BOOKBABY COMPLAINTS

by Angela Hoy, Publisher – WritersWeekly.com, BookLocker.com, Abuzz Press, and PubPreppers.com

Thinking of using BookBaby to publish your next book? Before you send them $1,643 (gulp!) or more, you might want to first read the complaints posted about BookBaby from their authors below.

While any firm with a large number of customers is bound to have a handful of complaints posted about them online, you should be wary about firms that have multiple complaints posted, especially ones that indicate specific, seemingly ongoing problems at a particular firm (printing quality, customer service, formatting issues, poor editing, etc.).

Just a few snippets from below:

* “The books I received were of POOR quality.”
* “After 4 years of work, BookBaby could not have botched the job worse.”
* “The result was a very poor job for a lot of money.”
* “Bookbaby’s response to this was no response.”
* “Terrible. So many mistakes.”
* “Never got to email the same person twice.”
* “Really stressful experience.”
* “Unacceptable editing work and rude responses.”
* “My experience with Book Baby was a disaster.”
* “Extremely bad printing errors.”
* “I feel very nickel and dimed.”
* “Very disappointing.”
* “The quality was not good at all.”
* “Horrible customer service with California design team, was incompetent, disrespectful and condescending.”
* “Nail you on too many misc fees.”
* “Avoid, unless you have no option.”
* “I don’t trust Bookbaby. I think I made a mistake choosing them.”
* “I feel trapped in a bad deal.”

The reviews below were posted to TrustPilot.com –

POSTED JUST LAST MONTH:

The initial formatting was virtually non-existent, almost identical to what I had sent in and it wasn’t cheap to have that done.

POSTED JUST LAST MONTH:

The books I received were of POOR quality completely with a low quality printer. I have received a full and complete refund as expected, but felt as though I was being argued with. I will not be using them in the future for work.

POSTED JUST LAST MONTH:

Termination

I agreed to work with BookBaby for publication. I even paid over $1000 for a thorough editing of the manuscript. This was a mistake that called for me to terminate. While the editing of the stories was acceptable, the editor of the poetry was horrible. I don’t think the individual who edited my poetry has any clue about editing poetry. The editor evidently “forgot” that punctuation in poetry is not the same as in other forms of writing. The result was a very poor job for a lot of money. Bookbaby’s response to this was no response. My response to Bookbaby’s response was termination and informing others about my opinion of Bookbaby on the several websites I am connected.

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED REVIEWS:

I’ve published 2 books from bookbaby and I have yet to get a perfect book.

and

So once we worked thru all these issues and I thought we had everything straight and good to go – they send my last order out. When I get it I immediately notice the book is thinner than all the orders I gotten before – so I compare the pages and sure enough the books on the last order are printed on a lighter paper weight than all my previous orders….

After submitting my finished PDFs I was immediately told my product had been put on hold due to vague “copyright reasons”, asking for clarification from customer services took a 3 day wait and the answer was literally “because of copyright reasons on a part of your order”. The rep also changed my order from personal use, single print to being distributed through their platform which I didn’t want.

After 2 more emails where maybe 1 out of 3/4 questions got an answer they told me that because it was now being distributed through their platform I didn’t have the correct license and it was being cancelled. At no point on ANY email did I get a reply to my constant offers to SHOW THEM the written proof I had of permission from all parties involved…

After 4 years of work, BookBaby could not have botched the job worse. When I received my copies of the book in the mail I was mortified to discover that, not only had they removed the longest and most important chapter in my book, but they also omitted it from the table of contents.

and

I was told that they would look into it and call me back right away.

and

When I called again, 8 hours later their office, of course was closed. I guess customer service and a person’s life’s work means nothing once money has exchanged hands.

Terrible.
So many mistakes
Mistakes constantly made
Never got to email the same person twice.
Poor project management
Really stressful experience

Rubbish service, don’t ever receive payments I’m owed from sales, they send cheques out that can’t be cashed 60 days after a sale is made then when the cheque doesn’t get cashed they make you wait 90 days to reissue another.

My experience with Book Baby was a disaster. I pulled the project and went elsewhere. While their sales and “project coordinators” assured me that my extensively footnoted biography of an historical figure, with its 20-page bibliography, would be edited to Chicago Style, critical in the social sciences — it was not. The editing, for which I paid nearly $700, was badly mangled requiring me to pull the project and hire another editor to undo the mess they made of the original manuscript and re-edit the whole thing to Chicago Style. I filed a complaint with my credit card company but have been unable to recoup any of this fee for a service they promised, and did not deliver. Bad faith crowd, sorry to say, despite their friendly phone manner.

I have been working with Bookbaby for over a year to get my cookbook published and have had a very difficult experience. I think someone who has experience with publishing might not have had as much trouble as I did but I thought that Bookbaby was for people who have no experience.

Created an 80 page book for a birthday and was advised pagination needed corrected. Fixed this and re-uploaded the file. Paid for 2-day shipping to receive in time as a birthday gift.

Upon book receipt, pagination was incorrect. BookBaby used the OLD pdf file to print, not the new one, which was correctly attached to the project.

I inquired upon support only to be told it was printed correctly. Had to point out that their PDF printed did NOT match the current PDF on the project. They admitted the error and reprinted for free.

However, support did not (1) offer to rush this reprint, nor (2) offer overnight shipping to get it here on time, nor (3) offer any other recompense for this error.

Yes, they are shipping the book with 2-day that I originally paid for, but because of the production error on BookBaby’s part, it will still be late – thus I paid $20 for 2-day shipping for absolutely nothing.

No recompense was offered for the wasted 2-day shipping cost. Very disappointing.

I provided them with everything they asked for, and then waited–a long time. They knew I was on a time crunch, and that we were comparing quality of books with another company. Their book came in 10 days later than the other, and the quality was not good at all. The paper was too thin, the color was flat and without any depth. It was a real disappointment. Needless to say, even though the other publisher was more expensive, we bought our book through them. We are about to order our second batch. Sorry BookBaby, but you’ve got some growing up to do…..

It’s almost three weeks after my original delivery date and I still don’t have 55 good books that are worth selling.

My book and ebook was due Dec 3, for Christmas. But I didn’t get it until APRIL!!! Needless to say the delay negatively affected my reputation, and I lost customers.

and

* But horrible customer service with California design team, was incompetent, disrespectful and condescending. When I complained to a project Mgr about the delay, she responded that delays are a part of life so basically get over it.
* Lack of integrity: Inconsistent information; you think you’re getting one thing but they give you another, switch it up, e.g. cost for photos from sales team vs different pricing from design team
* I sent emails to the CEO of the company, and he never ever wrote back. No one from his office responded, nor did I receive even a generic letter. This let me know that he doesn’t give a damn and just wants the money.
” I feel trapped in a bad deal. I was told the price will go down with every 100 books I order, but I was told it will be the same price for my 3rd 100 order as is my second. I have to make a profit.
“I’m apprehensive about having customers order directly to be Bookbaby for fear that I won’t make a good profit. I want to talk to someone there to move forward, but I’m very hesitant. I don’t trust Bookbaby. I think I made a mistake choosing them.

Nail you on too many misc fees. Wouldn’t work with them again.

Have been with them for 5 years with 2 books and service highly variable. I was wrongly advised on costs, and they would not honor the original cost quote I got from their employee when signed up when I needed to make I a minor typo correction. Avoid, unless you have no option.

Wish I hadn’t used BookBaby. Unacceptable editing work and rude responses. The best part of the experience was being forced to find a better alternative. You should do the same! Enjoy!

More BookBaby Reviews –

At BookMakingBlog.com:

“Bookbaby is run by ignorant liars. And their prices are insanely high”.

At Reddit:

“Has Anyone Ever Heard Of BookBaby”

RELATED:

More BookBaby Complaints

BookBaby’s Unfair Contract Clause!

Print on Demand Price Comparison that compares BookBaby to other firms

How many copies need to sell to break even? Compare BookBaby to other firms!

WritersWeekly Investigative Reporter Goes Undercover to Investigate POD Publishers! By Brian Whiddon, a.k.a. “Secret Squirrel”

ATTN: PROLIFIC AUTHORS! Which Publisher Gives the BEST DEAL to Authors of Two or More Titles?

One Response to "BOOKBABY COMPLAINTS"

pamelaallegretto July 7, 2017 at 12:50 pm

Wow! Don’t authors do their homework before signing on the dotted line? How do these companies stay in business? What’s with the author who published 2 books with Bookbaby and neither was acceptable? Why go back for a second time when unsatisfied with the first book? Hmmm…

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BOOKBABY COMPLAINTS

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One Response to "BOOKBABY COMPLAINTS"