Xlibris Publishing review: Scam 106

I am in the same boat as everyone else on here. I created a children's activity book J.D. Drool Monkey's Big Day in 2014. I have seen on many web sites around the globe that there are numerous copies available from new to used. I have invested over $20, 000 and have only made roughly $50 in royalties. I was invited to attend Book to Screen Pitch Fest in Los Angeles and the International Book Fair in Miami. At the book fair, the Xlibris representative told me to only give the books out to the "important children"! ALL CHILDREN ARE IMPORTANT! With all of this publicity you would think my books would be doing better. I have lost all faith in Xlibris as my publishing company. Everyone on here needs to get one lawyer and sue the pants off these people.

I sent in my typed manuscript to xlibris a year ago - at the time I wanted to get it in to a publisher because I wrote it in '86. They have had the manuscript for a year, I was hoping things would change but it hasn't. The person I originally was in contact with is no longer with the company and I want my manuscript back - I called to talk to them today and the person I spoke with told me that the original contact did not give him the manuscript. So, I told him that I wanted it back and I told him that it was his responsibility to find the script and mail it back to me. I am giving him 10 days to get back in my hands. My worry is, what can I do if I don't get it back? I guess in 10 days, I'm gonna have to look for an attorney. Thank goodness I never sent them any money.

I'm the author of Repercussions: What happens in the dark will come to light. I'm experiencing problems myself as a new author. My first book was published with Xlibris on February 29, 2016. I know individuals personally who purchased my book and I also have E.F.T so I don't need to meet the threshold of 75.00 us dollars to receive payment. Also my book was mysteriously not searchable or available in Xlibris bookstore a few days for royalties to be paid. I'm also feeling that something isn't right

I feel that they are a scam when it comes to royalty checks and is not honest with the author when it comes to marketing campaigns.

From experience, and as a publishing consultant, I can tell you there is almost NEVER a reason to go with a publish-on-demand or vanity publishing company. They either get your money up front with no way of knowing if there is any return on your investment, or they get your money in royalties with no evidence of a return on your investment. You even lose on your royalties by the time bookstores and Amazon like places pound their royalties and commissions out of you. The only people who benefit are the publishing companies and lawyers. Where there is a breach by the publisher, yes you can almost always get out of the contract by taking your complaint public and to the social networks. You are entitled to a financial accountability, the print ready file - unless you signed away your ownership rights, then you own nothing; and the distribution and listings should be yanked from all places claiming commissions and royalties under the name of the publisher.

For the unestablished, and sometimes to an established, author the world of publishing is intimidating, confusing and overwhelming. There are a multitude of different types of publishing houses and sources in which to use. Which is right for you? What happens when you go with a less than honorable vanity or print on demand publisher? What steps are involved in the writing, printing, publishing, distribution and marketing of a book? How does an author proceed safely with their dream? How does an author determine what is the best course of action for their book? As an author, writer and publishing consultant my goal is to help the author determine what their best course of action is and sometimes how to undo a bad choice and how to start over. www.janethorton.net

Hawaii was admitted into the union of the United Stated of America August 19th 1959. We have been a state for 50+years... explain to me then why we are charged International shipping? The rep I spoke to gave me the casual reason "because of the distance." Maine to California is farther away than Hawaii is to the East coast so do they charge Mainers international shipping?

So Hawaii gets discriminated against because we're not attached? And then this clown keeps me on hold for 8 minutes after I asked for a manager. When he comes on he says that no one from the team is there, because it's Saturday.

I understand perfectly well that Hawaii has a higher shipping rate, I've lived here 30 years...but INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING?

What a bunch of BULL#^&!

xlibris is a complete scam…… stay away they disconnect you, lie and don't have any respect for the writers, , , , , , , , , , fraud

xlibris is a fraud company, they don't work with you, they take your money, hang up on you, they are pathetic .They need to be shut down!

STAY AWAY FROM XLIBRIS THEY ARE A FRAUD! DONT WORK WITH YOU! TAKE YOUR MONEY. NEED TO BE SHUT DOWN.

On July 18, 2016, I contracted the services of Xlibris to publish a children’s book entitled ABC Animal Rhymes. I made it clear to them that my target market for this book is public libraries and school libraries which means that the book was to be published with a hard cover. A sample copy of the book was sent to me in September 2016 in paperback format with a retail price of $21.99. I subsequently advised them that the price was not competitive in addition to the fact that the book needs to be hard cover. Their representative advised me that to effect these changes (i.e. reduce price and change to hard cover), I was required to remit an additional $106.40 to which I complied on October 31, 2016.

Four months later in February 2017, a representative contacted me with an electronic copy of the changes to the interior galley for which I verbally approved but there was no change to the retail price and the book cover. She advised that there was no internal (XLIBRIS) notation of the book being amended to be hard cover and price reduction – even though I paid an additional $106.40 for those specific amendments.

During the foregoing saga, I began to receive phone calls from a company that calls itself Book Venture Publishing expressing to me how concerned they were regarding my book. The voice of their representative resembled the voice of a representative I was once in contact with at Xlibris. When I said to the Book Venture representative, “You sound like Chris Michaels who I used to speak with at Xlibris”, the phone line went dead. The person on the other end of the phone remained silent and then hung up. Book Venture Publishing has also sent me e mails regarding Xlibris unethical conduct with authors. If one were to Google Xlibirs Scam, one would be appalled at the findings. The very core of my being is remorseful for failure to conduct my due diligence before engaging the services of Xlibris – the most fraudulent and unethical company that I have ever engaged in a business transaction.

After seven/eight months of haggling with Xlibris to publish a simple children’s book, a firm decision was made to let go and part company with them because their business ethics is beyond questionable.

I have NOT received my 5 (author) hard cover books and other marketing materials to include bookmarks, business cards and posters.

In total, I have paid Xlibris $2, 114.90 to publish and market/publicize my book - broken down as follows:
· $785.90 (i.e. $246.50 on July 18, 2016; $216.50 on Aug 18, 2016; $216.50 on Sept 18, 2016 and $106.40 on Oct 31, 2016) for publishing.

· And $1, 329 (i.e. $463.00 - Sept 30, 2016; $433.00 - Oct 30, 2016; $433.00 - Nov 30, 2016) for publicity/marketing.

The question is, “How can this Scam Artist – Xlibris charge for marketing and publicity of a book that has not been produced?”

Please also note that Xlibris uses a United States address but all their representatives are in the Philippines who unfortunately lack basic intelligence and the inability to communicate fluently in English. The staff turnover is ridiculously high which contributes to the lack of continuity in the communication process. I sincerely believe that the reason why I eventually folded and signed on with them is because of the constant hounding by their sales representative. After they got my money, my phone stopped ringing.

Xlibris is trying to con me out of the initial payment I made to them in respect of a book I am trying to publish. They took my initial payment and when the book went up for review they tried to tell me that there was a chance I would have a suit brought against me because some parts of the book said questionable things about certain people. First of all, no one in the book is having his/her real name mentioned and the book take place in the 1960s. Most of the people who could have been identified are dead. The publisher tried to wriggle out of publishing the book by saying it wouldn't be responsible for any suits made against them in respect of my book. That would have been a bit difficult since the majority of the people had died at least 30 years ago, some 40, I would advise that no on consider Xlibris. Amazingly, this publisher has been tracking me down since last summer. You should by all means avoid this company.

Xlibris need to be reported to the Fraud Squad. How can they take people's money, don't produce a thing and then refuse to speak with the author or respond to e mails? The only time that one hears from them is when they want to collect more money. What a fraudulent company!

I agree with every comment above. Luckily, I caught most of their editing mistakes (over fifty in 221 pages - this after two editing rejects of over 100 additional errors in the first proof copy I received). Still, the book went to press and was delivered to me with almost thirty errors. What dismays me most: Their total lack of the marketing services they promised me. Two book fairs that display their books offered to display my book for nearly $2, 000. This include ONLY putting up a poster of my book. I would't be allowed to have a booth to talk to possible distributors, nor would my books be there to buy! What is most egregious is that I cannot collect my royalties. I have six signed affidavits stating that people purchased copies of my book on Amazon in Aug./Sept. yet in late October they do not appear on my read out. Luckily, I'm doing local marketing of my book and have sold almost 100 copies (compared a total of SEVEN by Xlibris). There is an absolute absence of marketing from Xlibris. They are simply just an over-priced book printing company. Will anyone like to participate in a Class Action suit against Xlibris. I have already talked to several lawyers and some are REALLY interested in filing a case!

Completely on board with you!

I have something GREAT to say about Xlibris...They make a lovely book as long as YOU, the author, know what you are doing...I have previously owned a graphic design business and have my own vision on what a good quality finished book should look like. Xlibris helped me produce just that. I now have 5 books published with Xlibris...myself strictly navigating the whole process. Xlibris was more than patient with my critical details and many adjusts and changes.
It you want to see what they can achieve in full color 8 1/2 " book...Buy one of mine: The Lizard's Tail...You will be amazed.
The only problem with any print-on-demand is the cost of individual books...and the cost of shipping. That is the only problem with Xlibris.

Xlibris is a crooked company. Use them at your own risk. They took a lot of money from me and to date I haven't receive 1 penny and no loyalties. I's been 4 years and I was promised 2 books for the price of one then they disagree about that after they took the money from me. The book is printed with structural mistakes and they blamed me instead of taking the responsibility in finding positive outcome to the problem.

They pretend that they are in America, then I found out that they are in Cebu, The Philippines using slave labours . The Filipinos has given themselves English names to play the part. It's total scam. They gave me so much stress and they are full of lies. Shame on the vultures / Crooks. Basically they stole my book.

When I complained, they've been passing me around and used bullying tactics. I've now decided to fight them, the criminals. Together we can stop those crooks / parasites of publishing business.

I have just been reading the comments authors have been making about their experiences with Xlibris. As I had thought, 99.9% have had similar issues to what I experienced this year when I published my first book. Like many I have spent thousands in terms of publishing and marketing and have not received the services I paid for.

For instance, they had initially messed up the format of my book, which is a collection of poems, rather than make it better, and I had to redo it for them. Secondly, they’ve didn’t proof-read the book either. To add to this, once the book was published friends who tried to purchase the paperback had various issues. This included not receiving the what they purchased on Amazon and later being given the recommendation to get off Xlibris and being told (on Amazon) that Amazon doesn’t sell in that zone (Australia etc). Some were only able to buy on e-book. When I queried Xlibris about this, they gave me lame excuses that they have no control over Amazon, or friends should or should not try the Australian website (inconsistent responses). In this case I felt there was false advertising on Amazon (why put it there if not available?)

This alerted me because one or two friends bought my book through Xlibris directly, but I didn’t see any sales records on their website, so no royalties. Plus, Xlibris kept telling me that their Amazon sales records are only updated on a quarterly basis. In terms of marketing, the team just used my book’s summary rather than create anything of their own. Plus, the Coordinator agreed that I could add anything on my website for free (I have email proof), but later said it would cost me. Lastly, because the Marketing Manager had offered to start marketing the book as soon it was ready even though the total would be paid along the way, I queried why it wasn’t going to ones that we had agreed on. The Coordinator’s response said I hadn’t finished paying the total, and that the book fairs they had in mind are next year! These recent experiences made me stop the automatic payments.
From the experiences I have had, I feel that Xlibris are very cunning in terms of continuously referring people from one department to another, claiming the department doesn’t deal with the issue that an author may be trying to solve. This way, nothing gets done. Their customer service is totally useless, and they make excuses that certain departments only follow US working hours, whilst I have caught them off guard on this. In their email signatures they have Australian addresses, and through my recent research I have discovered these are totally wrong. Why put these on the email when not physically there? They are based in Cebu, Philippines, and my conclusion is that they are scammers and just want to get money of self-publishing authors without providing agreed services….I would NEVER recommend frauds like them to anyone.

Three Years ago i come acroos, for publishing my medical Book. After all the lies, after receiving my huge amount, started giving all excuses.
They are a biggest scam.I dont think they have educated people to help you.

After loosing 3 years, funds, etc, i had to pay a reputable company.

It seems they are a kind of money laundering to Phillipines/Manila.

dangerous, crooked people

Xlibris scam
Xlibris published my book, To Weave a Tangled Web, back in 2011. They constantly tried to get me to spend thousands of dollars on their book tour packages and finally claimed that the reason I have never seen a penny in royalties is I didn't spend the money on their book tour packages. My book is in on Amazon.com, Ebay, Barnes and Noble, Powell Books and more, yet they claim that not a single book has sold in eight (8) years.

I, too have been ripped off by this company. My book was published in 2012. I've made nothing from it but it is in 3 pages of Google Search pages. My book is selling in different languages around the world and I receive no royalties. I am keen to take these people on.
kelliemackey123@gmail.com

Worse experience ever wanted out the contract but couldn’t . Very poor editing full of errors. Still haven’t received a dime in royalties . Very dishonest people will never wish them on my worse enemy . Got robbed out of $12, 500

I want parr in lawsuit xlibris ripped me off 7000.00 how do i do it dawn.laga@yahoo.com

I would like to be added to the lawsuit. My book was published in 2016. I have made nothing. I have seen no royalties. My book has been sold in other countries. I feel ripped off and want my money back. They priced my book at an extremely high price that I did not agree on. My email address is nikkischuh1@gmail.com

I would love to be involved with this lawsuit. I have 4 children's books they have had for over 2 years and still are not published and for months now, no one will get back to me.

I have also had a bad experience with Xlibris and have taken my next book to Book Trail Agency to publish. They will also republish my first book 'Dear Mr Len'. After 7 months I have not received any royalties. I have been sweet-talked into buying very expensive and unnecessary marketing packages. Xlibris talked me into buying a 'book to film' package for $NZ20, 000. This was a total scam. I've since found out that if Hollywood wants my book, they will come to me. I asked Xlibris for a refund and they gave me a $NZ8, 000 credit 'as a goodwill gesture'. So what about the other $NZ12, 000? I also paid $NZ7, 500 for New York Times advertisement. My friends in New York have not seen this (after 6 months). Unfortunately I paid Xlibris about $NZ7, 000 to publish my second book 'Solly Mr Len'. They are avoiding giving me a refund. Writers beware; do not give your hard work to Xlibris. They are a self-serving outfit that needs to be shut down. My email is lwilson62@outlook.co.nz

i published my craft book with them in 2012, and no royalties as yet even though i know damn well it has sold, now they say they cant send sterling cheques so i accepted to be paid in US dollar cheques still no royalties have arrived! Now they say i need a USA tax number which i cannot get so a further 30% will be deducted from my royalties, and a fee of $50 for not filling out the tax form! All the while i get repeated calls asking me to buy my book from them, its a total disgrace and scam. I worked hard on my book and they are the only ones profiting from it, i'd like to pull my book from them but do not know how to go about it, it has almost made me want to give up writing as it just seems all my hardwork is for nothing!

Hello, my name is Brian and I have more than enough to say about the bad practices of the publisher Xlibris. I have a number of manuscripts that I would like to publish, but after the questionable behavior during my business with Xlibris, having two books published by them. One was redone to put added material onto the package, and it was completed after I had strongly said, not to make any changes. You could easily tell it was not the same book and unauthorized changes made. The second book is completely paid for and the company Xlibris is clear, that they are not going to publish this book or make any attempt to do so. I gave them my stimulus check and I got a slap in face. They published my first book, "A Belly Buff Duff Shared His Stuff." in 2009 and got one check for about 2.00 dollars since then. That's it.

Mr Len here again. I got Book Trail Agency to relaunch my book "Dear Mr Len" and take it away from the criminal scammers Xlibris. Book Trail also launched, for first time, my second book "'Solly' Mr Len".

I'd already paid Xlibris to publish these books before I realised they were a scammers. They refuse to give a refund.

Xlibris stole $NZ90, 000 off me for fake marketing packages: $20, 000 books to film, $6, 000 audio book, $7, 500 New York Times advertisment. None of this happened - all lies and they did this to me when I was suffering from stress-induced bi-polar disorder that they probably caused. But they saw a weakness and persisted.

I told them how I'd donate my royalties to charities and they told me how kind and lovely that was, yet still stole my royalties. They stole the money destined for kids with cancer and the blind.

Xlibris are the most nasty Nazi-Mafia outfit on Earth and I will work with any one who attempts to bring them to justice.

I don't want them to know where I now live as I think they will do anything to shut me up.

Xlibris are to be avoided at all costs. DO NOT ASK THEM TO PUBLISH YOUR BOOK.

Mr Len

What's happening with the Class Action. I have halted all publishing business with Xlibris. They lied to me for 6 months and stole $NZ90, 000 from me for fake marketing packages. Xlibris is a very sophisticated scam and must be brought to justice. Xlibris have ceased publishing my first book 'Dear Mr Len' and I have relaunched it with Book Trail Agency. Book Trail are also publishing and 7 books that I have written. I have survived the Xlbris holocaust but many other first time authors wont survive these criminals. I'm eager for the Class Action to proceed. My email is lwilson62@outlook.co.nz

They convinced me to purchase their projects, and when I was completely out of money for their projects, they assured me that I had cash coming from them. Yeah, right. They took over $18K and I still have not seen a single penny from their "projects." I deeply regret not having just told them "No."

Xlibris over promise and under delivery
The only thing they are concerned about is taking your money, aggressive marketing requests again asking more money.Book published was Not correctly formatted and they refused to rectify their mistakes unless more money paid
Complaints ignored or lengthy waits to reply but never in a positive way
No royalties ever received
Excess postage charges
High book price They determined despite saying I had control of price
Cut my losses ended contract and yet they still have my withdrawn book on sale at Amazon for £1 .90and only Xlibris can cancel
I’d rather not have a book at all than experience what I consider a massive fraudulent scam making me feel Robbed

Thanks. Good to know. I still don't like it that RH is affiliated. Now, how to get some money back from Xlibris?!?

regards

Dominic g

My name is Bradley Hughes and I wrote a book 'Poverty pain and redemption' using the pseudonym José Daniel's which was published in 04/02/2017. I have never ever received royalties since,but when I was in the process of making payment Alex brown who works for Xlibris called me every night and spoke to me for up to 2 hours helping me make payment until the payment was made. Once payment was made I have not received royalties since 2017. Yes they are a bunch of crooks

I was looking into publishing with Xlibris but I had unexpected life events come up where I had to pull my project and after many phone calls and run around they’re telling me, I owe them money for a book that nothing was ever done with. I already spent $3,000+ dollars and they have the audacity to tell me I owe money. The whole things started to scream SCAM when I kept getting bombarded for more and more money, and now I know for a fact this company is a scam. If there’s a lawsuit out for them, I’m in.

Is there a class action lawsuit against Xlibris? How do I get involved in it?

I too was taken advantage of by Xlibris, with my book of poetry, Here Lies Madness., back in 2009. It contained a poem that I received an award for from Vincent Price. I paid $7K to get the book published and then a few thousand more to have it pitched to many dubious organizations. I made the mistake of telling them that I wanted to publish through Amazon . They immediately registered it under their name and collected all the royalties, except for .75cents that they allowed me to have per book. I complained to Amazon and they eventually shut my CreateSpace account down. I did the same with Barnes and Noble, and a few others. I noticed that many of my books were still being sold worldwide however. I would like to take part in destroying this evil parasite, that cruelly capitalizes on our creativity. You can contact me at GeeLarry64@yahoo.com if you have an idea on how to form a Class Action Lawsuit.