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iUniverse reviews first appeared on Complaints Board on Nov 19, 2008. The latest review new author who believes this is a fraud was posted on Apr 13, 2021. The latest complaint half truths was resolved on Oct 05, 2011. iUniverse has an average consumer rating of 2 stars from 28 reviews. iUniverse has resolved 10 complaints.

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iUniverse Complaints & Reviews

iUniverse — I have not received royalties which are due in over year

I published a book with iUniverse in 1008. Received firest scheck. Had to call for second. Now have not received nor can gain information on my book in a year 1/2. Have a seond one ready, but need to know status before I do this again with this company. Iknow my book has been purchased by family and at least friends, and even adio overseas in Australia. I have been advised of none of this and cannot even access my account. No check has been sent. Yet I get e-mail everday for my next book (s). I hae some ready, but don't know what's going on with this company.

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    • Bi
      Biltmore Dec 26, 2012

      I published my book 2007/October only rec'd $3.69

      Reply
      0 Votes
    • Ju
      Justin Nutt Jul 02, 2012

      I had a similar experience and so have dozens of others I have been talking with recently and the truth is that iUniverse doesn't report their sales to the author accurately. I and others are planning a class action suit and if you are interested in joining please email me at [email protected] Also here is a interview I gave that you might like to read http://blog.emilysuess.com/2012/07/02/iuniverse-complaints-interview-with-justin-nutt/

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    The complaint has been investigated and
    resolved to the customer's satisfaction
    Resolved     iUniverse — false advertising, lack of performance, breach of contract, ectera.

    I up - signed for a "premier pro package" with iuniverse and they have taken over two years to yet publish my...

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    iUniverse — publishing a plagiarized book

    In 1999 a novel entitled "Out of Egypt, A Letter to Sophie" was completed. A man took the original manuscript (Copyright TXu001358129), changed it from third person to first, changed straight quotes to curly quotes and commas, changed a few words, added an epilogue and published it through iuniverse.com under his own name as a TRUE memoir (although many of the incidents are fictional).

    When iuniverse.com was contacted in 2007 they removed the book from the shelves. Inexplicably, it is now back again--available at amazon.com. This book has violated federal copyright laws and should be removed.

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      • Ab
        Abalone Dec 31, 2010
        This comment was posted by
        a verified customer
        Verified customer

        Hi, Conan, here is a fugitive link back home : http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51534
        Unfortunately The Revised Version is unavailable!

        But funny shuffles to your thread' s answers...The "motor of research" crew must be busy, LOL!

        Reply
        0 Votes
      • Ab
        Abalone Dec 24, 2010
        This comment was posted by
        a verified customer
        Verified customer

        I bet the " revised version " mushroomed during the night ?

        Reply
        0 Votes
      • Ab
        Abalone Dec 24, 2010
        This comment was posted by
        a verified customer
        Verified customer

        Mysterium tremendum, mysterium fascinans-Literature Network Forums

        The link does NOT work any more ; search manually, the old fashion way...

        Reply
        0 Votes
      • Ab
        Abalone Dec 24, 2010
        This comment was posted by
        a verified customer
        Verified customer

        Hi Conan, look at this http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51534

        How can someone comes back to such a site WITHOUT being manipulated OR impersonated?
        I vote for the impersonation because I would have asked/permitted the deletion of such an infamous thread.

        But I am human therefore ...

        Reply
        0 Votes

      The complaint has been investigated and
      resolved to the customer's satisfaction
      Resolved       iUniverse — pod

      iUniverse has published my book with sixty blank pages. Their marketing ploys result in zero sales. Now my book is on Amazon under my real name and not my nom de plume like I requested. The once flagship of the vanity/POD industry, has turned into a black joke staffed by poltroons.

      Snafu the Elder author of "Illustrated Love Stories For Men (Bedtime Stories)

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        The complaint has been investigated and
        resolved to the customer's satisfaction
        Resolved         iUniverse — poor customer service

        I signed on with iUniverse with my eyes wide open: I had my cover professionally designed by another source...

        Read full review and 2 responses →

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        The complaint has been investigated and
        resolved to the customer's satisfaction
        Resolved         iUniverse — poor quality book cover

        I am having a lot of problems with iuniverse and its poor services. Dealing with iuniverse is, like you said, very frustrating. I have one big problem after another in my dealings with them. When I thought all my troubles were over, I was shocked to recieve two test copies, which had terrible book covers. I have never seen a book with such a bad cover. The colours were all mixed up, and the text, plus cover photo were misplaced!

        The worst part of dealing with iuniverse is that they are rude and unprofessional. I have written to the vice president, CEO, and many consultants about the poor covers of my books, and they have all ignored me. I have even written to the CEO/ Vice presidents of authorssolution, and authors house, but they are all silent about the issue.

        And as if that were not bad enough, the only guy who had the courage to reply said that this was the first time they had ever had a problem like this!!!

        it is obvious that what iuniverse writes on its website, is miles apart from what it actually offers. i would not advise any writer to risk invest his money in iuniverse. I wonder why no one had sued it yet!


        Oscar Bamuhigire
        E mail: [protected]@yahoo

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          • Ch
            Christopher M May 22, 2012

            Check out Kaliedascope books be warned you may not like what you find. I didn't... Also do a price comparison search then in the UK and one for Europe... Run from Amazon run like Hades

            Reply
            0 Votes
          • Ki
            killmenow Mar 09, 2012
            This comment was posted by
            a verified customer
            Verified customer

            I have started a facebook page and gathering authors who have been screwed
            http://www.facebook.com/groups/iuniverse.issues/

            Reply
            -1 Votes
          • Kj
            kjforce Jan 12, 2012
            This comment was posted by
            a verified customer
            Verified customer

            I too published with i-universe..after several attempts to correct problems with them..editing of the book/front and back covers/( which I ended up doing myself) no return on the monies ( over $1200.00) even though they didn't live up to the contract..I have contacted them thru e-mail and their website has not worked for me under my account since day one..WEB ERROR..never have rec'd a penny for sales of my book..and I know for a fact there were some sales !!! I have no way of moneturing them..very unprofessional company..but..they have continued sending me e-mails to purchase more services...

            Reply
            0 Votes
          • An
            Anonymous May 30, 2009

            We must mobilize each other, hire a good lawyer, and take legal action against iuniverse before it reaps off other people. They should pa heavily for their beach of contract.

            Reply
            -1 Votes
          • Se
            Seeing Red May 28, 2009

            You are SO right. I think people who have experienced the same subprofessional service with iUniverse should team up and sue the company.

            Reply
            0 Votes

          The complaint has been investigated and
          resolved to the customer's satisfaction
          Resolved           iUniverse — service, delivery

          The (bitter) iuniverse experience
          I purchased the premier pro book package which promises "one-on-one author support". But my assigned publising assistant was inexperienced and incapable of effectively guiding me through the publishing process in a way that supported what I was trying to achieve. The iuniverse publishing experience is an extremely frustrating one, characterized by sub-professional output, endless delays, the one-on-one author support is in reality conducted by a pool of publishing assistants who stand between the author and the technical and creative staff that actually produce the book. It is not possible - except on rare occasions - to communicate ideas directly to production staff and work out solutions to problems with layout or design. Calls are never returned. Communication is conducted by email. When you are involved with a throny creative issue the waiting can seem endless as days and, in some cases, even weeks pass by. Publishing assistants work with a 9-5 mentality and seem to have little genuine passion for their work. The politeness and "have a wonderful day" positivsm do not constitute true professionalism but are geared to softening customer anger and weakening the resolve of frustrated authors to confront iuniverse in its failure to deliver on promises made in the marketing text.
          I had to do virtually all the work on interior and exterior and work extremely hard to get my ideas into print. Post production assistance is virtually non existance. For the last two weeks I have tried to get information from my assigned book consultant. To no avail.
          In fact to date I have never received a written response from this book consultatnt - I was forced to call in to find out why it took two months for me to receive a copy of the book I published after it had been sent to the printer.

          The iuniverse marketing promise:
          Only iuniverse has professionals with extensive industry knowledge who make it easy for you to affordably publish your book. Our "learn as you publish" approach combines specialized author support with value-packed publishing packages and a variety of high-quality, competitively priced editorial and marketing services

          The iuniverse difference: with experienced leadership from the worlds of publishing, sales and marketing and technology, our management team is dedicated to helping you achieve your publishing goals

          You've written it. Now it's time to begin production! Iuniverse has made this process painless by providing you with great tools and the professional advice you need to produce a flawless book.

          Custom cover design - actually sub professional.
          Book design and page layout - were template driven and unsuitable to the book.

          Ultimately, from my experience, the premier pro package was neither premier, nor pro. It was a slap in the face. A slap which continues to resound and which I hope comes across here. My advice to anyone interested in selecting iuniverse is: don't believe the marketing text. Look at other publishing companies. Get author feedback.

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            • Bk
              BKD57 Feb 06, 2010

              We paid for two different books. The first book we did just as you did, bought the Premier Pro package. The cover looked okay and the book looks o.k. But iUniverse said they would help with the marketing (or at least this is what it makes it sound like so that you'll put your money into the Premier Pro package) They did nothing! It took us months to get the first book, but we thought this was the way it should be. We were wrong. We go another book published but we didn't go with the Premier Pro because we had spent so much money already. They did a terrible job, no editing (even though we paid for the service) There was a number of typo's that have been found, and even a mistake on the back cover! We spent close to $10, 000.00 for both books...and we have nothing to show for it! iUniverse is a SCAM! Don't use them.

              Reply
              0 Votes
            • Hr
              hrhnet Nov 07, 2009

              I am glad that I have not signed with them yet...Would you advice any other Self-publisher. Did you have any success with any other self-publishing company.

              Thanks...

              Hector
              [email protected]

              Reply
              0 Votes
            • Os
              Oscar Bamuhigire May 28, 2009

              I have had a similar experience like yours. Dealing with iuniverse is, like you said, very frustrating. I have one big problem after another in my dealings with them. When I thought all my troubles were over, I was shocked to recieve two test copies, which had terrible book covers. I have never seen a book with such a bad cover. The colours were all mixed up, and the text, plus cover photo were misplaced!

              The worst part of dealing with iuniverse is that they are rude and unprofessional. I have written to the vice president, CEO, and many consultants about the poor covers of my books, and they have all ignored me. I have even written to the CEO/ Vice presidents of authorssolution, and authors house, but they are all silent about the issue.

              And as if that were not bad enough, the only guy who had the courage to reply said that this was the first time they had ever had a problem like this!!!

              it is obvious that what iuniverse writes on its website, is miles apart from what it actually offers. i would not advise any writer to risk invest his money in iuniverse. I wonder why no one had sued it yet!


              Oscar Bamuhigire
              E mail: [email protected]

              Reply
              0 Votes

            The complaint has been investigated and
            resolved to the customer's satisfaction
            Resolved             iUniverse — scam

            I signed up with iUniverse Publishing last 8th of July 2008 to get my manuscript get edited, and published...

            Read full review and 69 responses →

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