Publish and Be Scammed-Everything You Need to Know about Need2Know

08/02/2022

Getting it done Spanish style
https://youtu.be/3GLYfXnrl9I

Resumen de la actuación del Grupo de Delitos Telemáticos en el marco de la Operación "Jóvenes Escritores". Esta investigación se centró en múltiples micro fr...

10/02/2021

This 'competition' looks strangely familiar to the Young Writers' comp that Bonacia hawks around UK schools. They are calling for contributions to compile a vegan cook book and if you send through a recipie you may get your contribution published in a special N2K book. What's the betting you will be asked to pay for inclusion? Looks like another day another scam from N2K.

Need2Know Books are looking for the best mouthwatering vegan recipes from members of the public. Using a range of aromatic ingredients alongside a variety of vegan staples the hunt is on to find the best of the best in vegan cooking. So, if you fancy trying your hands at a bit of creative vegan culinary enter Need2Know Books Vegan Recipe Challenge.

Eight winners will be chosen in total with six given a book of their choice from Need2Know’s extensive book catalogue. The top two winners will receive a free copy of The Essential Vegan Cookbook and Food for Health.

A selection of the best original vegan recipe entries will be given a chance to be featured, alongside the two winners, in a fully illustrated colour cookbook published by Need2Know Books.

To enter Need2Know Books’ Vegan Challenge send your recipe and a picture of your best dish. Remember to personalise it with a catchy title and a good quality photo. Shortlisted recipes will be featured on our social media channels.

Recipes need to be clearly written with appropriate ingredients, measurements and cooking time. All sorts of recipes will be considered from tasty dinner meals, to exotic breads, and yummy desserts.

To enter the competition visit:
https://need2knowbooks.co.uk/need2know-books-vegan-recipe-challenge/

13/08/2020

BX Plans Ltd is the company set up by a man called Ian Walton/Robert Duffy to print the Need2Know books. He breaks cover here in the Daily Express to claim credit for a fitness regime used by members of the Royal family. How could he possibly know what book (if any) they used to learn about this regime?

THE ROYALS are setting an example for the rest of the nation, with Prince Phillip, Charles, William and Harry all committing to a 12 minute workout each day. What is the workout?

05/03/2020

Masquerading as a fictitious character has become a popular fun activity on . Masquerading as the de facto author of a book in order to avoid payment of royalties and other dues to the original author is not so funny. It is IP theft and copyright violation. Most, if not all books in the Need2Know Essential Guides have been copied from authors without their permission and attributed to the fictitious character 'Robert' or 'Rob Duffy'. Do not buy these books. Support the authors to get their dues.

25/02/2020

Another business from the people who brought you Need2Know/Forward Press/Bonacia/BXPlans/Young Writers Awards. Stay ahead of the curve and avoid like the plague especially if you value your copyright.

Award Winning Book Printing Company

14/02/2020

Two pictures taken from Gardners' website. (Gardners are a major UK bookseller) suggest that between November 2019 and February 2020, sales of Robert Duffy's prostrate cancer book were pretty healthy. The first pic shows 146 books available in Nov 2019 and only 1 available in Feb 2020. That's quite a profit for Need2Know which purports to hold the copyright for this book, less welcome news for the original author who gets nothing.

06/02/2020

More ripped off material from Need2Know books-the previous writer of Self Harm is listed as Greta Gough. Please do not touch these cheap and nasty books. They have been crudely re-written by people who are not qualified to do so and may contain erroneous information. Robert Duffy is a pen name for a con-merchant whose other business involves children's writing competitions where they are encouraged to think they have won real prizes for their school work.

24/01/2020

Another one to avoid from the Bonacia stable disguised as a printing company with a VERY suspicious number of new reviews on Trust pilot.

We have over twenty years' experience printing and binding books. Our aim is to make your book or booklet printing project as easy and hassle free as possible.

16/01/2020

For the record here is the UK Government registration for Ian Walton which shows his links to various printing and other businesses. Although he has claimed to have no part in Bonacia, these official documents tell a different story.

Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges, business activity

19/12/2019

The European Court of Justice has come out with a clear ruling on e-books which favours authors. Need2Know have treated their authors' books as if they own them and can do what they like with them-that needs to change.

29/11/2019

Hola! for the record a 2010 report in the Spanish press covering the activities of Forward Press in Spain. The key work is 'estafa' which is the equivalent of 'fraud'.

Cientos de padres de toda España pagaron a la empresa Forward Press por ver publicados relatos de sus hijos, pero no han recibido los libros

28/11/2019

Back to Robert Duffy. A screen grab from Gardeners web site shows the number of copies this major book dealer has for sale of just one book from the Need2Know set. As of posting, there are 146 copies of 'his' book on prostrate cancer available. Except it's not 'Robert Duffy's' book. It was written by another author who owns the rights unless he sold them on. Someone stands to profit from this book and it's not the person who owns the copyright.

27/11/2019

A rare post from Ian Walton's own LinkedIn account promoting his Need2Know books as 'PIGS' (passive income generating scheme) he offers 25 per cent to sites promoting these books-25 per cent of sales is more than the majority of authors ever got in royalties. Ever.

August 1, 2018: Ian Walton posted images on LinkedIn

25/11/2019

Who is Robert Duffy?
According to Ian Walton, the owner of Need2Know books, Duffy is a freelance editor. As the name on the front of Need2Know books, Duffy is entitled to 100 per cent share of any royalties from these books and none of the profits from sales will go to the original authors whose work was ripped off. No trace of Duffy on the internet or social media and he is too shy to post any photos but you would think in such a long career he would be more well know. Unless, of course, Robert Duffy is an alias?
Biography
Robert Duffy has been involved in the print and publishing industry for the better part of 50 years. During this time he has written for, edited and published numerous lifestyle and literary magazines.

As a commissioning editor he has overseen the publication of, literally, thousands of books. Working as the series editor for Need2Know he has brought in excess of 150 titles through all stages of production.

Currently he is involved with the launching of major new books in the Need2Know series.
Visit www.need2knowbooks.co.uk for further information about the type of books we publish.

25/11/2019

Apart from ripping off writers of health and self help books, (former Need2Know publisher) also run the which has found its way into many UK schools. Is it a scam? Look through the following blog dedicated to the award and make your own mind up.

Young Writers is one of many competitions run and administrated by Bonacia Ltd. Is it a genuine competition, or a profit-making scam?

12/11/2019

There is always more if you dig a little deeper back in time.. A report in local media detailing Forward Press' 1.6 million debt-much of it in unpaid taxes. Not paying your dues is becoming a common thread.

https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/business/publisher-s-1-6m-debt-1-1784986

A Peterborough-based publishing firm has been placed into liquidation after racking up debts of more than £1.6 million.

11/11/2019

Back to Spain and a report on what happened there with the competition. Hint-it doesn't end well, but what is more interesting is that the publisher took around £200k from parents for books their children were never going to see.
https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2011/01/13/crushed-dreams/

Police launch investigation after publisher closes leaving thousands of parents out of pocket and children out of luck. EXCLUSIVE By Anatoly Kurmanaev

08/11/2019

A throwback to 2011-a report from Spain where they have strong laws against scams.

Forward Press boss Ian Walton insists he is not guilty of fraud

04/11/2019

I'm sure people would be absolutely delighted to receive these along with a bottle of contraband whisky, a knock off pair of Nikes and some dodgy perfume from the back of a van. As we know, many of these books (not clear quite how many) have been ripped off and republished without permisssion from the original authors. The public need protection from this sort of blatant abuse.

Why not add us to your Christmas list? 🎁 We have a large selection of books to choose from and our books make the perfect gift.

22/10/2019

Let's go back to March 2011. Here's a bit of background to how the first company associated with Ian Walton (pictured) went bust leaving parents out of pocket and thousands of children disappointed.

Forward Press Ltd crushed the dreams of thousands of aspiring authors across Britain and Spain, most of them children. Now the publisher is already back in business.

24/09/2019

A Mumsnet discussion on the Young Writers competition run by Bonacia (formerly Forward Press, publisher of the Need2Know Imprint)

I got a letter through the post to say that my dd had won a poetry competition - so, so excited - they give you the option to by the book which of co

23/09/2019

In the news nearly a decade ago now-other activities carried out by Peterborough printing firm Bonacia/Forward Press which is still being allowed to scam schools and school children with its Young Poets and You Writers 'competition'

Jill Papworth asks whether a writing competition for school-children is just a marketing exercise

19/09/2019

A Throwback Thursday report from the Mail Online into Bonacia Director's 'other' job which involves fraudulent competitions for young children. director and owner Ian Walton is captured in a rare picture on the left. When he tried to pull a stunt like this in Spain, he was promptly arrested-unfortunately UK law is not on the side of the consumer.

It's a moment to make any parent proud: having a story their child wrote selected for publication. But the Young Writers scheme has been branded an 'immoral' ruse to part parents from their cash.

18/09/2019

Who are we?
We are authors, journalists, writers and experts in subjects ranging from asthma to zumba and everything in between. We make our living from writing and editing. Many of us are self-employed and rely on our writing for our main income.

What is our problem?
As individual authors we were approached and commissioned by Need2Know books (an imprint of Forward Press) to write self help books on a range of subjects relating to health and working life. We had contracts that should have offered us a fair return for our work and protection from our work/copyright being stolen. Few of us got royalties or accurate sales figures for our books, and those who did, received very little return on sales.

What happened?
Aside from the lack of royalties, the books were remaindered (eg dumped) by the publisher in 2017 and that should have been an end to it, the owner of the imprint, an individual who goes variously by the name of Robert Duffy and Ian Walton, informed us the books were not profitable and not worth his time to promote or print. But within months of dumping the books, Ian Walton approached some of the authors in an attempt to buy the copyright off them for a paltry sum. They were the lucky ones, other authors had their books crudely edited and reprinted without being told or having given their permission. This is illegal and must be stopped. They rights reverted to the authors when the books were dumped by Ian Walton so he has no right to do this.

Who is doing this?
The publisher of Need2Know books is currently BX Plans Ltd, formerly Bonacia Ltd aka Forward Press Ltd. Books are usually ripped off by 3rd parties looking to make a quick buck. It's usually up to the publisher to defend the author but ours is a case of game-keeper turned illegal poacher.

What needs to happen?
The infringer - Ian Walton who has been involved in various publishing activities from a print shop in Peterborough and once in Spain (more about that episode elsewhere on the feed). He needs to be held to account, repay royalties for the books that he has profited from for a long time. He needs to cease publication of the books he has stolen, remove them from all sales platforms and reimburse the original writers for loss of earnings.

Why is this so bad?
This is not just about money. The books were written by authors who were experts in the fields that they wrote about-some of these relate to serious health conditions and the ripped off versions are of very poor quality, they have been crudely-re-edited, with out of date stats and facts and contain mis-leading information which could be dangerous to health. The authors wrote these books to help people, not to create an income stream for the publisher or to have their rights so blatantly trashed.

16/09/2019

In this 2010 article in the Daily Telegraph, Need2Know owner Ian Walton shares his opinions on men as writers. Fast forward a few years and nearly all the Need2Know books are edited by Robert Duffy (who we will come to later). By 2010 Need2Know had commissioned dozens of authors to produce self-help books on subjects in which they were often experts, with promises of good sales as part of a new and up and coming business venture. The authors had contracts that checked out in theory. What could possibly go wrong?

Self-help books written by men are "lousy" because the authors lack the straightforward approach of women, an international publisher has claimed.

09/09/2019

Welcome to Publish and be Scammed- an expose of Peterborough based imprint Need2Know books. Now operating as BX Plans Ltd, this company has stolen the copyright from around a dozen authors (at least) and has withheld royalties from many more. BX Plans Ltd continues to bring out ripped off health and well-being books in full knowledge that this is illegal. Follow us to learn more about this company and this sorry story of modern-day exploitation. Do not buy or promote these books. Please give us your support and make sure our rights are respected and protected.