The Writers Bureau Ltd Sevendale House 7 Dale Street Manchester M1 1JB Number of complaints: 1

Date: 7 November 2007 Media: National press Sector: Education

Ad
A national press ad for The Writers Bureau was headlined "How To Become A Successful Writer!  As a freelance writer, you can earn very good money in your spare time, writing the stories, articles, books, scripts etc that editors and publishers want ... To help you succeed, we offer you a first-class, home-study course from professional writers ...".  The ad featured two testimonials.  The first stated "'My first three novels are all best sellers!  The Writers Bureau made this possible for me.  Within six months of enrolling on my course I was having work commissioned by editors.  Now, I'm writing novels and my life has changed completely.'  Christina Jones ... ".  The second testimonial stated "I was paid a £25,000 advance for my novel 'Red'.  I have now also sold the film rights and will be co-writing the script.  The success of 'Red' is thanks in no small part to The Writers Bureau who offered very valuable advice.'  Jon Eagle ...".

Issue
The complainant challenged whether:

1. the ad implied the Jon Eagle testimonial was an example of recent success;

2. The Writers Bureau could substantiate the £25,000 advance for Jon Eagle's novel Red;

3. the claim "I have now also sold the film rights and will be co-writing the script" in Jon Eagle's testimonial could be substantiated; and

4. the testimonial of Christina Jones was genuine, particularly because he believed the claim "My first three novels were all best sellers" could not be substantiated.  

The ASA challenged whether:

5. The Writers Bureau held signed and dated proof for the testimonials; and

6. the testimonials gave a misleading impression of the achievements of most people taking the course.

The CAP Code:

3.1;7.1;14.1;14.3;14.4

Response
1. The Writers Bureau (WB) told the ASA that Jon Eagle's novel, Red, was published in 1996.  They conceded that the claim did not refer to recent success but argued that they did not suggest in the ad that the quote was recent.  WB added that the date of the books publication could be found easily on the Internet.  They sent the ASA a copy of their prospectus from 1996 and explained the ways in which the course had changed since then.  

2. WB submitted signed and dated copies of letters sent by Jon Eagle about the publication of his book, as well as a copy of a paying-in slip for his £25,000 advance.

3. WB sent a signed and dated copy of the contract for the film and TV rights in support of the claim.

4. WB submitted a copy of a letter from Christina Jones to show that the testimonial was genuine.  They explained that they had paraphrased the content of her letter but sent us signed and dated correspondence from Christina Jones stating that she was happy for them to do so.  WB also submitted a recent signed and dated fax from Christina Jones, which they planned to use as an updated testimonial.

WB said they interpreted the term "bestseller" to refer to books that were sold in great numbers.  They sent us information which they believed supported the claim: an article, written by the writer responsible for compiling The Guardian newspaper's fast seller list; a copy of the fast seller chart in which Christina Jones' first novel featured; copies of The Publishing News sales charts that featured her second and third novels and a copy of her publisher's royalty statement that showed the volume sales of her second book over a three-month period.  WB said her first novel sold a comparable number of copies, based on the number of copies sold per month.  

5. WB pointed to the copies of letters, submitted by Jon Eagle and Christina Jones, which were signed and dated.

6. WB said Jon Eagle and Christina Jones represented the top end of what their students could achieve.  They explained that, in larger ads, they usually included testimonials from students who had achieved a more modest level of success.  WB submitted a copy of their prospectus to show examples of testimonials where students had achieved a range of publishing success.  They said they believed that created a fair and balanced picture of what students could hope to achieve.

Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA considered that readers were likely to assume that the testimonial was an example of recent success and were likely to attribute that success to the current form of the course being advertised. We noted, however, the testimonial was almost 11 years old and understood the advertised course had evolved since Jon Eagle was a student.

We considered that it was reasonable for WB to use the testimonial of one of their students who had achieved a certain level of success; we also considered that readers were likely to expect courses to be updated periodically and would not expect the WB course taken almost 11 years ago to be exactly the same as the one currently being advertised.  We therefore concluded that it was acceptable for WB to use the testimonial in future ads provided they made clear that the testimonial was written in 1996.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clause 7.1 (Truthfulness).   

2. Upheld
We noted WB had received a signed and dated letter from Jon Eagle advising them of his £25,000 advance.  We also noted they had provided us with a copy of a paying-in slip; the slip included an invoice number made up of the author's surname and the title of his book, 'Red'.  The slip also featured a "TOTAL" amount of £25,000.00.

We nevertheless understood that a vanity publishing house, Minerva Press, published 'Red'.  We noted the complainant's argument that vanity publishing houses required authors to pay a fee in order to have work published; he therefore believed it was unlikely that Jon Eagle would have received an advance of £25,000.

WB said, because the testimonial was written ten years ago, Jon Eagle was unable to provide further paperwork to substantiate the claim.  We concluded that, because WB could not provide further evidence to rebut the complainants contention, a paying-in slip alone was insufficient to support the claim.  We concluded that, in the absence of persuasive documentary evidence, the claim could mislead.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

3. Upheld
We noted from the contract that Jon Eagle sold an exclusive option over the film rights to a production company for £1.  We understood from the contract that he would co-write the script, but only in the event that the production company chose to exercise its option.  We considered that the testimonial implied that a film based on the novel Red would definitely be made.  Because we understood that, almost 11 years after Jon Eagle told WB he had sold the film rights and would be co-writing the script, no such film had been made, we concluded that the claim could mislead by exaggerating the extent of Jon Eagle's success.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 14.3 (Testimonials).

4. Upheld
We noted the complainant's belief that the testimonial of Christina Jones was not genuine because he understood that, on her website, she had attributed her success to meeting an agent, rather than to the WB course.  However, we also noted her website stated that she was a WB student and credited the course for changing her "writing life".  We noted WB had sent us several pieces of signed and dated correspondence from Christina Jones that showed she supported the content of the testimonial; we were therefore satisfied that it was genuine.

We noted WB had provided us with information that showed Christina Jones' first book was ranked in the top 80 in the fast seller list for 1997 and her second and third novels had occupied top ten positions in The Publishing News book chart in 1997.

We considered that readers of the testimonial were likely to interpret the claim "My first three novels are all best sellers" to mean that Christina Jones' first three novels were near the top of the sales list in a widely recognised book chart.  We considered that the top 80 was unlikely to be seen as near the top of the sales list.  We understood that a best seller list was compiled by examining cumulative book sales up to a given date.  We understood that a fast seller list, however, was an annual survey of the 100 top selling paperbacks published for the first time during a particular year by British publishers.  We noted The Publishing News targeted the trade, not consumers.

Because the evidence did not support the likely interpretation of the claim, we concluded that it could mislead.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not breach CAP Code clause 14.4 (Testimonials).

5. Not upheld
We noted the correspondence from Jon Eagle and Christina Jones was signed, dated and included a contact address.
 
On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP Code clause 14.1 (Testimonials) but did not find it in breach.

6. Not upheld
We considered that most readers would not expect that they would secure a publishing deal easily, because they would be aware of the highly competitive nature of the sector.  We noted WB's follow-up literature featured the testimonials of students who had achieved a range of success and noted the literature containing those testimonials was provided before any financial commitment was made.  We therefore concluded that readers would realise that the achievements of Jon Eagle and Christina Jones, although genuine, were not typical of most people taking the course.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP Code clause 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not find it in breach.

Action
We told WB to ensure that they included the date of the Jon Eagle testimonial in future marketing material to avoid giving readers the impression that it was an example of a recent success.  We told them to remove the claims "I was paid a £25,000 advance for my novel 'Red'" and "I have now also sold the film rights and will be co-writing the script" from the Jon Eagle testimonial.  We also told them to remove the claim "My first three novels are all best sellers" from the Christina Jones testimonial.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)