Consolidation continues in the self-publishing sector: the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Author Solutions (which already owns AuthorHouse, iUniverse, and Xlibris) has acquired Trafford Publishing. As with its January 2009 acquisition of Xlibris, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
As with Xlibris and iUniverse prior to their acquisition, Trafford appears to suffer from relatively few consumer issues. Writer Beware has received no substantive complaints about Trafford over the past few years, and there’s not much complaint to be found on the Internet either. Not so for AuthorHouse–something that, post-acquisition, seems also to have become true for iUniverse. Which prompts the question: whither Xlibris and Trafford?
In blogging about the Xlibris acquistion, I wrote the following. It’s even more true now:
This new merger is not good news for authors in another sense: it reduces the field of choice. As choices decrease, so does the pressure to compete, and decreased competition does not benefit consumers. While Writer Beware doesn’t generally recommend the use of POD self-publishing services, except in certain specific circumstances (see our Print on Demand Self-Publishing Services page for a discussion), we feel that writers who do choose to self-publish are best-served by having the widest possible range of options, in a robustly competitive environment.
I worked with many of my clients to have their books printed by Trafford when it was a Canadian company. The response was terrific, support excellent. Now that the company has been acquired by Authorhouse, all the "support" and sales are from a phone bank in the Philippines and only admin and finance (imagine that!) are in Bloomingdale. There's no way you can talk with someone onshore or who knows any more than what's on the knowledge base script.
I am trying to get a third printing of a client's book done, and it is a nightmare. I asked them for the files (which I OWN) and they said the only way to get them was to cancel the contract and pay $250 to get a CD. No promise of when it would arrive. When I asked to speak with a supervisor, I was disconnected. My client called, was disconnected (or hung up on). After reading all these reviews, I sadly have to say I concur. I loved working with the previous incarnation of this company, but am now going to steer my clients to createspace.com.
I'm so sorry to recommend that you avoid Trafford, especially if you are a first time author. If you have unlimited time and tolerance for frustration, and are willing to pay for services you don't need and aren't required, jump on in. Most sane people wouldn't.
I wish i had known about this site 2 years ago and $1600.00 plus short. I just forked over $137.50 more 2/15/2012 and my credit card company calls me last night and informed me my card was used by someone outside the USA. I don't have to pay, of course and i do know it was Trafford because it was a new card and no other charges on it but them. Can't reach by phone anyone, which is not too surprizing due to the fact this has always been the case with them. My book has not been printed and i don't know what to do. I hate losing hard earn money. No one at Trafford will give me answers, believe me I have tryed. I have lost all trust now, after the credit card incident. Is there any one out there to give me some ideas…My advice is don't use your credit card, your company may not catch it.
This is really distressing for me,as i am about to pay on wednesday,i am not working and i hope to get some financial independence,its my first time and i really need a company i can trust……….i need to re-think……thank you all for your honest comments,both positive and negative……….the negative seems to be MORE…though…
I was one of the early Trafford authors when it was still owned by Canadians. The Canadian experience was a very good one, with a small, experienced team of customized publishing and Account reps (now Morris Printing). When Trafford Canada was bought by Author Solutions in 2009, it all changed, and I've had bad experiences ever since, mostly due to constant staff turnover (anyone who was competent appears to have left), and outsourced customer service reps who don't speak English very well and bounce your issue around to numerous reps. There is no "person" you can ever speak to unless you have back door numbers. I would not recommend Trafford for new book projects. Some positive things to report are that they have honored all of my previous contracts, and eventually resolved my issues. I do get paid timely and accurate royalties.
– Trafford Author
Lon
We have been dealing with TRAFFORD for over three months filled with lots of email advertising and bilking of money. Empty promises already. We forked out over $5,00.00 and haven't seen anything concrete. We were very firm about cancelling the contract and Lou France said she would contact us after this coming weekend. We have been VERY firm about getting our money back. The book has not been published yet, but the way they have been handling business, we are backing out hard. We had D.Taylor as our contact and the issues were passed over to Lou. It is yet to see if we get our money back……standby!
Trafford and Author solutions are crooks.
I'm Eric Wilkins the author of the science fiction novel entitled, Ancient Nemesis – Journey to Pluto
http://bookstore.trafford.com/Products/SKU-000158044/Ancient-Nemesis.aspx
70 percent of my author proceeds were suppose to go to children's cancer patients. I sent in a seed donation but Trafford is selling my book worldwide and not paying me a single penny in royalties.
I paid trafford 2000 dollars to publish this novel in 2006. After the first few days of selling my novel trafford took the hit counter down and no longer report any sales.
They are not only stealing from me the author, they are stealing from sick children with cancer.
What a despicable bunch of crooks at Trafford and Author solutions.
You'd better take your business elsewhere or get ripped off like I am being ripped off.
A lawsuit is coming for both Trafford and Author solutions.
Eric Wilkins, Henderson N C
Just a follow up from the UK author. I'm still trying to get my royalties from Trafford for the first three quarters of this year. Emails I'm recieving from 'customer support' are written in poor English and would not appear to be coming from the Indiana office – most likely the Phillipines. Onward & Upward!
Anonymous, try CreateSpace or Lulu–both low-cost and (reportedly) reliable.
Thank you all for your comments!! My daughter, 10yo, is dying to publish a book she has been working on for awhile. She has saved her allowance $ to pay the $299.00 special price which I thought was reasonable. I have gotten a daily message from the same Trafford rep on my voicemail to secure this deal for the past several weeks! I'm surprised nobody hears from them afterwards and the end product is disasterous. Trafford knows the situation with my daughter and to think I was just going to sign with Trafford today! I don't need that kind of headache. I also don't want this publishing experience to negatively impact my daughters joy in writing. Does anybody recommend someone else?
Does anyone know anything about Abbott Press?
I have been trying all year to get answer from Trafford about my royalties. When they ring (the UK!) to try and sell me something, sometimes they promise to look into it, but nothing ever happens. One of my royalty payments is negative!!! Do not toch them with a bargepole tied to another bargepole.
Trafford's track record mirrors that of Author House and the others in that combine. My uncle submitted his manuscript to Trafford in mid-2009. He received a "proof," which was nothing more than several sheets of paper with the covers and frontispiece and not the inside text at all. After contacting Trafford and getting a response that was difficult to understand from the foreigner on the phone, he wrote a letter of complaint to the publisher and has heard nothing. My uncle is in his early 80s; he wants simply to see and hold his book and to pass copies along to his children and other relatives and friends. It appears he will go to his grave, with a lighter bank account and no books. A crying shame, that's what it is. Avoid these criminals!!
I too am an ex (hugely dissatisfied)Trafford Author. I signed my contract in 2005 when Trafford had an office in Crewe Cheshire UK. Here I had excellent service but three weeks into the book production, Crewe closed down and their holdings transfered between new offices in Oxford and Canada. My work went to Canada and instead of 6-8 weeks to print, it was still being processed in Nov 2005 some 6 MONTHS later. The book was released late Nov after a letter of complaint and after 5 proof reading and corrections. I had only checked the corrections of the last proof copy and paid a conciderabloe some before print. On receipt of my 50 copies I noticed that the book contained all of the earlier mistakes through proof 1 to 4 but 5 was corrected. I was sent 25 copies of this version for the 2006 London Book Exhibition even though Trafford promised to do the ammendmentys again and deliver in time for the Exhibition. Leaving all promotion etc to them I concentrated on the next two books, which are now complete. Then in June my son-in-law informed me my book was available on Kindle (a contract I knew nothing about). I then tried to access my Trafford Account only to find a prifile access page with totally false information and I could not access my account. After entering all different E-mail and passwords I finally gained access and corrected my profile and account details. Like other authors on this site, I found that there are no entries since 2006. Trafford maintain there have been no sales and they were authorised to sign the Kindle contract and my details were incorrect because they did not have the originals when Author Solutions purchased Trafford. This explanation is utter bull, Trafford still sent me e-mails to my correct address during this time asking for money for film promotions and animated intro to my book. I would like to know if there is a source that can be accessed to sue this fraudulent company and have it closed down. It is very reminiscent of the Writers Litery Agency Group who work in the same corrupt manner.
I cancelled my contract 10/04/2011 and recieved confirmation three days later. They were eager to do this so what are they hidding????
Daffyd
Would the author that posted re the children's book on August 17/11please contact me at kootenayvolvo @gmail.com as I would like to know the name of the manager with whom you spoke at Authors Solution.
Thank you so much and Good Luck!
All very interesting reading! I'm happy to have a place to "let off some steam" and advise everyone to stay clear of Trafford/Author Solutions. I purchased a package in July of 2010 because of a special they were offering: The Storyteller Children's package which included free hardback availability, 5 free hardback copies, and double the normal free paperback copies. I paid $1299.00 for this package. I had been working for years writing and illustrating a children's book in honor of my grandparents. Not meant to be a big money-maker, but something I had wanted to do. The project wasn't finished, but the package I purchased would be available to me when I was ready to submit. Shortly after the purchase I was informed that color images would not be available. I was quite upset, to say the least. But then I was contacted to say they would have the full-color availability beginning in just a couple months, which was fine for me. They gave me a free marketing service for my trouble–the Free Booksellers Return Program. Everything seemed fine.
I submitted my manuscript this past winter. My goal date for completion was the end of June so that I could share my book at our family reunion. I was told that would be no problem at all. Then the fun began…
I ended up dealing with one person after another, all in the Philippines. Some with whom it was difficult to communicate. Turnover was frustrating. A new person was assigned to me practically every time I called. Emails and phone calls were not promptly returned, if at all. There was great confusion about my very basic layout. (One illustration per page with text below.) The edits were usually company errors, not mine. The process took way too long and I missed my goal completion date.
Then the killer… I received my initial free copy in the mail. An 8×10 paperback copy with two staples in the middle, much like a very nice coloring book you might purchase for a child. Where is my hardback copy? Well, you see, I found out that Trafford does not print full color hardback books. So I will never get a hardback copy of my book, which is why I purchased my package to begin with.
These magazine-quality books are selling online for $17.25 each. I am embarrased to tell my family and friends about them because of the expense and the quality. I'm very pleased with what I have done, but the publishing process and final product are truly unfortunate.
I just got off the phone with one of Author Solutions' managers and he seems to be honestly trying to make ammends with me. He has offered me 50free books. Nothing can be done about the price. He admitted frustration with the Phillipines location and high turnover and indicated that he "prays" they will bring the business back to the U.S.
This was my first experience as an author. It's been disheartening and frustrating, to say the least. My advice is to really do your homework prior to paying any publishing company anything. Wish I had seen this blog before!
I just found out today that Trafford's employees are based in the Phillipines. Some of these people are difficult to understand. Even though the head office is based in Indiana the company has chosen to outsource to another country. Is this because the wages are so low in the Phillipines ? Why not hire US citizens. After all the US unemployment rate is at an all time high of 9%!
Can anyone advise who owns Author Solutions ?
I published with Trafford in 2007. I only got one check of $23 shortly after publishing. I understand it's because I don't market it. it WAS a vanity purchase.
however just recently two used copies showed up in Fla re-selling for $62 as used copies. well, big deal, some kind of scam. now I go to Traffords new website and my book is not there in their bookstore. plus a friend ordered a copy off Amazon recently and the purchase is not showing up..so their stats have got to have crashed? it's confusing. I need to cancel the whole contract and start over. reading their contract it's all about protecting Trafford, there's nothing about my rights in there to cancel the thing. does this mean I would have to purchase another ISBN for the same book? or do I own that ISBN since I paid for it?
plus I am tired of Trafford asking for 1,000's of dollars for advertising fees, shows, what not, I have no money.
I was hoping to make a few bucks off publishing with them, not support them for years.
I don't want their services any more, I just need to know how to get out of it. I know it will be simple.
I appreciated your comments. I continue to do research for an honest person. This website has been so helpful and encouraging. It seems that Trafford has fallen off the face of the Earth, since I spoke with them about my unedited book.
It took courage; but I went to some websites and apologized for the book. It is the least I could do.
Well, like many others I too have pretty much given up on Trafford. My book was published 6 years ago with the original Trafford, based in Canada. I am based in the UK and there was even an office here then. They were the first print on demand publishers and it all looked good. It did work fairly well then, royalties were very acceptable and paid prety much on time. However, since the take over by Author House Solutions I've had nothing but problems. My book sells well. It has sold approx 4,000 copies, mostly through Amazon.co.uk – however my royalties have been reduced to around 30 cents a book!!! I used to recieve around £1 a book. The price of the book was reduced on Amazon even though I had never given permission for this to happen. It's aimed at a definite market and I did not want it reduced…. as my royalties seemd to have gone down along with the price! The only thing that hasn't changed is how much Trafford are making out of it. They are doing fine of course. I've given up trying to fight them. They are huge and I am small. I would never use them again and I have other books in the pipeline. They phone suggesting marketing, i.e asking for money, and I say… give me proper royalties and I'll do some marketing. They don't have any reply. My advice….. look elsewhere and check your contract well. Anonymous from the UK
nCancel your book right away. I am very disssatisfied with the way I was treated. Whatever happened to the one is to one author support when I finally paid for my Scroll package. I looked into other options and discovered that they also own Authorhouse. and other major self-publishers!! This is a major rip-off! I was told I have to market my own book!!!!!!! The company even dropped from A+ to A in BBB. http://www.bbb.org/indianapolis/business-reviews/publishers-book/author-solutions-inc-in-bloomington-in-32002554/
Andrea,
Check your Trafford contract. All Author Solutions companies let authors cancel their contracts with (I think) 30 days' notice. Find the clause, follow the instructions, and you'll be free after the required time has elapsed.
Can someone explain to me how to cancel my contract with Trafford. I really do no want to pay out of pocket anymore expense. Trafford's representative should have offered the editing services, or when I mentioned it; I should have been told who to contact. I feel my book has a good chance to be successful, if the corrections are made.
I published two novels with Trafford earlier this year. They did an excellent job with the cover art, layout and design, etc. Thew books came out in a very timely manner and included an internet targeted e-mail promo. I'm not sure how they'll do on the royalty payments end (I Universe is very good at sending royalties each month)but they offered me a better deal than IUniverse (2 for 1 + email)and I decided to go with them for the next 2 books (same package). All emails and calls are answered immediately and the publishing reps (who are in Cebu!) are very professional. But since all of their packages have changed and skyrocketed in price, I will probably return to IUniverse, even though their services have become woeful since being eaten by AS. At least they have kept their prices down. I did publish one with PublishAmerica (no cost) who also did a nice job on creating the book, but the jury is still out on how good they do other things. PS–IUniverse is almost exactly like them now when it comes to services.
I need some advice. I went with Trafford because of the so called deal they gave me. The communication was great until the final manuscript was finished. I assumed that Trafford would asked me about editing services, or I thought I had some service with the package. My book came out. I started reading it. I found so many mistakes in spelling/grammar etc. Now I am told I can resubmit or repack, but it will cost me a lot of money. You would think Trafford would want a book that has name their on it, to be representative as a reputable publisher.
I had a great experience with Trafford in British Columbia, Canada, and full confidence in their small operation when I bought a publishing package from them in December 2008. However, I have MANY problems with Author Solutions, since Trafford was bought by them, as these other people do. Such a shame that a good local company bought out by a larger company in another country could change things so much for the worse. Ugh.
okay fine they suck.. BUT whats the alternative?? there has to be an alternative??? Anyone? suggestions???
WARNING! WARNING! BUYER BEWARE!
Do not use TRAFFORD. As of 5/10/11, I have nothing good to say about a company that use to be great.
Apparently, before this latest buyout, some other company purchased the orginal Trafford. With that company, people all over the internet were marketing my book – but I never saw a penny of the royalties.
Then, with a copy from TRAFFORD's second owner of what little royalties they did manage to record (printed from their website), today I spoke to the "latest owner's" customer service department and e-mailed them this printout to request payment. I was told that they would not honor the prior owner's liabilities. They purchased their assets and was sorry, but they were not obligated to pay me for the royalties from the previous owner.
If you can't trust them to honor the "contractual assets they purchased" (namely the work of the writers), then you can't trust them to do anything else that accommodates their resources – the writers.
I have received numerous calls from my new "representative" to help me market my book some more to help generate more profit for God knows who, and I want nothing to do with them because I don't trust them at all. I am currently looking for another publishing company to work with in the future.
Unsatisfied customer.
I, too, am a Trafford author unfortunatedly. I have published two cookbooks with them. The first cookbook was published when they were still located in Canada and the Customer Service was acceptable. I sent my second cookbook to them in May 2009 and they screwed it up. They put another author's name on the copyright page and it was listed on Amazon under this other author's name. I reported the problem to Trafford and they said it would be fixed. It took forever, but the other author's name was finally removed from my book. However, I have not received any royalty checks concerning either book. The first book, I admit was horrible. (My first foray into publishing a book.) However, the 2nd book came out wonderfull if I do say so myself. I had designed the entire layout of the book from the front cover to the back cover. Trafford only had to design the copyright page. When I do get a response from Trafford, I am told that NO books have sold. I happen to know that this is a lie since some of my friends purchased the 2nd cookbook right after it cam out because they wanted me to sign it. Yet, I have not received any royalty checks and all Trafford can say is that no books have been sold. The only times that Trafford actually contacts me is to ask for more money (i.e. marketing.) They called 5 times in two days (wanting money). After the third day, I asked that they do not call me again. That was on a Wednesday after their 3rd call. The 3rd call came in at around 9 pm my time. Once again, I asked that they do not call me. What happened? They called twice more on Thursday. I am a teacher and one of the phone calls came while I was teaching and my principal was sitting in my room evaluating me. You can imagine what my principal had to say. During my conference period, I called Trafford back to complain about getting the phone call after I had specifically said not to call. The woman's response was "why didn't you put your phone on silent or vibrate." That's not the issue. The issue was that they called after I had specifically said not to call me anymore. I then informed them that I would be going to another publisher and I was basically told that I could not go to any other publisher, that I had to stay with Trafford. All I can say is, Trafford and Author House work on your customer service. Trafford I also want an accounting of all books sold and will be in contact concerning it.
Today I cancelled my contract with Trafford. I have had 60 cents and $3.00 in royalty payments since 2008. I know for a fact that when Trafford was taken over there was $23.00 on my account, not much but still I never received it. I have told Trafford to withdraw my book from all ebook sellers. I am going to sell it and others myself and I will set a price that people can afford.If you wish to contact them by phone, just press the button for new business. they respond right away! Gradyn Bell
Canadian Trafford were very good. New Trafford are hopeless.
I have written to them several times on administrative matters. No answer.
Tongue in cheek, I wrote to say I wished to publish 30 books with their most expensive package. That got an answer soon enough! But still they would not acknowledge they had received my tax submission. Not a very difficult thing to do, I would have thought.
I published my book with trafford and received only one small, very small royalty check from the time i first published it. they did no marketing and those who told me they bought books, i have received no further royalty.I have had enough of their incompetence so i am self publishing it again to get the over inflated price they placed on it lowered. This experience cost me about 1200.00 but now i know that even a publishing co, which seems to be good can fool the eager author. Keep your money and check out lulu or creatspace, don't be fooled by frauds, I rate trafford with two thumbs down and will not be publishing with them again.
It took two years and constant re-submitting to get spelling and grammar errors removed, caused by Trafford. In 3 years I havent sold 1 book according to Trafford. I paid for them to take the book to the Los Angeles and Toronto book fair but no infomation was provided as to the outcome. They are now ringing me with packages that promote the book in Hollywood, at thousands of dollars with no guarantees. I have trouble understanding them as the English is poor, and I am now ighnoring the calls.
If you are in Canada, there is are still some Demand Publishing outfits out there. One of them (also in Victoria) is First Choice Books. If you want to look them up, it is http://www.firstchoicebooks.ca
wow! am i ever glad i stumbled onto this site just now. i was planning on giving them my credit card number tomorrow but…
a question was asked earlier in the thread but with no response that i noticed. i'll repeat it here:
IF NOT TRAFFORD, CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE RECOMMEND AN ALTERNATIVE GOOD PUBLISHING SERVICE COMPANY?
thanks!
This was bound to happen to Trafford. I worked for the company many years and quit before the merge with Author Solutions. It was going bankrupt and plus, it was running out of steam to get all the production done. Before I left, we were a couple months behind in orders and understaffed. Even with 24/7 hr man power, we still lagged. It was a pretty wholesome company at one time, with fairly honest people during it's young years. Between 05 and 07 Trafford became more of a monopoly full of new ideas and lots of promises but I personally thing they went way to far ahead with their ideas and fell short and as a result, lost a lot of money and trust with their clients (and employees for that matter!). I think its obvious now, they bit off more than they could chew.
I know from experience that this company originally had a very honest reputation. Whats sad is that there was a lot of backstabbing and fighting over Trafford. The main founder who created the company was booted and had to take legal action to even get his severance pay(Trafford crumbled even more after). A lot of this went on in my station as well. I, and others left the production area and I'm certain shortly after they were getting lots of complaints for late orders….or NO ORDERS for that matter!
I have never been so happy since I left that company. As for the people commenting about incompetence….well you're bang on the money. They had people with no prior experience for management. Want me to prove it?
They had a man dressed as a women(she/male, trans-sexual) who had no prior experience, managing us! (no discrimination intended)
Traford's acquisition I believe should be for a better service delivery. I think what they need is time to reaally bounce back.
The management of Traford should do well to inform their clients of the situation and ask for time
I spent over $3,000 getting COSMOLOGICAL ICE AGES published by Trafford. It took over two years. The first check last year was $285.00 Since the Author Solution buyout I have received nothing.
I was on Coast to Coast Am with George Noory on 350 affiliate radion stations in North America. I was on the Kevin Smith UFO talk show in Pheonix AZ four times and on the Ken Hudnall show once. I was on Blog Talk radio four times Ohio Exopolitics. Listen to the broadcasts free go: http://www.GuardDogBooks.com
Still no check from Trafford.
I do get regular checks from Infinity Publishing. Hope they don't get bought out by Author Solutions.
I am a very satisfied Trafford author so it came as a suprise when I read all of the comments here. Give it time and talk to their expert publishing consultants.
Well! Here is my take on Trafford .
I published my first book with the company about five years ago. They were excellent. I was selling books on Amazon etc. getting regular royalty checks and had no complaints except for one… the quality of the books. I was happy enough though with Trafford to go ahead and publish a further three books all of which went well. Then…Author Solutions came on the scene, bought a good company and more importantly it's good name and proceeded to wreck it. I was in the process of publishing my fourth book when the buyout took place. I have regretted it ever since. For £600.00 I have received a total of 6 books and NOTHING ELSE. No sales, no replies to emails NOTHING a complete blank. Not only have I lost out on my fourth book which is bad enough, but I should have been selling my previous three. They look as though they are still for sale on Amazon so who is getting the royalties??????? …………..
So a trusted company was bought out, it’s Authors betrayed, and it’s good name tarnished. You never know what the future holds, but research still pays off. New authors just remember Trafford is no longer our nice trustworthy company in Canada but a very questionable part of Author Solutions/House/ stroke anything else they may choose to call themselves in the future.
I published my book "Mental Bondage In The Name Of God" in 2004 with Trafford. It is a very controvesy book about Islam and the book sells well through Amamzon, Barne & Noble and also direct purchases from Trafford. I got paid every quarterly by the old Trafford but not after the new owner took over the company.
Every month I have visitors from more than 95 countries reading my book on-line at my website http://www.aididsafar.com and many said they bought the hard copy through Trafford – but one lady Andhy Thomson at Trafford said "according to their record, the last sales was made in March 2009". I know something is not right because in the last few months people from Africa, Pakistan, Germany, France, Spain, Netherland, Canada and America said they bought the book from Trafford.
I am shocked by the swallowing up of Trafford by author solutions. From what I have heard, it used to be a respectable, friendly self-publisher devoted to customer service.
It is saddening that Trafford has gone down so far, to allow itself to be bought by a company that is notorious of the worst service.
Please do not use author solutions – you will be happier, and your wallet will be, too.
I published with Trafford in 2005 and 2007. I bought most of the books myself and know everyone who bought from me. Trafford sold a few in the earliest of days. Now I'm seeing used books on Amazon from quite a few different sources. I have never gotten royalties for these books that are popping up. I believe they are printing and not paying the authors!! I've contacted the sellers and they said they are buying from a 2nd source. There's something bad going on here. I found my book in our local library a 2009 purchase that I never got credit for. Stay away from Trafford.
@UKFlamenco
I was wondering if you do the work for others as well? I have been looking for someone who is trust worthy. I know, you're probably wondering why should I trust you…Right? I'd say' reading the comments on this blog is telling me that trusting Trafford Publishing is no different than trusting a total stranger as yourself.Please contact me vis email:ladysoulsings at yahoo dot com, perhaps you may know someone who does the work if you're not interested. Thanks
Hi, I bought a package from Trafford in the UK in 2007. The proofs were great initially until they moved to the US (Indiana I think)and after that they were crap. I stumped up extra and am anxiously waiting for a proof copy for the book originally submitted in August 2008, thats right 2 years ago and still they ignore me mostly.
In the meantime I became a publisher and have my own publishing business writing and selling my own books (2 so far but 8 more to go). It s as they always say, if you want something doing properly do it yourself. I am only waiting for the first one to get some closure and the 50 copies promised which I am going to donate to libraries.
If anyone wants to know how I did it for FREE, I will one day put it on my website. C
NEVER EVER use Traitors im mean TRAFFORD!
I was a Trafford Author from 2005 which the orginal owners were great.
But now these con artists have taken over they are the biggest liars.
They have my book on amazon right now.The Effective Sales Skills Training Manual which is my book! i never heard from these pigs in over 2 years for the roylaties of my book.
They tried selling me their "marketing" packages which is a load of crap and they get no results from that.
The orginal owners paid me my royalties and operated great.
If any one wants to take these people down join me.
They use Lightning source as their printers.
If they have ripped you off contact lightning source and get them to stop printing your book an right a complaint to their printers.
Then contact Amazon like i did and threaten legal action as they are NOT allowed to sell books with out author/publisher agreements.
If Amazon lets publishers or unathorised people to sell copies of your book then Amazon is also guilty of infringing on Authors copyrights according to the US copyright act of 1974.
I strongly suggest any ripped off authors do the above and also contact copright.com or org if your in the states and get the Copyright office to De-register your ISBN that way there is no way they can sell you book legally as it wont show up in the system.
For real marketing advice and real publishing services contact me.
Tom Karevski
tomcat893 on skype
A pleasant surprise today. Author Solutions/Trafford sent me a cheque for Q1 2009. Along with the cheque was a 'nice' letter saying how they had realised that the previous owners had not paid outstanding royalties…so they thought it was the right to do to pay them.
However, what they didn't do was pay Q3 and Q4 2008. The amount paid was actually less than 9% of the total outstanding.
Why the token gesture?
Maybe it's just the first payment in a series that will settle the outstanding royalties?
Maybe they want to show willing but are not prepared to settle all the outstanding royalties?
Maybe they think they've got to appear to be doing something in the hope of delaying the law suits which must now be pending.
Hard to know…
But Author Solutions now have a bona fide UK subsidiary – Authorhouse (UK) Ltd – http://www.authorhouse.co.uk. This lot will be subject to UK Company Law which means a call to Trading Standards may be in order.
Keith E Rice
Yes, Trafford is very frustrating. They rarely return your emails, and I was supposed to get a package of free books, and I had to email them 4 times to get them, and by then it was too late to sell them in a book launch (six months later!)
I have had many problems with Trafford, but it seems the bulk of them occured when the company joined with Author Solutions.
I am unhappy with Trafford. If Author Solutions had not claimed this company, I may have had a different view. I plan to find an agent and really publish with a real publisher – and not a penny wasted again on my part.
Thank you, and by the way I dont reccommend Trafford.
Anonymous, Trafford isn't a publisher, but rather a publishing service. There are significant differences. For a full discussion, please see the Publishing Services page of Writer Beware.
Before you go any farther, it'd be a good idea to take some time to learn more about the publishing industry. This will answer most of your questions, and help you make responsible choices. My blog post, Learning the Ropes, offers advice, suggestions, and resources.
Ok, I'm really confused!
I am a first time author and am looking for a reputable publisher for my book. But there is so much confusion out there in the industry and everywhere I turn I read something negative about everyone. I have a romance novel written of 90000 words and am actually looking at Trafford Publishing for assistance. The big question – who's really upfront in this big wide industry? I thought Trafford – now Author Solutions was the way to go…now I'm gun shy…
For the benefit of any British or UK-based authors unable to contact the originally Oxford-based office: they are simply not there. They moved – or should I say the business was moved – to Bloomington, Indiana, USA. They did so without telling us (authors), which I thought rather naughty! However, it is still called Trafford Publishing, and if you contact their staff, they do reply, are polite, attentive, kind and as cooperative as they can be. I am about to publish a book that I began to prepare in 2008 (via the Oxford office). It took 30 years to write ("THE SECRET LIFE OF THE EARL ST. MAUR(1835-1869)".It is about to go into production. So, they do exist and do try to please, and they honour the original contractual obligations established with the Oxford office, who should have told us what was happening. I tracked them down on the Internet; all of you are capable of doing the same. I got a nice apology for the let-down.
Every good wish. Joe A A Silmon-Monerri, Manchester, UK.
So are you think you are saved because of these blogs? you just think you are… but there are lots of publishing companies out there who are worst than Trafford Publishing. You are an author, you should know this. there are so many companies out there who are actually telling something about their competitors just to get their services. Good thing Trafford for me is the BEST PUBLISHER EVER. i pity all those people who are just making up something for so that they will become as number 1… tsk tsk tsk!
TO ALL AUTHORS I AM PROUD TO BE WITH TRAFFORD PUBLISHING!!
i was going to hire them for my book but after reading all of the negative comments; I changed my mind.
Thank god for blogs.
Hi fellow bloggers.
Good news!
Having slid into the depths of depression about zero sales since authorsolutions took over and after many e-mails and phone calls to the USA from England, my Trafford Royalties are now up and running and beautifully set out in a simple to use "Authors" page. All my royalties are there and payment is due soon.
I encourage a lot of patience, it is an ENORMOUS task taking over a publishing company. Just keep firing away with e-mails, calls and veiled threats until your info is available. I dont think the new Trafford is a scam, I think they have bitten off more than they can chew, that's all!
I published my book in January of 2010 and I have still to recieve my royalty check. Trafford seemed to offer a great service until they set the price of the book. The price set on books is far to high for any writer to make a profit. Trafford wants to gobble up all the money from your investment. Just does not seem fair. At any rate as I wait for my rayalty check I have discovered there are other options. DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!!!!!
I too, am a Trafford client, and am having a very frustrating time of getting straight answers out of them. I signed on with them in 2007 and had a wonderful experience with them for two years until they were bought out by the new company. It is indeed unfortunate that such a great company has been run into the ground in such a short time.
Since 2009, I have not been able to access my royalties/sales figures and I have not received a royalty check from them since last October.
I have been getting the run-around since January, when I first began inquiring about these two issues and have just received yet another email telling me what the royalty schedule is. Thank you very much Trafford, I am well aware of the schedule, what I need are the checks!
Ms. Strauss, I am writer. I just want to ask, Why are you so into talking something bad about all the ASI Brands? ( Trafford, Xlibris,Iuniverse, Authorhouse ) from what I know if I Google the Top self publishing companies in the world.they actually rank as number 1. and A+ rating in BBB. I know that you are an author. Can you recommend a self publishing company for me? In that way, if ever i will publish with them ( the one you recommended ) I have a person to go to or I have someone to blame (YOU) if ever I am not satisfied with the service. is it ok?
I just signed with trafford this week and sent my first payment. after reading this I am ready to pull out. This is really disturbing and I am truly disappointed.
Kristine R, you're very right about the responsibilities of the author – proofing, etc – but that's not what most people on this blog are complaining about.
Read the comments again. The complaints are mostly about:-
a) Financial impropriety – not being paid royalties due or paying upfront and not getting what you paid for.
b) Appalling customer service. Of course, you are right that the author needs to chase and pressurise to get the performance out of the publisher that the author wants. But should it be like that? We're paying – and, for some of us, quite a lot – for a package which includes customer service. So we should get what we pay for. And, no Trafford, often don't answer e-mails or return calls.
I don't think you'd appreciate it if we all forwarded to you the unanswered e-mails we've sent to Trafford. Soon clog up your in-box!
And repeated phoning is time-consuming and can be expensive.
At best, these people are incredibly incompetent. At worst, they're just a scam operation.
Keith E Rice
Thanks to all the authors on this blog.
Thankfully I did not get my book published by Trafford.
Reason for me bailing on them, they cam across as a high pressure sales company that just wanted to get my money. When I informed them that I was not going to use them because I was uncomfortable with thier tactics, I recieved two very nasty and unproffesional e-mails from a woman named John that did not speak english well. I only deet with them for about a week, felt harrassed from day one.
I suppose I will need to look outside this group of publishers.
Again, thanks for the input….
I wish to enter a rebuttal to everyone concerning their problematic experience with Trafford – or any self publishing company you mentioned in this page. I feel qualified to offer a different side because I published a book through them also, but had none of the experiences he endured – in fact, it was totally opposite. Whether they spoke English with or without an accent had no bearing on the process. When you send a manuscript, it’s YOUR work and their job to publish it in the way you instruct. You don’t just send it and wait for the final.
the publisher sends the author a book draft of his/her submission for corrections, changes and approval. If you got a poor/sub-standard book from your Publisher, it is because you did not give diligence to his part of the effort. You perhaps didn’t proof or correct what they sent you. I know I did when I was not satisfied with the format they chose, and they changed it to what I wanted…standard paragraph format, first line indentation.
They corrected what I sent back to them. Yes, it’s tedious checking their draft copy word for word vs. your own original manuscript, but you DO it. They may slip…but YOU catch. It’s YOUR ball, so don’t complain if you let them throw it into the street.
You see, they offer the author choices: text font, page style, layout, book cover, etc., and you should have addressed all these and more issues before you allowed your author copy to be printed. Even then, if you were dissatisfied you should have sent back the corrections on the forms they send for you to download and fill out. I took note of spacings, text layout, proper punctuation placements, centering of subtitles, etc. and instructed them to make the corrections. There is no way your book could come out substandard except that you failed to oversee your product through the processes the Publisher takes with the author.
They DO answer e-mails, but if they took too long I called. Every call was returned same day or next morning if I couldn’t reach them.
Some are right that their pricing depends on the number of pages and they cannot change it, as it is scale priced according to pages.
On final note, please don’t take this as a put down. I’m just keeping it real because we as authors have our responsibility, too. If you put something out there with your name on it, make sure it steps out with the best you’ve put into it. Look at Danny’s spelling in his complaint. Is it just in the complaint, or could there be spelling and grammatical errors in his book, also? His sentences here are run-ons with no end. That’s okay (I guess) for blogs, but if you are a writer, some things come instinctively or by trained skill.
You are the CEO of your product, and you should have handled it like you birthed it…because you DID. You can’t go to sleep on a project and then complain when it is not to your liking.
I started dealing with Trafford some years ago, maybe 2005, and the service was impeccable. Voicing warnings I feel too are a bit harsh and very damaging. Sometimes people react too emotionally without understanding what the publisher is going through under change. I remain indifferent. In no way do I feel they are thieves or doing bad business.
Every company finds difficulties and people who do too. But they are not out to get you.
Why would anyone pay to have his or her own book published? Oh, I forgot. These used to be called vanity presses.
I am very unnerved reading all of these comments. I have had a most wonderful relationship with Trafford and only went with them because of my friends success and seeing what they did for him.
Your comments scared the shit out of me and for that I am very unimpressed. I know you all need to vent your grievances but for those of us who have a had a very smooth process it is very damaging.
You should have taken legal action if they didn't do their job for you, your scare tactics are just causing an incredible amount of anxiety for those of us that feel the company has delivered!
Trafford is the worst publisher I have ever dealed with. They don´t keep their promises, they make you wait long times without any result, their work quality sucks and no one in their company seems to answer when I try to ask or complain about their mistakes.
Trafford is miserable company. Don´t give your money to them.
I PURCHASED A PACKAGE IN NOVEMBER 2009 AND SUBMITTED MY MANUSCRIPT JAN 2010. SO FAR MY EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN GREAT. I'M AWAITING MY E-PROOF, ETA ABOUT 48 HOURS. THEN PRINTING BEGINS.
HOPEFULLY EVERYTHING ELSE GOES AS ANTICIPATED WITH FREE BOOKS, PURCHASING BOOKS,ROYALTIES AND THE WEBSITE.
I bought my package in June of 09', and just sent my book to them this last week. after reading everything on this blog, I am a little concerned. The only real problem I've had is that I have been sent to 4 different sales people, because they all keep leaving the company, or getting fired. Thats been frustrating, because I have 3 more books to publish. When I first saw Trafford they were in Victoria, that was the reason why I went with them, only to find that they were bought out…too bad
TRAFFORD OK
I signed a contract with Trafford just before they were bought out. Everything to do with my book (proofs, etc.) was taken care of by Author Solutions. I never believed the 6 weeks thing, and with corrections (including changes I wanted to make), etc. it took about 8 months for my book (Tinnitus Treatment Toolbox) to go-live. My book had a lot of figures and tables and the designers did a great job of the interior and cover. I could not have done that myself. There were definitely times when I didn't get answers as quickly as I would like to e-mails. Other times it was fine. Eventually I figured out they respond faster if you include the words 'status update' in the title line. In my e-mails I would include a summary of what had happened to date and what needed doing on their end. That seems to help. But overall I think it's gone fine. I'm hoping there won't be problems with distribution, royalties or delisting as mentioned by others.
I, ON THE OTHER HAND, RECOMMEND TRAFFORD.
I signed up with Trafford just last month and I am currently in production for my book. Correspondence has been smooth and I would say that the whole process seems to be a breeze.
Trafford has been in this publishing industry since 1995 and with the acquisiton by Author Solutions Inc., I would say that this even strengthened Trafford's credibility. Anyway, Trafford has retained its identity but improved its processes.
I have been assisted by a very pleasant publishing consultant who even made me choose a much lower priced publishing package. A good choice, indeed! It fits my needs and my budget as well.
I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND TRAFFORD TO ASPIRING AUTHORS. IF YOU LIKE EXCELLENCE IN SERVICE, THEN TRAFFORD SHOULD BE YOUR CHOICE.
I have published 2 books with Trafford, the first in 2006: "A Freethinker's Search for Wisdom and Truth" and the second: "The Science Junto" in June 2009.
I was not aware of the problems with Trafford until now and it seems that the contract for my second book was picked up by Author Solutions.
I had no problems with either deal. Books were both published and I got my free books as well as additional copies I purchased. Both my books are listed on the new "Trafford" web site. However communications with the new company have been a problem. They don't reply to emails etc. Not knowing about all this until now I have recently parted with $700 for an email campaign promoting my second book. After reading all this I may have made a mistake.
At the end of the day though I would like to think my books are still available online to people who want them. Let's hope that Author Solutions doesn't go the same way as Trafford.
I am working on another book and will have to think seriously about publishing options when it's ready.
i am sorry to read about all this that you are all going through i stumbled on this blog just half an hour ago and i honestly didn't know that all this was taking place i was going to pay money to Trafford on Monday for them to publish my poetry book "sonnets of a lover's heart"… thank god i didn't do it …all this to much too shocking i am a working mother with three kids to feed and i am depending on this for the extra cash, can somebody please recommend a publisher/publishers who is honest and easy to deal with thanks!
I have just discovered that Trafford has been bought by a US company. I have logged on to their site and found that I have no Royalty History and that they have listed my book under my own name and not that under which it was published. They have not returned my phone calls. My book, The Dove and the Devil was published in 2007.
What is happening? Can I cancel my original Canadian contract and what is this about having to get a US tax account?
Sandra Pease
I have recently published a book by Trafford "1947. A Memoir of Indian Independece." I have been satified with their handling of this project. They did apologize for some delay because of reorganization. As this is my first book, I cannot compare them to others. M. Zahir
First, I agree that this was bad news for the publishing industry.
Second, I am doing a study of authors who have used any publishing method besides commercial publishing. I am asking 7 questions about the book, money invested on publishing, editing and marketing as well as if you created a marketing plan. I am searching for more *real* authors to answer these questions. No personally identifying information will be retained in this study.
If you are willing to answer these questions, please send me an email at sabrina sabrinasumion com.
I will not sell you anything. I will not add you to email lists or sell your email to anyone. This is strictly for an article I am developing.
Thanks in advance to everyone who replies!
Hi, I am an ex trafford employee (Uk) and it pains me to hear all of these stories. I can assure you that trafford was a reliable and legit company. We knew we were struggling, and one day we came to work and we were told we were redundant with immediate effect. Authorhouse were then responsible to take over our calls/emails and notify our clients…it appears from this that they did not do that. How frightening to not know what is going on.
When I was there myself and my colleagues had a very close relationships with our authors, and if there was ever errors or delays we would do our best to rectify them, it seems as though this is not happenning anymore.
To all of our UK clients – our apologies for any problems you encountered after the office closing, it was as much a shock to you as it was to us, and we had yet enough time to empty our desks let alone make contact. I hope asuthorhouse can pull it togethor now and make good of a bad situation.
Ratified: Trafford is defunct and Author Solutions does not respond to queries as to 2004 POD request for more book copies. Many are left in the lurch, unlikely to be salvaged, and will seek new avenues of publishing. Company buyouts often go this route of incommunicado and valueless transactions. Respectfully, M J MacKay, Michigan
It took five months to publish my book and it was only done after I threatened Author Solutions that I would make a complaint to the USA, BBB. They finally published my book but gave me the wrong web address for it so I don' think I have sold one copy. Now my Royalties page can not be accessed–maybe they are stealing from us all. They have been working on this avoidance scam for months
Anonymous.
It's been impossible for me to access my sales/royalties for the past 3 months – since Author Solutions started redoing the Trafford web site. They first of all said they would 'repopulate' the figures for mid-November.
Here we are in the first week of December and still no figures. Now they just say they are working on it.
How do these crooks get away with it?
I am a part-time (still have my day job) publisher who used Trafford Publishing to publish my company's first book in early 2007. They delivered as they were contractually obligated, but it was a huge waste of money, ~$900. They added very little value. They recently and without notice de-listed this book from their web site, as if it never existed. I published the second book myself with the help of Aaron Shepard's "Aiming at Amazon" guide for much less than $900. I will never use Trafford again, ever!
Well, Trafford finally paid me the piddling amount they owed me since Author Solutions took over.
The much larger amount, from 3 previous quarters, they said was the responsibility of the previous owners of Trafford.
Can anyone help with whether this is legal under American company law?
Certainly, under English company law, one company buying another, acquires both its assets and its liabilities. Debts must be honoured unless there is specific provision to settle them by the original owners of the company.
If anyone can advise before I give Trafford yet another (probably pointless) blast, it would be much appreciated.
Keith E Rice (keith@integratedsociopsychology.net)
Unfortunately, virtually ALL POD (Print On Demand) publishers which charge a significant fee such as Trafford does, are little more than scams. They promise the stars, yet rarely if ever, deliver anything of value. After it is all said and done, the chance of getting back even your initial investment with them, is extremely rare to say the least.
i agree with all these complaints in regards to trafford.
They most definately do not live up to their name nor reputation compared to a year ago,since Author Solutions came into the picture their company had turned worse.
my book is currently on their websitee, but am still waiting on my prmotional stuff like bookmarks and posters and at least 20 free copies of my book
i find trafford publishing to be very deceptive and they simply suck people in with their lies.
for $4000 just to get my book published and recieve a free copy of my book? Is that it? if i had known then i would had gone for the cheaper package deal
i would not reccomend trafford to anyone, peroid.
LIARS! LIARS! LIARS!
Trafford are crooks – they haven't paid me for a year and have evaded, promised and outrightly lied in response to my queries. My experience since 2006 was that I always had to push to get them to pay me; but, since Author Solutions took over, they've become that much worse. From excuse after excuse for delayed payment to simply no payment; and, when they run out of reasons not to pay, they simply don't respond to queries.
They are liars and deceitful schemers of the first order. I would advise anybody looking to self-publish to give Trafford and Author Solutions a very wide berth indeed.
As for Kevin Gray's fine words, he is amongst the liars!
As they have a UK Office, I intend asking UK Trading Standards to investigate them.
– Keith E Rice (keith@integratedsociopsychology.net)
Hello everyone,
I too have had recent dealings with Trafford, from unreturned phone calls, emails, and broken promises. In addition, there have been payments taken out of account from Trafford which were not authorized to occur, and no refund, attempts to refund, or ability to get anyone to even call back about this matter is now present. As a result, I, along with my business partner, have consulted with a law group, and are now in the process of gathering discovery for a lawsuit. There is discussion of class action being pursued, along with specifics of our situation. Therefore, if you feel you've been defruaded in any manner from Trafford Publishing, and in reading this blog, it appears many are, then please feel free to send any information, interest in being added to class action petition to become compensated appropriately for your time and loss, and best means for contact, to: tdslaven@yahoo.com. All information will be held confidential, and look forward to hearing from you all, and making our voices heard to stop this company of scam artists from promising future authors services in which they do no intend to deliver.
After reading the message from Kevin Gray I sent him an email stating my complaints about Trafford. This was over 2 weeks ago. I did not receive an answer!
So much for Mr Gray!
I still want to have one person as a focal point for the fulfillment of my contract (from December). Until now I am up to person number six and they all have no clue.
My book has been activated but the information on the web site is not correct and incomplete.
Very sad story!
anneliesismail@yahoo.de
I'm also a published author who successfuly used Trafford.
My experience was much like that of Ms. Lee Hutt. I also published prior to 2008 and their being accquired by this new company.
It really saddens me to hear of the woes that many are having.
They were a lifeline to me as this was my first time publishing. They returned all of my calls and emails in a timely and professional manner.
I'm now preparing a revision for my book, a travel guide,and had hoped to use Trafford again.
The title of my book is: "Up,Up and Away: The Complete Guide To Commercial Air Travel In America Today".
Becuase of these concerns raised here I must reconsider using Trafford. I will look into the resources provided by Ms. Lee Hutt. I can only hope to locate a publisher that offers the level of service that I enjoyed when I used the former Trafford team.
J. Renee Tribble
tribblescribble@yahoo.com
WARNING WARNING WARNING ! DO NOT USE TRAFFORD!
After more than a year I have been sent Trafford copy of my manuscript paying more than 1.500 euro more than 5 times by email and mail but everytime they did not explain what was wrong. I asked for my money back but nobody asnwered me anyway.
Now I am going to contact by my legal office to have refund because I am very disappointed. Not serious and professional at all.Definetely.
They passwed me trough unprofessional staff telling me nothing substantially just chitting me all the time. Now I will stop this game.
Maria Gioia Mosca
In response to Trafford authors that have posted their problems here, I would be glad to personally help address your problems. Feel free to contact me through my email address: kgray at authorsolutions dot com.
It appears that a lot of authors were neglected for a long time prior to our acquisition of Trafford in April. We are working hard to rectify these situations. We appreciate your patience.
Best regards,
Kevin A. Gray
Author Solutions, Inc.
Be patient, it can all work out!
After submitting a negative comment about six weeks ago and writing to all the people I could reach on Trafford, they finally moved and sent me a physical proof of my book. Now I am waiting since 10 days for the activation of the book without getting any response. Their problem is definately the lack of communication. If they had told me, just be patient it will take more time because of the merger etc. I would have understood. But no response for weeks is just not acceptable.
So hold on, your money probably is nor lost, it just takes time!
Good luck to all Trafford customers!
I think since this company was just recently merged with Author Solutions, it must be because the Canada company was going bankrupt. I'm sure the people at Author Solutions are now having to sort out a big mess. I'm sure over time, things will calm down.
It is indeed very sad. I feel as though I have been scammed over $2000 dollars and have no clue of how to go about getting this company to honor its commitment.
I am very disappointed to hear these comments about Trafford Publishing. My experience with them (Vancouver, B.C. office) was very professional, helpful and successful. This, of course, was about 5 years ago, so it seems the mergers and acquisitions have caused turmoil in the publish-on-demand industry. Sad… very sad.
I am having the same problems with Trafford Publishing. After buying the most expensive package they have on offer and submitting a press ready file, they are refusing to respond to any of my emails or telephone calls. Not even a simple acknowledgment of the fact that they have received the files.
Is there anyway to get my money back from this company?
I paid Trafford almost $2000.00CDN in Nov of 2008 for the production and supply of my poetry book "Love Unveiled" In February of 2008, they told me the book was ready for production but they were moving their offices to larger quarters and the wait would be approx 16 weeks. I contacted them again in June, fully expecting my book to be ready but they never returned my call. As it stands now, they still have my money, will not reply to my calls or emails ( I emailed Author Solutions as well) and are forcing me to seek legal representation to have my funds returned. Not only that, but having already set up a web page http://www.loveunveiled.ca I have incurred the costs of hosting and pay pal as well throughout. Will someone please tell me…will I get my money back and where can I get an already proofread, formatted and simple project such as a poetry book published???
Best of luck to you all..and to me as well, I suppose.
W Ferguson
Response to Ms Hutt!
My book was published in Germany: "Mein Mann is Ägypter" and can be located in Amazon.de. The English title is: "My husband is Egyptian". It is not available in Amazon.com. It was translated into English and I had chosen Trafford because it seemed a good choice for international distribution. At that time thay had an office in UK which is closed now. I want to bring my book out not only in USA, UK but also in Egypt etc.
Now I can only wait..
Good luck with your new projects..
anneliesismail@yahoo.de
iUniverse appears to have suffered a deterioration of service after its acquisition by Author Solutions, so it wouldn't surprise me if the same thing happened with Trafford (and also Xlibris, which AS acquired just before it bought Trafford).
Sandra-Lee responds to anonymous…
I welcome your comments and complaints concerning Trafford which may be helpful to me in the near future in submission of my second publication to Trafford publishers. Please post the name of your book that was published in
Germany. Is it available on amazon.com.? There is a website:BookFinder4U.com which is informative for authors to track the number of booksellers that stock an author's book. I would like to purchase a copy of your book. Thank you for taking the time to view my website. Also, you may want to register with the
National Writer's Union.com. to help you locate a publisher.I wish you the best of luck. Please tell your friends about my book.
Dear Ms Hutt!
After checking out your book on your page and in Amazon.Com I realized that it was published in September 2008.
It seems clear to me that the problems with Trafford only appeared after the acquistion by Author Solutions. When I checked them out in December they seemd a really good choice compared to all other BOD companies.
You are lucky that you got your book out in good time. Unfortunately now it is very different with them. (see my comment before yours)
From a very frustrated author:
anneliesismail@yahoo.de
From: a self-published author of Trafford.
I am well-pleased with the services from Trafford publishers. My book was successfully published and is selling on-line. Trafford did a great job with the cover and color pages. Trafford kept in touch with me via e-mail and returned my calls within a specified time and most of the time I was able to speak to an agent without any delay. The copyright was done and completed in a reasonable and I received 40 free copies of my book and 10 posters, bookmarks and 300 postcards to market my book. Trafford publishers has given me exposure to book retailers including Barnes & Noble, Borders and Target stores. I do not owe any money to Trafford as I paid the full cost of my package when I submitted my manuscript and Trafford also transcribed my manuscript because my materials submitted were not clear and concise for publication. I have just completed my second book and I will incorporate the services of Trafford as they have provided me with a discount. Also, I am pleased with my website: trafford.com/07-2133. The title of my book is: "Tones In Twilight".
I recommend the services of Trafford publishers to writers because they offer a huge variety of publishing services. I suggest that readers visit their on-line bookstore.
From a happy author.
sandyoceans@verizon.net
Warning….
Do not use Trafford!
I must confirm what has been said in the previous statement. My story is even worse. My book is selling well in Germany and has been translated into English. I wanted an international publisher. I signed a contract with Trafford in December. In March I submitted a "Press Ready" file with all the information. Since then I received only an eproof (after six weeks) with a page for the copyright completely wrong (this was the only page they had to do)
After this I have received nothing.
My emails, telephone calls were without result.
I am looking for a different publisher now. People are asking for my book and I have nothing.
As was said before:
DO NOT USE TRAFFORD!
WARNING! WARNING! DO NOT USE TRAFFORD!
I submitted a manuscript to Trafford Publishing on April 6th, 2009 (that is the date I received confirmation of receipt by Trafford). The eProof was supposed to be returned to me within 6 weeks of submission.
I have not received any further correspondence, despite repeated attempts to contact Trafford via telephone and email to determine the status of the book. Not a single contact (other than marketing emails) despite the fact that I have asked them repeatedly to return my calls and emails. Even when I call, I get a voice mail saying all representatives are busy and will return my call as soon as possible. But no one ever returns the call.
I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND ANY AUTHOR TO AVOID TRAFFORD PUBLISHING.