Ah, Author Solutions has been sold once again. It reminds me of a rickety boat. One guy buys it and realizes it has a hole or two so he doesn’t want it anymore. So, he polishes it up and sells it to another guy, who does the same thing. Each owner may get more or less than they originally paid but, in the end, each subsequent owner is likely happy to be rid of it.

Was Author Solutions sold at a loss? Well, reports say their sales have been dwindling, based on the number of ISBNs they’ve been buying. Perhaps the seller wanted to get out before things got worse. Perhaps they wanted to bolt before another class-action lawsuit gets filed against Author Solutions.

Many, many moons ago, AuthorHouse, and Xlibris, and iUniverse, and Trafford, and many other small print-on-demand firms were separately owned and operated. Over time, Author Solutions swooped in and bought them. They kept each firm’s old website (so, some authors may not have known they were getting into bed with Author Solutions) and it even looked like they tried to make it appear they were all separate entities. But, they all had the same parent company so they were all related, right down to almost identical contract verbiage for each one.

You can also find similar complaints about each one online, which isn’t a surprise since the same folks at the top were calling the shots.

When Pearson finally bought Author Solutions (and then fed it into Penguin, just before they merged with Random House), I had high hopes that perhaps, finally, a new parent company was going to straighten them out. You know, start doing business that would result in fewer complaints arriving in my in-box about them, and fewer rants being posted online.

But, alas, that was not to be and, now, even Penguin has dumped the entity, but not before they were hit with class-action lawsuits.

All I can say is I hope the new owner intends to completely revamp the business processes of Author Solutions that have angered so many authors. If they don’t, I hope they have really good liability insurance because Giskan, Solotaroff, Anderson & Stewart (GSAS) is still seeking more disgruntled authors for what we believe will be future lawsuits.

So, did Pearson/Penguin sell Author Solutions at a loss? Well, if you combine dwindling numbers of new titles + class action lawsuits + attorneys still collecting more complaints, I can’t imagine they realized much, if any, profit from their foray into the self-publishing services industry. I’m still shocked they swayed in that direction in the first place.

Don’t miss Victoria Strauss’ take on the news HERE.

And, check out the popular and always colorful comments by Mick Rooney at The Independent Publishing Magazine HERE.

Finally, David Gaughran calls Author Solutions “toxic” and more HERE.

RELATED:

This Makes Me Sick: How Far One Company Will Go to Snare Hopeful Authors
Complaints about AuthorHouse, Complaints about Xlibris, Complaints about iUniverse, Complaints about Trafford, etc., etc.
PUBLIC COMPLAINTS ABOUT AUTHORHOUSE
Lots of Imprints and Lots of Complaints! Could You Unwittingly Crawl into Bed with Author Solutions?
Disturbing Allegations In The New Author Solutions Lawsuit!
SECOND CLASS ACTION AGAINST AUTHOR SOLUTIONS STILL IN PROGRESS; FIRST LAWSUIT DENIED CLASS ACTION STATUS. WE’RE SURE THIS WON’T BE THE END OF IT.
BookLocker is “much easier than AuthorHouse.”

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Got questions about Print On Demand and Self-publishing? Ask Angela Hoy.

About The Author

Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the author of 19 books, and the co-owner of BookLocker.com (one of the original POD publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month), PubPreppers.com (print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish), and Abuzz Press (the publishing co-op that charges no setup fees).

Angela has lived and traveled across the U.S. with her kids in an RV, settled in a river-side home in Bradenton, FL, and lived on a 52 ft Irwin sailboat. Angela now resides on a mountaintop in Northwest Georgia, where she plans to spend the rest of her days bird watching, gardening, hiking, and taking in all of the amazing sunrises.

WritersWeekly.com - the free marketing ezine for writers, which features new paying markets and freelance job listings every Wednesday.

BookLocker.com - According to attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print, BookLocker is: "As close to perfection as you're going to find in the world of ebook and POD publishing. The ebook royalties are the highest I've ever seen, and the print royalties are better than average. BookLocker understands what new authors experience, and have put together a package that is the best in the business. You can't go wrong here. Plus, they're selective and won't publish any manuscript just because it's accompanied by a check. Also, the web site is well trafficked. If you can find a POD or epublisher with as much integrity and dedication to selling authors' books, but with lower POD publishing fees, please let me know."

Abuzz Press offers FAST and FREE book publication, but only accepts a small percentage of submissions, and only works with U.S. authors.

PubPreppers.com - "We Prep, You Publish!" Print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish. Offers formatting and design services only, and then provides simple instructions for authors on where to sign up to have the print and ebook editions printed/listed/sold. Cut out the middle man. Keep 100% of what bookstores pay for your book!

Angela's POD Secrets Revealed Series can be found HERE.

Have a POD Book with another publisher? See if BookLocker can give you a better deal. (BookLocker offers "disgruntled author discounts" to those who want to move from other POD services.)

See BookLocker's publishing packages HERE.

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