Comments on: A Review of Booksurge http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/ Website Promotion, Generating Revenue, Website Management Sat, 28 Feb 2026 22:09:57 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.41 By: Ann Anonymous http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-53406 Wed, 20 Jun 2012 07:33:00 +0000 http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-53406 Hi, my name is Ann and I’m a new out of the closet writer that finds your topic very interesting! I actually created a blog reviewing some of the popular Self-Publishing Companies. You should take a look at my site at anonymousann.blogspot.com. You might find some interesting information on my site. If you wish to add anything that is currently not there please feel free to do so. I’m still researching on some of the companies listed and I should have a complete list by end of the month. Thank you and enjoy!

]]> By: Robert A. Flowers , Author http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-41495 Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:07:33 +0000 http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-41495 My book cover picture and my information inside the cover information is on my web site http://www.raflowers.com , but only I can find it because potential readers do not know its web site address or the books title . How can I tell potential readers how to find the website ? I have a email address too at raf3rd@webtv.net . Maybe you can use my email too tell them how to find info about my book on its web site ? What is my least expensive means to solve this problem and reach many people ?

]]> By: h.m http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-38313 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:59:00 +0000 http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-38313 I am a new author and the experience with Booksurge has been nothing but frustrating and terrible.

I bought a premium package that was over $5000 to do edit and design/layout for less than 200 page color book. Their edit had inconsistent usage of capitalization, too many hyphens (sometimes three in one short sentence that drove me dizzy), misspelling, deletion of whole paragraph that I almost didn’t realize, duplication of sentence that they did not catch and many more. I spent more time cleaning their mess than writing the book, it seemed.. I told the manager how unhappy I was with their edit and he agreed after he read it.

To make the story short, I received a partial refund for their incapability of doing the layout. I ended up doing it myself spending a lot of time during the holidays. I am EXTREMELY UNHAPPY with Booksurge. I feel I waste a lot of time dealing with so many different people who contacted me every time when I make a step towards publishing the book.. and I have to explain to them it is theirs not my mistake. (they claimed that I have wrong specs and I have to redo everything on layout. I confirmed the specs with a real person on a phone and followed the specs via email so that I had in writing. I knew not to trust them at the point) There was a time when no one contacted me for 30 days after submission of the file.

I wish I knew how incapable and insane Booksurge runs their business. How can they associate their business with Amazon? Please get your stuff together.

]]> By: ROBERT A. FLOWERS http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-35939 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:36:36 +0000 http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-35939 My book was published by AUTHORHOUSE THIS YEAR 2009. They have been marketing it since June and I am looking for other sources to market it. I do not know if the book is selling well because AUTHORHOUSE won’t tell me untill the end of their quarter.I like the 35% royalty idea etc your company offers.On the internet “book finder 4 you” shows over 1,000 reader reviews plus professional reviews and 99% of them have 3,4,and5 stars . The book is a true story of my life featuring my experiences mostly with Abbie Hoffman, James Hoffa, and many others. It is only 196 pages and gets great pro reviews.Are you interested in marketing my book? If so please contact me at 407-354-3709 or raf3rd@webtv.net .

]]> By: Rita http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-35550 Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:03:46 +0000 http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-35550 Hey, Thanks for the positive feed back… The Royalty part i was worried about giving my Social secruity number, but now I feel better about filling out the form and maybe I can make a living from my book since the employment Market here In Tampabay is so slim! Thanks, artist101@live.com

]]> By: Eric H. Roth http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-35029 Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:40:01 +0000 http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-35029 Booksurge, due to the Amazon connection, provides several advantages for new authors like myself. Amazon seems biased to help Booksurge authors, the percentage is fine, and you get paid on time with a dependable direct deposit.

Yet Booksurge, as I’ve also discovered, has a significant flaw: books are NOT listed in Ingram, the industry’s bible of published works. This oversight, an attempt to end-run physical bookstores, makes it quite hard for bookstores to even know that your book exists, let alone purchase it. My book, Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics, for example sells in the top 50,000 regularly – but few college bookstores or academic/ESL catalogs carry my ESL textbook.
Consequently, it appears that I will have to republish the book with either Lightning Source or another POD publisher.
Bottomline: Booksurge has helped me get my feet in the publishing pond, sell a few thousand books, and gain confidence. But I will need to supplement it to realize my book’s true potential as an oral skills textbook for English Language Learners around the world.
Or so it seems today.

]]> By: Dean http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-33200 Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:08:32 +0000 http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-33200 Booksurge gives different price options based on the services you require – some people already have their files setup properly to get through their workflow – hence, the $99 price. However their are many out there that prefer a professionally designed cover and page layout to catch attention while on the bookshelf. That’s when you get into the higher pricing.

Unlike traditional publishers (who are invested in your book and want a return on investment) Booksurge could care less about what happens after if gets on Amazon. Unless they can upsell sell you a pricey BuyXgetZ package. You have to DO YOUR OWN MARKETING in order to make any real sales. This is trickier than you may think, but is worth the effort if you’ve already dedicated your time to put a book together. There are marketing companies out there that can help you get exposure.

Best of Luck!

Dean Cowart
Vista Designworks
http://vistanow.net

]]> By: John http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-33171 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:37:45 +0000 http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-33171 So much confusion between Book Surge, Publish America, Strategic Publishers…
Why does Publish America require NO out-of-pocket expenses and promise to have your book not only on websites, but in stores???
Anybody have the straight dope???

]]> By: elizabeth http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-30529 Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:37:27 +0000 http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-30529 I am doing a full color illustrated book and I am EXTREMELY unhappy with Booksurge.I bought their “total design freedom” package $899, and while their customer service has been fast & polite, the proofs have been awful: high resolution files are pixelated, colors wildy shifted, illustrations are mixed up or missing, and the designers have awful ideas about layout.
its taken almost 6 months, with multiple proofs, and I still have not gotten a proof that I would want to sell. I actually sent them a fully laid out PDF to show them exactly what I wanted and they STILL did not get a simple left page text/right page illustration layout correct.
Of course, my customer service manager insists they will get it right, but its been extremely frustrating, slow and disappointing.

]]> By: fred http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-30075 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:03:47 +0000 http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2006/12/20/a-review-of-booksurge/#comment-30075 Hopefully I can shed some light on author supplied PDF galleys and cover art when publishing through BookSurge. The cost for a 220 page trade paperback is currently $299. My novel will retail for $16.99 and I will receive 35 percent of the retail price for each book sold on Amazon.com. So far, the two-week process has been seamless, and my physical proof (first printed book) will arrive for my examination and approval withing a few days. As for faxing the Royalty Payment Information Form, my fax went through without a problem. BookSurge tells you beforehand that it takes about 3 weeks to process this form. Also, I like the idea of having a personal BookSurge Consultant and Account Managers to contact if I have questions. Although I have had very few questions, they have taken it upon themselves to keep me updated via phone calls and e-mails on every step of the publication process. If my physical proof is anywhere as good as the service I have so far received from BookSurge, I’m sure I’ll be happy with the result.

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