it would cost me more to take him to court so I walked away believing that
he had paid out to the other guy. A few months later I got emails from the book
cover guy complaining that he too wasn't paid... I have now read through all the
problems he had with Rose as with all the others. Shocked to think that so many
people also have had sour business relationships...
I reported him to the Dept of
Fair Trading etc. It makes me sad that he too has abused other people and I
firmly believe that he should be penalised for what he is doing to all these
people who are all trying to earn their bread and butter...and people like me
who are trusting fools. He talks about trust, integrity etc on his web and he
cannot practise what he preaches to others. I don't believe that all the people
giving him bad press are competitors, they are just angry people whose time and
energy have been wasted in trying to be paid for services they have provided to
him. I have far better things to do with my time than to sit and write this
email just like all the other people he has not paid...and having to take all
the verbal threats and abuse via emails is definitely not ethical way to
behave...
I have emailed Rose DesRochers and I must include that she has asked me
permission to publish my complaint on her site...I was desperate to get story
heard...I also wish to include that I will be ready to stand as any witness in
court on behalf of anyone who has been cheated by Mr Cook. Please post this on
your site on my behalf.
Julie de Souza
Thu 4/13/2006 11:35 PM
I forgot to add the most important bit....after he refused to pay the
second lady...he in one of his emails to me categorically denied ever knowing
her....I have all the emails to prove every word is nothing but the truth. It
was this email that prompted me finally to withdraw my book from him. Julie de
Souza
Update: Sat 5/6/2006 2:16 PM- From Mark Quinlan
On 5 May 2006 in the case of Quinlan v Writersworld, at Bow County Court, an
Application by Writersworld to set aside the Judgement of Deputy District Judge
Spon-Smith made on 13 February 2006 was heard by Deputy District Judge Allen.
After considering all the facts, Judge Allen Dismissed the Application. Judge
Spon-Smith's original Judgement was upheld and Mr Cook's request for Leave to
Appeal the decision was refused by Judge Allen. Mr Quinlan is currently being
e-mailed by Mr Cook on a daily basis and the e-mail below was received this
morning. (Mr Cook's good deed for the day perhaps). It is of course possible
that the 'higher court' being referred to in the text is God the Almighty and it
is assumed that the 'our' and 'we' referred to is the royal 'we'. Mr Quinlan has
never heard of a company named ourdotcom.com, but the e-mail is a good example
of the demented ravings being sent out to all and sundry by Mr Cook.Interested
parties may wish to note that the registered adress of Writersworld given at the
foot of Mr Cook's e-mail has once again changed. Both the outcome of the case
and Mr Cook's e-mail have been forwarded to Companies Investigation Branch at
the UK Department of Trade and Industry.
Kind regards and keep up the good work - Mark Quinlan
Original Message --
Reply-To: "Graham Cook"
From: "Graham Cook"
To:
Cc:
Subject: Fw:
Date: Sat, 6 May 2006 06:13:13 +0100
Dear Mr Quinlan,
As to yesterday we will file a Notice of Appeal and yes the Judge lost the
plot but that's judges for you and yes we will win and as we are about to
serve a Writ on you we will ask that Court which is a higher court to stay
your matter. This is a copy of a e-mail to your cohort Graham Smith who has now
resorted to threats against me and yes we will injunct against him apart from
seeking criminal charges.
When you started on your endeavours did you ever give a thought you were being
duped, what those persons at www.ourdotcom.co.uk were up to and I may actually
have had you best interests at heart which is evidenced by the fact my company
would never have printed the photographs in the copy of your book I have at 300
DPI which ruins a otherwise superb book.
As previously stated as the son of a very highly decorated war hero I am sure
most of those persons your book rightfully remembers would turn in their graves
at what has gone on here.
Perhaps you will indulge me when I write that you and your cohorts activities
have forced me to sell out to a household entity which I would have thought is
you and your cohorts worse case scenario, I now have time and money on my hands
and my financial damages against you and your cohorts have gone up. Has any of
you completely lost the plot the more any of this appears on the internet the
more my financial damages against you lot goes up and the more you create public
sympathy
for me. Have you all lost the plot through no fault of mine I had a child
abducted.
To save you the bother I have copied this to Richard Fitt who by the way his
wife Marge once said she would never stand by and let him betray me.
Kind regards,
Graham Cook
Apparently sent to ScamFraudAlert
On 29 Sep 2006 19:45:56
Dear Sir or Madam,
Would you please take down the posts by Rose DeRochers if you contact me by
e-mail I will send over further information as to what this woman is up to a
certifiable nut.
Would you please note that www.google.co.uk have brought down her postings and
hopefully www.google.com will do the same.
Take a look at www.writersworld.co.uk the last thing I operate is a scam.
Kind regards,
Graham Cook
A search for Graham Cook or Writersworld Limited will confirm that the
pages have not been removed from Google Uk.
Fri 2/16/2007
It appears that Graham Cook is planning to launch a new website
bookeditors.co.uk
Related Links
http://writersworld5.tripod.com/ -
Robert Grieve Black, author of Highland
Schottische
http://www.corporatenarc.com/poetry-scams.php
http://www.bestbooksonline.co.uk/news.php
[ Print View ] [ Go Back ]
[ Send To A Friend ]
• Report a Scam • The Warning List • Blacklisted Domains •
|
Gerald. C. Rinks - Bigbluepoet
Ryan B
