If you or anyone you know has dealt with – or is thinking of dealing with – Author Solutions or any of its related companies (iUniverse, AuthorHouse, Trafford, and Xlibris) please, please, please – read this article and think again.
Author Solutions is essentially a telemarketing company looking for unsuspecting, uninformed authors. They sell bogus promises related to publishing books.
80% of the company’s sales staff is based in the Philippines. Although they have titles like “Publishing Consultant” and “Marketing Consultant,” they aren’t required to have any publishing or marketing experience. According to their hiring ad, being ‘money-driven’ is important.
Lawsuits Against Them
There is zero concern from Author Solutions for the quality of any book they produce. They don’t care about the viability of any book in the marketplace or the value of any of their services. They sell worthless, exceptionally overpriced services and pressure authors to buy more copies of their own books.
Author Solutions now faces two class-action lawsuits that allege fraud and deceptive practices. Most concerning are the charges of exploitation of seniors. The lawyers for both cases are still looking to hear from anyone who has published with the company or its subsidiaries. Here’s a link if that’s you.
Whatever your situation is regarding a book publishing project, please do your research carefully before signing on with a publishing partner.
Update: Although the two lawsuits filed against Author Solutions in recent years have been settled, they haven’t changed their business tactics. Whatever your situation is regarding a book publishing project, please do your research carefully before signing on with a publishing partner.