Scam.
Scam.They took my manuscript placed author house onto my book and offered me 25% royality and linked the account to themselves also charged me £600 which seems pretty unfair.
Harleigh Kamal
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AuthorHouse
2.250 reviews
Last reviewed: Mar 11, 2026Do you agree with AuthorHouse's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 983 customers have already said.
www.authorhouse.comMember since Mar 2026
AuthorHouse is an online company. Based on 50 reviews on TrustPlane, it has an average rating of 2.2 out of 5 stars. Last reviewed March 11, 2026.
Customer Reviews
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50 reviews
Anthony Ford - Author from The Forgotten Realm.
I had my book published 7 years ago. I paid a lot of money for it. I kept paying money out, but I'm yet to see any sign of royalties, or payments. Don't get me wrong I am grateful for my book being published, but nothing came of it. I just wished i got paid for my work. I've completed a manuscript for a novel, and am looking to get it published, but this as put me off. You may still have my details, im not sure.
Anthony Ford
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Have yet to see a copy of my book…
Have yet to see a copy of my book -promised before Christmas! I have paid a joining fee and a marketing fee (kept email receipts)- chose to do my own editing. I have emailed 'Donald'(?) about this, but have yet to receive a response. None of the 'people' I have spoken to have a convincing Google profile (some don't exist) - and I have yet to speak to a non-American person, despite the company marketing themselves as Authorhouse (UK).Any advice would be welcome!
Samantha Borst
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Disgusting Operations
Disgusting Operations. I published my first book with them before Amazon existed. These people are Liars and Thieves . You want to publish a book? Do it yourself or use Fivver to get someone to help you. These people pay 4 times a year, Amazon pays monthly. These company keeps almost everything, You will earn zero and have zero control of your book. They even give you the worst author copy pricing and they make money form that too. Do yourself a favor and stay away.
Joshua` Schmidt
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Zero stars
Zero stars. Breached contract took a widow needing brain surgery for 5 k
Kara Ann
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I co authored a book
I co authored a book, The Truth as the Lord Lives, which was published in 2021. I have received one royalty check several weeks after the book was on the market for a total of $38! I spent over $2,000 for their publishing fees. I’m still waiting for a check four years later!! I personally have bought the book many times so where is the royalties owned me and the author?? Scam, scam, scam. There is no way to find out how many books have been sold then and now. There is no paper trail or accountability. Never use this company ever!!!!
Tina
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Worse Than A Scam
If you do not want some faceless people to eat ALL of your sweat, DO NOT deal with AuthorHouse
Felix
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Authorhouse is the worst
Almost everything about this company is a joke. They’re VERY EAGER to get your credit card information so you can make a payment and then they just kinda….stop. Emails are rarely responded to, and if they are, never in a timely manner. Employees do not pass along critical information to other departments and no one takes accountability when things go south. My salesperson, Brad Wilhem, did not respond to my emails requesting an order of books. Two weeks later I called and asked to speak to management. He was suddenly on the phone for me placing the order. I told him I needed the books by August 7th. Guess what’s arriving on August 9th…. When I called to talk about this they claimed to have had no notice that this was needed. I also paid them to create an ad and the quality is laughable. If a 6th grader made the ad I wouldn’t be surprised. They are not good at reporting your sales either. All in all a terrible experience. No one is held accountable and they don’t offer you anything when they screw up. Terrible company.
Dave Schweitzer
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I feel cheated!
I used AuthorHouse to publish my first book, “The Shadow of my Youth Follows Me”. I was very pleased with the quality of printing. Other than that, I am so disappointed! I know of some sales I’ve had on Amazon that I didn’t get credit for. I even purchased one myself to see if they reported it and they didn’t. When I contacted them about it, they wanted me to tell them all the sales I have through Amazon and the dates they were purchased . There is no way I could know that. The percentage of the money they credit me for sales is often less than they promised. Also, I never got my one page website and it’s been over a year. For what I paid them, I feel cheated. I wish I had gone with another Publisher.
Deborah Hobbs
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No royalty payments given by AuthorHouse
What happens when you have a publishing company that won't pay royalties because the author lives in Australia? All the creative work l have done including marketing my books to libraries and bookstores and all the earnings remain with AuthorHouse. It is now my job to bring awareness and to deal with them legally.Interesting response that you are actively trying to find a solution but as usual lying to me and the public. You steal dreams as well as finances. Businesses like yours need not exist.
Matina
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Made an enquiry with Author house a few…
Made an enquiry with Author house a few years ago for some information in regards to getting my book published, decided not to bother using them after hearing a few bad things. since I've been getting several emails a day from someone called Emma Smith. asking to schedule a call or have we got the right email Address. I have emailed back several times to politely tell them I'm not interested in using there service but they still email me..which now goes to my spam folder. so glad I didn't use this company after reading all the negative reviews. I'm always suspicious when a company has to hound you.
Amara
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Customer service nightmare
I chose AuthorHouse to self-publish my first fiction book because they called so many times and assured everything would be great. The publishing part was ok, but they have the worst customer service in the industry. One example would be that they took 4 months to make a one page website, then I asked to update my email on my website, it has been 3 months and 20 emails but they won't do it. Marketing department is probably the worst, they only exist on paper. Indie authors beware, do not give in to the sales calls!
Shahid Inayet
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Probably Scam
Probably Scam. I was talking to a "Sales Rep", but very sure it was an AI bot. Not recommending them.
Caroline D.
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Avoid this company
I had a book published by these clowns back in 2009. It cost me a significant amount to have the book published. My first royalties were mailed to me from the USA in the form of cheques (that's checks to you Americans) - these were for 52p and just over £1; it cost more than that to mail them to me. I just checked my account (something I've not bothered to do for more than 10 years because they have never contacted me or sent me anything) to discover that I have earned royalties. I've never received anything after those two cheques back in 2009 and 2010. They claim to have paid money into a bank account that was closed down 4 years ago and into which no money has ever been paid by them. It's only a small amount but I don't like being lied to. Avoid this company at all costs - they are con merchants.And now a response to your response. As already mentioned the bank account to which you claim to have made these payments was closed in 2021. If you want to continue this conversation here in a public forum, I'd be happy to do so. Or perhaps you might reply to my emails and we can keep this conversation about what I consider to be your dishonesty between ourselves. Up to you.
PT
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Bad Business
This is a bad company to deal with being a first time author. I purchased additional editing and I had to have corrections done so many times. The Royalties suck!! Compared to other companies you can get a much better deal. I have had different marketing consultants that were not really helpful. Every time you look there is a cost for something. I would not recommend them to ANYONE!!!
Charlotte Allison
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Do NOT Trust Author’s House Publishing!
Do NOT Trust Author’s House Publishing!I wish I had taken the time to read the reviews before I was scammed into believing this company was going to help bring my book to life. I was promised a smooth, professional experience and that they would support my passion for helping people. Instead, they’ve ruined my experience and taken my hard-earned money.Not only did they fail to deliver my book as intended, but they also refused to give me a refund, despite me explaining multiple times how much the $1,700 I paid meant to me and how it was a huge financial stretch. They assured me they would "take such good care of me" and that the investment would be worth it. It was not worth it at all.Their communication was abysmal, their customer service non-existent, and I honestly feel like I’ve been completely taken advantage of. It’s hard enough to pursue a passion like writing, and this company has only made it harder for me. Please save yourself the stress, the heartache, and the money – there are much better options out there for aspiring authors.Do NOT trust Author’s House Publishing. I would give zero stars if I could.
Jenine Wright
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No response
It is unfortunate that I have to give this a 'star' listing of any sort because I have no personal contention with this company's published material, I have never written for them, I don't know them etc etc., and so cannot objectively comment upon their publishing. That is not my issue. But this is … I am a professional writer of many years standing and am partner in a commercial publishing house. I am fully aware of GDPR requirements.I contacted this company in mid-January 2025 by telephone with a query regarding one of their writers. I am currently working on a book in which I mention the man. I have met him and his wife in person at my home; we have exchanged correspondences and books. We know each other. Shortly after we last met I learnt he had died. I have lost contact with his family so for reasons of professional courtesy (ie. citing him) I wished to confirm nothing more than his year of death. I was surprised to learn this company does not give such information. Curious; he is deceased, after all, so is hardly likely to complain. So, in line with standard practise, I asked if they could request his wife to contact me instead. They would not do that either. I was dealing with someone who was not prepared to assist me with my request in order to properly cite a fellow writer in a book. Which, per se, is odd. Especially as I have since found five separate publicly-accessible free-to-access sources that give me the information I sought. I have sent a written query to this company’s offices seeking an explanation for their reticence and, as at early February, have yet to receive any acknowledgement. By any yardstick this is poor practise. I am concerned by this organisation’s protocols and their complete lack of response. I offer no further comment other than this statement of facts and in the anticipation that it may prove helpful to anyone deciding whether to commit themselves.
Graham Fisher
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AuthorHouse Rewards
AuthorHouse always makes me happy. I published without leaving the house too. (Working with their super team in Bloomington, IN) They were on top of everything and kept in contact with me, walking me through every step. They told me what I would need and I listened. 2025 is off to a wonderful start!AuthorHouse and dreams coming true! I worked with their team's experience and knowledge for this industry and weighed their suggestions carefully. I was able to do so much on my own. Footwork is on me and so rewarding!) AuthorHouse does superior work and an excellent job.Deborah CromerPoet/Author/Indie
Deborah Cromer
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Publishing good. Customer contact awful.
The publishing arm of the company performed very well. Very happy with the end result.However, dealing with some if the people in Bloomington, Indiana..not great. Trying to get someone in the phone to order books is difficult. I did get the company president on the phone-Eugene-who was nice enough, but when I told him of my frustration of dealing with his employees, he took their side and, by doing so, essentially called me a liar, in so many words.One woman called me to get me to order a marketing service, and seen I declined, hung up on me. Eugene told me she didn't mean to, without even knowing anything about the incident.
David Mccreery
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If I could give less than one star I…
If I could give less than one star I would. Every negative thing you can read about AuthorHouse has been true in my experience. The constant, never-ending upselling phone calls ruined the holidays. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I was getting two calls every day from the same person at AuthorHouse who was trying to upsell me with an additional $17,000 charge. To be clear, I had already paid them $12,000, only to be told that the $12,000 did NOT include Any promotional services. As soon as I made it clear that I would not be upsold, the service on my books, yes, books plural, came to a stop. The first set of illustrations they provided were terrible and did NOT follow the flow of the story, even though I had provided then with a written story board when I submitted my stories!! When I asked to have a telephone conversation to discuss the illustrations, I was told a call could not happen. The illustrations for the second book have still not been provided, and they will not provide me any information on when those should be available. Additionally, the editing that AuthorHouse provided is grammatical editing only. They did not offer any recommendations beyond grammar. I told them in advance that as a first-time author, content editing was something I counted on, and they promised I would receive it. I did not and now I'm told I will not receive it. Again, they provided Nothing other than grammar editing. My experience with AuthorHouse is so bad that I have requested a full refund and I have begun giving all of my correspondences with them to an attorney. I entered into the relationship with AuthorHouse with great hopes and I spoke with them candidly about the things I'd read about them. They assured me that all negative comments were written by their competitors. Well, I'm not a competitor, I'M A CUSTOMER, and I'm taking my time writing this now in the hopes that I may prevent some other new author from going through what I've gone through. I suppose if someone wants to spend $30,000 to get their "special" class of service, their experience might be different than mine. But AuthorHouse promotes themselves as being a lower-cost option with a concierge-like approach to the author. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH! If you're an author and you read this and decide to move forward with AuthorHouse, you will be making the same costly mistake I have made. I strongly encourage you to find another publisher. I am not endorsing any other publishing firm, and as of this writing I am looking for one. I've wasted months with AuthorHouse. I hope you don't make the same mistake.
JT
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According to TrustPlane, AuthorHouse has a 2.2/5 rating based on 50 verified reviews as of April 2026. Source: trustplane.app/company/www-authorhouse-com