iUniverse Anmeldelser 413

They charged me $40,000 to redo two of my books n NYT advertising. The WORSE experience ever!! No return of phone calls, poor editing, slow to get things done, delayed book release by six months, n I still haven't seen any ads in NYT!! DO NOT USE THEM!!!

This company is the bottom of the barrel. The finished product looked like a small magazine. They don't offer an suggestions. They have no expertise. You are basically on your own. NO GUIDANCE: It costs you plenty for NO HELP: GO ELSEWHERE
This is our 3rd book with them. This last book was much more money for much less help; less guidance and a much worse finished product. very unhappy.

When i disagreed with them on some points they stopped answering e-mail and phone calls. It's been over 2weeks and all calls go unanswered. They took my money and ran. and this was the second book i was going to have with them. The first was A-OK no problems but that was 13 years ago. DO NOT USE BE CAUTOUS.

Great, but you missed a epigraph.

I published my book in 2010 which is still selling 14 years later.

I am based in England and can attest to the fact that iUniverse does not look after the interests of international-based authors. It refuses to pay royalties directly to my bank account even though iUniverse now makes it mandatory for all its US based authors to provide bank details to enable the electronic transfer of royalties.

Instead, they insist on posting cheques. This is inconvenient because it means that I have to pay a foreign cheque transaction fee. Additionally, the cheque takes a much longer period to clear than would one of local origin. I have not cashed in any cheques since 2017.

I decided that short of iUniverse doing the right thing by transferring the money to my bank account, I would allow my royalties to accumulate to what I consider an acceptable amount before putting the foreign cheque into my account. I was informed by iUniverse that they had a procedure which they call a “re-cut”. This is supposed to consolidate a series of royalty payments into one.

I did not receive a payment for the first “re-cut”. I requested a second re-cut in 2022 and removed the hold at some point in 2023. This meant that I was expecting payment for all my royalties accumulated since 2017 during the first week of December 2023.

But there is a catch iUniverse spring on you after the author removes the “hold”. They claim under a rule of theirs that payment of the sum owed to the author is not guaranteed. In other words it permits them to withhold payment even when the window for payment arrives. The implications are clear: It means that they can keep on deferring paying the author the debt owed him indefinitely.

This is an intolerable state of affairs.

I have since cancelled my contract with iUniverse,

My assessment of the aforementioned is that iUniverse have employed the use of unreasonable terms and procedures which breach my legitimate expectation to acquire royalties due me.

The unconscionable state of affairs leaves me with no alternative other than to take all steps available to me securing the debt owed me including initiating civil legal action and filing a criminal complaint against iUniverse and its parent company Author Solutions.

Solution: An immediate payment of all my royalty earnings from 2017 to the 2nd Quarter of 2024 i.e. April’s end, followed by an accelerated payment mechanism of royalties in the period after the cancellation of my contract with iUniverse.

If you are an international publisher/author- do not work together with iUniverse. You will not get your money...

They did a beautiful job on my book, titled "Me and Mr. Bear"! The design is amazing. I didn't like the fact that my friends received their books before me! My friend had to drive over to my house just so I could see my finished product. They let me borrow the book so that I could make a video on tiktok.

I did like the communication. If a call was scheduled, it took place right on time. The process moved very quickly, once a commitment was made. I wish that someone helped more with social media, but overall it has been a good experience, especially for my first time.

My publishing experience took place in a timely manner. Each task in the publishing process was linked together, from manuscript submission to print publication. I enjoyed communicating with each staff person; they explained the possibilities beforehand. Overall, I would highly recommend IUniverse publishing to a writer.

This is my second go-around with iUniverse. I got what I paid for using the "Pioneer" package -- a print copy of my book plus an e-pub on Amazon with a Getty-image cover and transcription of my manuscript without any professional proofreading or copy-editing. Make sure your manuscript is in print-ready form before submitting it. They are efficient and responsive. You must do the marketing, however, and do not fall for or pay for their promises to make you a star. They are a business designed to make money. They are not going to make money for you, and they do not care about your writing. If your expectations are realistic, there is no problem. Everything is outsourced to workers in the Philippines, but I was able to discuss issues by telephone, and they were polite. FYI, the price for your publication package is negotiable.
Addendum 4/24/2024: As of this date they have failed to make my e-pub available per contract. Several calls and emails have gone unanswered, or someone in customer services unsympathetically says they will get back to you in 24-48 hours (untrue). Also, about 7-10 days after my book was published in paperback I began to receive calls on my personal cell phone from complete strangers -- scammers with Filipino accents -- wanting to help market my book for a hefty fee. I did an online investigation and discovered this was a common occurrence with iUniverse (google iUniverse and "Logan Crawford"). If I write another book, it certainly won't be published by this untrustworthy organization.
Addendum 5/13/2024: I discovered a recurring $9.99 fee on my AMEX for "Author Learning Center." Apparently it was part of a one month "free trial" that comes with the Pioneer package and presumably other packages, only they continued to charge me for the "service" after the one month free trial was over. I eventually cancelled the service -- a service I never used -- but they refused to reimburse me for the six or so months of recurring charges -- service charges that I did not request or want. So much has been written on the Internet about iUniverse and other self-publishing companies under the Author Solutions company umbrella, including many lawsuits for deceptive marketing. Stay clear of all these companies: Xlibris, iUniverse, Archway, Balboa, and many others. They are exploitation specialists operating in the publishing realm. Highly unethical people in it only for the money.

This was one of the worst experiences for me and it costed me to take the risk. I was so excited to get started. Paid almost 2 grand and when it got close to finishing the project, they went ghost. No communication what so ever for almost a month. They rushed me to send in my unfinished manuscript because once you do that you’re locked in. They can drop the ball but once you cancel from fear of failure and/or fraud, they will take 50% without lifting a finger. Nothing was done on their behalf and it still costed me over $900. Who has money to throw away? If you’re thinking about going with this company I have one word of advice…Don’t. Do not send them your manuscript. They get a little lazy after you do or they’ll just keep trying to get money out of you for marketing. Don’t fall for it

I got the copies of my book as described in the publish package I bought.

The service is bad, poor communication, multiple delays. Will never recommend I-Universe

I contacted this company in regard to publishing as a first-time publisher. They made me feel very uncomfortable, and even started to insult me when I told them I had yet to decide who I was going to pick. The man said it sounds like I'm procrastinating (Kelly) and made me feel like I was being yelled at for thirty minutes straight because I didn't commit! Don't go to this company, authors be aware! Not professional staff.

They were very professional and accommodating. The finished product is beautiful.

The actual product and graphics were great. Editorial Service was excellent. I was expecting more from the marketing package deal. It did include a website where readers can buy online with buttons for Amazon and Iuniverse. For maintenance $129 annually for two years. I guess I expected a little more consulting on marketing not just six emails. Everything was ala carte and expensive. Thousands of dollars just for iuniverse to push your book at the book fair. Everyone gets a cut. Never mind the airfare and hotel. To participate in a podcast. $2000. The six emails marketing package ie. click through on a google graphic $3000. The only staff that called me were salespeople. Customer service was slim. I had to call Author Solutions and Iuniverse. .

I have a series to publish and have an account on TikTok Just starting to do lives as @Fortunapage1. I am undecided about where to publish the next book in the Series.

As a novice writer, I didn’t know what to expect from iUniverse publishing my book. Many questions hovered over my mind, mostly if I had chosen the right publishing company. Two years later, I can confidently affirm that I made the right decision going with iUniverse. They were quick and easy to deal with, took the extra step to be helpful, called me when I didn’t respond to an e-mail promptly, and last but not least, they delivered an excellent product, as well as set up a personal authors page to monitor my book sales. My readers love the design of my book, of course along with the story, and I couldn’t be happier having chosen iUniverse. Kudos to iUniverse! Keep up the good work!

My first impression was how well the design team did on the book jacket. It exceeded all my expectations. Secondly, the editorial evaluation was wonderful. The staff member reviewing my manuscript did a fantastic job pointing out my book's strengths and weaknesses. The check-in coordinator did an awesome job advancing the manuscript. The marketing executive proposed many great angles to the promotion. Lastly, Tiffany, my book consultant really put a hook into me on how great your entire team is. I have just received my first batch of books, and my fan club is giving me rave reviews after purchasing and reading my book. I am currently working on book three of the trilogy and will definitely use iUniverse as my publisher.

Lot's of people in this company and the feedback is good. Call backs, follow-ups answers to questions are responded in a timely fashion. The staff is great friendly and outgoing and always thank you for calling I-Universe. Some departments are hard to reach and waiting time is too long on the phone.

I have published 41 one books in the past 20 years. Each book took one week, seven days from start to finish and I was informed at each step. The last book took over a month and I had no idea what was happening with the book.