Austin Macauley Publishers

The final version had numerous typos. The production team and marketing team were virtually impossible to work with.

They did not market the book to reviewers and audiences that would appreciate it, but rather sent out a pro-forma list of papers, booksellers, and libraries and received zero requests! They clearly lied to me about the potential for my book!

Firstly, it does not surprise me that Austin Macauley refused to read my review that you sent to them. They are cowards and they know their enterprise is shady.

I did receive my royalties, though - all 28 pounds. Coincidence? That would have no doubt dented their coffers. They also terminated my contract for complaining.

What a great business strategy: get the money, then get rid of the client. I have to emphasize again, this company is bad news. It advertises as a publishing company, admittedly, a hybrid one. You pay your $2,500, and then they have you.

There is no publishing involved - bare minimum marketing, your book is advertised on Amazon. They do not print any books in advance, only when a customer wants one, and then the customer has to wait weeks for a said book. The illustrations are shoddy. I had to edit the book myself three times.

Apparently, they have difficulty with the English language. They have no outlets to distribute your work. They need their arm twisted to pay you your royalties. The truth is, they have your money.

Job done! They know the market is saturated, mainly due to them. They couldn't care less if your book sells. Tell me, would you pay for a house that the builder had no idea how to attach a roof or windows?

No!

So, why should this company advertise as a publishing house when they have no intention or expertise to publish? (Granny with a bee in her bonnet)

Austin Macauley has an excellent marketing team that will make your book visible through websites that reach out to the public in over 40 countries! And, should you need illustrations for your book, their art department is phenomenal!

My review was originally positive, based on production, marketing, etc. Unfortunately, I must admit to having been ripped off on royalties, having sold only 13 copies in six months.

And since I've seen 22 copies of my book 'Vlad Dracula: The Impaler' in library databases in my home province of Saskatchewan, and over thirty in college libraries around the world, and another 16 used copies online, I now have incontrovertible proof that they've been issuing falsified royalty statements at random (not everyone at AMP has experienced this, so it must be randomly chosen).

Since these sales were in early spring, their claim that it was after the statement date is clearly false. Utter crooks!

Did you know that the famous dr. Seuss books did not become popular overnight!

It took 20 years for Mulberry Street to become a success and another 10 years for the rest of his books to sell. New authors (unless you are a known celebrity) do not become an immediate success!

New unknown authors may have written the greatest of books, but it takes time, even with the best marketing, to become a best seller. Thats just reality.

This company is trying to force me to pay for a contract even though their promises seem too good to be true, and I haven't heard one successful or positive story from this company. Now, they won't leave me alone. They are like, 'Pay up or else,' type of deal.

Make their paperwork easier to understand and quit defrauding people. They dont reply to letters and will not explain the quarterly reports.

I engaged them to publish two of my books paid them £4k. I had nothing but issues throughout.

What a terrible mistake. Failed to provide the service expected. I felt they failed especially in marketing (or the lack of) my books. What a disaster and a disappointment.

I asked them for a refund they refused. I am now going to consider court action to recover my money.

Love to have statements from people with similar experiences in support. Avoid

They sent me a bill for over $7,000. Australia dollars.

Because I had signed the contract, I had to pay them $2,500. To get rid of them.

Please allow me to express my disappointment with the manner I have been treated by my agent James Morris and the publishing team. James has not taken kindly to my insistence on quality for my book Indigenous Knowledge in Traditional Upland Rice Farming in Sierra Leone.

I get the feeling that he feels bothered because of me asking for corrections, which led to the book being published with major errors in dates and grammar. Sadly, I have paid twice in the total sum of £300 for corrections to be made. Whilst I was requesting corrections the book was published in November 2023, much to my surprise. I was then sent complimentary copies which I have to discard for obvious reasons.

Now that I have got the book to the quality that I want and paid for the upgrade, James has sent me a disappointing email outrightly rejecting my request for complimentary copies. I feel very much let down because the publishing team isnt doing me a favour for upgrading my books. I made payment for the upgrade on top of several hours of toil in making the improvements. The very least I deserve is to get complimentary copies.

Besides, I started that I want to use those copies to promote marketing to targeted customers in Sierra Leone.

Added to the above, I now have to call the publishing in order to get a response to my emails to James. I would like to request another agent who will be available and happy to assist me moving forward.

With my thanks in advance

Jim Patewa