AuthorHouse is one of the best known, and most widely-used, print on demand self-publishers, but it did not begin so auspiciously. It was started in 1997 as 1st Books by an author who was fed up with rejections. Unfortunately, 1st Books was met with a barrage of complaints about the service – including print quality and being overly-charged at an hourly rate for services. In 2001, 1st Books got a facelift and changed its name to AuthorHouse. Since that point, it has grown steadily and hasn’t been targeted with the same type of complaints as 1st Books – which some call a scam, some call growing pains.
I would side with the latter, as AuthorHouse has become one of the central subsidy publishers, along with iUniverse, which is owned by the same corporation, Author Solutions. This is due to the quality of AuthorHouse’s books. It is used frequently by authors who are more serious about the quality and marketability of their books – unlike a service like Lulu, which is used by anyone and everyone, and are often published using the same pre-designed templates.
AuthorHouse has three main packages, starting at $598 to $1298. The $598 package has everything you need, and the premium packages do not offer a lot more for the much heftier price tag: nearly $400 more for the next level package. The Essential package includes:
- One on one support – work with the designers to get input on the direction of your book’s cover. By all accounts, AuthorHouse actually does take its author input seriously.
- Custom cover/interior design, including interior images – AuthorHouse generally has higher-quality book covers
- ISBN
- Galley copies to check quality
- Online distribution
- Marketing consultation (basically amounts to them selling you extra marketing services, but nice that the consultation is gratis)
That’s a pretty good list of features for the low level package – the same price as iUniverse’s basic package. The next level up offers ebook publishing and distribution, which you could handle yourself, plus a book buyer’s preview, which is nice, but doesn’t quite seem worth $400. The Premier program will also send you 10 copies of your book, which could save you $150 and up, depending on the length of your book.
The top tier Premium package offers an author photo on the back of the book. Really, ebook distribution and author photo should be included regardless, so this seems like an oversight. The more expensive packages should include more-advanced book design and marketing, as is the case with other subsidy publishers like Outskirts and Mill City Press. As with other self-publishers, there are a number of other add-ons available: custom cover illustration, online and offline marketing, editorial services, and the like, which are decently priced. Some of these can be fairly expensive for the most-extensive programs: the Premium Publicist program, for example, costs $9,999.
For someone who wants a hands-off self-publishing experience, in which someone else is handling most of the work – and you’ve got money to pay for more-extensive marketing – AuthorHouse is a good choice.
Update 7/11/13: This post was written before the Kindle/ebook revolution when hiring a print on demand firm was more viable. It was also written before many of the problems with Author Solutions had come to light. Leaving the post up for all of the comments from writers below.
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Authorhouse is a joke from cover to cover. Don’t waste your time, your money or your sanity. It would take me ten pages to summarise their EXTENSIVE list of screw ups… and don’t think for a minute that I’m the only one.. the only thing Authorhouse does well is keeping their competition in business. From broken promises and outright lies– from preposterously overpriced and useless advertising to voluminous formatting errors and total disregard for privacy, count yourslef lucky if you get to complain to the same person twice. They run the business like a shell game– once they have your money in pocket — its gone, and so is their effort. Above all things, if you choose to self publish, remember that authorhouse doesn’t give a rip whether or not you sell books– its unlikely that they even read what they publish– resulting in their total disregard for the end product. If you have written and edited and edited and edited and edited a book until it is polished and perfect– be prepared to edit it another eight times once they get their hands on it!!!
I can’t believe this. I signed with them in june and haven’t had too many problems yet. They kept charging my account and my bank made them give it back.
We need to keep in touch .
I work with Authorhouse as a Publishing Consultant and I think your post here is quite unfair. I had to defend my company since we worked hard to give our authors the best. If you have complaints, you can always call your Author Assistant and they are always there for you. In case you forgot Sir, we also need your collaboration on every stage of the publishing process, we wont change anything on your manuscript unless we have your approval. Here’s the overview of the process:
Complete and Sign AuthorHouse Contract
You’ll begin the book publishing process by speaking with a Publishing Consultant to discuss your project goals. From copy editing to promotional press releases, you have the flexibility to create a custom project plan for the submission, production and promotion of your self-published book.
Submit Your Materials
Once you have completed an AuthorHouse contract, you will submit your materials for self-publishing. A Check-in Coordinator will contact you two to three business days after you sign your contract to discuss where and in what format to send your materials. Your CIC will work with you directly until we have all the materials we need to create the initial copy of your cover and galley. Your CIC will also send you a Submission Information Form where you will indicate any specifications you have for the design of your cover and interior.
Review Initial Book Cover & Interior Design
After the Check-in Coordinator has received all of your materials, he or she will assign your book to a Design Team and the design process for your cover and galley will begin. Within 10 to 15 business days (two to three business days for Rapid Release customers), you will receive the completed initial cover and galley.
Participate in Review Call with Your Design Consultant
After sending your cover and galley for review, your Design Consultant will call you within two to three business days to discuss any changes (if any) you want made to the design of your book. If more in-depth conversation is needed, a time will be set up for you to discuss your concerns with your Cover Designer or Book Designer in more detail.
Approve Your Cover and Galley
When the layout of your book is complete and you’re comfortable with how everything looks, you will approve your cover and interior galley. Before your book is sent to the printer, you’ll choose your royalty percentage and set the selling p
For all of you here, don’t just believe on every posts, some of those who post nasty comments here belong to our competitors. Do your research, be informed, check on reliable websites. For more reliable feedback, check our Better Business Bureau rating, we are rated A+ by the BBB, which means we conduct in good faith with our business. Here’s our BBB rating: http://www.bbb.org/indianapolis/business-reviews/publishers-book/author-solutions-inc-in-bloomington-in-32002554/
To our authors who has complaints, or you want to know more on the publishing process, call me or email me. I can answer your questions. I can assure you that we are not the ones projected here. If you want to publish a book, you can contact me at 877-820-5393 my extension is 5880, look for Val Seno, my business hours is 12 noon to 9 pm EST, Mondays to Fridays. I can explain to you the whole process. I will not be selling you right away our services, instead it’a a consultative process. We will be asking you your needs and your goals and we recommend you solutions. Looking forward to hear from you soon, I’m here to help you and assist you with every questions.
Whoever the apologist within Authorhouse may be, one sentence negates everything this person says: “To our authors who HAS complaints…” Who HAS complaints? What brand of English is that? It’s To our authors who HAVE complaints!! That alone is enough to make smart people scurry away from this fraud-ridden company–who also own iUniverse and Xlibris.
I asked them if they were affiliated with Xlibris who took my BF for a lot of $$$. They outright lied and said they weren’t. They made everything sound good but yet I’m seeing a rerun of Xlibris. They have so overpriced my book that it won’t sell. I hate being lied to while they take vacations on my money. They act so offended when I call them out on things. Lately I can’t even post on Twitter or FB without them reading my tweets or status reports. I plan to take them to court, I have a winning lawyer. I need people with proof that Author Solutions aka AH has srewed them over to join me.
So what do suggest!? for self publishing?
Whoever “Val” is, I agree with Ron that the post is riddled with errors. I now understand why I’m in possession of a book I purchased that has excellent content, but where the lack of editing detracts substantially from the enjoyment of reading it. This book was published 02/20/2014. I will never again trust the name of “authorHouse” when purchasing any book. The book I purchased is filled with spelling and grammar errors such as those found in Val’s post. One wonders whether authorHouse actually retypes the entire book, adding their own typos and uneducated form of English, prior to publishing. I did experience this situation when working years ago for a company that ordered printed books from China. As the author, I was horrified to find that my original, correct content was bastardized to the point of incomprehension. If I were attempting to publish a book, I would avoid this company like the plague. Thankfully, I’ve never used them, myself.
You wrote a commercial for Author House. I guess that happens when you work FOR them. The procedures that you wrote about can be found in the website advertisement. Your verbose and lenghthly rambling did not contribute anything to the discussion. One can but wonder did you write your “review” while you were on Author House’s time clock.
Yes, Val, what you have posted here rings somewhat accurate. Except, you forgot to mention that AuthorHouse also steals authors’ royalties and commits Tax Fraud! AuthorHouse takes it upon itself to sell the Intellectual Property of an author in e-book format, without the written permission of the author and without ever consulting with the author (the rightful owner of the property) what the “Royalties” amount would be! AuthorHouse simply moves forward with the property of others, and then pockets what royalties are gained from this fraudulent move! Be honest, Val, your employer is a crook, and you know it but you need your job and therefore you look the other way!
Authors beware: Currently, this company is a Goliath, in tax fraud and money laundering/stealing authors’ royalties, making Madoff, and the crime that he committed, look like a peon next to these bigwigs.
Author house is a scam he has stolen the rights of my books for 8 years now and still I haven’t got paid due to the fact my money as other authors stealing royalties money are invested on Bertram Company for years and Author house and its partners taking the profits including ponz scheeme tax fraud money as well.
I have experienced all these horrific experiences with authourhouse. I did the layout and editing and on to my5 rep in the phillipines and no changes. I am in now for 2 years and no book. My boyfriend agreed its a shell game. I want to start a class action suit or do we know if one exists. Please contact me if you would like to be part of a class action suit. Or call the state attorneys office. There is also a lawfirm in chicago who is familiar with this company.
And to the employee of authourhouse who posted earlier. I wonder if u r still employed there considering their turnover rate
We should phone the number and extension that Val posted and see if Val is still employed there…
Would you like to join me for a class action lawsuit? The more people we have the better!
Hi! My name is Viktor Jauhonen. I want to sue Author house. They stole my royalty. It would be interesting to find the attorney who won millions on cig process, the luck of information on the package: smoking kills. I want to join you.viktorjauhonen@hotmail.com
I so wish I had found your post before I signed with them. I went with Balboa Press because they are supposed to be a sub-division of Hay House. Only to find out later it is really Author House. I can’t even begin to tell you what a horrible experience it has been. They are a nightmare. I spent thousands of dollars having it flawlessly edited and formatted and this company has made so many mistake with it is unbelievable. Literally a tragedy. The quality of the work is so poor I can’t even comprehend how it could be so bad. I really think Hay House should be completely ashamed of themselves for affiliating with this company.
I publihed with Authorhouse and found them to be first rate. Like dealing with a law firm, I suppose a lot has to do with who handles you. I continue to deal with their Richard Pascual who could not be more attentive when it comes to customer service.
O’Brien-Kelley
Last year, Penguin purchased self-publishing conglomerate Author Solutions. Author Solutions are regarded as the dominant player in the self-publishing services market – via their subsidiaries Author House, Xlibris, Trafford, and iUniverse. They also have business links with Abbott Press, Archway Publishing, West Bow Press, Harlequin Horizons, Balboa Press, Writers Digest, and Lulu.
Money talks and Author Solutions has around $100m in annual revenue. Roughly two-thirds of that money comes from the sale of services to writers, and only one-third from the royalties generated by the sale of their books. So, Penguin did not purchase a company which provides real value to writers. They purchased an operation skilled at milking writers.
I don’t get how this jibes with the rest of what you wrote:
“If you have written and edited and edited and edited and edited a book until it is polished and perfect– be prepared to edit it another eight times once they get their hands on it!!!”
I not only edited my book ad infinitum over the year and half it took to write it, but with 30 years behind me as a newspaper writer I thought nothing could go wrong, that my book would be formatted exactly as I wrote it. Wrong. Now after 9 months of correcting mistakes that were not in the original manuscript, only to have it come back with new mistakes, I gave up and accepted the mess. At my age I don’t want to waste anymore time arguing with their so-called “professionals.” I’m embarrassed to have anyone read it and so I won’t be marketing it. It’s going to family only and even there I’m compelled to tell them that all the mistakes they’ll see are not mine. Every time I asked for corrections, they added on charges. The result is that Author House was a $2,000 mistake I’ll never live down. One last caveat – I never saw my contract until I insisted on it. Then they emailed me 3 pages of blurry text that were unreadable. If you haven’t yet decided on a self-publisher, save your time and your money. In my experience, Author House was a big bust.
PS: They also listed my book on Amazon and Barnes months (yes, months) before it was ready to be seen, resulting in sales I’ll never be able to find out about because they refuse to tell me.
I spent three months formatting my book to their specs. I get what they came up with and well my formatting was out the window. The editor (J Swing) who took so many days off wanted to scream! He reformatted my book to its original state said it looked better that way. He made other deliberate mistakes which I demanded correcting. I asked that they bring down the inflated price and they ignored me. My book went from 392 pages to 697 pages so they could charge more. I’m in purgatory, their so called media champaign sends you to web castors, late night radio shows and people who arent book reviewers let alone interested. I wish I’d done way more research.
If I may? : ) Whenever you make corrections, it is on an old fashioned “form” on your computer. You go line by line by line putting page number, paragraph number, old content or mistake, and the replacement text. After a few hundred more dollars, Authorhouse will make the “corrections–” without ever looking at your book. Just going by the form. It is quite archaic and inaccurate. The text needs to be read to see if changes have created problems with gender, number, tense, etc.. Only the human eye can do this. Is this kind of what you were asking?
I used author house to pubish my book and have not once had any problems. My phone calls and emails are always returned by the next day if not sooner and all of my questions were answered while publishing and has continued through the marketing aspect.
Jessica, I am nervous! I have not really had any problems with them. Christopher has always called me back. I do not want to go a step further until I know what’s up. After reading all the bad things it’s good to see the good come out from someone. I keep looking at Bernice and Andy Tate. I am trying to reach them. They have published several books with Authorhouse and they are doing good. But my husband is upset because of the reviews. I spent my last of savings on this book.
so did I. I have a whole different team working with me. They take vacations a lot. Wonder why we can’t? Don’t give them another dime!
Jessica, your book is being advertised on a Home Depot website. I hope that you did not pay Author House an advertising fee.
I disagree with Mr. Baum. AuthorHouse is not a good choice. AuthorHouse makes most its money from its authors, not from sales to readers—which are very few, at least in my case (3 books). It makes money off the author during the publishing process and makes most the profit when a book is sold. And most of the books sold are those sold to the author, not to the buying public. I have a paperback novel with AuthorHouse that sells for $20. I earn about a dollar per book.
Part of the problem is that AuthorHouse makes so much money from production that the books are priced beyond what customers will pay for them, such as $20 for a paperback. If the author wishes to sell the book for less than the recommended price, he makes little or nothing. The result is the books don’t sell. But AuthorHouse doesn’t care because, as I said, it makes its money from the author: from high production profits, books sold to the author, and lots of other expensive options and services. Also, AuthorHouse keeps the rights to the final PDF format of the book and the cover art—even though in my case I selected the designs for my books. Thus if you want to go to a different publisher, you have to start the entire process all over again.
I published three books with AuthorHouse for over $10,000 (much more if the costs of the books I bought is included) and have earned about a $100–that right one hundred dollars. It’s not unusual to receive a royalty check for just a few dollars—even less than two dollars—for a book you devoted a couple years to writing. So why did I keep publishing with AuthorHouse? Because I was uninformed and just assumed that self-published authors can’t expect to make money—though I always hoped I would at least make some money. Also, I became used to the publishing process at AuthorHouse and didn’t want to have to learn a new procedure.
To be fair to AuthorHouse it puts out an attractive product—if the author is willing to stay very much involved the publishing process, including editing and cover design, because a lot of formatting and correction errors occur at AuthorHouse’s end. Still, if no one reads your book, then what’s the point? Certainly, the satisfaction of writing a book is important, but after paying thousands of dollars for all the bells and whistles it’s disappointing to sell less than a dozen copies of your books.
So how did I wise up? In the process of finding a new publisher, I read Mark Levine’s The Fine Print of Self-Publishing, which reviews most of the larger self-publishing publishers. I admit to being totally depressed when I read that AuthorHouse falls into Mr. Levine’s PUBLISHERS TO AVOID category and realized that now I can do little about AuthorHouse having my books. I certainly can’t afford to republish them. I wish I had read Mr. Levine’s book earlier, but it came after I had published my books with AuthorHouse. Nevertheless, better late than never for my next book and for those of you who are interested in self-publishing, which I believe can be a terrific experience.
So don’t take Mr. Baum’s word about AuthorHouse. Read Mr. Levine’s books. I published three books with AuthorHouse and agree with Mr. Levine.
Who would you suggest to publish with? Cost per book is very important. Thanks. Ann
Createspace or Lightning Source.
Re: the above comment. “My word” about AuthorHouse is that it’s not ideal, but it’s convenient if you keep the cost low by not buying a bunch of other needless services besides printing. I don’t know how you managed to spend $10,000 on three books. And it’s not AuthorHouse’s fault that your book didn’t sell. That’s always what I maintain – AuthorHouse=not ideal. Authors=do your homework.
It is ‘authorhouse’ who are supposed to promote and sell the book, at least place it in the right avenues. They do nothing. Be aware that they pay ‘stooges’ to write on this site[and other sites] singing their praises.
There are literally 1000’s of disgruntled authors and they hide behind a multi paged contract in legal jibberish.
Believe me, their day is coming.
Keep away from ‘Authorhouse’.
here’s my view, i published my first book with createspace not doing well at all and limited to advertising I mostly have to do all the marketing myself. alot of work, so this time i want to try author house. because of the retail channels i can get….so i am hoping it isn’t a disaster because i have done my homework if any one you have other feedback please feel free to send me an email.
I am in the same boat as you are.
What alternatives have you found?
Thanks,
Zoe
I reply on this ‘authorhouse’ sponsored site !!! The only thing you will get from AH is the book printed, for this you will pay a great deal of money for publishing, which will not happen. In fact as soon as you have paid your money you will be told to sell the book yourself. When you pay people to Publish that is what they should do. It is the publishers responsibility to ensure the book is shown to the right audience group. AH do not do this. Once you sign their complicated multi page contract they then allow other outlets to print and sell your book , and you have no control over this. If you are an author which only sells less that 50 copies, [94% of books] then you may think that is fine, if you have a good book which is appealing and in demand then AH still make the money,[or their nominated agents.] and this continues as long as the book sells. I cancelled my contract with AH nearly 2 years ago. Copies of my book are still being sold at outlets in the world and the profit is still going to them. When I queried this I was informed that it is allowable in the contract !. I told AH that when you enter into a contract you dont expect to be cheated by slick and underhand wording hidden in a contract, but that is exactly what happens.
I have re published my book myself and now have a ‘bone fide ‘ publisher who pays me for publishing my book. Believe me – do not trust AH, they are there to scam you and they hide this fact in ‘contract jargon’. If you have a genuine complaint then do not bring it to an authorised AH site, where they set up stooges to say what aAH want them to say. Go to other genuine comsumer sites who are unbiased and non manipulative. There is a huge movement out there which is gaining much momentum against what is percieved as a scam by AH. Get your facts right and join them.
Hi Tony Liddicoat,
My name is Connie, about to publish my 1st book with AH but i have read ur review and the rest, i’m scared….Please who is the bone fide publisher that re-published ur book? I took a loan with interest to publish my book, i don’t want to fail……please help…thanks.
Wanted to check with you as I have my book being published by AuthorHouse and it should be ready by 1/2011. I bought the Pinnacle pkg and now they want to sell me a 9K publicist and social media assistance for the first 6 weeks.
Where are you with your book and have you considered how you plan to market our book?
Any feedback appreciated.
First book written,
Carol
Is your book published? I’m considering author house for my book but I’m hearing conflicting things. If your book is published, are you satisfied?
I would go to Booklocker.com. They are very ethical. I was with Authorhouse, then learned my lesson the hard way. Booklocker is selective about the books they publish, so you’ll have to pitch your book to them first. They also have a special discounted price for authors who are disgruntled with their current self-publisher.
Just wondered who you finally went with in publishing, as I am in the process of having AuthorHouse publish my first book.
Thanks,
Carol
I use Createspace…love it! I have total control. I published my children’s picture book and the quality is fantastic.
You can afford to republish them. Pedernales Publishing will produce a hardcover, softcover, and various ebook formats for you for a single, flat, fixed $650 (no hidden costs), plus you get all your cover, interior and ebook files when completed, and they give you a money back guarantee. You keep all royalties and rights. http://www.pedernalespublishing.com. Very responsive and straight shoots.
That would explain why I am having so much trouble buying a book through Authorhouse. I am a real living reader and I am trying to buy two books.
“AuthorHouse makes most its money from its authors, not from sales to readers.” This is true of all subsidy publishers, not just AuthorHouse – Lulu, iUniverse, whatever. They make their money in printing, and so the books are very expensive. That’s the main problem with subsidy publishers, so you can’t blame AuthorHouse for this – nor can you blame them for your book not selling. I don’t know if you bought a marketing package with them – but for a place that releases nice-looking books for a reasonable price (compared to hiring a designer and editor on your own) AuthorHouse is good.
It sounds as if you have a problem with how your book was marketed, which isn’t AuthorHouse’s problem. They’re not your publisher, they’re your printer. It’s up to you, mostly, to handle the marketing of your book, unless you outsource PR. But even then, it’s hard to sell self-published books, no matter how good book might be. But don’t confuse that with the deficiency of who’s producing the book.
A better way to save on printing costs is to go with Lightning Source – but then you’ll be responsible for book design and editing, which can be more than an AuthorHouse package. I don’t think AuthorHouse is something to avoid if you want an easier self-publishing package. But nowhere would I ever make the claim that any subsidy publisher is a guaranteed way to sell books. That’s just not how they work.
this sounds like good advice. I can see how folks get all caught up with the idea that they will make millions. AH and Iuniverse are printers not publishers.
As such, they should stop selling all the packages for marketing.
Henry’s comments are right on point. I got my first book “printed” when they were called 1stBooks, and they sent a packet with the agreement in the mail. It is very important to read and understand all the information they send you before you sign an agreement with them. They were very clear in their intentions. True, they get most of the money, but you keep your rights to your story. You do get an ISBN and your book do list on amazon.com.
But anything extra you need for them to do, i.e. marketing, editing, you will pay extra for it. This is a self-publishing company, meaning “you” the author is handling most of the publishing costs. They are simply as Henry put it a printing service. I had to edit my own work, and I read over EVERYTHING they sent back including my manuscript again, and I gave them the okay to print or not to print. I gave them instructions on what I wanted the cover to look like, and they got it done.
The key to self-publishing is to realize that you pay for everything. Nothing is truly free in self-publishing. If you want to get paid, submit your work to a bonafide publishing house. Keep submitting, even after you’ve been rejected each time. If you’re serious about your work and YOU want to get paid instead of you paying them, then a real publisher is the way. Just because a wall is there from the big publishing houses, doesn’t mean you can’t tear it down.
Read the agreements AuthorHouse sends you. Read everything and be prepared to self publish and pay!
I’m not one to be difficult, but I have to warn aspiring self publishers to be very aware of authorhouse as I feel cheated and abused! I wish I had this information before I got involved with this dubious publisher… NO support, NO contact and an ever revolving door of ‘assistants’ who never seem to get your mail and just plain LIE!!
I recently published my book Anthills of Despair with them. I got called almost 3 times a day by Gail Warren when trying to get my account. But alas, once the money was in the bank, i was left on my own to rot! My book came out with more typos than you can imagine, i asked why and was told i did not pay for an editing service…i almost tore my hair out! No one even offered that!
After several months of unanswered emails and lies (that my mails were not receive) i had to pdf the emails and send them to who was supposed to be the CEO! They came back to me, requesting pay for what is known as a retech- a reprint with corrections. I paid.
Now the kicker…the reprint came back, all typos correct and when i got the book, an entire page had a different font! Guess what, i was told by the publishing assistant that this was my fault as i failed to spot this in the galley and so would need to pay (again) for another retech!!!! Scandalous!
I have never come across such blatant exploitation in my life…and i come from Africa!
Authorhouse gives capitalism a bad name and makes all cheats look good. They take no share of the responsibility and only want to collect your cash. Shameful people!
Most authors have a passion for the work they do and just want to have their voice in print, so it is an exceptionally low company that exploits this and has the audacity be trading this day and age.
What a disgrace and since my word is my power, i’ll make sure that all future authors are at least AWARE of who they are dealing with when they sign up to authorhouse.
goodluck all and may you have better luck than i did!
OK, not to be difficult either, but a lot of what you’re saying sounds reasonable on their part. It’s not their job to fix typos, so you shouldn’t have expected that. And if there’s a problem with fonts that you didn’t notice, that’s not entirely their fault either. The font problem shouldn’t have happened, but it’s the writer’s job to make sure everything’s clean and ready to print. Self-publishing is left on the back of the writer. You’ve got to be thorough – both before you shell out money to understand what you’re going to receive and once you have a galley to make sure everything’s in place. I’m not saying they did everything perfectly, but a lot of the criticism of these services seems to be from writers who are expecting something that’s just not in the contract – as if a self-publishing service is an actual publisher and not just a printer.
Interesting comments, but I totally agree that you MUST be an informed purchaser before you buy anything and understand how the process works. A lot of people want to write books, but they are ignorant of the business aspect of the process. You need to do your homework, folks. I signed with Xlibris, and if you read the print you see they don’t edit and the responsibility is on you, as an author, to edit, read the galley prints, sign off, etc. Xlibris has always taken responsibility for errors made on their part in the 3 books I’ve released through them. Fact is, you write the book. They make the book available for POD, and put it into the distribution channels. Most of the complaints about these services are because people have gone into the relationship with blinders on with misguided expectations and making uneducated choices. They are not scamming people. It’s in the print – you just need to read and understand before you buy. Ask questions. Be an informed author – an informed purchaser, and you won’t feel taken. The only complaint I have with these types of services is that I put a heck of a lot of trust in them to get my royalties correct and sales information. I don’t like being blindsided on that portion of the process and have come into some distrust with Xlibris due to eBook sales not appearing in my account. But I’m not sitting by. I’m pushing on them to audit the account, and if they don’t do so successfully, I’m off to my attorney. It’s as simple as that.
I agree that authors should be very aware of what they are geting involved in…but if you pay an agency, you should get some guidance. Even if its offered at a cost. But to leave new authors to make mistakes and line your pocket is just not on. Charge by all means, but let it be that you want the authors to suceede as well.
…offer the support and dont be deceptive about your tactics. Most artistes like me dont beleive money is everything and actually assume that publishers value the work they put out and would like their name to be on a good work of art…to be enjoyed and respected. My experience has shown me that its a cruel game indeed.
Whatever the case, information is power. As long as people know what to expect, all will be rosy.
I know i’m much wiser now, even if rather poorer.
Well Henry, you clearly work for Authorhouse or have obviously NOT been one of their victims! Please stop standing up for them, your defense of them is actually making me sick.
They are no better than thieves!
Authorhouse do absolutely nothing for the disgusting amount of money they charge you. They are also imcompetent liars. I really am at a loss to know how what they do is legal.
Also Henry, I refer to your comment “it’s not their job to fix typos” – well what EXACTLY is there job Henry? What EXACTLY do they do for the £1,000 (basic package) they charge? All they did was print and bind my book and list it amazon. THAT’S IT!
I have a friend who self publishers with Lulu for £70 – that’s right, just £70 and you can publish whenever you like, not wait for 8 weeks for the process (What the HELL are they doing in that eight week anyway?). And guess what else? She has sold more books than me!
Please Henry, please stop this shameless marketing of these scam artists. It really is disgusting.
Wow! This is tripping me out. My husband will not send in his illustrations after reading all of these blogs. There are more bad reviews than good. I know you have to pay for editing services and they don’t do a good job at that. My editor re edited the book and found some errors from their editing department. I guess my husband and I will have to go up to Authorhouse and give them a visit, before we do anything else.
Thank you
Here’s the Real Deal with Self-Publishing. I too have one book published through AuthorHouse. 1st: you should set a budget. 2nd: I designed my own book cover on my computer at home and set it to them [authourhouse] for layout. You can make a PDF file on your computer at home. 3rd: Edits, a good book has to be edited, copywritten, proofread after that and go over by you again, and again. I have gone over my 2nd book [not in production yet] many, many times. I also read it and add to it. 4th: You have to pick and choose what services you’re going to use with AuthorHouse. Period. My daughter was my publicist. She had the voice and professional deamenor to get me into the Chicago Sun-Times. I did before my daughter; hire a lady [from online research] from Atlanta that got me into Jet Magazine. One of the most pretigous mags in the US. 5th: It’s up to you to sell your own book. I only made approx $50 through AuthorHouse but I did book signings outside of AuthorHouse. I traveled and set up a table at book fairs and churches etc. etc. AuthorHouse has great services and packages but once you get the book how you want it—you sell it. Self publishing means just that “self.”
So, if your daughter was not a publicist, would you recommend using AuthorHouse’s media publicist and social media publicist they offer for appx 9K for the first 6 weeks?
My book is being published by AuthorHouse and should be ready by 1/2011, but they are now offering the publicist packages. What do you recommend. I have a back ground in sales and marketing and a lot of contacts. But, like everyone else my book should truly appeal to the Oprah show, Joy Behar, Wendy Williams type of programs – but do I need a publicist to get my book in front of those types?
Any feedback appreciated,
Carol
Carol ~
I have not read all the comments in this Blog. But, those that I HAVE read, I can pretty much agree, 100%. I don’t have the time to go into the countless times I felt like getting into my vehicle & “Introducing them to my little ‘friend.'” It was the most exasperating exercise in futility that I have ever engaged in. Everything from customer service (yes…it’s a revolving door), to lay-out & design (found out that they “hire” local High School students that want to make that their “life’s ambition”…so they OJT on OUR books!!!). Big surprise that they have trouble following the easiest A-B-C, 1-2-3 diagragmed instructions!!!
Furthermore, AuthorHouse does not actually PRINT the books. They out-source the work to a tiny print-shop in TN. Now…If only I / we could find out who THEY are, I / we could bypass the whole “step” known as AuthorHouse!!
Needless to say ~ I have changed publishers. And, the difference is like night & day! Although the folks that dialogue with you in e*mails & phone conversations are most noteably “foreigners,” they are, to a fault, MOST polite (almost sickenly so), and return phone-calls, e*mails, eyc., VERY promptly!! Unlike AuthorHouse, they seem to actually CARE about the author & to see his product succeed. The “Contract” is very clear, up-front, in B/W, and INCLUDES a whole lot of things that AuthorHouse makes you pay extra for (through the nose). “Marketing” is ALSO included in that package…
And, like one of the previous “reviewers,” I sent them the concept of the cover that I designed on my computer. After only about 2-3 iterations, it was beyond perfect (the whole process of which was only about two weeks!!).
I’m certain that the actual “working-up” of the book itself will be more laborious, but, I already take comfort in the fact that they SEEM genuinely caring.
Last thing: Price. Their pricing is even lower than AuthorHouse!! AND, if you’re fortunate enough to catch one of their specials (like I was!!), you can get a Holiday Special for 50% (or MORE!!) Off!! I received the Deluxe Package for what the bare minimums would have cost with AuthorHouse.
Best thing? Not being required to pay everything “up-front!!” Was able to break my package up into 3 agreeable / feasible payments.
IF a book can be judged by its cover (especially one like MY covers!), I’m expecting VERY great things with my new self-published publishing house.
Hope some of this helps someone…..
IF I might be of additional assistance, shoot me an e*mail at:
stevensdr@hotmail.com.
I have to agree. I too used authorhouse and my experience was nothing like that which has been previously shared. My experience was actually good. I had a consultant who held myhand and walked me through the process step by step.
I had someone to edit my work, do my cover and the only thing that authorhouse had to do was publish and print. I will say that I have been a little dissappointed in my royalty checks. Too many people have told me personally that they purchased my book online and i am yet to see the funds. As stated before, do your homework carefully before publishing your work.
check your contract and for goodness sakes, check the website for what you’re paying for..design and distribution of your book..if you want publicity, marketing and what not, those come as add-on services, which you have to pay extra for. quality of the book is superb.. lulu, though admittedly cheaper doesn’t have that good of a quality. My suggestion..get someone to print the books POD, low book price, 20% up to 50% royalty, customised cover and interior and distribution to ingram, betrams and gardners..hmmm…wait, isnt that the same company you’re complaining about? that is what you paid a thousand quids for, sir…next time, ask all the questions you can before paying..just my two cents..or two pence..
Its good to see that others are beginning to see through the thinly veiled stooges placed on here to give credability to AH. Their time is shortly up and myself and the many hundreds of other scammed authors would like our money from the royalties from the 1000’s of scam sales. You heard it here first.Do not use AH and tell everyone you know.
Tony:
I lost $2,100 to Author House and have a book I’m not proud of and can’t promote. I reported them to the Better Business Bureau in Indiana and they replied with a pack of lies, i.e, that they gave me many services and books without charging me. I went online to see my statement which was always available to me and found that they’ve removed it, so I won’t be able to prove what I paid if I should ever go to court. I can always go to my credit card company and ask for the record of money paid out to them, of course.
With so many os us who have been duped by this company, I wonder if we might have a class action. I live in Florida and haven’t been able to find anyone who wants to take a case to an Indiana court. If anyone who feels as strongly as I are interested and lives in Indiana and/or knows an attorney who would be willing to take it on, let me know. I’m definitely in.
I too would love to take them on, but I live in Massachusetts. They are scandulous, and trying to scam me out of $706.00 for a charge posted, or rather declned in February of 2009. They are just finding their accounting errors now. I plan on calling the Better Business Bureau of Indiana and the FCC, but not much I can do from MA.in regard to a class action suit.
I’m not shilling for anyone. I’m pointing out (again and again) that writers have to do their research. There’s nothing in Authorhouse’s packages that mention copyediting:
http://www.authorhouse.com/ServicesStore/ChoosePackage.asp
It’s up to you to figure that out before shelling out $1000. For my most recent book I just paid $400 for an editor, which is actually cheaper than most. If you add in the book designer, that’s more $ than an Authorhouse package. It’s not a bad idea to go with Authorhouse’s cheapest package, plus an independent editor, which would run $700-$800. That way you can save on book cover design, which is more expensive when doing it independently.
I’ve advocated on this site people going to Lulu to save money. But if your friend only paid 70 pounds that means she didn’t hire an editor or a book cover designer, so the typo issue isn’t going to go away unless she got someone to do it for free. Authorhouse may have problems with customer support and other issues, but don’t get angry at them (and me) for not doing something they weren’t hired to do.
I’m sorry Mr. Baum, but they do offer editing services. You are absolutely right. We should have researched this whole thing. I’m going down with a fight. We do have consumer rights. It is too many complaints against them.
20-30 complaints against 50,000 plus happy clients..that’s a reasonable margin I believe…check the BBB..
if that ratio goes higher for the worse..then that might be a problem..
Henry I was well aware I wasn’t going to get editing with my package, well aware. The editing was a further £400+ on top of the massive £600 charge for the basic package + all the extras (which in my case came to a total of about £1,100). My issue is WHAT DO THEY DO FOR THE MONEY? A big fat nothing!
And even though they were supposed to design my cover, I had to hire a designer because the cover options they gave me were so terrible! So not only did I have to pay those arseholes for DOING NOTHING I also had to hire a cover designer on top of that. As for the editing, I did that myself. I certainly wasn’t going to give them more money! For the amount I paid that should have been part of the package.
As I have said, my friend published through Lulu for less than 10% of what I paid. Her cover doesn’t like quite as professional as mine but so what? Her books are well written and the content speaks for itself.
What really gets me is the £400 they charge for “rapid release” – which is a “very fast turnaround” of 8 weeks. Rapid release WHAT A JOKE! Lulu’s books are published the moment you upload them to their site!
So don’t you dare tell me Henry that I got my money’s worth, or that I knew what I was in for! These scamming bastards prey on naive, vulnerable people who know nothing about the industry and think Authorhouse are going to make their dreams come true.
Don’t you DARE try to defend these low lifes! You are coming across as no better than them!
yup..lulu does seem to be a “practical” solution….70 quid..wow..I’ve just checked their website, I don’t see no 70 quid there.. you’re right, content speaks millions…but wait, how can they check the content if all they’ll see is the cover?? amazon search inside, you think?? i think that’s what she paid 70 quid for..
All I’m saying is that people shouldn’t be naive and know what they’re getting into. If people get ripped off, it’s not always the fault of the scam artist, it’s people not using common sense (I’m not calling Authorhouse a scam artist, just an example). You spent too much money and now you feel bad about it. I’m sorry about that – and I agree that a lot of what they propose probably doesn’t amount to much – like “professional marketing consultation.” They are, it’s true, relying on getting the business of people who don’t know any better. But to say “For the amount I paid that should have been part of the package” is not really a criticism of Authorhouse, is it? It’s a case of you assuming you were getting something that wasn’t a part of the package. I never said you got your money’s worth – I actually said the opposite. There are much better ways to spend $1100. I just don’t think that people should go blaming a business when customers are also at fault for not doing the research. Most of the people I’ve talked to (outside this thread) have said, yeah, I didn’t do enough research ahead of time.
I’m not just defending Authorhouse, but subsidy publishers in general that get blamed for this problem. I just think authors share some of the blame – and I’m a person who spends his time defending authors’ rights. I mean, that’s why I advocate self-publishing, because it gives authors more control. Read this post for more on this issue: https://www.selfpublishingreview.com/2009/07/02/do-self-publishing-services-take-advantage-of-writers/
My book is being published by AH right now, but do I need the publicist and social media publicist package as well?
So, far everything is going well – I read what I would be getting, but perhaps I should wait until I actually have the book in hand before deciding about hiring a publicist? Any opinion on this subject?
Preying on naive people who don’t know anything about the publishing business is what Authorhouse do best. And that is what makes them scam artists.
I don’t like your attitude to blame the victim here. What happened to morals? I don’t go around ripping people because I have morals, and therefore I expect the same in return.
And Henry, I don’t feel bad about it, I feel bad that there are so many arseholes out there willing to take advantage of vulnerable, honest people who always see the best in others.
And for your information, Authorhouse made quite a few errors on my manuscript (their errors, not mine), they promised to give me a cover and they did not deliver that, and their “marketing package” was a bunch of useless postcards and bookmarks with THEIR name written all over it. Dean, their representative, also lied about the royalties – quite a big lie at that.
Make no mistake, Henry, these people are professional scam artists, and whilst I am well aware that I have myself partly to blame, my big mistake was to always see the good in people/companies before seeing the bad. I don’t think that’s a trait to feel guilty about. The staff at Authorhouse, on the other hand, well I don’t know how they can look at themselves in the mirror.
But I sit smug in the fact that they will get their karma.
I’m not solely blaming the victim, but call me callous, any writer who thinks that self-publishing will make their “dreams come true” is just waiting to be taken advantage of. And, yes, Authorhouse and every other subsidy publisher relies on these people’s business. I just wish people could be a little smarter, just like I wish people could write better books. The world of self-publishing is overrun by newbies who don’t put enough thought into the process. That bothers me. A lot of what you say is valid though – if they’re truly misrepresenting their services, then that’s a real issue.
My main premise was that if you don’t want to do a lot of the work or spend a lot of money, then a $400 package is reasonable. It’s a good method for someone who doesn’t want to hunt around for a book cover designer or upload files – a person who wants to be hands-off. All the other add-ons aren’t that necessary and there are better ways to spend your money.
Received an offer for publishing my book. $1.999.00
Wonder how many add ones can I expect>
Just cutious.
Good deal? Bad Deal?
I’m sorry, Mr. Stern; I’m not familiar with this site, and thought the thumbs were for answering, not rating, your question.
Boy, did I feel stoopid when I suddenly noticed each post had them, regardless of if it included a question. :^(
Anyway, that price looks pretty steep, especially if it’s a basic package.
And any company set up like this makes much of its revenue in add ons upon add ons upon add ons. Wait ’til the exact package you want, not paying for features you don’t want, is there with a final price tag, in writing, before you sign anything or hand over your money.
Speaking of add ons, it’s probably best if any company like this doesn’t have its hands on any of your credit or debit cards. Certified cashier’s check, bank transfer, whatever it takes, but don’t let them have your numbers or you’ll still be finding random charges years down the road.
PODs and other publishing forms all have their pluses and minuses. You’ll want to decide what you want out of this: a small run for family, friends, colleagues, etc.; a New York Times bestseller, or somewhere in between.
That information, combined with your budget, will help you decide which publishing type is best, and how much of the budget you should spend on printing the book; marketing; legal fund for copyright filing/defending, looking at contracts, etc.
Whoops, just realized this says 2009 – very late to the party. :^(
Never mind, sorry!
Having worked at AuthorHouse and iUniverse, I can tell you the following:
1) Yes, they have aggressive sales people who go after the naive. In fact, Sales (selling packages to YOU, not selling your book) is the biggest focus of the company. Once they have your money, its anyone’s guess where it goes (it sure as hell doesn’t go to the employees). Their attitude seems to be that what you are paying for is “the experience of being a published author.” I’ve seen some “published authors” have some pretty miserable experiences.
2) Your book WILL be sent to India or the Philippines to be designed, regardless of what your “DC” or “PSA” says about “talking to your designer.” Your “designer’s” job is to manage the flow of outsourcing. And to listen to DCs and PSAs get yelled at on the phone.
3) Yes, your DC and PSA will do anything they can to avoid talking to you, but in most cases, its honestly not their fault. In most cases, they are having as hard a time getting the information as you are in getting it from them. It’s just a very poorly run company. These people aren’t evil. Okay, so the people who RUN the company are. But not the people who work with you or on your book.
4) ASI, or AuthorSolutions International, is the parent company of AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Xlibris, and Trafford) If you buy a package from any one of these companies, your book will be handled by the same people. In fact, aside from Xlibris (which is in the Phillipines) all the rest of these “companies” share the same office, and work across brands. Nice folks, most of ’em. But it’s only a matter of time before Sales is the only thing that isn’t outsourced.
5) The pay-for-corrections business is a scam, of sorts. Your text revisions are mostly outsourced, and it is unlikely that anyone will check them to make sure they are done properly. Until you see them, and then you have to pay again. The bottom line is that the longer the production process takes, the more likely you will feel like you’ve already invested so much, you might as well stick it out. They know this. This is how they make money.
6) Now, a great deal of the frustration I have seen comes from authors who have been pressured to submit their manuscript before it was ready. In fact, when business sucked back in March, there was a company-wide push to call authors and get them to submit their manuscripts before they were ready. The result was that the production process took forever, because many authors were still trying to rewrite their books through the revisions process, which takes a lot of time and a lot of money. So, my advice would be that if you really want to self-publish consider the following:
– Their marketing services are useless. If your book is going to sell, you have to do it yourself anyway, so don’t waste money on this.
– Use your own editor and cover designer. Cover design is not outsourced (yet) but they are limited to stock photography.
– Make sure that your book is DONE before sending it to them. Certainly, mistakes get made on their end, but I have seen a lot of authors who think they have everything perfect, only to find that they did not. And I have seen too many authors try to keep writing their book while its in production.
– Understand that even though you paid $1000, and that’s a lot of money to you, some people pay up to $50,000, and you and they will be treated accordingly. I’m not defending this, but it is true.
– Finally, and most importantly, they make their money by getting you to fork it over by getting you all excited about how great it would be to be a “published author.” But you know what? If you pay someone $1000 to print your book after you do all the work, you are not a published author. Your time and money would be better spent finding avenues to do it yourself, or find a real publishing company who will publish your work for real.
Outstanding, thank you for your honesty and comments.
I wish “I Worked There” would pass the message on to the Better Business Bureau. I’ve finally had to do it after pouring $2,100 into a doomed project. My book is embarassingly bad. Yes, I sent the cover. Yes, I edited it many times. A friend who also is a writer edited it. After 30 years in the newspaper business I know how to write and edit. I asked them at one point if the work was being done by people with English as the second language and of course they said “no.” I asked if the work was being done by interns. Again, the answer was “no.”
I want to encourage everyone who has had a bad experience with AH to report it to the Better Business Bureau. If you look at the list of complaints you’ll see that some of them got a refund.
Thanks “I worked there”. All these comments, further reiterate the fact that Authorhouse are scam artists. And, yes as you say, maybe some of the employees aren’ t so bad, but as a whole, this is a big arsehole of a company, no better than those big pyramid schemes organised by professional crooks.
I beg everyone to skip Authorhouse and any other vanity publisher. Go with Lulu.com. Authorhouse do NOTHING for the money you pay them, NOTHING! And don’t let them tell you they do!
Learn the mistakes from people who have been there.
Don’t they own Lulu?
I am in dispute at the moment with Authorhouse as I have been digusted with their unproffesional services and amount of money they charged for doing nothing! The layout of my book can only be descibed as child like and unproffesional beyond words! for example my illustrations lopsided, the text out of line, illustration layout looked like it had been thrown together by a child, . so I have asked for a refund . I had to pay for my fees upfront, even my marketing fees otherwise they would not carry out any work. I thought I would be getting a proffesional service so I paid it, 3000-00 in total in good faith.
Authorhouse have refused to refund my marketing fees (£1000-00) eventhough though I have not used the service! plus refused to refund my 2000-00 for publishing fees which I have not been satisfied with. They ignore all emails and dont want to know.
Authorhouse are a complete rip off !! and I would advise anyone to keep well AWAY!!! I have since found an advisor on publishing and will only go to a UK publisher who has been recommended t I will continue to persue my money and NOT GIVING IN!! why should a company get away with a shoddy service like this who does not really care for it customers only their money. Once they have your money they will do little else for you and not be interested if you are not satisfied. Please save your money and go else where.
Beverley I feel for you as I have been there too. I’m sorry to say but there is no way they will not give you any money back. Unless the government does something about regulating this industry, people like you and me will continue getting ripped off and getting our dreams crushed in the process.
The scumbags still send me emails trying to sell more of their services.
Every time I see their names in my inbox its like rubbing salt into a wound. I have decided that I will reply to the next email I receive from them and they will get the ear-bashing of a life time.
If I could tell every self publishing author in the world to keep away from these low-lifes I would.
I can only say thank you for giving me, a brand new writer,some very informative information about these self-publishing houses. You have saved me not only my hard earned money, but my sanity! I am so glad I came upon this site. I wish there was more information out there about where to go to safely put your words in print.
Thanks on your warnings! who do you recommend –it is my first book!
Kathie, personally I do not recommend self-publishing companies at all! To hear (or read) the promotional materials of such companies, you would get the impression that the new, modern, with-it way of breaking into publication is to pay for it yourself. No, this is not true. While anybody can get a title listed on Amazon, the books most people buy (and the books you see at bookstores) come from REAL publishers, publishers whose acquisitions editors actually reject the majority of manuscripts and proposals they receive and choose books they have good reason to believe will be a financial asset to their company. The authors of those books do not pay a dime to the publisher; the publisher pays them. That’s how the business is supposed to work.
Think about why authors feel it is such an accomplishment to be published. Is it just because a book looks really cool in its binding? No. It’s because it is an achievement to be chosen for publication. To be chosen means there must be the realistic possibility and even probability of rejection. It means that someone more objective than the author him/herself must decide that the book is worth an investment of other people’s money, that there is reason to believe enough people will want not only to read but to buy the book to justify all this effort.
When you seek to be chosen, there are rules to follow. I suggest that you go to your library and check out three years’ worth of Writers’ Market and Writer’s Guide to Literary Agents. If there is a Writer’s Market specific to the genre in which you write (short stories, novels, nonfiction, etc.), then check that out, too. Read the articles. Follow their advice about things like writing query letters to agents and formatting book proposals. Prepare yourself for rejection, lots of it. There are no shortcuts, not even if you are willing to pay your life’s savings for them.
If you do have a book that you do not intend to sell in any real commercial sense (say, a set of stories you’d just like to give to your family and friends for Christmas), you can have it professionally printed and even bound by a good PRINTER, not a PUBLISHER. This will be cheaper, and you will be honest with yourself about the fact that the only person who chose this book was you.
Well said Gina, but this message is for Kathie: if you really do not have the time or the inclination for rejections by mainstream publishing companies then try Lulu.com. If you’ve never heard of them its because they don’t advertise much. My friend has published three books with them and has been very pleased. They charge £70 and you get a free ISBN with that and your book is published as soon as you want it to be.
They don’t make any promises except to bind your book, make it presentable and put it out there. So basically the same thing as what scam artists like Authorhouse do for £1,000.
If you want to try a mainstream publishing house or literary agent check out The Writer’s Yearbook, which you can get from bookstores, on-line or probably the library. Warning though: this is a huge book and you may be overwhelmed by the information.
Just stay away from those vanity publishers at all costs!
I have asked friends and family around the country to buy my book and hold onto the reciepts until Sept. ends. If my Dec. check doesn’t reflect my real sales, I’m going to nail authorhouse!
I highly suggest that every author who published with authorhouse do the same thing!!!
I am a writer and illustrator, and friend of mine have used Authorhouse. They are so very disgusted with the communication and feedback. They mentioned that even the best psychics in the world would not even be able to contact the living thjere, even by remote viewing. Stay TOTALLY AWAY from Authorhouse.The only thing that gets respected most efficiently is the fees by authorhouse. They dash emerging authors like disposable entities and have the gaul to continue to sell you products and services to you. These places need Regulating “Urgently”.
Steve
May l suggest to anyone that has undertaken services from Authourhouse write to the following regaarding “Regulating” such entities as Authorhouse. to: Traiding Standards. The CEO of Authorhouse is Brian Smith who recently lost a litigation case in America on libal over an authors book. I am looking at how authors who receive such poor services can their money back. Authorhouse cover themselves in frugal way by informing authors that you are in control of the pocess of self publication. They do not honour the initial commitment to services to authors, verbally or otherwise.
If anyone wishes to contact me regarding wishing to be an author and services for illustrating, l being a writer and illustrator of which l am not selling my services here at all you can reach me at the following:
stevenupton@uptonenterprises.com
I will be pleased to help AT NO COST to help anyone that has fallen foul of such services, where authors dreams have been bannished to some galley refuse bin in cyber space. When l conclude on authors can get their hard earned funds back l will let you know. I am currently working with the House of Commons on the issue to be raised as an item, then to be minuted in Hnsaed, so watch this space.
Kind Regards.
Hello Steve,
Thank you for your excellent advice and you will be definitely hearing from me.
I hope other people also take the initiative to contact you. What this scamming company needs is an army of people against it.
Speak to you soon.
Hi Henry, i just got a call from Gail, the sales lady from Aurthorhouse who encouraged me to use their services. She was unhappy that i used her name in the write up of my authorhouse experience. She has asked that i ask you to delete her name. Since i can’t edit a post, can you kindly take her name out as she beleives its production that let me down not- sales- and it may affect her career in future to have her name in the context of a complaint.
Its interesting to know that aurthorhouse does get to see the comments about them, maybe they may do a ‘retech’ of their services and some good will come out of our bad experiences and future authors won’t feel swindled!
But considerring the track record with 1st Books… methinks ‘stale wine in a new bottle’.
PS:
Did i hear a rumor that a TV channel was doing an undercover documentary on self publishing rip-offs. Has anyone picked this up or has more information, please share.
Many thanks.
I hope they are reading our comments. They might now realise people are on to them and they can’t continue their scam forever.
What is this TV show? I’d like to know more.
I understand that both Channel 4 and the BBC are quite enlightened on the subject of publishing houses, maybe it could be either of them or both. I have a friend in the BBC and there has been discussions.
Hi everyone,
I’m a new writer and was at a loss what to do about publishing my novel, that was until I discovered this page.
I had a call from someone at authorhouse yesterday (God knows where they got my number) the guy seemed a tad pushy, offering all sorts of discounts that someone appearing to be the tiniest bit gullable would gobble up quickly, when I told him that I was going to do some research on the net about self-publishing and vanity publishing he again offered his services. Probably hoping to steer me away from here.
I’m indebted to you all for ‘showing me the light’ and hope against hope that other people avoid getting conned by this and other companies like them.
Guess I’ll have to carry on receiving the rejection slips, still if that was good enough for J K Rowling it’s certainly good enough for little ol’ me.
Hello Mel, I’m a new writer as well. In doing my research to find the proper publisher to fit what i’m looking for , i came across Authorhouse and ask for some info. from them. I recieved my info and like feel they are a little pushy for me to agree to publish with them. I told them i wasn’t quite ready to make a comittment with them and wanted to do more research. They wanted to know what they can do to make me join them , I feel that i am in controll and i plan on doing more reseach for the right publisher that fits my needs and want to do this in my own time , The gentleman i talked to then wants to contact me the very next day, red fags did go up , they do seem pushy. I didn’t have anything published with Authorhouse , so i can’t say if they are good or not , but i definately will still be doing more researching. Trust me : you’r not alone…
I received a phone call from Author House last night. I couldn’t figure out how th hell they knew my name. It turns out I had inquired with them back in the 90’s when they were First Books. Anyway, the guy on the phone was very hard to understand. Nice enough guy, `But eet be very deeficult to oondarstand zactly vutt he be say at me—to me, I mean.’ He wasn’t a Hoosier, I’ll promise you that. So I called the number back, hoping to talk to someone else—who could answer a few pertinent questions, and I got trapped on their LAME push-button robot phone service. I finally spoke with a gal who gave me another number to call. I never called it because…by that time, I was out of strength. No, actually I didn’t call because I figured, why bother? it’s not gonna get any better than that. So I don’t know what the hell to do now. I’ve self-published before. And like many others out there now, I have a site and the whole nine yards. Anyway, I was hoping Author House would take the reigns when it came to the sales aspect. They sure made it sound like they wanted to do it that way. I guess in order to catch a break in this business, you have to pull an editor’s kid from a burning building. Then it’s still a big maybe. I’m still never gonna quit, though…I’ve come way too far for that.
I am currently in a dispute with AuthorHouse. I wrote a simple 32 page childrens book and I had to send 3 CD’s on 3 different occasions because 3 different representatives told me to format my pages 3 different ways.
Their one on one support only kicks in after they have everything. Before that you speak to a half a dozen different people.
My biggest problem is their book pricing. For months I asked what the cost of the book would be to me, and they danced around the answer telling me that we need to wait till its all approved by the graphics dept to get a price.
Well after it was approved the price was ridiculously high. It has been explained to me that their book prices are high because they outsource their print jobs. I assume they are making a profit on each book before the sale and after it.
If something isn’t resolved financially, I will be complaining to the attorney generals office and the Better Business Bureua.
I am currently looking at other resources to help me produce by book.
Dan, they lied to me about the book price too. They told me it would cost me £3 to produce each book, but after it was published and ready to go it turned out it was actually about £6.70, or down to £6 if I bought in bulk. I was absolutely gutted. As many paperback books sell for £7 or less I considered this to be nothing less than a loss. Not that it matters anyway, because without marketing you won’t even sell one book.
They are liars and scam artists and I can’t wait until they go down.
To Angela and Dan:
Absolutely 100% correct. Author House cares nothing about you or your book. They want $$$$$$$$
About three years ago I went with Morris Publishing out of Kearney, Nebraska. Back then, it was between $1200 and $1400 to have a 320-page novel published. It took about 60 days, and they sent me 200 copies. Plus, I had to buy the runoff copies, which was 20 books…10% runoff is common.Morris really doesn’t care what you write, as long as it isn’t hate-literature or goofy stuff like that, and I think they have a sales program—I can’t remember, I didn’t care at the time. But I’m going to go it alone and to sell them myself anyway? What else can you really do? I remember reading about writers who have been accepted by the big-boys who end up getting mid-listed.From what I read, that means stuck in limbo. They quit advertising your book because it didn’t do all that well. Then you have to write letter after letter and make phone call after phone call to try and get it out of limbo. That doesn’t sound too fun to mel. Actually, it gave me the butterflies when I read that. But who’s to say Author House or any other substidy publisher won’t stick our books on some kind of mid-list if they aren’t turning a profit. Then what?
For my next one, I’m going with Morris again.I have some marketing ideas of my own.
It can’t hurt to look them up. They’re good people and they do awesome work.
Go to MorrisPublishing.com
Just trying to help
Did Morris Publishing provide off set printing? Did you use their PDF service?
Why waste your time self-publishing, go to authonomy.com, it is part of Harper Collins. You meet other like minded people who give you honest feedback about your book without you having to pay out a penny, yes it’s free!
There is also the opportunity of landing on the editor’s desk and being offered a genuine publishing deal.
Come on give it a try, look me up when you’re registered.
TriggerStep:
I think your post shows exactly the kind of confusion that Author House is not only counting on, but actually works hard to create. You are picturing that Author House and, for example, Random House are in the same business, publishing. When you ask whether an Author House writer is apt to be “mid-listed”, you assume that they are playing the same game as what you call the “big boys” by roughly the same rules. They’re not.
Author House is not a “little” version of the “big boys”. It’s HUGE, for what it is: a vanity press. Not a commercial publisher. A vanity press. They make their money from authors, who buy their own books in hopes of selling them. Commercial publishers like Random House, Simon and Schuster, TOR, etc. make their money from readers, who buy books to read them. Author House and other vanity presses do not particularly care how well your book is “selling”, because they have already made a profit off of you, the author, before a single book comes off the press. You are in no danger of being “mid-listed”, because that just doesn’t exist for them. You are also in very, very little danger of making any commercial bestseller list.
Might an author, especially a first-timer, end up on the mid-list after selling a novel to a commercial publisher? Sure. Happens all the time. But you know what? They didn’t have to pay the publisher a dime to see their book in print. In fact, the publisher paid them an advance (admittedly probably a modest one), which they will never, ever have to pay back. Even if they never sell another book, they can always say that they are a published author. No one can take that distinction away from them. Sure, it would be great to be a huge financial success, too. But even if the book’s a total flop, they have achieved something. Paid professionals with experience in the publishing industry decided to take a chance on their manuscript. If the gamble didn’t pay off, well, it wasn’t the author’s money being wagered.
There’s an old joke: What do you call the guy who graduated at the bottom of his medical school class? DOCTOR!
What do you call an author whose work wound up on the mid-list at a commercial publishing house? A PUBLISHED PROFESSIONAL AUTHOR!
I know this is a harsh thing to say, and it’s not what people want to hear, but repeat it to yourself three times while looking into the mirror: “If I am only published through a vanity press, then I am not published at all. If I am only published through a vanity press, then I am not published at all. If I am only published . . . ” Well, you get the idea.
Sometimes, people can only take a dose of reality if they deliver it to themselves.
This is sorta silly: “Even if they never sell another book, they can always say that they are a published author. No one can take that distinction away from them.”
As if that’s the main goal of writing and publishing – to be able to say, “I’m published,” rather than be able to find readers. If you’ve got a free blogspot blog and write about current events, you can’t really consider yourself a “journalist,” but so what? The goal is to be read, not to be able to have a special title.
So where I agree with you that self-publishing is not like trad publishing, the idea of whether or not to call myself “published” is the least of my worries.
Henry, I’m glad that works for you, but an awful lot of people DO care about having their work recognized as worthwhile by someone less biased than themselves and their own mother, and for many of them, it is symbolized by being “published”. That is, by being CHOSEN for publication. Vanity presses are quick to play on that.
And a commercial publisher is still a better vehicle for getting your book into the hands of readers, IF you can get your book chosen by one. People need to be honest with themselves about why that isn’t happening. Is it really true that their work is so cutting edge that commercial businesses won’t touch it? Is it really true that it fits into a niche so small that there’s no commercial press handling that kind of material? Or (far more likely) is it poorly written? Or in some sad cases, has the author not even TRIED to sell it to a real publisher, because they believed the promotional nonsense for companies like Author House?
Guys,
this was most useful. Henry clearly works for Authorhouse and is doing a good job putting forward their case but the personal experiences are universally appalling. Gina’s right – vanity publishing is so-called for a reason.
I don’t work for Authorhouse. My stance:
1. A $600 package is reasonable compared to hiring a book designer independently.
2. It’s cheaper ultimately to go directly to Lightning Source because books are cheaper, but Authorhouse is more convenient and you pay for that convenience. You pay for it with “free” self-publishing through Lulu b/c the books are also more expensive.
3. Me? I have an independent designer for my book, an independent editor, and I’m publishing through Lightning Source. AuthorHouse would never be my first choice.
4. Obviously AH has some problems, or it wouldn’t be getting these kinds of complaints. But you could also gather together a group of who were satisfied with the experience. Critics are always more vocal.
5. Many complaints about subsidy services are by those who thought the service would help sell books. No, they’re mainly just a printer.
This isn’t really the place to debate the merits of self-publishing. Plenty of that on the site already.
Henry,
First it seems odd that no one commenting on this topic is “pro” AuthorHouse. It seems if they were reputable, someone would come to their defense.
Second, have you, personally, published, or attempted to publish through AuthorHouse? If not, then its likely you cannot contest to what those of us who have worked with experienced.
Dan
People don’t troll the web looking to defend someone’s honor. The web is often a place to spout negativity, whatever the subject.
You’re right, I haven’t published with Authorhouse. My comments are more general about subsidy publishing and seeing how people have been naive about what a subsidy publisher can achieve and then get angry when it doesn’t happen. A lot of what people say here is troubling to me – but I also don’t like being called a shill when I’m just trying to offer some balance by saying Authorhouse might not suck completely.
Author John Lacombe seems happy with his book: http://www.authorjohnlacombe.com. One of the criticisms that Peter Bowerman makes – http://editorunleashed.com/2009/10/19/looking-for-money-in-the-slush-pile/#comment-3758 – is that AH books look bad, so don’t bother. I don’t think you could say that about Lacombe’s book. I could try to get Lacombe to write a piece about his experience.
Henry, Please don’t take offense to what I said. I enjoy reading your articles, but this one hit close to home.
Perhaps the entire comment thread could have been avoided if the article wasn’t title “AuthorHouse Review”. The word “review” is what I am referring to. I am certain that you understand the process of publication, and would surely agree that something this process oriented couldn’t be reviewed without usage. I can’t review restaurants if I don’t visit them, right? I can look at a menu, and see the prices and say, “This looks good.”. The weight of my comments would not be as strong as someone who ate the food, hated it, and had to pay for it.
It is unfortunate that your article has become the location for people to speak out against AuthorHouse, but perhaps you can spin this into another article, siting some of us, regarding experiences with AuthorHouse, LuLu.com, and CreateSpace.com. Turn the negative, into a positive.
Dan
The Views so far shared here l hope AuthorHouse review internally. Sales are not the priority focus. Emerging and establihed authors have had some severe experiences with them that sadly will give AuthorHouse their due Karma within the publishing world globally. Sadly l feel that some sales and design staff are just undertaking a sales mantra for fear of not reaching fiscal targets at the expense of “truly” supporting authors with professional integrity.
I hope that the human component develops in AuthorHouse, but te watch dog will uncover the subversive sales tactics currently used, or it may well be happening already.
Henry, your attitude is rather appalling and I am shocked that you can actually say anything positive about this shoddy company or any other vanity publisher.
Actually $600 is NOT Reasonable for a publishing package. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Lulu.com charge just £70 and you get EXACTLY the same thing!! Do their books cost more? Maybe about 50p or so – but that isn’t a lot when you compare to the THOUSANDS that Authorhouse charge just to get your book in print!! Not only that but Authorhouse books are NOT cheap for the author and don’t let anyone tell you they are! Dean, my consultant/salesman told me that my book would cost me £4 each to print……and that if I sold it at £7 that would a nice little £3/book profit.
LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE! Actually the books cost £6.50 to print!! Or if I bought a 100 or more they would drop down to £6.07 each.
My friend has now published 4 books with Lulu. If anyone wants to see the quality of these books go to Amazon.co.uk and look up her name: Karen Mason. Her latest I am reading at the moment, Winner Takes All. It has a fantastic glossy cover and looks every bit as good as the books published by the low life vanity publishers.
If anyone wants an HONEST testimony from a published Lulu author (Karen Mason) then let me know on this thread and I’ll get her to get in touch with you.
I am not trying to sell Lulu – I have never published with them and have no loyalty to them whatsoever. All I know is that I cannot bear the thought of anyone going through the heartache of getting ripped off by lying theiving scumbags like Authorhouse and any other vanity publisher. If you want your book published and you don’t want to have to shell out a chunk of cash then approach Lulu. Its as simple as that.
Personally I prefer the cover of Winter Games, linked above, to the generic quality of the covers by Karen Mason.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Karen+Mason&x=11&y=21
I have published with Lulu. I hired a designer for $300 who was totally ill-equipped for the project. Lulu does have a better template generator now, but if you’re really serious about having a good quality book, you’re not going to self-design a book or it’s going to have the quality of a blogspot template.
When I think of Authorhouse, I think of someone like my dad. He has unpublished books in his desk. Doesn’t have a blog. Doesn’t want to bother with templates. Wants someone else to do it – through a package so he doesn’t have to hunt around for a book designer. For him, Authorhouse makes sense b/c it’s convenient, and as I said, you pay for the convenience.
I fully concur with the views of Dan and Angela and et al others with their feedback on the miserable trials with Authorhouse. As mentioned their financial mantra will be their downfall. Customer relations is void at Authorhouse. People abdicate their original intentions with authors. May Authorhouse please look beyond your sales pitch mantra and look at the glaring failings, otherwise like real estate, you will certainly crash into liquidation, if not already in the abyiss.
Hello Everyone,
I have two self published books through Xlibris company. If you want to talk about a shady company, this is one to talk about! Absolutely TERRIBLE SERVICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, I am not going to go into a lot of detail, but what I will say, I just signed up with Authorhouse, I have spent, I can not tell you how many hours of research, on self published companies. The thing is, I have my own designer, editor, marketing team etc. I just really needed sombody to publish/print the book and make it available for sale. I am doing all the marketing writing developing etc. for my book.
If people would really research and look at examples of books in print, through self published companies, you would automatically know THEY SUCK @ ILLUSTRATING, MARKETING, ETC. Also, what I might add is this, ALL SELF PUBLISHING COMPANIES have GOOD AND BAD REPUTATION!!!!!! READ THE FINE PRINT PEOPLE! I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I AM GETTING INTO. ALSO, ANOTHER GOOD IDEA IS TO EMAIL OR WRITE THE PRESENT AUTHORS THROUGH DIFFERENT SELF PUBLISHING COMPANIES AND SEE WHAT THEY SAY. PEOPLE NEED TO READ IN DETAIL, DO MORE RESEARCH, READ THE FINE PRINT, AND BE SMART ABOUT IT! SERIOUSLY.
Henry, Karen’s latest book Winner Takes All is obviously not available through Amazon just yet. I have it as I am a friend of hers. Also you can probably get it from the lulu website. Please don’t make any assumptions about Karen’s books. Unless you have seen them in the flesh you really do not have the right to pass judgement.
Do let me know when you have seen Winner Takes All in the flesh and then feel free to leave a negative comment. Until then, keep your insults to yourself.
You want to see a crap book cover you should have seen what Authorhouse were trying to suggest for mine. Absolutely laughable at what they charged. Instead, I hired my own illustrator at a cost of £125. Yes another cost that I paid on top of the £1,000 to those con artists Authorhouse.
Sure if people don’t want to do anything in regard to actually publishing their book, by all means, go to a vanity publisher. But if you can spare an extra 20 minutes to research the internet, read some blogs, talk to other published authors then why would you want to waste hundreds or thousands of dollars/pounds on “the easy way” out? I can assure you, when it’s all done and dusted you won’t feel like it was “easy”. Actually, you’ll feel more like a victim. You’ll know what it feels like to have months of your blood, sweat and tears be turned into nothing but a joke that makes money for everyone but you. Nothing easy about that.
Authorhouse.co.uk. More like Take your money and run.
They have treated my daughter appaulingly. Printed the book full of spelling mistakes
and when requested to make spelling changes (At my cost obviously) never maded the changes and continued to print
books with complete spelling errors.
Never answer emails or faxes.
Not interest in young new authors, only interested in getting your money then pushing you to one side.
I will not use nor recommend to anyone…. DO NOT USE..
Look elswhere before you become very very disapointed…
SERIOUSLY, PEOPLE! I REALLY WONDER IF THESE PEOPLE ARE REAL OR NOT! I AM NOT SAYING ANYONE OF YOU IS LYING, BUT AS OF RIGHT NOW I AM ALMOST DONE AND THROUGH PRODUCTION OF MY BOOK THROUGH AUTHORHOUSE. THEY HAVE BEEN VERY KIND, NICE, AND HELPFUL THROGH THE PROCESS.
ALSO, LIKE I SAID ON MY PREVIOUS POST. SELF PUBLISHING COMPANIES ARE TERRIBLE AT ILLUSTRATIONS, EDITING, DESIGNING, ETC. THAT IS WHY I DID IT ALL MYSELF! ALL I NEED IS PRETTY MUCH IS TO HAVE THEM PRINT IT AND HAVE IT AVAILABLE FOR SALE.
NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY SOME OF YOU ALL ARE UPSET. BECAUSE, YOU ALL MIGHT NEED HELP WITH ILLUSTRATIONS, DESIGNING, ETC. REGARDLESS, OF WHAT PUBLISHING COMPANY YOU GO THROUGH, THEY DON’T NEED TO SAY THEY CAN HELP IN THAT AREA, IF THEY ARE TERRIBLE AT IT. BOTTOM LINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
M.Cole….. you are obviously having a good timne with AH, unlike the many that have posted here.
A very niave 19 year old should not be screwed out of £1000.00 and then dumped at the sideline.
Au7thorhouse have no customer care and once funds are received do not contact again…
We have emailed, faxed, posted and telephone nuerous numerous times, why no responce!!!!!
I’m sorry that I am a little pissed for not only being ripped off but my daughters work being a print disgrace but Authorhouse are responsible for neglecting there customers.
If you want to be deflated then continue to use them, I for one will not hand over any furthe GBP’s to this
sole distroying company. They have just taken GBP202.00 for editing errors and have not made the changes!!!
Yes a reputable company I think NOT…
For anyone who claims they have had a good experience with Authorhouse – you are certainly in a minority- enjoy the moment.
What sucks is the feeling of being cheated… the fact is people like us went to self publishing companies because we are young and just want to get our voice in print. Granted, we may not have known to research as deeply as we should have, but that lesson has been learned thanks to Authorhouse.
Authorhouse feeds on this inexperience and its not morally right. It’s their business strategy, but its just not morally right.
I know better now, but what an expensive lesson i have learnt. The objective of this forum is to let people be AWARE of what they are getting involved in.
M. Cole, Sometimes a positive experience can be the exception, rather than a negative experience.
I USED AuthorHouse.com. You want my book ID?
I did my own formatting and provided my own illustrations and cover. It took three attempts to get it right because three different people at AuthorHouse gave me three different sets of instructions for page formatting. Each email I sent went unanswered until I finally called them and complained about it. Then after speaking to another person on the phone, the next day ,my email gets answered.
No one would tell me how much my book would cost me to purchase. Each time I asked, even for an estimate, I got the runaround. When they finally told me how much my 40 page Childrens Picture book would cost me, it was $10.56. The same book is costing me $3.56 at CreateSpace.com.
I contacted AuthorHouse and told them I wanted to cancel the service and wanted to know what part of my money they would refund. I was told my request would be passed on to a supervisor. I waited a week and emailed them again to see the status. It was then they said, oh you need to fill out this form and it will take 30 days to hear from someone.
This just added to the fact that THEY don’t know what they are doing. The employees are not properly trained at all. Three different formats, and a CS rep that didn’t know I needed to fill out a form to cancel my service.
If you had a good experience with them, then that’s great. But based on the odds, and the number of complaints, chances are your experience will take a turn for the worse eventually.
I just came across this web site. Unfortunately, I am currently involved with AuthorHouse, and your comments have given
me a chance to confirm my initial impressions of the company after I received my first Cover and galley.
I couldn’t believe such sloppy formatting, misspelling and a downright non-professional product. Does anyone have
suggestions for trying to get out of my contract, before I submit my final galley corrections to them?
Lish, Wow! We all need to get together and get to the bottom of this. They should give you your money back if you haven’t used their services. As soon as I hear back from Attorney Robinson, I will let you know.
Hi Lish,
Have you paid? I assume you have. Unfortunately I don’t think you can get the money back…..unless you contact Citizens Advice Bureau and tell them they haven’t delivered what they promised. You’d had to provide proof, such as the contract and the proofs they have presented you.
You could also just threaten to contact CAB, or go a bit further and get a solicitor to write a letter (you’d have to pay for this letter, but it may be worth it). It may scare them, or they may be so used to legal threats that they don’t bat an eyelid.
Unfortunately most vanity publishers are exactly the same -but I have a special kind of hatred reserved especially for Authorhouse.
Gina:
I know that Author House and Vanity are not real Big-Gun publishers. All I was saying is what if they can’t seem to sell your book for you and eventually stop trying to sell it or give it little to no public exposure (I was saying that THAT would be their way of mid-listing peoples’ books. Then what the hell are you supposed to do? Good luck getting a hold of anyone who can help you on the phone over there at Author House…if they can even speak our language.
I don’t think my post caused any confusuion on there, Gina. I think you need to put on a pair of specs and read it again. Rest assured, I would never go to bat for Author House or Random.
Sorry about the specs thing, Gina. Maybe I was a little `outta line there.I’m sure you’re a nice gal. Read it without `em
History is Written by Those Who’ve Hanged Heroes
And Also Gina: It’s not right to sit there and tell people that they’ll never make it on their own , either. How would you know? It doesn’t matter how good of a writer you are, you’de better have connections if you want to make it.
Sure, there are a lot of midlisted writers out there who, as you suggested, can look in the mirror and say “Wow, I made it, I’m mid-listed, but I made it. I’m stuck here in the mid-list with my 300-dollar advancement check, but, wow, I made it. Here, let me put on mybfavorite song and stare at myself some more.” Sounds like that came from experience, there, Gina.
There are a lot of writer’s out there who have made it by way of the self-publishing route. Stop trying to take the wind out of the sails of others who might find the guts to try. This country was founded on determination and guts, not the defeatist mentality.
I think, Trigger, that maybe I haven’t made clear the point I was trying to make, not so much about the authors themselves who use companies like AuthorHouse to get into print, but about those companies, and the way they exploit the hopes and fears and desperation of unpublished authors, who’ve put their heart and soul into writing a book and don’t know what to do next.
A place like Author House has no “midlist” precisely because they DON’T try to sell your book (in fact, it’s no big surprise to them if a book sells only a hundred copies, far too few even to make it onto a commercial publisher’s mid-list), and as far as they are concerned, that is not their job. For that matter, they don’t consider it their job to make sure your book is well-edited, and certainly they don’t think it’s their job to choose carefully among all the manuscripts being submitted to make sure there really is at least a potential market for a particular book. All of that is what the author does, if it gets done at all.
And that would not be such a terrible system, IF they did not claim to be a publisher, but instead simply a printer, binder, and shipper of books. If a writer drops off a ream of camera-ready pages at the printing counter of the local Staples or Office Max and says, “Make me a hundred copies, with a blue cover. Here’s my credit card,” he or she knows what the deal is: the store will print as many books as you’re willing to pay for, and it’s your job to sell them, burn them, or use them to balance a wobbly refrigerator, as you see fit. The book may or may not have merit; the guy at Staples does not care, and no one thinks that his willingness to print it says a thing about the quality of its content. Author House, and other vanity presses, instead cloak their services in the most superficial trappings of the publishing industry, deliberately giving the impression that they are something other than what they are.
I know it must sound as if I’m being cruel. It’s just that I believe it is important to be blunt with aspiring authors about the nature of the transaction they are contemplating with a vanity press, and to urge them in strong terms to be honest with themselves about what they are hoping to gain (whether professionally, financially, or personally) by having their book published. It is also important to point out places where they can get information about commercial publishing, such as how to make their work ready for submission to an acquisitions editor or a literary agent. No, it is not true that you have to have “connections”, but vanity presses LOVE for unpublished authors to believe that myth! For that matter, I think it’s also important for authors to know how to go about self-publication, if they are so inclined. Self-publicaiton is not what you get by signing up with a company like Author House.
I’m not the one who’s saying that new authors “can’t make it”. It’s the companies that feed off their desperation that say it. They may not say it in words, but it is implied by their entire business model.
Maybe this analogy will help: Have you ever gotten one of those emails from a person in Nigeria who says, “I can send you a million dollars, but you have to wire me a few thousand dollars first”? If I tell you, “Don’t do it; it’s a scam,” are you going to say, “It’s not fair to tell me I’m not good enough to earn a million dollars”? I don’t claim to know if you have a way of making a million dollars or not. I’m telling you that thisNigerian email isn’t it. In the same way, I’m not taking any position on people’s potential to become published authors. I’m telling them that Author House isn’t a way of doing it, and is probably just going to lose them a bunch of money.
Does that make sense?
Hi all,
Follow this link – it’s a warning on print on demand publishing. I just wish I’d seen it before I contacted Authorhouse. Hope it helps.
http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/pod/
The difference between commercial publishing and vanity publishing is quite simple.
A small commercial publisher’s dream list would consist of 100 titles selling 10,000 copies each. A vanity publisher’s dream list would consist of 10,000 titles selling 100 copies each.
That’s because the commercial publisher makes money from book sales, whilst the vanity publisher – actually a typesetting and printing firm with some ancillary services – makes money from selling services.
The notion that any serious author could use vanity publishing as a step towards a proper writing career is simple nonsense. Self-publishing, maybe, but that’s a different ballgame (and even this probably wouldn’t be much of a stepping stone).
As for the question of whether the fiction issued by vanity publishers is good enough for commercial publishing – it’s possible, but every vanity press book I have ever encountered has varied between the decent but not especially marketable (about 1% of what I’ve seen) through to semi-literate drivel that would never constitute a coherent novel no matter how many rewrites it underwent (about 99% of what I’ve seen). For non-fiction, there is likely to be a much higher proportion of competent, but very niche, publications.
My advice to aspiring writers (speaking as a successful published novelist) is to hone your material until a mainstream publisher will accept it. This could mean spending money on literary agencies (of which there are several very reputable firms) to help polish your manuscript, and it will certainly mean a lot of time spent making submissions to agents. But only go down the vanity publishing route if (a) you’re absolutely convinced the book will never be published properly, and (b) you’re so desperate to see your name in print that you’re prepared to lose thousands and thousands of pound to achieve it.
So, in considering authorhouse, I now feel quite afraid. I hear you who say that I just need to be aware. So, What is the big deal with the cover? How do I go about this separate from Authorhouse? I have artwork to use- just need it put on the cover. Should I expect to pay everytime I need to fix their mistakes? Are you saying they do not tell you how much it costs per book up front?
Reading this thread, it’s clear that many people posting here are not fully clear regarding the differences between commercial publishers, self-publishers and vanity publishers. (AuthorHouse, by the way, belongs squarely in the final category, whatever they may claim.) So here is a brief, simple overview of the differences between them:
Acceptance:
Large commercial publisher: Except for specialist schemes like MacMillan New Writing and Authonomy, will not accept direct submissions (must be through an agent). Chance of publication: maybe 0.1%.
Small commercial publisher: Will usually accept direct submissions. Chance of publication: maybe 1%.
Self-publisher: Except for manuscripts containing illegal material, will publish anything (unedited, unless you pay for this). Chance of publication: 100%.
Vanity publisher: Except for manuscripts containing illegal material, will publish anything (unedited, unless you pay for this). Chance of publication: 100%.
Upfront payment:
Large commercial publisher: Will give you a non-refundable advance against royalties. Typically this is between about £10,000 and £50,000, although if publishers get into a bidding war anything up to £1 million is theoretically possible. Publisher pays for copyediting, proofreading, typesetting, printing, cover design, marketing, warehousing and distribution.
Small commercial publisher: Advance is likely to be nominal (say £1) or non-existent. Publisher pays for copyediting, proofreading, typesetting, printing, cover design, marketing, warehousing and distribution.
Self-publisher: Author pays upfront for copyediting, proofreading, typesetting, printing, cover design, marketing, warehousing and distribution. Could be anything from £500 to £10,000, depending on size of the work, number of pages, ancillary services purchased and marketing or distribution support (if paid for).
Vanity publisher: Author pays upfront for copyediting, proofreading, typesetting, printing, cover design, marketing, warehousing and distribution. Could be anything from £500 to £10,000, depending on size of the work, number of pages, ancillary services purchased and marketing or distribution support (if paid for).
Likelihood of a professional-looking book:
Large commercial publisher: Certain.
Small commercial publisher: High.
Self-publisher: Depends on whom you use and the services you purchase.
Vanity publisher: Depends on whom you use and the services you purchase, but basically low.
Likelihood of a bestseller:
Large commercial publisher: Not high, but with heavyweight marketing support, the book will get the best chance possible.
Small commercial publisher: Lower, as marketing investment is initially likely to be limited (although money will soon be found if the book creates a stir). Big sales are certainly possible, however.
Self-publisher: Very unlikely, even with purchased marketing support.
Vanity publisher: Extremely unlikely, as most book buyers are familiar with these imprints and avoid them studiously. Marketing support is expensive and likely to be limited to nonsense like standard press releases, book signing kits, business cards and paid-for placements in flagship bookstores.
Level of emotional investment by the publisher:
Large commercial publisher: Limited, unless the book appears a surefire bestseller. This is mere product, and they have a lot of it to put out.
Small commercial publisher: Very high. Small publishers can only issue a few titles a year, and tend to choose books they love.
Self-publisher: Not much, although the better ones will at least want to do a professional job.
Vanity publisher: None whatever.
Rights the author signs away:
Large commercial publisher: Usually comprehensive – paperback reprints, overseas translations, film and TV adaptations, ebooks, audio CDs, merchandising, etc.
Small commercial publisher: Ditto.
Self-publisher: None – author owns all rights, as well as books and the materials used to produce them.
Vanity publisher: Varies. However, the actual books and the materials used to produce them remain the property of the publisher – although the author paid for them.
How the publisher makes money:
Large commercial publisher: From selling books.
Small commercial publisher: From selling books.
Self-publisher: From selling services and printing books. Book sales are irrelevant.
Vanity publisher: From selling services and printing books, and also from book sales (if there are any). On successful books (which probably means 0.1% of these publishers’ output), the publisher effectively gets paid twice.
How the author makes money:
Large commercial publisher: Advance, then royalties (typically on a sliding scale from 10% to 15% on the initial print run).
Small commercial publisher: Ditto, but without the advance.
Self-publisher: Author takes ownership of the books, and keeps 100% of the proceeds. Profits depend on sales outstripping costs. Publisher will make charges for warehousing and distribution if copies are to be sold online/through bookshops.
Vanity publisher: Royalties – typically 10% or 15%.
Overall summary:
Large commercial publisher: Best chance of success, but lowest chance of publication.
Small commercial publisher: May be more enthusiastic about the book and more fun to deal with, but won’t have the resources of a big publisher.
Self-publisher: Good if you want total control, but only really appropriate for specialist non-fiction titles or works unacceptable to any publisher.
Vanity publisher: The worst of every world. These firms basically exist to exploit the gullible.
Excellent summary, RF! Anyone who doesn’t know where to begin should read it twice!
The only thing I’d quibble with (and it’s commonly used phrasing, but I think it gives the wrong impression to some new writers) is the use of words like “chance” and quoting percentages for acceptance as if they were odds on a random event.
I can tell that you know enough about publishing that you do not intend this implication, but I think a lot of people hear that kind of phrasing and jump to the conclusion that “getting published” is essentially a crap shoot. Maybe the dice will fall your way, usually they won’t, and there’s not much you can do about it.
The truth is, when you hear all those terrifying percentages of the books accepted vs. submitted, you have to realize that a well-written book on a timely topic that a lot of people want to read about is NOT competing with well over 90% of the other books in the slushpile. It’s only competing with the handful of other well-written books on timely topics that a lot of people want to read about, and it’s competing on the basis of both its objective merits and its “fit” with the publisher’s current needs. Acceptance or rejection is not random, even though it feels that way sometimes.
Once you realize that this really is a BUSINESS, run more or less logically with a business’ goals in mind, it’s a lot easier to raise your so-called “odds”. New writers, find out what constitutes a “well-written” book from a publisher’s point of view and an interesting one from the reader’s point of view. There are myriad books on the subject. Put the effort into making sure your book is one of those. Next, find out which publishers publish the kind of work you’ve created. Learn their submission guidelines, and follow them.
Are you guaranteed publication if you do all these things? No, because you can only control what YOU do, not what other people do. Maybe another author just submitted a book that fits into the same niche as yours, just last week. Maybe the publisher is looking to go in a different direction for their next few books. But your “chances” are a whole lot higher than 0.1% or whatever terrifying figure somebody may tell you.
An example of “NOT well-written” would be my second to last paragraph in the above post! When I said “one of those”, I did not mean “one of those myriad books written on what is a well-written and interesting book”. I meant “one of those books that IS well-written and interesting”!
Sorry! This is why we all need editors.
Sarah: there is a chance they will lie to you about how much it costs you to print each book, that’s what they did to me. So be careful, always get everything in writing. As for your cover, if you have one prepared, you just email it to your publisher as a JPG. There is no need to do anything else.
I left a review on november 6th with regasrds to Authorhouse and the disgusting customer
service my daughter is experiencing with them.
One month on and as yet the spelling mistakes have still not been made(Even though they
deducted GBP202.00 out of my account)
They are still posting out books even though we have requested for them to put a hold
on it.
We DID get a reply by email with such poor excuses, one being that the books received were probably ordered
before the edits were made (even though they haven’t been made as we recieved a book only last week, still with errors) and the postal strike delayed them getting to us, even though they dont use
royal mail for sending (DHL).
Excuse after excuse and still no closure.
People purchasing have been informed by amazon that the book won’t be posted out until the new year!
We have been waiting for authorhouse to sort this mess since September.
If anyone has any solution as to how my daughter can get her book with someone else
we would appreciate it.
Authorhouse – you are a disgrace, I hope you are shut down. Stop destroying peoples
dreams…
Caroline you can upload the book onto Lulu.com. But bear in mind Lulu don’t do any editing and their print quality isn’t as high as authorhouse. However, as they charge almost £1,000 less than Lulu (who only charge £70 and don’t make any promises they can’t keep) they are definitely better value for money.
I received a voicemail the other day from someone at Authorhouse. I am so glad I missed the call because anyone around would have seen me turn into a psycho the minute I realised who it was. I listened to the vmail. They were just calling to see how I was going, since it’s been over a year since my book was published, and did I need any other services? I was SEETHING after I listened to the message. I am still debating whether or not I should call them back and give them a peice of my mind, but I don’t know if I want to give them the satisfaction of hearing me lose my cool. I’m considering whether to call them or write a nasty email.
Suggestions welcome.
Man I HATE those bastards!
Angela – you need to get out more and stop venting your anger at the publishers – if you were stupid enough to sign up without any proper investigation then all fool you.
In my experience generally people who get angry at the self publishers are normally doing so because their book is rubbish and has no hope of sales so they have to blame someone. Go into things with your eyes open in future for Gods Sake.
Class action against ‘ah’, contact me at;
Fivebells@live.com.
Caroline:
I’m sorry to hear about the problems your daughter is having. Based on what I’ve heard about Authorhouse, you stand no chance of getting your money back, unless you used a credit card to pay (in which case you could enquire about doing a chargeback, since you didn’t get what you paid for).
Taking money from a starry-eyed 19-year-old is the very definition of mean, but that’s par for the course for vanity publishers. I know of one that trawls Bebo, emailing teenage girls who fancy themselves as writers with “offers of publication”. In one case, the “book” was a stream of incomprehensible, barely literate gibberish in pseudo-textspeak by a girl of 14.
As for your daughter’s book, if you like you can email me a Word document or PDF file at the address below:
rf3769@hotmail.com
I’ll have a quick read of it, and if it has merit I’ll give you the name and address of the editorial director at my publisher, so your daughter can submit a copy to her (with my recommendation, it will get read cover to cover, and you’ll receive a proper editorial report even if it’s not accepted). If I don’t find any merit in it, I’ll tell you (bluntly – you can translate my email into more tactful language for your daughter) why it won’t get a commercial deal.
[Please note that this is a disposable email address, created solely for the purpose of receiving this submission, as I don’t wish to be inundated with spam.]
Well after a fraction of the time I spent with AuthorHouse.com, CreateSpace.com has published my book.
Instead of having to spend 10.56 per book though them, I just purchased 30 of my books through CreateSpace.com for 3.65 each.
Within 2 days of approval my book had it’s own createspace.com web site and appeared on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Eartha-Sea-Turtle/dp/0984322809/
As for marketing, those 30 books are going out to potential retail outlets along with a cover letter.
I sent a strong email to AuthorHouse.com and indicated line by line the items and services on their invoice that they NEVER provided and insisted that they provide me with a refund. I gave them until December 2nd before I turn the matter over to the State Attorney generals office.
In the event that the State’s Attorney wants to hear from other people with similar problems, I will post here and provide a place on my web site for people to post their experiences.
Dan
Dan good looking out! I will be contacting you. By the way your book looks good. Where did you get it done at?
I have filed a Better Business Bureau complaint on AuthorHouse and I suggest anyone with problems does the same. According to their stats, issues get resolved.
http://www.bbb.org/us/Find-Business-Reviews/ Search AuthorHouse in Indiana.
I have also filed a complaint against them with the Attorney Generals office of Indiana.
http://atgindsha01.atg.in.gov/cpd/complaint/complaint.html
The more people that file these complaints the better chance we have of getting some action.
There is no cost for any of these filing.
Dan
ATTN: Gina
Anyway, I know it’s been a while, and read what you said. And you are right. At first I thought you were busting my bullz with insults, on your first reply to me. As it turns out, I had jumped the gun. I’m sorry for that. I’m a decent, easygoing guy. And, as your responses proved, you have a lot of passion. That’s a sure-fire sign of honesty. I came on here to meet smart people—such as yourself—so that I can learn.
I believe Authonomy.com is a good place for writers to go.
If you care to check out my site, it’s LionheadNovels.com There are no books on there at the moment. It’s being revamped right now, so it’s stripped down to just photos of me. I will have a few books on there by this summer. My first book has been abandoned. Thanks, Gina.
No hard feelings, Wes
What a great dialogue!!
I am trying to decide how to publish my first book. I have been talking to AuthorHouse, but after reading your inputs, it appears that it’s better to be rejected by a main stream publisher than simply satisfy my ego by self publishing.
I may have to accept the possibility that I am not a good story teller.
I may try authonomy or MacMIllan New Writer as some have suggested.
Don’t give up. I didn’t. My nonfiction writing is not Fitzgerald nor KIng but I have much to say as a physician. Unfortunately the big pubs only want celeb/well known types to publish. One agency told me if I did not have a media platform I might as well not write. This just gives me more incentive to write.
UPDATE :
I received a call from AuthorHouse today. Apparently they received a letter from the Attorney Generals office regarding my complaint. After a short conversation, I was told they would give me a partial refund… which is all I was asking for to begin with.
So it seems that contacting the Attorney Generals Office worked.
I did not sign with AuthorHouse. They sent me a multi-page contract which was very ominous to any author who signed it. The control over the production of your book gives the author very liitle say in the project. Money dispersement has many restrictions. With the hundreds of very negative blogs about AuthorHouse on many sites I went ahead and published ir myself. I am seeking a publisher for my second book. They take the manuscript and never call back. Unfortunately the Big Guys control the distribution channels so if you want your book in the library or stores you have go with one of them. Walmart gave me much grief through their disribution partner Anderson to display it. Who is most responsible self pub house?
I AM SO EXCITED!!! I HAD TO SHARE THIS WITH ANYONE WHO THINKS THAT AUTHORHOUSE IS KEEPING ROYALTIES! YOU CAN GET A REPORT FROM NIELSEN BOOK SCAN. THEY WILL TELL YOU HOW MANY BOOKS YOU’VE SOLD IN THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS!!!! SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is interesting reading!
I have recently worked for Authorhouse in the uk and many of the points raised are true to a degree. However,
The cost of publishing with Authorhouse is very clear – did someone put a gun to your head and force you to publish? think about it and do some research for gods sake!
The production prices can add up but you should receive a submission form just after signing up detailing these,
take time to research it.
With regards book pricing to be fair to the Advisors or consultants as I think there now known don’t often know what the price of your book will be until the final page count is decided. Generally the guys in the Uk are good people but Authorhouse do have flaws and the customer service is one from when the Author submits their manuscript – the Uk team get very frustrated with this.
It is true that it is very sales focused but tell me a self publisher that isn’t – it’s a money making business so wake up and smell the coffee!!
They by and large produce a good product and the vast majority of people are delighted with the results – I think Authorhouse have about 40,000 published Authors – there is about 20 authors on here complaining – as our friends in the US would say ‘do the math’
Good luck with your books people!
I published my book with ‘authorhouse’ UK. They are just puppets of Indiana, they just do what they are told and do not have any option or initiative to do otherwise. I was lied to, misinformed and my private mail was intercepted and opened by their staff.
So there is an basic honesty and integrity issue throughout the company. They are by the way still scamming me by selling my books and not paying any royalties. beware of stooges on this site that are planted by authorhouse, don’t be fooled.
I have had initial communication with AuthorHouse, and then decided to investigate because I thought something isn’t quite to my liking. Then I found this website and read some of your comments. I will not be their next sucker!
From Mark Davis, M.D.
I am aware of the shorting comings of AuthorHouse. Its complex contract puts you in the back seat and their hidden fees showup at inopportune times. Those who seek to self publish may have excellant works they simply do not have media platforms therefore the larger publishing houses are not interested in their works. I put out the Demon’s of Democracy to agents/publishing industry put was told in a confrontery manner without a microphone to advertise my work I might as well not right. The frustration of dealing with reps in the publishing is felt in the comments printed in these blogs and by myself too. But I continue writing and I am well into my third book. Hope exists for all of us who want to publish our works we need stay the course and do whatever it takes to achieve our goals.MD
Good Luck Mark I fear you will need it as the majority of trad publishers are cutting back at the moment – your best bet will be a small independent publisher or a good quality self publisher like Xlibris, Lulu or even Authorhouse to be fair.
I published with Lulu last year and I’ve just entered into a contract with Authorhouse UK and to be honest they seem pretty open and upfront to me – the chap I’m dealing with is very helpful and I’m well aware of the book pricing and potential production charges.
It is the only medium which us amateur writers (lets be honest that’s what we all our) can get our work out there and I should imagine 1 in 10,000 of us might attract a trad publisher but who cares – enjoy your writing and if you can afford to self publish do it because its fun to see your book out there
Simon
What staggers me about what you people are saying, is that you complain about mistakes in the books. Why the hell didn’t you run it through a spellcheck or ask the question: will it get edited?
WHy would you think that they would give you free editing? Who would pay for it?
Couldn’t agree with you more Jimmy!
Strange how my other blogs were not posted. Also those blogs that have been posted consist of the same people over a seven month period. Who and why are the blogs being manipulated and/or deleted???????
Maybe it’s a terrible conspiracy by Authorhouse to control our minds and take over the world! I hear they have been named in the axis of evil with Iran and North Korea
Please can you do something about this legal scam?
I have unfortunately advised a family to pay £522 to AuthorHouse for a Print-on-Demand Service to produce a book I am ghost writing for their Alzheimer’s suffering mother. I researched cost for the family and it seemed a very good financial package compared to local printers. Now AuthorHouse are failing badly on the “author support” part of their bargain and providing a difficult to work with scenario. I was getting nowhere and unwilling to submit my manuscript as they seemed hopelessly amateurish after the “contract” was signed and they had the money in advance.
I then became aware that if “AuthorHouse scam” was put into the Google Search Engine it came up with a horrendous list of accusations against AuthorHouse made by a great number of other authors who had signed up with them. The scale of this unfair worldwide practice is truely scarrey. Sadly it would appear that the accusations may be, in the most part, well founded and of a serious nature – to the extent that original work has been translated and sold worldwide without the knowledge or permission of the author.
I have since seen written that many emarketer sites host upwards of 50,000 titles each selling “new” books supplied by Distributors for AuthorHouse, most likely a sister company. Then there are numerous other emarketers worldwide hosting 100,000 titles with the ISBNs starting with the prefix alloted to AuthorHouse USA. It would appear that these distributors feel under no legal obligation to record or submit to AuthorHouse the total number of volumes sold and therefore AuthorHouse tells its authors that no royalties are due to them. That many titles represents a lot of cash.
I appreciate you will be unable to comment on this but hope you will not mind my bringing this serious fraud to your attention.
How can it be a scam? – they are self publishers so you pay them to publish your books and they do it. It’s print on demand so all the books go through the same printer so not sure how they could hide royalties. If it really were a scam not sure how they could have become as big as they are. Yes they may have some customer service issues but all in all this is a decent company and if you are to self publisher it’s as good option as any. The majority of people who get fed up are those who don’t fully understand what self publishing is – of course they don’t care about your book because you are paying for them to put it together and distribute it but I think a lot of authors think they have some fantastic book and its all the publishers fault it fails – stop being an idiot and if you can’t afford to self publish don’t do it because in reality you aren’t going to sell many books regardless of how good you think your book is!
I have to agree with you Brighton – it’s very clear from all their literature what Authorhouse do and although I must admit they do have problems with customer service in their US office the UK branch have been fantastic to me and I’m pleased with how the book is coming along and my advisor Kevin can’t do enough for me.
Keep up the the good work authorhouse!
Write to me at, Fivebells@live.com, Everything in confidence, say nothing more on this site which is monitored by authorhouse,
Regards
Tony Liddicoat
I contacted Authorhouse and, quite simply, had plenty of money to spend on 3 publishing ventures. That should have made me an ideal customer, but my experience with the company was pretty much the same as going into a shop with money in my hand, asking to purchase an item on display and having the shopkeeper ignore me.
Authorhouse ignored me for four months, except to send the standard advertising with special offers if I sent them a cheque before a specified date. When I told them that I was giving up and was going elswehere, I received an unusually immediate and abusive reply from one Sasha Crosbie who was offended that I should have been unhappy with their service.
I would suggest to any would-be author or, indeed, a customer with hard-earned money to spend, that they should avoid Authorhouse and try elsewhere. Be advised that Trafford is now under the same company umbrella.
Good luck.
Xlibris is owned by them too – looks like Lulu will be your only option soon and I’m sure it won’t be long before Authorhouse buy that too and then what will you do?!!!!
It’s the end of the world as we know it!!
They have the lowest score on the bbb web site figure it out, They are the worst book company to do biz with in this world from another dis satified customer
Man from outerspace – judging by your comment you have no business at all writing a book as it seems you have a complete inability to formulate a sentence!
5 books. great job, everything just as I wanted it, I am selling books so I don’t have time to set and bitch as it seems some of you do.
Richard
Self publishing has a root word…SELF…
So if you will say that your book is not good, that is only because you yourself did not make your book good. Since author will be the one who will provide design, layout, and even marketing, it only means that the success of our book depends on us. If your book is a crap, don’t expect a good result and don’t blame it to others.
Did you even try to check your manuscript if its worth reading? In your own opinion, of course, you will say a big YES! But how about other readers? First thing to do is to assess yourself. Are you really that good in writing? If you think that you are good in writing, why don’t you try traditional publishers. Let’s see if you can pass on thier standard. If you do, then good for you. If not, ask yourself why for a hundred times.
Don’t blame others on your own mistake.
I got hooked into AuthorHouse under the impression that they used experienced people. Wrong. When I asked, they said they don’t use interns, but the botched up job they did on my book says otherwise.
Bottom line: I paid $1,400 for one of their packages and since turning in my manuscript last Augusst (8 months ago!) has been ratcheted up to $2,000. Now they want more money, $100, to correct a mistake that they made, not me. Meanwhile, my book has yet to be published, unless you count the listings they made without my permission on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I hadn’t signed off on the book yet because, as usual, it was full of mistakes, their mistakes. I have no way to send any buyers a correct copy of the book because they won’t tell me who bought it. Except for my family, I can’t find out who, if anyone, bought it. They won’t even let me pay for the corrected copies and send them out from the printer for me without revealing their names. There goes my reputation. By the way, I’m a heavily published writer and have been since 1977. I wrote about food and lifestyle issues for both newspapers and magazines, on staff as well as a freelancer.
I’m retired now and wanted to write a novel, which I did. I turned it over to AthorHouse and they have all but destroyed it. I’m beginning to wonder if those of us who have been treated badly and perhaps been ripped off by AuthorHouse should get togeether and bring a class action against them. Any thoughts anyone?
Write to me at, Fivebells@live.com.
regards
T Liddicoat
I’ve been talking with someone at Authorhouse and was a bit suspicious about how easy the process sounded. I’m an illustrator myself, so my picture book would be completed as PDF files with text sent to them… all they have to do is print it and post it up on Amazon, etc. like they said they would… the person I spoke with even said that Authorhouse may not be the best to go with judging from the stage of progress my book is in… I don’t know… I’m new to all of this. I’ll be researching this site further for more insight into the best route to go for publishing. Mr. Baum…If you have any advice you can give me, I greatly appreciate it!
AUTHORHOUSE ILLEGAL SCAM UNCOVERED.
Last year Tony Liddicoat sacked ‘authorhouse publishing company’ who he had paid handsomely for publishing his book, “Five Bells ” ~ Job Done. A Divers Story. During his association with them he published his book which became very well received and reviewed by over 25 major journals around the world. The RRP of the book was £9.90. For each book sold he received £1,88. Authorhouse kept
the remainder,[£8. 11] This went on for over a year before he realised something must be wrong. When serious outlets asked to sell the book, they were told by ‘authorhouse’ that they had to pay the RRP, which of course meant they could not earn any money at all. He learnt about the outlets discount for new books which range between 35% and 65% of the RRP. Tony Liddicoat was informed by ‘authorhouse’ that if he wished for his books to be sold by major outlets then there was a fee payable,[approx £500 annually, for each outlet,!]]
He could not afford to do this and continued being paid the £1,88 per copy, During this time he was lied to, his private mail was intercepted and opened and his requests for clarification to ‘authorhouse ‘ were ignored.
He then re printed his book with a new ISBN number and published the book himself. He is now the only legal publisher of his book and has been for over a year, However even though he received assurances from ‘authorhouse’ that they would stop selling and supplying the book, his books were still being printed,
advertised and sold without his knowledge or consent. He realised this when he received unexpected ‘royalties’ [ in itself a rarity without having to chase them] The royalties were for books sold by ‘Amazon’
who had been given the pdf file of the book by authorhouse, to print their own copies and sell them on demand or when they wanted. [Without the Authors knowledge or permission ] The ‘royalties’ offered were the £1,88 per book. Which means that the cosy little arrangement between ‘Authorhouse’ and ‘Amazon’ where they print and sell their own copies and were quite happy to give the author £1.88 per copy and keep the remainder for themselves. Now this is against the law. When he contacted ‘authorhouse and asked what on earth is going on. he was told that it was human error and he has no cause for complaint as I had been paid the pittance of £1.88 per book.
This information is being forwarded to the legal authorities in the UK and every blog site known, enable the unsuspecting to know just how ‘authorhouse ‘operate. It is a scam and if you multiply this by the 60,000 authors they say they have ‘published’ then it is a huge sum.
BE WARNED ~ BE ADVISED.
One word for you Tony – your an idiot it’s not a scam its a service you pay for. Your book was probably so rubbish you didn’t sell any copies so you decide to bitch about the publisher – good luck with wasting the legal authorities time as I’m sure they haven’t got better things to do than here about your failure of a book and how its everyones fault but yours!!
What you see here is an ‘authorhouse’ stooge doing what he’s told, For info on class action contact me at;
Fivebells@live.com.
Tony liddicoat
AuthorHouse is not a scam! You pay them to do the things you can do yourself. You can buy a ISBN, You can get a LCCN, You can fill out and pay the fee for a copyright. You can layout your book in MS Word. You can design your own cover. AuthorHouse doesn’t put out a good product, because they don’t print anything. They have an outside printing and dist comapany that does All the work. How do I know this, I did one book with AuthorHouse. I learned the business from them by asking questions. I found out who their printer and dist was. Now I have my own publishing co and a printing and dist deal with the same company that AuthorHouse uses. ck me out at http://www.wallacepublishingllc.com.
People are asking about alternatives. You either have to stick it out and find a real publisher, not a scam vanity publiser, or use a free publishing site like Lulu and be prepared to do your own marketing (which you will have to do anyway with a vanity publisher). I’m not sure why the original article doesn’t explain that Lulu and a couple other self-publishers are free! (and no, I don’t work for them I’m just a very satisfied customer – check out my book “The Real Story of Money, Health, and Religion”
needs to know names numbers etc of who to complain to for authorhouse.com ASAP..worst company ever..heard things like i am not in the mood today etc..took 45 days for 1 change..had scheduled book signing without BOOK..delievered to wrong address..what else..
Tera – it depends on whether you published in the UK or the USA as to who to complain to – just write to the managing director that usually does the trick!
To my utter misfortune, I became acquainted and started to use the services offered by 1stBooks publishers now known as Authorhouse, and published my first two books in 2003. At the time, I detected no problem with their services and accepted that being my work was academic, would not sell many copies. I decided to publish my third book with them, a large 2 volume edition in 2008, and due to the reviews and publicity received, and the professors that contacted me personally, I became fully aware of the university libraries and public libraries who processed my work into their establishments, or were interested in my work.
However, I noticed the first major discrepancy in their promises was that if I turned my manuscript in within a certain time frame, I would receive fourteen free copies of my work when it was printed.
I e-mailed my text, and mailed my contract via snail-mail two weeks before the deadline, I know it arrived on time—I live in Europe, and mail does not take longer than 4 to 8 days to arrive in the US, however, they could not honour the free copy agreement as they hadn’t received the contracts on time. They never mentioned the agreement included receiving the contracts, just the manuscript. I received just my usual free review copy of each volume. I decided to let the matter go.
Then, they have a very careless attitude with other aspects of their services. For example, their Press Wire program that sends your Press Release electronically to 14,000 media outlets. Where did I find my academic books being promoted? In the financial sections of these media outlets, and not to my target audience found in the academic, history, biography, or even literature, areas.
(I also discovered my university level academic book on classical music categorised as a “children’s book”.)
However, the major problems developed with royalty accounting. I began keeping a record of the copies available of my new two-volume work at Amazon US, UK, Canada, and their Marketplace vendors. (This is practically the only way you can discern how many books may be selling in the public domain.) Considering this is Print On Demand, when a number of available copies drops, you can expect it to be a sale since stores have no reason to keep raising and dropping the numbers unless they make a sale and then re-list the book. (For the record, I withdrew all my publications from Authorhouse June 14th 2010.)
Authorhouse’s numbers were way below the daily tallies I kept from the Amazon numbers, they only reported between 10% and maybe up to 20% of the sales on any given quarter. Today for example, I received the worst report yet: they reported only 1 copy of Volume One sold in the second quarter (April 1 to June 14th, the time I withdrew my publications from them), and only 3 copies for Volume 2. According to my numbers from the Amazon rankings and marketplace sellers in the US, Canada and UK: 28 copies of Volume 1 sold, and 27 of Volume 2. Therefore they have reported only 4% of the sales, and they obviously are pocketing the rest. And this does not include other sales that may have been made through other sellers like Barnes and Noble, etc.
However, there is no way to be compensated for these discrepancies, Authorhouse demands you provide receipts of all sales as proof of your claim—how on earth do you track such receipts? Authorhouse knows it’s an impossibility. Of course, Nielsen Book Scan offers sales report services, but you cannot use them to reclaim royalties, or display or disclose your sales report to any third party as Nielsen deems such action a breach of trademark confidentiality and would possible incur a lawsuit.
The simplest answer would be to cancel all contracts with Authourhouse, but this is not as easy as they make it out to be. To date, they continue to reassure me my books are no longer in print, but as I have discovered today (September 7), they are still listed with UK wholesale distributors as available within 5 days as Print on Demand, so they are technically still available by Authorhouse illegally.
1st Books / Authorhouse in my estimation is the most disreputable company allowed to carry on a business offering a sham service to the public, robbing authors of the fruits of their labours. Surely they are required to have a business license to operate as all other businesses? How can any state issue a license and continue to allow such a rogue business like this to continue? They are operating on such a large scale, and if they are doing this to every author, then one must consider the possibility they are committing grand larceny on a massive scale. They claim to have thousands of authors with their company.
Authors Beware: if you are considering publishing your book using Print On Demand, stay well away from this company. Even if they paid all the royalties, they do little or nothing to help promote your work, but expect you to pay additional hundreds and even thousands for various promotion packages that provide little if no results. For those of you poor authors who now hold a contract with Authorhouse publishing your work, my sympathies go out to all of you.
Listen to the experience of most of us. As soon as they have gotten your money, any interest , support and invention will vanish. There is a huge group of authors who say the same, do not go near ‘authorhouse’. Listen and take note of our experiences or go ahead and throw your money away. There are stooges on this site placed by AH , see through the nonsense, go elsewhere.
As always, if you are an AuthorHouse author and need assistance, please feel free to contact me directly at kgray at authorhouse dot com. If I can’t resolve your issue or answer your question, I will forward you on to someone who can. Thanks.
Kevin Gray
AuthorHouse
Mr Gray,
Please read my comments below. I own the rights to my book and authorhouse have just stolen all of the royalties due over the last 2 and a half years. They are a scam industry. I hope the fat lady sings soon.
Yours sincerely
Tony Liddicoat
AUTHORHOUSE,
STATEMENT OF TRUTH.
I contracted authorhouse to publish my book, “Five Bells” Job Done, in 2007. As soon as I had paid my money things changed, I was instantly aware that there would be no publishing done by ‘ah’ and that all sales and promotion was down to me, All that ‘ah’ did was print the book.
I dealt with ‘ah’ in England. When I had any questions or problems all I would get was silence. I was lied to and my personal mail was intercepted and opened, and I regularly had to
chase for my royalties which nearly always arrived late and inaccurate. Frustrated with the failure of ‘ah’ I sacked them two years ago and published my book myself with a new isbn no.
I was surprised to discover that my book was still being sold by over 30 major outlets worldwide.
When I contacted ‘ah’ I was told that the pdf file of my book had been ‘sold’ to other agencies including Amazon’ who could now print and sell it themselves. This was unknown to me and of course is something I would never have agreed to- ever. I was told by Eugene Hopkins , a spokesman for ‘ah’ that it was all in the contract which I had signed. He all but admitted that so many people failed to read the intricate judicial wording of the contract that they could get away with it.
I have discovered that even today, pirate and illegal copies of my book, many hundreds to date , are available and being sold and I have not received a cent/penny.
My book is an autobiography of my life as a diver and as I have been a member of all the major diving websites around the world an I am now collecting data from those who have purchased my book within the last 2 and a half years. When I have this information I will take legal action.
This is my story and if you use ‘ah’ it then it will become your story. When I contacted Hopkins at ‘ah’ and said that I have proof of certainly hundreds of sales of my book with the ‘ah’ logo on and the initial isbn no, the response was — silence.
If anyone would like any further facts then contact me at;
Fivebells@ live.com
Tony,
You should always read contracts before you sign , otherwise no leg to stand on.
How can you sack a self publisher? – you would be sacking yourself!!
Did you research self publishing and do you even know what it entails?
Why did you not seek out a traditional publisher?
It seems Tony the blame lies with you – you paid money out and had no idea what you were getting into – I’m afraid to say that you sir are an idiot!
I would never self publish – complete waste of time and money and only those who are so vain that they have to get their work out there should do it!
Dave
Treacle,
Please learn to read and inwardly digest what is written. I paid ‘ah’ to ‘publish ‘ my book. They did not do this. Fact.
The contract, like many contracts in life, was a long winded and often rambling resume of things wholly unconnected with an individuals requirements. In such cases you ask the necessary questions and receive verbal assurances. This is common in many mundane contractural agreements throughout peoples lives, house, liability, automobile, health , etc etc etc. As long as you have all your concerns addressed verbally and given assurances, then generally that is sufficient. You expect that, as a client, that your interests are protected and they are looking after your well being. In the case of ‘ah’ I was given these assurances but the fact that couched surreptitiously amidst the contract are devious dealings about which you know nothing, is plain sharp practice at the best and downright evil at the worst. I now publish my own and am doing well, so your statement about sacking myself is pure gibberish, which I believe is a fairly common thread in your life.
‘ah’ wait for unexpecting people and simply steal their work. If it is your first experience in the world of literature then at least you expect honesty and truth. With ‘ah’ in my experience you do not get that. Maybe that is the American way?. But I believe it will not be long before the ‘fat lady sings ‘ for ‘ah’
and any other righteous self opinionated windbags who concur with them.
T L
Thanks for the comments Tony- I don’t support ah and in fact I continue to work for John Wiley an international traditional publisher and have done for 15 years. Self Publishing has its place but to be honest it’s generally for failed writers who haven’t quite got the writing skill to get a proper deal. Ah are no better or worse than the rest of them – they will promise to publish your book but most people (if they were going to part with the best part of £1,000) would do research and find out what to do – it seems to me one chat on the phone and you will part with your money – I wish I was selling you something. If you want to find out how many books have sold – contact the printer – Authorhouse only print books when they are sold – simple as that that is their business model – no promotion or press copies, this is why its called SELF PUBLISHING!!! – Just because you got a bit of sales patter doesn’t mean you were ripped off because I bet your bottom dollar they have done everything they promised – now I don’t know you but I reckon your pretty embarrassed by the quality of the book and your looking for someone to blame for the poor sales, look in the mirror my friend. Best thing for you to do is go on a writing course, learn what makes a good book and try to write a good one that attracts a really publisher and not a printer/distributor – your not a proper author until a proper publisher takes you on – end of story.
Don’t be embarrassed Tony – lots of people far more talented than you have made idiots of themselves on this site with there outlandish claims (really your book is selling all over the place and they intercepted your post (this isn’t a bond film its really life you numpty!!) – don’t you think the websites just haven’t been updated – 20 friends buying it doesn’t really class as bulk sales!!) If you want proof contact their printer – think they use Lightening Source in Milton Keynes – then when you realise that no books have been printed move on with your life and take up a new hobby as writing is obviously not for you!!!!
Treacle,
Again you are full of idiotic comments about something you know nothing about. You may be correct that my book is not very good or well written, however the opinions of the 30+ professional organisations who have reviewed the book and strongly recommend it to their readers as a ‘must read’ differ strongly from your opinion and of course they base their comments on having done a critical review which of course you have not.
So whilst I welcome the acclaim my book has received I listen to any educated opinion and welcome any constructive criticism providing it is from a knowledgeable source instead of what you do, sounding off without knowing any of the facts.
Just to correct you yet again on your opinions, I am now with a publisher based on what they read in my book and they have signed me up for my next two books, which again blows your opinions out of the water.
So a couple of bits of advice for you. Do not comment on things you know nothing about and keep taking the medication – because you really are a funster when it wears off. Tschuss !.
I wonder why you have sold none then if it’s so good?!!!
Which ‘publisher’ is it then out of interest!!!
The publisher is London based which is all you need to know. Realising some time ago that you have nothing of substance to say I bid you farewell.
obviously another self publisher then!!
think my 2 year old has better chance of a successful writing career as you.
Happy Christmas you delusional plonker!!!!!!
I learnt too late that AuthorHouse is toxic, and one of the nastiest scams I’ve dealt with in my life.
My publishing hell with Authorhouse started on 24 May 2010 through a misleading website called findyourpublisher.com, which is a bogus fraud site funnelling unsuspecting authors towards AuthorHouse and their partner scams. My first mistake – I gave them my contact details. I was conned into paying them around $1000 to publish my first book which I was told would be available at Amazon. The result was a shoddy, poorly produced crappy book which no reader would waste their time with. The book is still not available at Amazon or anywhere – I just get excuses.
Authorhouse is a scam, and they have stolen my dollars and succeeded in rubbishing of my work, that has left me deflated and completely disillusioned.
AuthorHouse should change their name to AuthorScam. These fraudsters have turned fraud into an artform, and it’s time for government agencies to start taking a look at AuthorHouse and their partner companies, iUniverse, Trafford and Xlibris.
If you’re a writer reading this: this is your wake up call. AUTHORHOUSE IS A HORRIFIC SCAM. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY.
I’m not working for AH. We printed a book, Dealing With Vision Loss, in 2007 and are resonably happy with AH. Other than some business and post cards, which I did think were overpriced, we did not buy any extras. I did read that there were editing services available for a price as were cover designers. We hired a local artist to design the cover for a small fee plus the framed rendering of the front and back cover. I was the primary content editor, then we asked an English-teacher friend to comment on grammar and sentence structure. Finally I used spell check and grammar check before sending in the copy. I spent about 15 hours (all around a full time job and raising kids) checking the galley before signing off. The author is blind and he also proofread an e-copy of the book. I would have gone for the bare bones contract but he splurged on something more than that but less than $2K. He took advantage of an offer to buy about 200 books at cost which we sold at booksignings and other ‘meet the public’ arenas. We have a website, we market the book as if it’s our life, which it was: we were passionate about the message, the book was just one part of that message. So we’ve made back the initial investment but we’ll never get rich on the book. In conclusion read any contract before you give away money and don’t pay a printing firm to do PR for you!
When is the last deadline to cancel with AH i paid already 🙁 but didnt get anything published or submit my work ? I hope someone helps me here
I am just finishing up with Author House I mean Night Mare House. I honestly feel like I have been beaten by 40 men. I sent my book to them exactly like I wanted it to be written, this was about a year ago. I had to make correction after correction which a lot were there mistakes and pay a 100 dollars each time. I complained they didn’t listen. When it was time to get my books, they sent me somewhere else. The guy didn’t even know how many books they promised in my contract. I truly believe all the blogs that are sticking up for Author House are from them. If you are thinking about going with AH run as quickly as you can in another direction.They have made me a nervous wreck over this book that I took a long time to write and was so excited over.They wanted to purchase their pkg for my book signing and I told them I didn’t want to have anything else to do with them for the rest of my life. Delores
I am a poet and I paid to be published through Author House. i was called numerous times to buy the package and I have not been contacted since to have a follow up to my satisfaction.
It is April and I was supposed to have my book back by January. I paid in October. THIS IS A NIGHTMARE!!!
I was thinking about moving forward and hiring the services of AH. After reading these comments I am completely scared. I would like to know the best way to get my children’s book published. Can someone help me? If I went directly through Lightning Source I would have to be a publisher. How does one go about doing that?
I would like to thank everyone for their insights into what is now very obviously a bloody big waste of time and money. I was, until I stumbled upon this blog, very interested in publishing??? with Authorhouse and I was about to send a synopsis of my novel to the the publishing??? consultant that I have been speaking to (whom I have to say was very polite, which is something I hold in high regard even if she was trying to swindle me out of my savings, she’s only doing her job… nice try!)but now I’m not going to bother; in fact, I think I’d sooner burn my manuscript than let Authorhouse get their greedy mits on it. Thanks again everyone and the best of luck to all of you in your endeavours.
Hi, I’ve purchased a package from AuthorHouse, but I have not submitted anything to them as of yet and I was wondering if there is a way to get my money back since I have not received any services??
Did you have any luck with a refund? I am in the same boat!
Was anybody here able to get their money back and go somewhere else?
I’m having a lot of the same issues listed above. The book has been priced exorbitantly high without myself or my illustrator signing a pricing agreement, and the book that was printed doesn’t actually look like the galleys we approved!
On top of that, every time I try to discuss the many problems that my partner and I are having with Authorhouse, I’m passed on to yet another person who doesn’t have answers for me or who doesn’t even bother to call or email me back.
Hi, Im sorry to hear about your experience. I also wanted my book priced much lower and the agreed figure was inflated after the contract was signed and I had no redress against the company. For what I have read here including my own comment below I think it’s best to write off the relationship with Authorhouse as a bad experience. Good luck with your writing.
Tim
i bought a package almost 1 year ago. i have submitted no material and have no services rendered. i’m trying to terminate my agreement and get a refund (of some sort) but they refuse. anyone been in this situation? what can i do?
AuthorHouse is a scam. I ordered a book from them and they claimed it
was undeliverable. Local post office said it never came through this
office. All I get is the run around. Their answering service in
the Philippines says that because it wasn’t insured there is nothing
I can do about it. I think there should be an investigation by the
Attorney General.
I looked at the AH site. Nothing more. Then I started getting blitzed with promotional ads from them. I have unsubscribed twice and still get the ads. The third time I unsubscribed the screen froze and would not accept my unsubscription. What harassment to get daily ads! I am going to have to block them. I would never use such a company, particularly after reading all these negative complaints.
I used Authorhouse to publish my first novel. It reached the top 100 in the amazon site for gay and lesbian literature three times between October and December. I have just received my first Royalties Report and I can’t believe that I have sold so few copies. In fact I know I have sold more because I have friends who purchased some direct from Authorhouse. None appear on the reprot. I was told to submit receipts to get an investigation started. I feel very stupid and let down but thanks everyone for your comments, I want nothing further to do with them.
I didn’t know anything about publising when I chose Xlibris. In the begining I didn’t know what I was doing but I had bought a package that included almost everything and they came down on the price about fifteen hundred dollars. Everyone I worked with seened to care about my book. There were a couple of things I didn’t like and they changed them for me. My book cover was done the way I wanted it after I refused the first two prints. I think they did akay by me. But I really missed having someone to sell it for me. It’s alot of work to sell your own book.
I’ve created a separate page for most of the companies under review. I’m basing my reviews and the first 2 pages of my search in google using keywords like Self Publishing Reviews. Here is one for Authorhouse Reviews. You might find some interesting information on my site. If you wish to add anything that is currently not there please feel free to do so. I’m still researching on some of the companies listed and I should have a complete list by end of the month. Thank you and enjoy!
must say with a heavy heart that all the hard earned money I invested in getting my grandfather’s book published has gone down the drain. thanks to this fraudulent agency called ‘authorhouse’. please do not trust them a bit as their agents are solely after your money. they will pester you with their calls till you are duped into believing that they are genuine and good. then once they have extracted a fat sum, they will disappear. very poor marketing and pr servcies. donate money to a charity but not these scamsters please!
I just recently published a book with Xlibris and needless to say I have found them to be some very shady characters. I was looking for another publisher and thought about going through Author House. However, I don’t think I will be doing that after reading everything on this webpage. I’m glad I found out that the two were tied in with each other before I wasted more money that I couldn’t afford to spend in the first place. Xlibris hasn’t out right screwed me over and I truly hope that when the time comes for my check to arrive it does and it is at least somewhat decent. I will say that if they screw me over I will sell every last thing I own and take them to court. And if the judge fails to award me what is rightfully mine then there is always a fatal axe wound to the head of the scumbags who run those companies. I’m a law abiding citizen but when the law fails then a person has to take care of things themselves. I personally wouldn’t shed a tear if those companies got bombed. Just going on instinct and the fact that Xlibris has left the impression of being shady I would advise anyone and everyone to stay away from Xlibris and any other company that is tied in with them. I actually wanted to try to go with Lulu but I have heard conflicting things about them so not sure I want to do that either. If someone could please tell me of an honest publishing company I would very much appreciate it? That is of course if there is such a thing as an honest publishing company. I don’t have the time or the patients to get rejected a million times and possibly not ever get published at all. I need help to get my books published and I am willing to pay for it but I expect at least a bit of honesty for my hard earned money. I wouldn’t even be that unhappy with Xlibris shady characters and all if I knew for sure I was going to get paid. I have a feeling that even if they pay me it won’t be the full amount of what I have actually earned but I can deal with that too. I just want enough money to take care of certain things and get other things going that will in the end make me a hundred times more then my books ever could. So more or less and this might sound bad to some but for me writing these books is purely about making enough money to take care of my dads land, get myself and my parents into houses that aren’t quite literally falling down around us, get another vehicle before my sis takes the one we’ve got, go back to school for at least a two year degree in business, start a business, and take care of a huge long list of about a hundred other things. Some of which can be taken care of at a later date once I’ve got my business up and going. If Xlibris can at least do that then I’ll be happy enough to let it go. They could even keep selling my book without me knowing I wouldn’t really care because I would have my business and I would have plenty of money off of that. And as a further recommendation to people reading this. If you are a person who is planning on making writing your life long career and you don’t plan on having any other source of income besides writing then stay clear of Xlibris and anyone tied in with them. Even if you do have other idea’s for income I still wouldn’t waste my money on a shady company. I really wish I would have done more research on Xlibris before I gave them money and sighed a contract. For me it is about stepping stones and the books are a stepping stone to what I want to do next but if Xlibris doesn’t pay me my money that’s not going to happen.
I actually want to specify something in regards to my comment. I enjoy writing but not enough to make it into a career. In all honesty after I’m done with my 3rd book I will probably never write a book again. Not only is the writing process long, tedious, and aggravating but after dealing with Xlibris it’s just not worth it. Like I said before hopefully I’ll get lucky and that company will at least give me enough money to take care of things. Although writing the books is about making money I have put thought into them, rewritten parts of them countless times, and really tried to make them enjoyable for the people that would purchase them. I’m even getting the first book republished because the book from Xlibris got kind of rushed into production and I added a bunch of stuff to it after I got it published. The whole money factor is also why I say I could easily overlook all the crap that Xlibris has pulled so far. Because if I can get my other plans into motion then it won’t really matter to me how much money I lose out on with these people because my family and myself will still be alright in future. Now if it comes out that they give me nothing then yeah I’m going to be pretty pissed off and I will retaliate. Or if they don’t give me enough then yeah I will retaliate. For example if I earn somewhere close to 500,000 but only receive 100,000 I’m going to be really mad and I’ll retaliate. If they give me 300,000 I could let it slide. Or 350,000 would be better but more or less I don’t care as long as I get majority of my money. Everyone that has previewed my book has enjoyed it so it should sell well. I don’t think it will make me into some famous writer and I’m defiantly not going down in history for the books I’ve written but all of them are pretty entertaining and enjoyable. So if by some small chance anyone from Xlibris reads this well you should already know.
I am working on publishing a book with them now. We shall see. I will keep you posted.
Please do! We’d like to hear it.
I published with AuthorHouse back in 2006. It’s a scam! You best go elsewhere. I lost $6,000 from these people. It was a big mistake, AuthorHouse is a big scam! YOU WILL REGRET IT btw. If you publish with this mob.
I have had my book Bathroom Poetry published and it is out on Amazon and B&N, as well as Authorhouse. Self Promoting was not a bad experience. The biggest problem I have with Authorhouse is there atrocious editing. The book was filled with mistakes, where I had to personaly fix them, and return the edited portion, only to have it un-edited. It seems they want More Money to “Re-Edit” what was not done the first time. I will use another Publisher in the future.
I am in the process of publishing a children’s book with author house. They have been amazing to me and working quickly to complete the process. Only one problem, the person that did the editing, made more spelling errors then my 6 year old niece would have made. Thats so not cool!
Therefore, sounds like a terrible experience!