Having previously published 5 books with McGraw Hill and Princeton University Press, I am not a novice in working with publishing houses. However, dealing with Authorhouse with my 6th book was by far my most frustrating, unproductive and disappointing interaction with a publishing company. After 6-months of exchanges with their incompetent,
inexperienced, confused, and mismanaged personnel, I filed a claim in Multnomah County, Oregon Circuit Court and won a judgment against Authorhouse. On October 11 (Case # 120023259S) I was awarded a full refund of my monies, plus a
fine and 9% interest levied against Authorhouse. After three months, they still refuse to pay the judgment against them. Now I am pursuing collections litigation against Authorhouse at their Bloomington, Indiana headquarters.
The following is a recap of my Oregon court complaint against Authorhouse:
1. Authorhouse grossly misrepresented its technical capabilities and abilities of its personnel to produce a work product in a
timely fashion and of acceptable quality.
2. Authorhouse staff repeatedly ignored directives and instructions given by Author.
3. Authorhouse repeatedly failed in its attempts to create a working document from a PDF-formatted manuscript provided by
Author. During the period of contract negotiations, Authorhouse made false claims and representations that a
PDF-formatted manuscript provided by the Author would greatly enhance their ability to produce a book in a timely fashion and that would reduce the likelihood of errors. When, in fact, Author did provide Authorhouse with a manuscript in PDF-format, Authorhouse staff was incapable of utilizing a manuscript delivered in this fashion.
4. Authorhouse reneged on its commitment to allow Author to establish the retail price of the book.
5. The paperback version of the book produce by Authorhouse in May contained hundreds of print-quality flaws, rendering a work product unacceptable to Author.
6. Authorhouse failed to produce a hardcopy version of the book with a cover that was of acceptable quality.
7. Authorhouse failed to produce an e-version of the book.
Before you do business with Authorhouse, I suggest you access the Better Business Bureau website http://www.bbb.org/us/Find-Business-Reviews / and note the 343 complaints registered against this company. Or, you can call
the Indiana chapter of the Better Business Bureau at 317-488-2222.
0 comments