ComplaintsforXulon Press

• Initial Complaint

  08/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am reporting this business to The Better Business Bureau because Xulon has consistently been evasive and lied about their contract regarding authors receiving royalties. I have contacted them several times, but they will not get back in touch with me although I've placed several calls and been transferred to "my account representative". The voicemail is conveniently always full. I have no further recourse but to contact an attorney to resolve the matter of my book being placed on ******.com under Xulon's account. They have provided no information to me regarding a sales report, and this seems to be their pattern with other authors. In essence they have stolen my intellectual property, and they are selling my book without my permission on ******. I have not received any royalties in the last 8 years, but my book continues to appear on ******. I have even recently ordered it myself to see that they are in fact still printing and selling it without my permission. Because it is my intellectual property, I will publish with another company.

  Business response

  09/16/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/02) */ Hi Ms. ********! I trust this message finds you well. It looks like in the time since filing this issue you have spoken with your representative. I understand you all are working through the issues identified. Would you like to continue with this dispute on BBB or do you prefer direct contact to your phone/email? We're happy to proceed however you feel most comfortable and are looking forward to resolving your concerns. Blessings, Xulon Press Management

• Initial Complaint

  08/21/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I had a book published by Xulon Press for which I paid 1,899.00. After I finished paying for their services, I heard nothing else from them. However, I saw the book for sale on their website, and other websites as well. I have never received any notification on the success of book sale or lack thereof, nor have I ever received any royalties from them. I contacted the only person I knew, Miss Sandy Owens, who is in charge of payments, and she referred me to Ms. Priscilla H********, who is in charge of royalties and changes to books. I have called Ms.H******** more than once, and she has not returned my calls. I would like to ask Ms. H******** as to why I haven't received any notifications as to the status of sale, and why I haven't received royalties. I want the book pulled out of distribution and terminate any publishing agreement. Those are the issues I would like BBB to help me with if possible. Thank you for your time.

  Business response

  10/10/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2022/09/07) */ Hi Ms. *******, I trust this finds you well. I'm so sorry for the issues you've encountered. I have looked into your account and can confirm that 2 copies have sold since the publishing of your book back in 2017. It is currently active and available for sale through our printer's distribution network which does include *********************** etc. That of course doesn't guarantee sales, but it is available for sale should a customer choose to purchase. Book sales and royalty information is posted monthly to your author center. I will have our system send out your login information so you can log in and check things out. I do see both sales posted there and a royalty balance of $16.77 on your account as well. Our typical royalty threshold is $25, once an account reaches that amount, if all paperwork is on file at that time, a direct deposit or check is issued monthly. I understand you'd like to terminate your account and can go ahead and initiate that for you. Once that process is complete, you will lose access to your Author Center so I'll wait a week or so to finalize that. Blessings, Xulon Press Management Consumer Response /* (3000, 10, 2022/09/09) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Mr. B**** does not say whether my book will remain selling or will it be taken out of circulation. I want it taken out of circulation in every outlet where is being sold. Then I want my account closed. Business Response /* (4000, 12, 2022/09/20) */ Hi there Ms. *******, We can certainly cancel/terminate the agreement and remove the files from our printer so that no new copies are printed. The book listing will likely never go away from Amazon completely, but they will mark the book as "no longer in print" so no new copies can be ordered. This does not prevent used copies from being resold, though given the overall number of book sales I believe that to be unlikely. I have attached the sales report below since once I terminate the account you will lose access to this. I have also processed the termination of your book in our system. Best of luck in your future endeavors, Mrs. Corey M*** Director of Operations Consumer Response /* (2000, 14, 2022/09/20) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) I am satisfied with the response given by Mrs.Corey M***, Director of Operations. I just want to state that I have the copyright and the book has been edited and may be published by another publisher in the future. I hope this does not present a problem with Xulon Press. If there is no conflict or problem, then this is the end of this issue. Thank you ******. *******

• Initial Complaint

  08/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have pre paid to have my by book self published and edited by this company. However the editing job was not ask described. Now almost a year later i have nothing to show. Thr book has been poorly edited or at all. The have so many basic errors including commas, past tense. Ihave paid them for 2 extra edits plus other fees. I have how been hosted by Mark B******* and i amnot a pleased customer. I am seeking to finish my book properly or be completly refunded.

  Business response

  09/13/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/08/22) */ Hi Ms. ********* I trust this finds you well. Thank you for bringing this concern to our attention. I'm hopeful that we can resolve this fully and efficiently. I'd really love the opportunity to get this turned around for you so that we have a satisfactory result in regard to your edit and ultimately, a published book! It looks like you have had some correspondence with a couple of members of our team since this complaint was filed on the 19th and as of today (22nd) had an outside editor reviewing the latest version of the manuscript to determine if there were additional errors. I have asked Marc and Jason to provide me an update once they hear back from you on that and from there, if outstanding issues remain, we will address and correct them accordingly. Blessings, Xulon Press Management

• Initial Complaint

  08/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hi I paid this company 1800 plus 6 to 1000. I will accept 3500 to resolve the matter. I have been trying to contact someone for at least a month. Prior to that the person that was my project coordinator was unreachable and it was turned over several times no contact. So I was promised 50 free books. More recently I sent over another manuscript in April 2022 because it was lost by someone. I had previously submitted it November 2021. Then they told It was complete I went in and looked and the first Letter off each page was missing. They said they would do it again. I paid more for editorial Services. I spoke to Nina in May or June. I have been trying to contact her for almost two months. July She sends an email to approve my interior. It's the wrong manuscript. A coworker Marc spoke to me briefly. This past Friday I called the receptionist and she promised a supervisor would Call me Back. No call Back. Today 8/8/2022 I call no answer and I call again it says the number is disconnected. They can finish expeditiously with the correct manuscript and give me 100 free books Instead of 50. I am not happy I give my money and get ignored. I want it done correctly. I have emailed Jason, Nina, and Heather. No one has helped me. Finish with 100 free books or settle for 3500. People keep changing

  Business response

  09/16/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/08/16) */ Hi Ms. ********, Thank you so much for submitting your concerns and bringing your account to our attention. I am so sorry for the issues you have encountered. Rest assured, Nina is your assigned point of contact at this time and is happy to help you in whatever way she can. I had her give you a call yesterday at 11AM EST to help resolve these concerns ASAP. She did leave a voicemail for you as well. We are more than happy to rush through your changes and with the correct manuscript, we'll just want to confirm that we have the correct file of course before doing so. I'm happy to have our Author Experience Supervisor reach out to you as well so that we can learn how to better improve on the challenges you've faced and prevent them from occurring in the future. We'd also be happy to consider some additional compensation for your challenges as needed. We will attempt to connect with you again today via phone and email so we can get this resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible. Blessings, Xulon Press Management Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/08/19) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Hi, I do appreciate you responding quickly. I have spoken to Nina but I missed the supervisors call and tried to call her back. I have spoken to counsel and I would like 150 books for free and 1000.000 and for you all to finish the job correctly. If we can agree I will close this out as an acceptable resolution. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/08/26) */ Hi Ms. ********, Thank you again for reaching out. I have received your compensation request and unfortunately the most we are able to do is to add in an additional 100 free copies of your book, as discussed with Nina. Based on your current book specs (trim size, interior color, and page count) to have these books printed would cost you about $1,500 before taxes and shipping. Plus, you'll now be able to sell these books at your estimated retail price of $23.99 (also based on current book specs), which equals roughly $2,400 in cash that can go right into your pocket! This equates to roughly $3,900 in compensation and I'm sure will be a great help to you in your book launch. Of course, we are also happy to finish the job so that you're fully content with your published book. Blessings, Xulon Press Management Consumer Response /* (4200, 12, 2022/08/26) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Thank you for your response to be clear for all that has happened to include the manuscript sent in November of 2021 that was lost and then the type setter issue, the many agents I have been through, not being able to contact someone for months until I reached out to the payment person, the frustration and concern that this would never happen and being sent the wrong manuscript to approve, their is no compensation for that? I am disappointed. But you are willing to send an additional 100 copies which equate to 200 free copies? and you will finish the book? Business Response /* (4000, 14, 2022/09/02) */ Hi Ms. ********, Thank you for your reply. We are absolutely happy to finish the book! In regard to compensation, we are offering 100 free books as the compensation for the challenges. You already have 50 free books on your account so this will total 150 free copies of your book was it is completed. If all of this sounds good, we will happily resume the work on your project asap. I believe Nina is just waiting for confirmation of the correct and final manuscript. Please let me know if we can provide any additional help or information. Blessings, Xulon Press Management Consumer Response /* (2000, 16, 2022/09/09) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) Thanks again for the response. I accept the additional 100 books bringing my total of free books to 150. I still wanted monetary compensation for the frustration and time spent calling and emailing, it's almost a year after I turned in the manuscript from 11/2021. I will resend it again this weekend and we can resume. Hopefully everything is resolved professionally and expeditiously this time. The book needs to be ready and printed by November.

• Initial Complaint

  07/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am a pastor and new Christian author who partnered with Xulon because of their professed Christian values. Since the launch of my book on May 13, 22, I have had nothing but problems. The issue regarding this complaint concerns not receiving "all" the royalties I have earned for May and June from ****** and **********************. In June, I raised concerns about not receiving all of my May royalties from ****** and*****for "confirmed book sales" based on reports. These were sales from family and friends which should have been reflected in the June report. My representative Ms. Doris B*** said via email that there is a cutoff for***** and the royalties should appear on the July report and she had no way of knowing about ****** sales yet there is knowledge of wholesale. This is unconscionable. This is a poor business practice; someone knows. The July report reflects that I will only receive $59.51 and I am outraged! Not a single book sale is in this report, and I need this rectified. I want to get all the royalties that I have earned. Heaven only knows how I am being railroaded by the unknown sales from marketing efforts. Here are the confirmed book sales thus far: ****** -14 paperback books (7 May /7 June) and **************** - 5 (2 May/ 3 June) of which I should receive 45%. I need this matter resolved expeditiously. These are not sales that will spill into July or have anything to do with 3rd party purchases on wholesale, ebooks, or kindle. The July report of $59.51 is far below it. I am seriously concerned about the business ethics and practices of Xulon and being railroaded by Xulon as an author. Their practices need to be investigated. Wholesale purchases from third-party vendors have nothing to do with individual book sales from vendors online. Secondly, 3rd party wholesale book purchases are a concern, This report does not show you where the money is going. There is no cost for shipping or printing noted. I only received 1.69 per book for the 59 books. Why?

  Business response

  08/30/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/08/01) */ Hi******* ******! I am so very sorry to hear of your challenges with your royalties and sales reports and the confusion surrounding royalty return. I have reviewed your account and see that you have exchanged a couple of emails with your rep and our Author Experience Supervisor as well. I do feel they left a couple of your questions unanswered and have followed up with them on this. I have asked our Author Experience Supervisor to reach back out to you in hopes of explaining and further answering your specific questions. I assure you, we are on your side and want to do whatever we can to show you that. One resource I thought could be helpful for you in the meantime is something from our website that gives a breakdown of how each royalty return is calculated. Of course the retail price, wholesaler discount, and production cost will vary based on the book type, vendor, etc. but this should at least help explain how we get to our derived royalty return https://www.xulonpress.com/book-printing/royalty-rates/. Our team will be in touch soon to provide further clarification to your concerns. Blessings, Xulon Press Management Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/08/03) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) First of all, the Xulon representative needs to respond in this portal and not my email, so the responses are documented. Issue One: I received a response that indicates the following: List Price: $31.49, Retailers Discount: -17.32 (55%) Print Cost: -13.25 Your royalty: 0.92 cents. However, the third-party royalty I received in June and July was $1.69 per book and not 92 cents. My concerns have nothing to do with what is happening in the future. I also need something in writing from the printer that indicates that the cost is going up. I simply do's believe or trust anything that Xulon says. In addition, the cost for printing and etc. is not indicated on the sales report at all for the authors. If the company is transparent and ethical the author would know of all the expenses on the report. I have included it so you can see what I am talking about. Issue Two: This print cost of $13.25 has never been provided on the report and even when I raised issues of concerns repeatedly. If this is a true cost, it would be on the reported and shared with me a couple of months ago. it was just created and fabricated. Issue Three: The 3rd party purchases at 55% of which I got only $1.69 per book does not address the royalties I should receive when someone goes online and purchases a book at full price. I received nothing from any book sales (****** and ****************), and I know and have confirmed several purchases from family and friends. Issue Four: Doris B***, who is my representative, indicated via email that there is a cutoff for sales on the report and I should see the royalties the next month. So, if I was not authorized for any royalties, this statement would not have been said. She also inquired as to when the purchases I mentioned were made. Again, if I had no entitlement why these statements? Doris also indicated that other authors are complaining about the very same things. Issue Five: I did not receive the sales report from the third-party vendors as promised by my representative in writing. Issue 6: Now I am told that my book price needs to increase to get at least $1.50 per book. What is the planned increase of my book? Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/08/12) */ Our deepest apologies,******* ******. We often provide updates and statuses here but work directly with our clients to resolve their specific issues as the BBB prefers we don't include much personal information in these posts and also phone conversations are usually needed in order to get full resolve on challenges like these. That said, we're happy to communicate here as it is your preference, I'm sure we can still achieve a positive resolution. In regard to your first issue, the breakdown you were provided of "List Price: $31.49, Retailers Discount: -17.32 (55%) Print Cost: -13.25 Your royalty: 0.92 cents." Is based off of current print prices/production costs from our printer. They released a production cost increase on July 18th, so when we use their calculator to produce an estimated royalty return, that is the calculation presented based off of current print/production prices. These prices fluctuate often as they're based on paper cost, supply and demand, etc. In the past, this was relatively stable with minor adjustments here and there but in the last two years, this has changed significantly. During 2020, papermills all around the world closed at rapid speeds and simultaneously, demand for products like paper towels, toilet paper, paper in general, skyrocketed. Our printing partner was faced with challenges they've never seen before, thankfully we work with one of the largest print on demand printers in the industry and our author's books availability wasn't impacted, but in many cases for smaller offset print shops, they simply couldn't get paper to even print books. I know that isn't a direct answer to your concern here, but I'm hopeful that by explaining that you'll understand the reasoning for your print cost fluctuating, thus impacting the retail price of your book. Our printer does not communicate with our clients in any way, nor do we allow our clients to communicate directly with our printer. The reason is not for hiding or withholding information, but rather for ensuring anonymity with our partner and our clients. I'm really sad to hear that you do not trust or believe anything our business, and if that is a true reflection of how you feel and is not repairable, I might recommend having your book printed and distributed elsewhere so that you can put some ease to these concerns. That would give you the opportunity to have full control and understanding of the printing and distribution process and we would be happy to provide you the Print Ready files with our ISBN and Logo removed so you can do that. In regard to your second issue, we don't include production costs on royalty and sales reports at this time. The reason for that is that it does constantly fluctuate. As I mentioned in the past, these were minor fluctuations and in recent years have increased to somewhat larger fluctuations. The production cost for a book where only a single book is printed would be higher than the production cost for a book order of 100 copies. This is not something we are capable of reporting for our authors at this time, though I'm happy to make the recommendation that this is something we consider down the road if it's possible to achieve. We also don't include the retailer wholesaler discount for this same reason. For some retailers, it's 40% and for others it's 55%. This is in frequent fluctuation. I assure you these costs were not simply fabricated. We are a publicly traded company that goes through routine audits. I truly believe there is just a misunderstanding between your expectations for what we would report and what we actually report. We share publicly on our website what we post to our royalty statements, which can be found on this page - https://www.xulonpress.com/book-printing/royalty-rates/. We report to our authors "how many copies are sold, when they sold, and what your net profit is". That said, I certainly think some additional verbiage about production costs and how they fluctuate could be useful here and I'll be sure to share that feedback with our team. In regard to your third issue, the 3rd party retailers are ****** and **************. They purchase the copies of your book and our relationship/partnership with them exists through our printer. To clarify, we are actually not in direct contract with them, but rather our printer is. Friends and family who purchased books from ****** or **************, are the customers of those retailers. I often use an example of a produce supplier/grocery store. When you go to the store to purchase broccoli, you are buying the broccoli from the grocery store. The grocery store purchased the broccoli from the supplier. You can't go to the grocery store and buy broccoli from the supplier directly. The grocery store buys the broccoli for a wholesale price, and then resells it for a profit. This is the same concept. One way that you can eliminate the mark up the 3rd party retailers are charging is to direct your customers to your book's listing on the Xulon Press Bookstore. This website allows you to sell your book without the 40-55% markup that 3rd party retailers charge, though the printing and shipping often takes a bit longer than by using ****** ***** for example. You will still pay a distribution fee, freight fee, and print fee but it works out to a lot less than the 3rd party retailer mark up because we don't take any profit from those books the same way ****** or ************** would. You sold 8 copies via the Xulon Press Bookstore Website in May, which are reflected on your Sales Report on June 14th. Your average return on those books, after Distribution Fee, Freight Fee, and Print Fee, was $17.23 per book. In regard to your fourth issue, I'm not sure I fully understand the question so please forgive me if my response doesn't answer your concern. We process royalties from the month prior by the 20th of the following month (though it usually posts around the 15th). So for example, if ****** purchased 30 books in the month of March, those books would show up on your Sales/Distribution Report on or after April 20th. At that point, if your total royalty balance meets the $25 threshold, then a check or direct deposit would be issued before the end of April. One thing that is worth noting here is just because the 3rd party vendor purchased X number of copies, doesn't mean they sold X number of copies in the same period. For example, just because 3rd party vendors purchased 59 copies of your book in May, doesn't mean they sold all 59 copies that month. They likely ordered X amount to suit their immediate orders and X amount to have on hand for additional orders. Again, I use the grocery store reference here. The grocery store doesn't notify the vendor every time someone buys a bunch of broccoli, they simply buy the amount they think they'll need based on their perceived demand. You were paid $272.05 in June and $59.51 in July. Those were derived from 3rd party retailer sales, Direct consumer sales from the Xulon Press bookstore, and eBook sales from ****** & **************. Please let me know if I answered this question or if I missed the mark/misunderstood, I'm happy to revisit as needed. In regard to issue 5, I have attached your Lifetime Print Report from the printer to this response. This does include both free copies that we printed and shipped to you along with 3rd party vendor orders and author orders if you placed any directly with our book sales representative. In regard to issue 6, we are currently doing research on our price ranges and production costs to determine how we need to shift our retail prices. We will be communicating with all of our authors impacted by this via mass-communication from our marketing department once we've finalized the price revision. You are welcome to wait until we do that repricing of our titles or if you'd like to proceed with a price adjustment now, we can do that. You're welcome to set a price point of your liking in the event you'd prefer to take on a higher royalty return or a lesser royalty return. I would just note that you have a Custom Retail Price so you'd be removed from any future bulk Retail Price Increase. Your royalty could still fluctuate though if we see another production cost increase from our printer. I really hope this information is helpful to you and eases your concerns. I'd like to reiterate that our intention is always to serve our authors to the utmost of our abilities and I apologize that some of these details weren't made more clear to you prior or during your publishing journey. Blessings, Xulon Press Management Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/08/17) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Xulon's proposed resolutions are not acceptable because my concerns are still unaddressed. 1. On August 3, 2022, Xulon (Elizabeth Marrero) responded to a message I sent on July 20th to Doris B*** regarding pending royalty concerns. It took awhile before I received a response. I am sure this was because I filed a complaint with BBB. However, Xulon indicates in this BBB response that print cost went up on 07/18/22, yet I was not informed until July 28 via email which was after filing my BBB complaint. When I was informed via email, the date of July 18th was never provided. The royalties received in July were populated in the Author's Center on July 15, 2022, which was before July 18, 2022. See attachment. Thus, I earned $1.69 per book from the 3rd party vendor and not 92 cents for the recent royalty check. By this difference alone, I am due an additional $20.77. I cannot believe you, Xulon would penalize me for a change that took place after a legitimate earning/rate that you posted. There is no place to attach a copy of Xulon's Excel sheet to this response. However, it is located in Xulon's Author's Center and it is the same as the prior spreadsheet that I attached with my prior response. Xulon, you need to review it. Note the date of July 15 and note the rate of 1.69. 2. Secondly, there was nothing provided to me as an author that supports this increase in July. I have asked for that and I have not received it. I want to see the notification from the printer of the increase. Verbally informing me well after the fact is of concern. If the authors are respected and everything with Xulon was honest and transparent, I would have been informed of the increase before it happened and most assuredly within the same month that it occur. Xulon has provided no proof of the increase in printing price from the vendor. This is an unethical practice and unbelievable. 3. Likewise, I want to see something in "writing" from Xulon and the printer to support the change in royalty funds, increase in printing cost and what the itemized production costs were for May -July. 4. Xulon's response of leaving these sections blank on the sales report because of fluctuation is absurd, lacks transparency, is unfair to the author, and raises suspicion of fraud and unethical behavior. As an author, I have a right to know what all of the costs are upfront. By not providing the cost you can tell me or anybody anything at any time since there is no documentation to support otherwise. I need some official documentation to resolve this concern. 5. Xulon indicates that they do not have a contract with ****** and **************** but have one with the printer who has one with the aforementioned vendors. Since I have raised the issues of concern about not receiving royalty from physical book sales, Xulon should be notifying the printer of my concern so that they may forward my concerns and documentation to the vendors. This matter is still not resolved and very significant source of dissatisfaction. Xulon you receive money from both vendors regarding, 3rd party book purchases and eBook- kindle sales monthly which are populated on the sales report. If you supported me or any other author, you would contact the vendors regarding my concern and at least submit the documentation regarding purchases to them. You continue to demonstrate your lack of concern for my issues. 6. The report of book purchases you provided as an Excel sheet is not useful and surely you are aware of that. It is simply a running list of books and dates. It does not specify vendors at all. Again, if you respected me as a human being and an author and care just a little, you would have supplied a useful report to illuminate this aspect as a concern. I am requesting a useful report.

• Initial Complaint

  06/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I published a book ("****************************************************************************************) through ******** *****, Inc.,/Salem Author Services in February 2020. The publisher (******** *****, Inc.) has failed to give me an accurate sales report. I am owed for unreported sales, including sales on ebooks published by Sumo ebooks publishing. I inquired in writing about this matter, but ******** ***** refuses to answer my questions about the unreported sales. I am therefore seeking the assistance of the Better Business Bureau to resolve this serious matter. Sincerely, *************

  Business response

  07/07/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/06/10) */ Hi Mr. ******! I am so sorry to hear about your challenges with your sales report. I have escalated this request to our Author Experience Supervisor and requested that she reach out to you regarding this matter so that we can work to resolve the issue. I have also noted that we didn't produce an eBook for you, nor are we affiliated with Sumo eBooks Publishing, which is a bit concerning! I will be sure to discuss that with our team prior to us reaching out to you. I'm sure we can get this all cleared up in no time. We will be in touch soon!

• Initial Complaint

  05/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 8/31/2020 I paid Xulon Press $2377 to produce and distribute my book in the print and eBook formats. I paid $149 to make corrections to my manuscript. The scheduled release date was 10/26/21. The sudden death of my ex-spouse caused a delay, but I was assured not to fret and to take my time because they wanted my book to be exactly the way I requested prior to its release. My corrections were submitted on 10/27/21, however, Xulon Press did not make the corrections to my manuscript, and they never sent me the electronic proof for my approval per the contract. On November 9, 2021, a friend informed me that he was on chapter 13 of my book. I contacted Xulon press because they had released the unedited version of my book without my knowledge. This version was filled with errors and information I had deliberately deleted so it would not be disclosed. The team member would not tell me how many copies were printed, released or sold, she only said she would recall all the books. I called and emailed for months but they would not respond, and the unedited version of my book is still being printed and distributed. The contract states that they would prepare my eBook, but the initial eBook they had released I recalled within 30 minutes as it was being released in my daughter's name. Once I alerted them, the eBook was never completed. I requested to speak with a manager multiple times, with no response. I have received no royalties since November 2021. I requested that all sales be stopped. I have a demand letter from an attorney with receipt January 12, 2022, demanding to terminate the agreement, to stop all sales and to compensate me for copyright infringement, Xulon Press never responded, yet they are still actively distributing my book to date. I am a self-published author and I own the copyright to my work. Xulon Press has not only stolen my book, but they breached the publishing agreement which has diminished the value of my work and damaged my reputation as an author.

  Business response

  08/18/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/05/13) */ Hi there, I trust this finds you well. I understand you have had some challenges with your book project. Our timeline of events works out a bit differently than what the author has explained here. The author approved the book for print on 08/31/2021. The screenshot of that email is attached below. We require written approvals from our authors because we want them to acknowledge that their book is completed and correct, based on what they supplied us. Since we don't write the books or determine the content, we just like to ensure the author is fully approving of their work prior to publication since they know it best. Once this approval is received, the book is sent to the printer and made available for sale or pre-order. If copies are printed at that time, they will be sold. We have no ability to retract them once they are printed. Again, this is why we stress the importance of a written approval and ensuring the author reads through the entire text before sending an approval. The author went through many correction rounds both pre and post publication--13 total for the interior of the book. On 09/16/21 our team indicated that we could not promise her corrections would be done in time as the standard turnaround time is 4 to 6 weeks for the volume of corrections need. The author submitted those corrections on 10/20/21, screenshot attached of the email thread. We completed the corrections and sent them back to the author on 10/25/21. As a courtesy we expedited these to the very top of the list and completed them in less than 4 business days. That same day, 10/25/21, the author submitted an additional correction which we completed within 2 days and sent back on 10/27/21. At that time, she responded with "APPROVED!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! CAN I PLEASE GET ALL THE BOOKS PLEASE 15 SOFTBACKS AND THE 10 HARDBACKS? PLEASE!!!!!". I have attached screenshots of all of that correspondence below. The issue here is that from the author's initial approval on 08/31/21, 47 copies were sold in October to 3rd party vendors prior to the corrections being submitted. That would mean all 47 of those copies would have to be sold to customers of the 3rd party vendors before people would begin purchasing the revised version. On Nov. 11th, 2021 the author submitted additional corrections to the interior. Those were posted and sent back to the author on 12/07/21. The next correspondence we have from the author was in the form of a letter from an attorney on 01/20/22. I understand the author has been through a tragedy with the loss of her former spouse and want to be empathetic to that. That said, I also feel like the picture painted here isn't truly representative of the amount of time and energy we spent working with the author to publish her book. I would also like to take full fault for having not reached out to the author immediately upon receipt of the letter from her lawyer. That falls back onto management completely. As of the time of this response, I have pulled the book from distribution per the author's request. I would like to know, does the author want all future correspondence to go through her lawyer or shall we reach out to her directly concerning this matter? - Xulon Management Consumer Response /* (3000, 8, 2022/05/26) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The response provided by Xulon Press is not satisfactory. In addition to this response, please see the attached documents. On 8/31/21, I approved my manuscript. On 9/1/21 I received an email stating that my book had gone to press, that the files were being prepared for the printer, and that "your book will be available for Pre-Ordering for 40 days after it has been sent to the printer. After 40 days your book will go live, and any pre-orders will be shipped out." On 9/13/21 I received an email providing a timeline which stated: "What happens next? Your files will be sent to the printer. It takes about two to three weeks for a book to be set up for printing, but it could be longer . . . If after reviewing your book you have additional changes you would like to make, please use the minor correction form found in Author Center." This timeline contradicts Xulon's response which states, "Once the approval is received, the book is sent to the printer and made available for sale or pre-order. If copies are printed at that time, they will be sold." This statement also disregards my scheduled release date of 10/26/21. Shortly after in mid-September, I received a paperback and a hardback sample of the completed book. At that time, I noticed a lot of errors and I requested to make the corrections. My request was well before the 2-3 week time period expired for my book to be printed according to the 9/13/21 email I received. I paid the fee to make these corrections, which included a $149 rush service fee, and spoke with the author support representative and requested that my book be put on hold until I completed the corrections. The rep agreed and said she would contact their printing department to make sure the book did not go to print. She said to let her know when I completed the changes. On 10/3/21, my ex-spouse passed, and I contacted the support rep on 10/6/21 to inform her of his death and that the grieving process caused me to experience a delay in completing my corrections. The rep stated, "I am so sorry for your loss. Please take all the time you need to make sure your book is the way you want it." On 10/14/21 I informed the rep that I was still behind with my corrections, and that I was concerned about the 10/26/21 release date. I was told by the rep to make my changes on the correction form and directly on the manuscript. I agreed, but let her know this would take a significant amount of time and that I was okay with pushing the release date back to 10/31/21. The rep never responded, so I contacted her by phone and asked her if I should push the release date back since my corrections were not yet completed. The rep informed me not to worry, that she would take care of it and would get back to me with any date changes. She also said I should take my time and concentrate on the corrections and that she would take care of everything on her end. I submitted my final corrections on 10/20/21 and informed the rep that corrections were reflected on both the correction form and on the manuscript. The rep stated that she would let the typesetter know. On 10/22/21 and 10/25/21, I followed up with the rep again because I was still concerned about the 10/26/21 release date. I asked if there was a tentative date but never received a response. On 10/25/21, the rep informed me that the retype of my book was completed. At that time, I asked if it was possible to make one small addition to my book. The rep said to submit the addition and she would take care of it. On 10/27/21, I received the electronic version for approval, and I approved the manuscript. On November 6, 2021, I received a physical hardback and paperback copy of the book. When I reviewed the paperback, it was the correct version of the book, however, the page numbers were incorrectly formatted by the Xulon Press typesetter. When I viewed the hardback, it was the wrong version of my book. It was the uncorrected version that I had approved on 8/31/21. I emailed and called author support immediately but there was no response. On 11/8/21, both errors were brought to the reps attention. Fixing the page numbers and making the hardback the same version as the paperback were the only corrections needed, and the rep said she would take care of it. On November 9, 2021, my neighbor informed me that he was on Chapter 13 of my book. My neighbor recently confirmed that he ordered the book from a third-party retailer on 9/30/21 and it was received on 10/27/21, which was the same day I approved my manuscript for print. I asked him to confirm some of the page numbers since Xulon Press had sent me a copy of the correct version as well as the incorrect version. My neighbor confirmed that Chapter 12 in his book started on page 206, which was the format of the incorrect version (see attached images). I contacted the author rep immediately and informed her that the wrong version of my book was being sold. I asked how many copies were printed and how many books were sold. She claimed she didn't know. She said she would check with the printer and get back with me, and she said she would reach out to all the third-party distributors to correct the error by getting the book pulled, which contradicts Xulon's written response that they have no ability to retract books once they are printed. I asked to speak with a manager, and she provided me with the manager's phone number. I reached out to him numerous times with no response. I contacted the rep to follow up with the number of books that were printed and the number of books that were distributed, however, she never provided me with that information. I mentioned that I had reached out to the manager numerous times and there was no response. She informed me that he was aware of the situation, and he would get in touch with me. On 11/12/21 the rep emailed me apologizing that the manager did not reach out to me. She said she would reach out to him to let him know that I was still waiting for him to contact me. Since then, I have attempted to contact Xulon Press by email and I have left numerous voice messages. To date, no one has responded, yet my book is still actively being sold by a third-party retailer, and I am still not receiving any royalties. These sales are evident by the visible fluctuations in the number of books available that are being sold on the distributor's website. If the email I received from Xulon on 9/13/21 states, "It takes about two to three weeks for a book to be set up for printing", which would mean the book was scheduled to be printed on or around September 27, 2021 at the earliest, and my Xulon rep acknowledged my request for corrections and instruction to not print the original version before September 27th, how could 47 copies of the incorrect version of my book be sold to third-party vendors? This was clearly due to Xulon's inattentiveness and failure to use care before rushing to print an incorrect version of my book that I did not approve. I have attached documents showing my pleas to Xulon to resolve the matter, to stop distributing my book, and requesting to pull my book from any third-party retailers. When I contacted one of the third-party retailers myself requesting that my book be removed from their site, I was informed that the book could be removed but that Xulon would have to make the request since the third-party retailer's contract was with Xulon, not me. I never heard back from Xulon when I made these requests and had no other choice but to hire an attorney who sent a demand letter in January 2022 to try and resolve the issues with Xulon. Xulon acknowledged that they received the letter but ignored it. In fact, Xulon has made no attempts to resolve the issues even after acknowledging they received my attorney's letter. This is inexcusable. My request in mid-September to make several corrections to my book were blatantly disregarded by Xulon despite countless reassurances from Xulon's rep that I should take my time and make sure that my book was the way I wanted it. I diligently followed up with Xulon throughout the entire process to let them know where I was in my edits and that the original release date of October 26, 2021, needed to be pushed back. Clearly, the wrong version of my book was printed and sold against my instructions. Finally, Xulon states that the book was pulled from distribution per my request (nearly 6 months later), however, my book is still actively listed on a third-party website. This inattentive and sloppy experience with Xulon has affected my reputation as a writer and wasted an incredible amount of my time and money. Xulon needs to recognize its errors and order any third-party vendors to cease any further sales of the incorrect version of my book, pull my book from further distribution, and terminate my relationship with Xulon starting today. All correspondence should go through my attorne Business Response /* (4000, 12, 2022/06/15) */ To whom it may concern, The title was pulled from distribution on 11/11/21. Any titles being sold on third party websites were purchased prior to that date or used copies being resold. Unfortunately, we have no way of ordering a third party website to cease sale of a title that they have already purchased. Once they purchase the copy, they own it to resale as they see fit. One other thing worth noting is just that once a book has been published and has a digital footprint online, it takes years for that to fully dissipate. That's not to say that third-party vendors will continue to sell the book for the entirety of that time, but the listing for the book may remain active on sites like*******.com, even if the book is no longer in print or available. As requested by the author, we have terminated the author's agreement. Consumer Response /* (4200, 19, 2022/07/06) */ Good morning, I am not sure why this case was closed since there was no response deadline in the email that was sent to me. My mother was recently hospitalized, and I was not able to respond prior to the case being closed. I am just now able to respond after caring for my mother who has been very ill. This case was NOT resolved and Is UNSATISFACTORY. My book is still active and for sale. My profile is still active and needs to be deleted. Xulon Press has not pulled my book as they reported to have done. If the wrong title was pulled on 11/11/21, that means the correct version of my book has NEVER been for sale since no one has yet to acknowledge my complaint regarding the corrections that were paid for but were not made. Why hasn't anyone returned my calls or responded to my attorney's demand letter. Apparently, there is a way to pull the book because the customer service representative Rachael M********* informed me that she was reaching out to the vendors to pull the book. Xulon Press created my Author Central account because Ms. M*********n was able to make changes to my profile. I was also given the option to add tag words. There is an option to delete the profile, and this could have been done but it was not. I want all parts of my Author central profile deleted completely and I want my book to be removed from*******. Thank you. Business Response /* (4000, 23, 2022/07/19) */ As requested by the author, we have ceased direct contact. Our legal team is now discussing the matter with her lawyer.

• Initial Complaint

  02/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On my author page under Royalities there hasn't been an update as promised for the last two months. I have sold books through ****** and **************** and Xulon is not reporting the sales as promised in my publishing contract. I have left multiple emails and have not heard back from any of my contacts

  Business response

  04/01/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2022/03/03) */ Hi there! Thank you for reaching out to use and we're very sorry to hear about your concerns in regard to your ************** sales. I have looked at your account and see that there were initially 69 copies by one third party vendor, it is likely those were ordered to have extras on hand and then 7 copies and 8 copies in the months following. It is likely that the vendors are ordering so that they can have a couple of additional copies on hand, ****** does this most commonly so that they can have copies on hand for ***** Delivery. I looked up your title on ****** and confirmed they have the book in stock and available for ****** *****, which would confirm the theory that they have extra copies on hand. In this instance, you have already been paid the royalties for the book whether ****** has actually sold the book or not. I do see that there were an additional 3 copies sold in January, which are posted in your Author Center under the February Sales Report. I have passed this conversation along to your Author Services representative and asked that they contact you to discuss in more detail. Blessings, Xulon Mgmt

• Initial Complaint

  02/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have published several books with this company. My latest book I entered into a publishing package and made payments as noted below: Payment dates to Xulon: 10-8-2020 $1,349 for premium publishing package 10-12-2020 $249.00 for upgrades 10-18-21 $99.00 for upgrades 11-5-2021 $1,321.85 payment for the actual printing of the books I have been waiting since November to receive my printed books. I have emailed many times, and to this date still do not have a date when my books will be printed and sent to me; though my check was cashed in November. I continue to receive excuses and delays. The company had submitted preliminary proofs for approval and sent me copies that were inaccurate and/or wrong colors up until November of 2021. Each time I rejected the proofs along with the noted errors and requested they resubmit another proof for approval. From November, when i received the wrong book proof, through January, I've been communicating with a representative at Xulon (Corey W*****/author representative) who was to correct the errors and schedule the book printing. As of this date, I have not received my final proof to approve, nor has the company responded with a date on when I can expect same. I've gone through 3 editors in the last 2 years; and still don't have my books. At this point I just want a full refund.

  Business response

  03/03/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 9, 2022/03/03) */ Hi there, We are saddened to hear we have been unable to achieve the desired goal on the color of the book cover. I see the author was in contact with their assigned representative today and am going to have management reach out as well to determine what the best resolution is. We will follow up here once we have resolved. Thank you, Consumer Response /* (3000, 15, 2022/04/08) */ Forwarded message From: ******* ***** <***************@gmail.com> Date: Thu, Apr 7, 2022 at 7:10 PM Subject: BBB Complaint Case# XXXXXXXX To: *****@findbbb.org <*****@findbbb.org> To BBB: Response to "assumed resolved" complaint case #XXXXXXXX: I did not receive the BBB email on March 4, 2022 that is documented on your website. Xulon/Salem management has not reached out to me to resolve this issue. The author representative noted in an April 4, 2022 email that due to the ongoing errors with the book cover, he was turning the matter over to "management". I do not understand how this response from the business would close this complaint as "assumed resolved" when I requested a refund. IE - company response you've noted: "We are saddened to hear we have been unable to achieve the desired goal on the color of the book cover. I see the author was in contact with their assigned representative today and am going to have management reach out as well to determine what the best resolution is. We will follow up here once we have resolved." I began this process in October 2020, paid for a premium publishing plan, paid an additional fee for a hardcover book, paid an additional fee for an "edit:; and then in November, 2021 paid an additional fee for 251 published books. The company has changed editors and representatives on this project 3 times and it appears to me they have serious internal staffing issues. As of this date, I still don't have a book sample that is approved, nor are the samples the company sent me correct. After more than 2 years working with this company I do not think it unreasonable to simply request a refund. Sincerely, ******* ***** Business Response /* (4000, 19, 2022/04/22) */ Hi *******, I hope this finds you well. I have spoken with our Author Services Manager and understand he reached out to you on 04/11/22 by phone and followed up via email as well. We have not heard anything back as far as I'm aware but I have requested that he try to reach out to you again today. Blessings, Xulon Management Consumer Response /* (4200, 21, 2022/04/25) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I never received an email or phone call you referenced on 4/11/22 nor did I receive an email or call from management to me in phone or email or hard mail format from anyone at Xulon regarding this complaint. I insist this issue result in the re-fund of all monies I have spent in the last two years of trying to get this book published. thank you for intervening on behalf of an author who has not received satisfaction in this matter for two years of correspondence by email , phone, and now thru BBB. Business Response /* (4000, 28, 2022/05/13) */ Hi *******, I certainly understand your frustration. Our Author Services Manager has called twice now, both on 04/11/22 and on 04/25/22. I have attached screenshots below of the call records. George left you voicemails each time with his contact info and requesting a call back. We have ordered a copy of your book from the printer as well to have directly shipped to our offices so that we can review the cover in person and determine the amount of variation in the cover color. There is a certain amount of variation the printer allows but we do have the option of disputing that and modifying the color, we just need to know how best to do that. At this time, a full refund is not going to be granted since we have completed the entirety of the project. That said, it's never okay in our minds to have an unsatisfied customer. We would like the opportunity to correct the book cover color. Thanks, Xulon Management Consumer Response /* (4200, 30, 2022/05/17) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I do not accept the resolution because I've - lost the opportunity to sell my books due to their inability to produce an approved product. I paid in advance for everything, including the printing of 251 books but there was never an approval of the final book copy. The check was cashed before approval; and that is not in agreement with their own policy. I've lost 2 years and lost opportunity to sell my product at speaking engagements. I will not accept anything less than a full refund due to the inconveniences, lack of timely responses throughout the project, and the lack of fullfilling their own contract. In addition, if I had a missed call, it would appear on my phone, though nothing from Xulon showed up on my phone or my emails. I do not know what number they were calling from; but it wasn't a number recognized as Xulon. I do not answer "unknown" phone calls.

• Initial Complaint

  02/02/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have a book published by Xulon Press from 2004. In March of 2021 I contacted Xulon and paid them to help make some revisions. Xulon returned my manuscript with over 300 type setter errors that were not in my original manuscript. Mr R******** offered to correct their companies errors at no charge to me. I responded by sending a fax in July 2021 with ALL the errors needing corrected and some of my own changes. This fax of corrections was in correspondence to the pdf format that contained the type setter errors. In August, I received yet another copy of my manuscript in a different format, (clean docs) for my review, and none of the errors promised to be corrected were done? Now, my Table of Contents is missing also? Now the fax of corrections sent in July, no longer matches the page references of this "new format". This new format is the editing package that Mr. R******** had offered to correct the type setter errors. To date, no errors are corrected, page numbers no longer match the correction fax. I sent multiple emails about this, with no help from anyone at Xulon, I received an email from my author rep in December of 2021 that editing packages DO NOT CORRECT ERRORS OR MAKE CHANGES TO MANUSCRIPT! So why did Mr. R******** use this service if it could not provide the help he claimed he was going to do? Months have gone by, and they have made a mess of my manuscript. They are unresponsive, and have not taken responsibility for this. My manuscript has been in their care for almost a year now, and it is in worse condition than when I started this process. They have not fixed this issue, regardless of my numerous attempts (I have all the emails as proof) to get resolution. My manuscript is just sitting there in this altered and botched up state in need of repair. I have put hours that led to days into this revision. Xulon is costing me much stress, time and money. Xulon has been informed as to what they need to do now to make this right.

  Business response

  03/09/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2022/02/17) */ We are so very sorry for the challengers that have occurred here. I have reviewed all of the issues that have taken place and know this is a frustrating situation. With accounts of this age, we often have to seek out files from our printer (PDF format) and then when we convert them back to a workable format, formatting is severely impacted. There were many other challenges and missteps along the way and we're just sorry it has taken so long to get this resolved. I have requested our management team be in contact with you again and gave them some next steps for how we should proceed so that we can get your manuscript to a place you are comfortable with. Consumer Response /* (2000, 10, 2022/02/18) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) I understand that Xulon has reviewed ALL the documents and letters sent to Donald N***** on my behalf. I have more email correspondences with Xulon staff regarding all the problems encountered. They are available upon request. I will accept this response on the same conditions as in my complaints... That the follow through from Xulon provides that all corrections be completed, my additional changes added in, Table of Contents put back in correctly, and a staff member more responsive and experienced to be in contact with me through out the remaining process, "to the finish". Since almost a year has gone by, the items listed above must be done in a timely manner that is agreed upon by myself and Xulon. As a Christian company, honesty and integrity should always be a cornerstone in dealing with its customers. I thank Xulon for their reply to this complaint, and hope to get my manuscript satisfactorily corrected, revised, and brought to the finish line soon.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩