779 views
Verified Reviewer

This review is from a real person who provided valid contact information and hasn't been caught misusing, spamming or abusing our website. Check our FAQ

New Reviewer
4 comments
stars-rating-full stars-rating-full stars-rating-full stars-rating-full stars-rating-full
1.6

I purchased my self-publishing package in December 2015 as an incentive to reach my goal of finishing my book. This information was provided upon my purchase and I confirmed that there was no deadline in the actual publishing process and I could proceed as I wanted.

However I was constantly hounded by the marketing department, editing department and every department in between to hurry up and finish my book. Mind you, I was paying them, not the other way around. The only people who seemed to have any concern for my needs and goals with MY book was the person who 'sold' me the package and the person who 'sold' me a stockpile of books. I purchased the 'Premium' package and the editors I worked with were no more than some young person entering my manuscript into an editing software program.

I had to provide many of my edits over and over again proving that no single person or group of persons were working on my manuscript. Every person who contacted me started from the beginning and had in no way even read my book. Worst of all, the version that was sent to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Bookbub and other websites was not the final edited version which I paid to have printed. This means friends, family and others who purchased my book or ebook from websites received a book with many mistakes.

It has been over a year and I still have not been able to get the websites nor Xlibris to correct this problem. One of the biggest problems with Xlibris was no communication from one department to another when they pass your manuscript around. Another issue I had was with the cover artist. I paid extra for this service and they were so inexperienced and unprofessional I ended up paying someone else to design my book cover.

At the end of all of this, I sent an email to Xlibris stating all my frustrations. I did not choose social media to complain on. I gave them the opportunity to at least apologize and accept responsibility for my horrific experience and the only thing I wanted was for my final manuscript to be the one available for sell. I never received a reply from anyone except the gentlemen who wanted to 'sell' me more copies of my book.

To this day the wrong version of my book is for sell on websites that could potentially affect my success and I have been unsuccessful in having the bad copy removed and the correct one displayed. So ultimately, I am fighting an uphill battle in trying to create a reputation as a writer because a horribly edited version in displayed all over the internet.

Reason of review: Poor customer service.

Monetary Loss: $8000.

Preferred solution: Full refund.

Xlibris Pros: Quality of my book cover print, Getting the book published.

Xlibris Cons: Unprofessional tatics, Simply horrendous, Unresponsive to customer needs after they got your money.

Location: 1663 Liberty Dr #200, Bloomington, IN 47403, USA

Do You Have Something To Say ?
Write a review

Comments

chat-icon

Please avoid publishing any personal information and promotional content

You will be automatically registered on our site. Username and password will be sent to you via email.
Post Comment
Pascale B Qbn

Their aggressive telemarketers duped me for $25,000. Xlibris probably has the pushiest, along with the most belligerent publishing consultants and telemarketers in the globe, because when it comes to hounding new authors, they sure know what theyโ€™re doing.

I highly recommend, do not fall for their see-through-eyed scams and deceits.When my book was redesigned by an expert cover designer from Kevin Anderson & Associates in 2018, it looked ten times better than Xlibris, 2015 version according to the commending feedback I saw online by other organizations after Book Buzz promoted it in June.Theyโ€™ve also sent copies of another authorโ€™s book through e-mail when I was expecting my edited version. Plus, they overpriced the paperback at $24.99 & the hardcover for $3.99 when I tried to tell them Iโ€™m looking at pricing it between $8.99 to $11.99. They set the price for my e-book at $9.00, it took me more than two years to finally bring it down to .99 when all along Xlibris told me all three formats are low-priced. Would anyone consider $35 for hardback and $30 for Softcover a reasonably priced manuscript?

I donโ€™t think so!Their answer was we donโ€™t print by bulk like other publishers. I understand that but books Iโ€™ve seen elsewhere had more pages than mine and half the price. Itโ€™s no wonder their explanation was hard to believe, especially when their publishing consultant tried to sell me the same service of Returnable Books which retailers can return copies not sold, I reminded that I already paid for such service which wonโ€™t expire until 2 years later and she instead said if so I need to renew it. I replied to her that the way you were selling me this had nothing to do with renewal since she told from the beginning about her sales pitch that I no longer have an active Returnable Book service.

Another thing that bothers me is when they exploit all their Filipino female operators which in some range make around $3 for twelve hours of work at a giant Call Center. I donโ€™t know for sure the exact hourly rate but what I read online corporations take advantage of third world countries with meager wages by paying them less than even McDonald workers and other public franchises in the US who make minimum payments.To clarify it, Iโ€™ll speculate that the destitute latter in the Philippines shall have to work a whole year to match what American minorities make in less than three months. They filled out my copyright in 2015 for only five years which will expire in 2020 which looks like after this term elapses, theyโ€™ll take over to retain full ownership of my bookโ€™s royalties.I had to redo and update my manuscript through Bowker Identifier and had hired an intellectual property attorney since much has changed in my book.

Thus, this time around itโ€™ll last over 75 years which is far from the suspected Xlibris five years. Most of Xlibris promotional costs between $1,500 to $3,000 whereas Bowker Identifier cost is one quart of that and better quality.My Contact is: info@***.com

Guest

I'm currently going through this right now.

Guest

I think I can help you with your problem. If you're open to it please send me an email.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1364766

Having trouble too, dmac76@***.com.au

Xlibris Reviews

  1. 151 reviews
  2. 61 reviews
  3. 19 reviews
  4. 5 reviews
  5. 13 reviews
Xlibris reviews