Balboa Press
reviews and complaints

last year I paid Balboa press to republish my book because of Louise Hay's name being attached to the company.

I have had no royalties for my book and I cant even view a report yet I know friends have purchased the book from them last year.

I am so disapointed in the scam of a company where over $3500 Was paid out and all I got was 20 copies of my book and havn't seen another cent even though i was told it would be put in the Hayhouse catelogue.

I sold things just to do this as i was promised so much that has not happened and now i cant even buy my own book online at an authors price.

Also their call center shared my information to another publishing group which is a breach of confidentiality

PLEASE DON"T USE THIS COMPANY

My book was published by Balboa Press in January 2020 and received a cheque for $14.84. It has been more than three years and have not received any further statement from the publisher. It is obvious that this book is a good seller as it is sold on many sites where it has been mostly rated 100 with with an overall average of 89% based on these ratings. They vary in number from 900 to 12600.

I contacted them and did not receive a reply. My computer has been hacked and all links leading to the purchase of the book have been deleted and in many cases were replaced with a direct link to Balboa Press catalog. Hurtful and damageable information was posted on media such as Linkedin, Amazon, Instagram and many others and my cellphone was blocked from my internet provider. They admitted that I was put on a blacklist and blocked access to my website www.awallofhate.com and I cannot access sites such as Amazon as an author. they claimed that their security was strong and this could not be from an outside hacker but denied responsibility in this matter.

Ok so they published my books. 30 k!Then took $10,000 off me to make my books audio, Then

Donald called me and tried to register me to seminar in Las Vagas, he charged me 5k for something that was actually 1.5k... having taken the 10k off me for the audio recordings previously. And when I realised the charming rip off the company promised to give me my 5 k back since it was 30 mins later...Now for two years I've been asking why they did not do the voice books. their answer that I was $300 short of the the 10K, when in fact they are holding onto 15K$ of my money... Louise Hay would turn at what these worms have done... Just my prognosis

I was told by their senior publishing consultant Brian Adamson that it was required of me to have 3 book projects going with Balboa Press in order to be considered for publication with Hay House. This was a scam and I was manipulated out of 16k in order to benefit the commision pockets of this representative. I was lied to about many parts of the publishing process and the quality of the final content that was presented to me was riddled with so much obvious grammatical errors that I chose to not even publish with them. A 16k lesson learned, I earnestly warn you to not consider giving any of your money, time, and energy to this dishonest company.

This is their message to me and my comments are at the conclusion.

Hi Roy,

Your package copies of Vertical Garden Using Hanging Brackets have shipped! That's so exciting!

We can't wait to hear how amazing the actual books look.

In case you didn't already get a receipt from Content Distributors, LLC, here's your tracking number:

PF8101755201000965002

Once your books arrive, we'd love to see a picture of you with them! You can post it to our Twitter at @balboapress.

Congratulations, Roy. Take a minute, once your books come, to enjoy the sensation. A lot of people dream about doing this.

But you did it.

All best,

Your friends at Balboa Press

The tracking number is in fact for one book only which I did receive. The following 100 books which I paid for, have been given this same tracking number. The Book company has been sending me other messages trying to scam money for other services , many if which can be done for free, or for considerably less. if I had sought the services of a professional. I can send you all the Emails and people I have been in contact with. The book is listed on Amazon which has helped to validate their services. I thank you if you can help stamp out or at least help prevent anyone else falling into this trap.

Thank You

Roy Jackson.

Email: [protected]@bigpond.com

Back in August I felt a review for a certain book published by Balboa (not stating which one here because that might constitute unacceptable info - but details can be provided). However, due to an issue that has arisen between us I would like to remove that review.

I have searched online but Balboa does not (unlike Amazon) provide any information as to how I can do this. It just seems that it has to remain in existance forever.

Thanks for your assistance in advance.

As per the my email dating back to 14th of February 2022 to balboa press Australia. I have cancelled all book contracts due to quality issues and non-delivery of services paid for with you and am demanding a full refund of my money back.

I have sent balboa press a in a formal contract termination letter a Cease and Desist for all phone calls as all communication on cancellation and refunding my money back to me must be in writing for legal purposes.

Jad has broken the cease and desist order and has rung me to harass me on the 6/4/2022 at 5:38pm to harass me about 2 of the contracts for other future books that I have already stated in the attached email with the formal contract termination letter attached to it that I have told you I am cancelling and wanting a full refund for.

They would not stop harassing stop me via phone after the cease and desist was sent to them. I had directed them to converse with me via email. To this date they have not refunded the money I have paid them even though the quality of their services that they tried to deliver were of very poor quality and other services the didn’t even deliver at all. I paid them in total the sum of $14072.77 for these services which they did not deliver.

The photo attached has the details of the transactions, dates etc that they took my money from my account.

They have received since I first sent them the below subsequent emails asking for a refund and to terminate all contracts and not once have balboa press responded to my emails about this appropriately. Instead they simply chose to ignore these emails and continue to harass me via phone.

Please see the details below which sent to balboa press in my formal contract termination letter to the all the details with dates etc. they signed my up to all their programs using deceptive and misleading conduct which is against the law.

As per the conditions of the Service and Distribution Agreement, this letter acts as formal written notice of the cancellation of my contract with Balboa Press, a division of Get Published LLC, effective immediately.

This is also a formal request for a full refund of all monies paid due to the company’s failure to provide the services as promised. Publishing Services and Marketing Services were not completed, and after several attempts to receive the finished design work on my manuscript which were met with unfulfilled promises of timely delivery, including several attempts to cancel this contract which were both ignored and treated with aggression, the request for a full refund meets the clauses detailed in Section 4 of the Author Agreement (aka Services and Distribution Agreement).

Communications to cancel this contract began as early as November 13, 2021, well within the 90-day stipulation of Section 4. I made a formal written request on November 20, 2021 to suspend payments and services on two additional books contracted with Balboa Press, which was not honored. I was also erroneously double-charged for the bookstore returns program and requested a refund of the second charge on December 17, 2021, which was not granted. All of these instances, including several more of service promises either misrepresented or wholly unfulfilled, can and will be verified with written and timestamped documentation.

This Notice of Contract Termination and Cancellation effectively severs all arrangements for current and future projects previously arranged with Balboa Press. My financial institutions have already been notified of this, and arrangements have been made to ensure no further charges will be made to my accounts. If the request for a full refund is not honored and fulfilled by February 11, 2022, a full investigation by these institutions will be made.

Under Indiana State Law, which governs the Service and Distribution Agreement, IN Code § [protected]) Item 4B, Balboa Press’ behavior which “sells, offers, or displays for sale or delivers less than the represented quality or quantity of any commodity” is Deceptive Behavior and subject to a Class A misdemeanor. As stated above, I have and will readily provide proof of this deceptive behavior which started as early as November 12, 2021 and has continued through February 4, 2022.

As I am sure you also desire, I prefer to keep this matter out of arbitration in favor of terminating this contract and relationship amicably. Please respond to this letter as a formal acknowledgment of its receipt.

I paid Balboa Press almost $500 to reject my book. I'm writing this to spare others from the expensive mistake that I made. If you Google Balboa Press, before you give it money. you'll find a boatload of bad reviews — some sound an awful lot like my cautionary tale.

If you’d like to know more, here are the lessons learned.

Lesson 1: if you are writing a memoir that exposes abusive people, or groups, Balboa won’t publish your work. It will take your money, first, though. My book combines my experience in a secret cult, interviews with other ex-cult members, and academic research about cults. It then offers education on red flags and a template for recovery.

Balboa is the self-publishing arm of Hay House Books, you know, Louise Hay, affirmations, self-help, etc. Hay House seemed like the type of publisher that would welcome and support a book that warns, educates, and empowers, so I wrote a book proposal.

Lesson 2: read websites before writing proposals: Oops, Hay House only accepts submissions from agents OR those who join the Hay House Writer’s Community, which requires signing up for a workshop. I was disappointed. The website served up a form to sign up for a “waiting list.” I filled it out, thinking “it can’t hurt.”

The next day, I got an email… a live workshop starts tomorrow for $310.48! I rolled my eyes. But then, I signed up. Hay House is a legitimate business, after all, maybe this was lucky timing, or a sign! Either way, I would learn about publishing and submit my proposal into Hay House’s annual book publishing contest.

The workshop was informative, but the main takeaway was that if I found a traditional publisher, it could take up to two years to release my book. So, self-publishing seemed like the best option and, conveniently, Hay House has Balboa.

Lesson 3: don’t fall for clever marketing: I assumed that Balboa, as an arm of Hay House, would be ethical and helpful. I slapped a $900 installment on my credit card, for the time-limited, special “Inspire Package” (at the reduced price of $3500). I read the contract. My husband read the contract. A lawyer friend read the contract. It seemed standard. I verified with Balbao I had 90 days to cancel. I signed the contract and submitted my manuscript.

Lesson 4: don’t assume every publishing company has a backbone: Balboa started the content evaluation and I was on the hook to pay for each service performed, whether I got a book at the end, or not. When the content evaluation tagged it as a legal risk, I learned that Balboa would not work with me to mitigate risk. The evaluator should have said, “this book is too risky for us.”

Instead, when I offered the following solutions:

• Fictionalizing all the names.

• Getting written permission from my interviewees.

• Fictionalizing specific locations and details enough to obscure the identities of those who aren't going to give me permission (my recruiter, cult leaders).

She responded with non-options: “You will need to write from a pen name, or you’ll need to remove all potentially libel statements/ receive notarized permission.”

Its rigidity and unwillingness made it impossible for me to continue:

1) The pen name: Secrets are a toxic social poison. Secrets empowers this group to exploit people. I posted a blog eleven years ago about this cult. I never hid my identity. I won’t start now. My recovery came from speaking the truth and then standing by my word. Additionally, a lawyer informed me that pen names do not protect writers from lawsuits.

2) Removing all “potentially libel statements”: Based on the content that Balboa considered libelous, this would wipe out the book. While I’m willing to take steps to mitigate risk, there's no point in rewriting the entire book.

3) Receive Notarized Permission: Chasing down the cult leader to get “notarized permission”, is akin to requiring a rape survivor to get permission from the rapist to expose their abuse. It’s obvious that no one would do that.

So, I told the evaluator and the coordinator that I wanted a refund. The coordinator said that the Refund department would contact me within 24-48 hours. It did not. So, I called. The refund person immediately said that I was not eligible for the refund. Having read the contract, I corrected her.

She emailed the sales rep who sold me the package, who apparently had to process the cancellation. I asked her to cc me on the email. She told me that she could not, but gave me the sale’s associate’s email address. I immediately wrote to the sales associate who did respond that she needed to “inquire into the status of the project” and “work with the refunds department.” I offered to forward her the email exchange between myself, the submission coordinator and the content evaluator to expedite the cancellation. She informed me that she’d already “reached out.”

The next day I got this email: “I did find out that you have started the process of publishing and the Content Evaluation was performed. …The cost for the Content Evaluation of $400 will be deducted from the funds as well as the nonrefundable Payment Fee of $75.00.’”

So, basically, I paid them to decline to publish my book. Though I regret giving Balboa my money and my trust, it could have been worse. I'm glad that I didn't waste more time and money.

Aspiring book-writer, beware, be careful and stay away from Balboa Press.

In February this year I signed an agreement to publish a book with Balboa Press.

My book is now published (April 2022) and is in the last stages of marketing and press release.

My complaint is that I have now just discovered that in order to sell to retailers and bookstores, I need to purchase my own book, otherwise I will get no royalties.

This was never explained to me before. I need to become my own distrbutor.

Yet, in the agreement is clearly states that:

WHOLESALE & DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION:

Distribution means that your book can be purchased by thousands of retailers and made available on their websites or bookstores. This allows you to reach a wide audience and compete in the book marketplace.

If your publishing goals include more than giving away copies of your book to friends and family, book distribution is essential. Although it may sometimes be possible to sell directly to bookstores, booksellers prefer dealing with wholesalers and distributors rather than entering into transactions with individual authors.

Once you publish with Balboa Press, your book will be available through a number of distribution channels: the Books in Print® database, our online bookstore, and two leading book wholesalers in the United States—Ingram and Baker & Taylor. For orders from other areas of the world, our international print network can facilitate the speedy delivery of your books.

Also, thousands of retailers around the United Kingdom will be able to order your book both in stores and online. Online booksellers include Amazon.co.uk, Waterstone's, and other resellers that may pick up your book from the Ingram and Baker & Taylor distribution networks.

I thinks that this is in direct contradiction to what I have just been told by one of your representatives and it will prevent me from making any significan sales in the future, as I do not intend to spend any more money at this point.

I bought the Emerge package for $2199 January 30 2022. They were told it was a photo book from the first phone call, as it had already been self published. I thought since it was of a spiritual nature Hayhouse would be a good place for it but they don't accept mail ins they suggest Balboa. I thought they would be a good company since they are affiliated with Hayhouse. I paid my money and then the nightmare started. I got passed to someone else who had no idea it was to be a photo book I submitted an already mistake free ebook. I then had to submit all the images (100) without text on them, which I did. I was told all my images were good and the next step was "professional design team" but first I needed to pay another $240 because I was over 50 images, my response was why wasn't I told this from the start? I was told the other person probably didn't know, They knew yes they knew! I paid the $240 and 3 weeks later I got what a 4th grader could of put together. They put the text in black boxes and then had the black boxes over the subject of the image, and this is their professionals! It was clear to me they knew nothing of photography or photo books. I then found out they couldn't use glossy paper for the images because they don't have any, photos need glossy paper. I was to go through what they called "professional design" and log all the mistakes. They were given a mistake free book and they took it and made spelling and punctuation errors along with "the black boxes" and I was to go through it and log the errors, what are they charging money for? I put the brakes on contacted a supervisor who said she would forward my email to the right person and they would reach out to me. that was a month ago. Everyone at Balboa has gone silent. My suggestion for Balboa is reach out to me admit you don't print photo books and just give me my money back.

Huge disappointment!

I had my children's book published by Balboa Press. The the whole process of publishing my book became a deeply disillusioning and disappointing experience.

I feel like I was being robbed of the joy that publishing my book was supposed to bring me. I've got so depressed and disillusioned with this whole experience that I couldn't bring myself to write about it earlier. However, I did write two complaint letters to which I received no answer. I was totally ignored which is deeply disappointing.

When I signed up, I was assured that my vision for my book will be fully realized by Balboa Press. However, there are so many limitations regarding the printing that the whole thing went wrong. I was promised that it will be printed on glossy paper; I discussed this and I was assured that it will be done. Yet, it wasn't. Alas.

I did complain about this and after so many emails, messages and phone calls I received my books printed on glossy paper, however, there are white pages at the beginning and end of the book that don't look good at all. No one offered to rectify this issue. I was left alone with the results I wasn't happy about.

I'm deeply, deeply disillusioned and disappointed with the Balboa Press because when I was signing up I was promised my full satisfaction which never happened.

Another issue that adds to my unfortunate experience and deep disappointment is the social media advertising carousel that was supposed to be created and for which I paid substantial amount of money; this is just done to take big money from people and deliver almost nothing. Huge rip off!

From the beginning, even before I signed the contract with Balboa Press, I was assured that everything would go according to my vision for the book, that "I will be happy" and satisfied with the results. These were the words uttered by the person I spoke with at the beginning of my journey with Balboa Press.

Everyone assured me that everything will be done properly. So, I trusted these words. I trusted that my vision for my book will be fulfilled by Balboa Press. Now, I'm deeply disappointed.

What I was told was incorrect and misleading; I was given the wrong information which is very upsetting to me.

Signing up with Balboa Press is an expensive venture, so good quality service is expected, and when it is not delivered, it's very disappointing.

In addition, the communication was very poor; I sent emails, left voicemails, and no one was getting back to me for long time. Very unprofessional.

I must say that the only "nice" people I encountered were those in positions to make me sign up for things, to take money from me; after that the customer service was extremely poor. I feel cheated out of the huge amounts of money.

Considering my very, very disappointing experience with the Balboa Press I cannot recommend Balboa Press to anyone and even I have to warn people to spare them disappointment that I suffered.

I purchased the Chapter Two package, which on Balboa Press own website states :-
• A professional media release — Expertly written by a Balboa Press AU representative, your media release will be customized based on information you provide about your book.
• Distribution to 300 Australian media outlets — Your media release will be distributed by Balboa Press AU to a minimum of 300 undisclosed media outlets throughout Australia. Recipients will be chosen based on location as well as your book's specific genre/message and may include TV and radio stations, magazines, newspapers, and online publications"
Now I am receiving phone calls from their Marketing Department DAILY stating I need to be doing my own marketing. The first phone call I had lasted nearly 45 minutes and only towards the end did the penny drop and I realised that they were trying to get another $3000 out of me to design a website.
I have paid for a basic package which includes a press release - this was sent to me and I corrected a couple of things and sent it back. I has been a week now, and no reply, the lady who sent it to me is not answering the phone or her emails and now I am being told I need to pay extra to get basic marketing!
The publishing consultant has been very good, and I am pleased with the book itself (published in March) but the marketing situation is turning into a nightmare. I just wish to be left alone to write my second book and not have to field daily calls from Marketing to cough up for additional services that according to the Terms and Conditions is included as part of the package I - in good faith - paid for.

I decided to use balboa press to publish a memoir. Unfortunately, I had no choice but to cancel my agreement with them before we even really got started. Roadblocks, lack of communication about what I can have in my memoir, I was told I need a power of attorney for all people mentioned in the book, lack of clarity on issues and poor customer service, meant I simply couldn't work with them a couple of weeks in... Now they will not refund the first deposit I gave them, even though all they did was scan my first couple of chapters and tell what I need to do to change the book before proceeding. I am very disappointed. I have my first book published with them, which I published five years ago, and it has done nothing in terms of sales, due to poor editing, and so I have removed it from their website. I will rewrite the book using a different company that is more professional and not just trying to get my money.

Don't give these people money. They are dishonest and thieves.
Give me a refund you creeps.
Please don't give them your hard Earned money they lie. Louise Hayes owns this company I thought she was honest it's criminal. They don't stop hounding you for money. They don't pay the royalties either. It's been a total negative and expensive experience I won't to save people the pain and lies.

I had decided to try Balboa press based on their marketing agent's explanation and paid my deposit.

I received an email with the contract. After reviewing the contract I decided that it did not meet my expectations and declined signing and submitted the return email.

Almost immediately I received a voicemail call wanting to discuss my decision. When I returned the call I too left a voicemail stating that I had declined the contract and requested my deposit returned. May 22, 2020

On this same day I also emailed my contact, Kristine Dale, stating that I had declined the contract and requested a refund.

On June 3, I again left a voicemail message requesting my refund.

Balboa are unprofessional, they over charge under deliver and are robbers.
Totally disappointed.
I want my money back they are criminals.
Nothing nice to say.
When they want to rip you off of thousands of dollars they will call 10 times a day, badgering. When you want something they don't get in touch.
Please don't use them I want to save people from this exorbitant expense.

I am complaing about not receiving a refund
For the printing marketing of my two picture booksl
It has taken two years to be edited by balboa press and it still has not
Been printed. The final editing has not been sighned by me.
I have only paid 30, 000 for nothing in return.

Ii will be printing the book else where and marketing it myself.
For half the price.
Also I have waited two years for this editing and what do I get?
Nothing?
I am complaining for a refund just for the printing and marketing as
This has not been done.